Title: TA SUPPORT Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Technical Assistance for Small and Underserved Providers to Prevent Oversights and Refocus on Treatment Act or the TA SUPPORT Act
This bill reauthorizes funds through FY2025 for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to contract with specified entities (e.g., quality improvement organizations) to provide technical assistance regarding the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and alternative payment models under Medicare, specifically for health professionals in practices with 15 or fewer professionals. (MIPS is an incentive program under Medicare that allows health professionals to receive payment adjustments based on certain performance measures.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3230 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3230

   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an 
 extension of funding for technical assistance to small practices and 
 practices in health professional shortage areas under the Merit-based 
                    Incentive Payment System (MIPS).


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 28, 2020

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Portman) 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 an 
 extension of funding for technical assistance to small practices and 
 practices in health professional shortage areas under the Merit-based 
                    Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

    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 ``Technical Assistance for Small and 
Underserved Providers to Prevent Oversights and Refocus on Treatment 
Act'' or the ``TA SUPPORT Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF FUNDING FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SMALL 
              PRACTICES AND PRACTICES IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE 
              AREAS UNDER MIPS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1848(q)(11)(B) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(q)(11)(B)) is amended by striking ``through 2020'' 
and inserting ``through 2025''.
    (b) Study and Report.--
            (1) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in 
        this subsection referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct 
        a study on the impact of the technical assistance funded under 
        paragraph (11) of section 1848(q) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(q)). Such study shall include an analysis 
        of--
                    (A) the practices that have received technical 
                assistance through such funding; and
                    (B) the progress that professionals in such 
                practices have made to improve within the Merit-based 
                Incentive Payment System (MIPS) under such section 
                1848(q); and
                    (C) the progress that professionals in such 
                practices have made to transition to the implementation 
                of and participation in an alternative payment model as 
                described in section 1833(z)(3)(C) of such Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1395l(z)(3)(C)).
            (2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
        report on the study conducted under paragraph (1), together 
        with recommendations for such legislation and administrative 
        action as the Secretary determines appropriate.
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