Title: Protecting Beneficiary Access to Complex Rehab Technology Act of 2017
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Protecting Beneficiary Access to Complex Rehab Technology Act of 2017
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories. (A competitive bidding program has replaced the use of established fee schedule amounts to determine payments under Medicare for certain durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs.)

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 486 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 486

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the non-
   application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex 
              rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2017

Mr. Casey (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Coons, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Brown, 
Mr. Roberts, Ms. Stabenow, Mrs. Capito, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Blunt) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the non-
   application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex 
              rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Beneficiary Access to 
Complex Rehab Technology Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFYING NON-APPLICATION OF MEDICARE COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION 
              RATES TO COMPLEX REHABILITATIVE WHEELCHAIRS AND 
              ACCESSORIES.

    Section 1834(a)(1)(F) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395m(a)(1)(F)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by striking at the end ``and'';
            (2) in clause (iii), by striking at the end the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iv) in the case of covered items 
                        furnished on or after July 1, 2017, the 
                        Secretary shall not apply this subparagraph or 
                        any other provision of this title to use 
                        information from the competitive acquisition 
                        program to determine payment amounts for items 
                        excluded from such competitive acquisition 
                        program, including all complex rehabilitative 
                        manual and power wheelchairs classified by the 
                        Secretary as of January 1, 2015, and, without 
                        limitation, any wheelchair accessory, cushion, 
                        or back when furnished in connection with a 
                        complex rehabilitative manual or power 
                        wheelchair.''.
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