I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1477
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 
MARCH 27, 2003
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BRADY 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. FROST, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Ms. LEE, Mr. GEORGE
MILLER
of California, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROYCE, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ 
of California, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. 
WAXMAN, and Mr. WEXLER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committees on Ways and Means, and Government Reform, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee 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 2003’’. 
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 (U); 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (V); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(W) qualified acupuncturist services (as de-
fined in subsection (ww)); 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 
‘‘(ww)(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 ‘‘(U)’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the semicolon at 
the end the following: ‘‘, and (V) with respect 
to qualified acupuncturist services described in 
section 1861(s)(2)(W), 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,