To extend for one year parity in the application of certain limits to mental health benefits, and for other purposes.
Latest action · Feb 8, 2008 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedDec 19, 2007
- Passed HouseFeb 7, 2008
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Public Health Service Act to extend until December 31, 2008, mental health parity provisions, which require group health plans to treat equally mental health benefits and medical and surgical benefits for purposes of lifetime limits or annual limits on benefits covered by the plan.
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take all necessary steps to participate in the Federal Payment Levy Program as soon as possible and ensure that: (1) at least 50% of all payments under parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) are processed through such program within one year after enactment of this Act; (2) at least 75% of all such payments are processed through such program within two years; and (3) all such payments are processed through such program by September 30, 2011.
Requires the Financial Management Service and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide assistance to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ensure that all payments are included in the Federal Payment Levy Program by the deadlines specified.
Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offset Medicare payments by the amount of the payee's delinquent federal debt.
Requires the Secretary of HHS to provide for specified expenditures from the Physician Assistance and Quality Initiative Fund for payment for physicians' services.
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer specified funds from general revenues to Social Security trust funds to ensure that assets of such trust funds are not reduced as a result of enactment of this Act.
Recorded votes 1
Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.
| Roll call | Question | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House 35 | On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended | Passed384–23 | Feb 7, 2008 |
Cosponsors 6
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Dec 19, 2007 to Feb 6, 2008, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Fortney Pete Stark | Original | Dec 19, 2007 |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Feb 6, 2008 | |
| D-CA | George Miller | Feb 6, 2008 | |
| D-MI | John D. Dingell | Feb 6, 2008 | |
| D-IL | Rahm Emanuel | Feb 6, 2008 | |
| D-NJ | Robert E. Andrews | Feb 6, 2008 |
Actions 12
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 8, 2008Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Feb 7, 2008Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H640-641)
- Feb 7, 2008Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Feb 7, 2008On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 384 - 23 (Roll no. 35). (text: CR 2/6/2008 H583-584)
- Feb 7, 2008Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 384 - 23 (Roll no. 35).(text: CR 2/6/2008 H583-584)
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 7, 2008Engrossed in House
- Dec 19, 2007Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.