Title: Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2017
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2017
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow payment under Medicare for certain services furnished to hospice patients by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).
With respect to a patient who elects to receive hospice care under Medicare, current law generally limits payment for services that are either duplicative of such care or related to the treatment of the individual's terminal illness. However, current law exempts from this limitation: (1) physicians' services furnished by an attending physician not employed by the hospice program; and (2) services provided or arranged by the hospice program.
The bill expands this exemption with regard to rural health clinic and FQHC services. Specifically, the payment limitation shall not apply to such services that: (1) would otherwise be physicians' services if furnished by an individual unaffiliated with a rural health clinic or FQHC; and (2) are either arranged by the hospice program or furnished by an attending physician not employed by the hospice program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1828 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1828

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payments 
 for certain rural health clinic and Federally qualified health center 
   services furnished to hospice patients under the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2017

    Ms. Jenkins of Kansas (for herself and Mr. Kind) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for payments 
 for certain rural health clinic and Federally qualified health center 
   services furnished to hospice patients 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 ``Rural Access to Hospice Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN RURAL HEALTH CLINIC AND FEDERALLY 
              QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTER SERVICES FURNISHED TO HOSPICE 
              PATIENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1812(d)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395d(d)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``subparagraphs (B) and (C)'' and inserting ``the 
                succeeding provisions of this paragraph'';
                    (B) in clause (ii)(II), by striking the semicolon 
                and inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking ``except that'' and all that 
                follows through ``hospice program.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(E) Subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not apply to--
            ``(i) physicians' services furnished by the individual's 
        attending physician (as defined in section 1861(dd)(3)(B)), if 
        the physician is not an employee of the hospice program;
            ``(ii) services provided by (or under arrangements made by) 
        the hospice program; or
            ``(iii) rural health clinic services (as defined in 
        paragraph (1) of section 1861(aa)) and Federally qualified 
        health center services (as defined in paragraph (3) of such 
        section) if such services--
                    ``(I) would otherwise be physicians' services if 
                furnished by an individual not affiliated with a rural 
                health clinic (as defined in paragraph (2) of such 
                section) or a Federally qualified health center (as 
                defined in paragraph (4) of such section); and
                    ``(II) are furnished by the individual's attending 
                physician (as so defined), if such physician is not an 
                employee of the hospice program, or are provided under 
                arrangements made by the hospice program.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to services furnished on or after the date that is 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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