Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-2753
Sponsor: Rep. Black, Diane [R-TN-6]
Introduced: 2013-07-19 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Department of Health and Human Services
Government information and archives
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health promotion and preventive care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicare
Physical fitness and lifestyle
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2013-07-19
text: 
Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2013 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to terminate after 2013 the permission to disenroll, between January 1 and March 15 of each year, only from a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan to elect enrollment in the original Medicare fee-for-service program.
 
Restores the option under previous law to elect to change from an MA plan to the original Medicare fee-for-service plan, or from the original Medicare fee-for-service to an MA plan, once a year during the first three months.
 
Permits an MA organization to offer individuals enrolled in one of its MA plans one or more incentive programs designed to improve their health care.
 
Permits an MA plan, through mechanisms such as value based insurance design (VBID) practices, to vary cost sharing for the purpose of encouraging enrollees to use providers that the MA organization has identified as performing well on quality metrics.
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to evaluate and, as appropriate, revise for 2017 and periodically thereafter the risk adjustment system so that a risk score, with respect to an individual, takes into account the number of chronic conditions with which the individual has been diagnosed, and, to the extent available, at least two years of diagnostic data including data obtained during the individual's health risk assessments.
 
Requires the Secretary to take steps necessary to ensure that the MA 5-star rating system: (1) does not disadvantage a plan that enrolls a disproportionately high proportion of enrollees who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals, subsidy eligible individuals, or other individuals with complex health care needs such as individuals with multiple conditions; and (2) allows adjustments to account for differences in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of enrollees and geographic variation in health outcomes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-26
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2013-07-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2013-07-19
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2013-07-19
text: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2013-07-19
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-07-19
text: Introduced in House