I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 818
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage 
of qualified acupuncturist services under part B of the Medicare Pro-
gram, and to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for coverage 
of such services under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2005
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. JACK-
SON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 
LANTOS, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
TOWNS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WOLF, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means 
and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 
for coverage of qualified acupuncturist services under 
part B of the Medicare Program, and to amend title 
5, United States Code, to provide for coverage of such 
services under the Federal Employees Health Benefits 
Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Acupuncture 
Coverage Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF ACUPUNCTURIST SERVICES UNDER 
MEDICARE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (Y); 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (Z); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(AA) qualified acupuncturist services (as de-
fined in subsection (bbb)); and’’. 
(b) SERVICES DESCRIBED.—Section 1861 of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘Qualified Acupuncturist Services 
‘‘(bbb)(1) The term ‘qualified acupuncturist services’ 
means such services furnished by a qualified acupuncturist 
(as defined in paragraph (2)) and such services and sup-
plies furnished as an incident to services furnished by the 
qualified acupuncturist which the qualified acupuncturist 
is legally authorized to perform under State law (or the 
State regulatory mechanism provided by State law).
‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified acupuncturist’ means an in-
dividual who has been certified, licensed, or registered as 
an acupuncturist by a State (or the State regulatory 
mechanism provided by State law).’’. 
(c) PAYMENT RULES.—
(1) DETERMINATION
OF
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENT.—Section 1833(a)(1) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(1)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(V)’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the semicolon at 
the end the following: ‘‘, and (W) with respect 
to qualified acupuncturist services described in 
section 1861(s)(2)(AA), the amounts paid shall 
be the amount determined by a fee schedule es-
tablished by the Secretary for purposes of this 
clause (but in no event shall such amount ex-
ceed the fee schedule amount provided under 
section 1848 for the same service performed by 
a physician);’’. 
(2) SEPARATE PAYMENT FOR SERVICES OF IN-
STITUTIONAL
PROVIDERS.—Section 1833(a)(2)(B) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(a)(2)(B)) is amended, 
in clauses (i) and (ii), by inserting ‘‘and in the case 
of qualified acupuncturist services furnished at any 
time’’ after ‘‘1999,’’ each place it appears.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section apply to services furnished on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2006. 
SEC. 3. COVERAGE OF ACUPUNCTURIST SERVICES UNDER 
FEDERAL 
EMPLOYEES 
HEALTH 
BENEFIT 
PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8902(k)(1) of title 5, 
United 
States 
Code, 
is 
amended 
by 
inserting 
‘‘acupuncturist,’’ after ‘‘nurse midwife,’’ each place it ap-
pears. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) applies with respect to services provided on 
or after January 1, 2006.
Æ