Topic: Health — Health Care Reform
Subject: Health
Date: 2009-10-29 00:00:00

Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010 - Title I: Health Provisions - (Sec. 101) Sets 2.2% as the update to the single conversion factor in the formula for determining physician payment rates for June 1, 2010, through November 30, 2010. (Sec. 102) Revises requirements for calculating payments to hospitals for inpatient hospital services with respect to the three-day payment window regarding other services related to an admission which are performed during the three days before an admission. Includes among such services, in addition to diagnostic services (as under current law), all services that are not diagnostic services (other than ambulance and maintenance renal dialysis services) for which Medicare payment may be made that are provided to a patient by a hospital (or an entity wholly owned or operated by the hospital). Prohibits any administrative or judicial review of the determination of whether services provided during the three days before a patient's inpatient admission are related to the admission. Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from reopening a claim, adjusting a claim, or making a payment pursuant to any request for Medicare payment (previously bundled claims) submitted by a hospital or an entity wholly owned or operated by the hospital for specified other services related to a patient's inpatient admission for purposes of treating, as unrelated to such admission, services provided during the three days (or in the case of a hospital that is not a subsection [d] hospital, during the one day) immediately preceding the date of the patient's inpatient admission. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) (Sec. 103) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose to HHS officers and employees tax return information regarding delinquent tax debt with respect to taxpayers who apply to enroll or reenroll as Medicare service providers or suppliers. Requires the HHS Secretary to take this information into account in determining whether to deny such an application or to apply enhanced oversight to a service provider or supplier who owes such a debt. Title II: Pension Funding Relief - Subtitle A: Single Employer Plans - (Sec. 201) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) with respect to the shortfall amortization charge in the formula for determining the minimum required contribution for any plan year of a single-employer defined benefit plan in which the value of plan assets is less than the plan's funding target for the plan year. (The shortfall amortization charge for a plan for any plan year is the aggregate total of the shortfall amortization installments in amortizing unfunded liabilities for such plan year with respect to the shortfall amortization bases for the plan year and each of the six preceding plan years. Shortfall amortization installments are the amounts necessary to amortize the shortfall amortization base of the plan for any plan year in level annual installments over the seven-plan-year period beginning with such plan year.) Allows a sponsor of a single-employer defined benefit pension plan to elect in any two plan years 2008-2011 extended amortization periods (of 9 or 15 years instead of the usual 7 years). Requires an increase in alternate required shortfall amortization installments by an installment acceleration amount, during a specified restriction period (beginning after December 31, 2009), in cases of excess compensation or extraordinary dividends or stock redemptions, as determined according to specified formulae. Defines installment acceleration amount as the sum of the aggregate amount of excess employee compensation (over $1 million) for a plan year after February 28, 2010, plus the aggregate amount of extraordinary dividends and stock redemptions for such plan year. (Sec. 202) Amends the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) to allow sponsors of certain eligible cooperative pension plans, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) settlement plans, and government contractor cooperative plans or eligible charity plans with delayed effective dates to elect, in certain plan years 2008-2011, to apply specified pre-PPA 2006 minimum funding rules with respect to unfunded new liabilities (under 90% funded) for either: (1) a two-year lookback for determining deficit reduction contributions for certain plans with 9-year extended amortization periods; or (2) a new applicable percentage in the determination of a 15-year extended amortization period. (Sec. 203) Revises the formula for determining the adjusted funding target attainment percentage of single-employer benefit plans for plan years between October 1, 2008, and October 1, 2010 (FY2009 and FY2010), to make a special FY2007 plan year lookback rule with respect to determining when an unpredictable contingent event benefit may not be paid. (Sec. 204) Revises requirements for the reduction of the minimum required contribution (by elected credits for a prefunding balance and a funding standard carryover balance) to a single-employer defined benefit pension plan maintained by a charity (charity benefit plan). Prescribes a special lookback for credit balance rule limiting such a reduction of the minimum required contribution for charity benefit plans that are less than 80% funded for plan years beginning after August 31, 2009, and before September 1, 2011. Subtitle B: Multiemployer Plans - (Sec. 211) Amends ERISA and IRC relating to minimum funding standards for multiemployer pension plans. Makes a special relief rule to allow such plans to elect alternative amortization plans and valuation methods for amortization of net investment losses incurred in either or both of the first two plan years ending after August 31, 2008, with a specified expanded smoothing period in asset valuation methods. Requires plan sponsors to give notice of such an election to participants and beneficiaries of the plan and the PBGC. Title III: Budgetary Provisions - (Sec. 301) Requires a determination of the budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.