Title: Strengthening Medicare Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs Act of 2017
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Strengthening Medicare Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs Act of 2017
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise requirements related the approval of intensive cardiac rehabilitation programs by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for purposes of Medicare coverage.
To be approved by CMS as an intensive cardiac rehabilitation program under current law, a program must show that it: (1) positively affected the progression of coronary heart disease or reduced the need for either coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary interventions, and (2) accomplished a significant reduction in other specified health measures. The bill instead requires a program to show that it: (1) reversed the progression of coronary heart disease or reduced the need for coronary bypass surgery; and (2) accomplished, in addition to a significant reduction in other specified health measures, a significant increase in the measure of blood flow to the heart. The bill further requires a program to show, using research of its own program, that these measures were accomplished by lifestyle changes alone.
The bill removes the specific requirement that such a program be "physician-supervised" but retains other existing requirements for program supervision.
A program that was approved by CMS as an intensive cardiac rehabilitation program prior to August 1, 2015, shall be deemed to have met these requirements.
To be eligible for an intensive cardiac rehabilitation program under current law, an individual must have had one of several specified conditions or interventions. The bill adds to the list of qualifying conditions: (1) stable, chronic heart failure; and (2) any additional condition that CMS determines shall be covered under such a program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 46 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 46

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen intensive 
      cardiac rehabilitation programs under the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 5, 2017

  Mr. Heller (for himself, Mr. Blunt, and Mr. Bennet) 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 strengthen intensive 
      cardiac rehabilitation programs under the Medicare program.

    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 ``Strengthening Medicare Intensive 
Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. REVISED REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICARE INTENSIVE CARE REHABILITATION 
              PROGRAMS.

    Section 1861(eee)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(eee)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
                            (i) by striking ``physician-supervised 
                        program (as described in paragraph (2))'' and 
                        inserting ``program (supervised as described in 
                        paragraph (2))''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``, in peer-reviewed 
                        published research, that it accomplished'' and 
                        inserting ``in peer-reviewed published research 
                        of its own program, that by lifestyle changes 
                        alone it accomplished'';
                    (B) in clause (i)--
                            (i) in subclause (I), by striking 
                        ``positively affected'' and inserting 
                        ``reversed'';
                            (ii) in subclause (II), by striking ``or'' 
                        and inserting ``and''; and
                            (iii) by striking subclause (III);
                    (C) in clause (ii), in the matter preceding 
                subclause (I), by inserting ``both a statistically 
                significant increase in the measure of blood flow to 
                the heart when compared to a control group and'' before 
                ``a statistically significant''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                sentence:
``Programs that the Secretary approved under this paragraph before 
August 1, 2015, as intensive cardiac rehabilitation programs according 
to the requirements under this subparagraph before the date of the 
enactment of the Strengthening Medicare Intensive Cardiac 
Rehabilitation Programs Act of 2017 shall be deemed to meet the 
requirements under this subparagraph applied pursuant to the amendments 
made by such Act.''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in clause (v), by striking at the end ``or'';
                    (B) in clause (vi), by striking at the end the 
                period; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clauses:
                    ``(vii) stable, chronic heart failure (defined as 
                patients with left ventricular ejection fraction of 35 
                percent or less and New York Heart Association (NYHA) 
                class II to IV symptoms despite being on optimal heart 
                failure therapy for at least 6 weeks); or
                    ``(viii) any additional condition for which the 
                Secretary has determined that a cardiac rehabilitation 
                program shall be covered.''.
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