Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3118
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2008-06-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Aid to dependent children
Ambulances
Anesthetics
Appropriations
Cardiovascular diseases
Cash welfare block grants
Chronically ill
Commerce
Communication in medicine
Disabled
Drugs
Economics and Public Finance
Electronic data interchange
Emergency Management
Emergency medicine
Families
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Government Operations and Politics
Hawaii
Health insurance
Higher education
Home care services
Hospital rates
Hospitals
Housing and Community Development
Illegal aliens
Imaging systems in medicine
Immigrant health
Immigration
Kidney diseases
Lung diseases
Marketing
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical fees
Medically uninsured
Medicare
Old age assistance
Physicians
Prescription pricing
Quality of care
Rural health
Science, Technology, Communications
Sexual abstinence
Social Welfare
Tennessee

Summary:
action_date: 2008-06-11
text: 
Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008 - Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act of 2008 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise the payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals; (2) extend increased Medicare payments for ground ambulance services; (3) extend the authorization for Medicare rural hospital flexibility program grants; (4) provide for rebasing for sole community hospitals; and (5) extend the rural home health add-on policy through 2009.
 
Revises the formula for payments for physician services to provide an update to the single conversion factor of: (1) 0.5% for the remainder of 2008; and (2) 1.1% for 2009.
 
Extends the Physician Assistance and Quality Initiative (PAQI) Fund.
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Physician Feedback Program.
 
Revises requirements or provides for: (1) incentive payments for electronic prescribing and primary care services in physician scarcity areas; (2) the Medicare anesthesia teaching program; (3) advanced diagnostic imaging services; (4) Medicare coverage of items and services under cardiac rehabilitation and pulmonary rehabilitation programs; (5) phase-out of the indirect costs of medical education (IME) from capitation rates; (6) quality improvement programs; and (7) certain prohibitions with respect to marketing of Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans.
 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to establish specified pilot projects regarding chronic kidney disease.
 
Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 to extend the transitional medical assistance (TMA) and abstinence education programs.
 
Amends SSA title XIX to extend: (1) the qualifying individual program; and (2) the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment for Tennessee and Hawaii.
 
Provides for: (1) asset verification under Medicaid; and (2) reduction in payments for Medicaid administrative costs to prevent certain payment duplications.
 
Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to extend authority for supplemental grants under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF).
 
Amends the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to provide for additional funding for state health insurance assistance programs, area agencies on aging, and aging and disability resource centers. 
 
Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make appropriations for federal reimbursement of eligible providers for emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-06-12
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 776.
action_date: 2008-06-11
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-06-11
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5526-5529)
action_date: 2008-06-11
text: Introduced in Senate