Preserve Access to Medicare Rural Home Health Services Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-839
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2015-03-23
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health care coverage and access

Home and outpatient care

Medicare

Rural conditions and development
Latest action: action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1711-1712)

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-03-23
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Preserve Access to Medicare Rural Home Health Services Act of 2015</b></p> <p>This bill amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to extend through calendar 2020 the payment increase (add-on) for Medicare home health services in rural areas.</p> <p> The ceiling on the total amount of the additional payments or payment adjustments otherwise made in the case of home health outliers with respect to a fiscal year or year is lowered, in the case of each of 2016 through 2020, from 2.5% to 2.25% of the total payments projected or estimated to be made under the prospective payment system for home health services.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 839 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 23, 2015 Ms. Collins (for herself and Ms. Cantwell ) 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 extend the rural add-on payment in the Medicare home health benefit, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Preserve Access to Medicare Rural Home Health Services Act of 2015 . (a) Rural Add-On Extension Section 421(a) of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 ( Public Law 108–173 ; 117 Stat. 2283), as amended by section 5201(b) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 ( Public Law 109–171 ; 120 Stat. 46) and section 3131(c) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( Public Law 111–148 ; 124 Stat. 428), is amended by striking 2016 each place it appears and inserting 2021 . (b) Revision of home health outlier adjustment Section 1895(b)(5)(A) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395fff(b)(5)(A) ) is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting (or, in the case of each of 2016 through 2020, 2.25 percent) after 2.5 percent .