Creating Capacity for Communities in Need Act

Bill: 116-s-3547
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Introduced: 2020-03-19
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Business ethics

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Emergency medical services and trauma care

Health facilities and institutions

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Licensing and registrations

Medicaid

Medical ethics

Medicare

Rural conditions and development
Latest action: action_date: 2020-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-03-19
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Creating Capacity for Communities in Need Act</b></p> <p>This bill provides for an exception, during the national emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), to provisions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) that prohibit physician-owned hospitals from expanding facility capacity. </p> <p>Specifically, the bill excludes from such restrictions any increase in operating rooms, procedure rooms, or beds for which a hospital is licensed or begins construction during the period of March 13, 2020, through the last day of the national emergency. </p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3547 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 19, 2020 Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Cornyn , Mr. Lankford , Mr. Braun , and Mr. Inhofe ) 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 waive limitations on expansion of facility capacity under rural provider and hospital exception to ownership or investment prohibition during coronavirus 2020 emergency period.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Creating Capacity for Communities in Need Act . 2. Waiver of limitations on expansion of facility capacity under Rural Provider and Hospital Exception to Ownership or Investment Prohibition during co­ro­na­vi­rus 2020 emergency period Section 1877(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395nn(i)(1)(B) ) is amended— (1) by striking capacity .—Except as provided in paragraph (3), the number and inserting capacity .— (i) In general Except as provided in paragraph (3) and subject to clause (ii), the number ; and (2) by adding at the end the following new clause: (ii) Exception during coronavirus 2020 emergency period (I) In general The lim­i­ta­tion under clause (i) shall not apply with respect to any increase in the number of operating rooms, procedure rooms, or beds for which a hospital is licensed during the coronavirus 2020 emergency period, or for which the hospital begins construction during the co­ro­na­vi­rus 2020 emergency period regardless of whether the hospital is an applicable hospital (as defined in paragraph (3)(E)) or is a high Medicaid facility described in paragraph (3)(F), and the hospital’s baseline number of operating rooms, procedure rooms, and beds for purposes of compliance with this subparagraph shall be automatically modified to reflect such increase on a permanent basis. (II) Coronavirus 2020 emergency period defined For purposes of this clause, the coronavirus 2020 emergency period is the period beginning on March 13, 2020, and ending on the last day on which the emergency declared by the President under section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5191 ) with respect to SARS–C0V–2 and coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated as COVID–19) is in effect. .