Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016
Latest action · Jun 8, 2016 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.
- IntroducedMay 18, 2016
- Passed HouseJun 7, 2016
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016
TITLE I--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART A
(Sec. 101) The bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop, with respect to claims for hospital services, codes under the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) for similar inpatient and outpatient hospital services.
(Sec. 102) The bill establishes processes for adjusting a hospital's Medicare payments based on the hospital's overall proportion of inpatients who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
(Sec. 103) The bill extends for five years the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program, through which Medicare pays certain rural hospitals on the basis of reasonable incurred costs rather than under the standard prospective payment system.
(Sec. 104) With respect to long-term care hospitals, the bill lifts a moratorium on bed increases. The bill reduces rates for high-cost outlier payments, which are additional Medicare payments made in extraordinarily high-cost cases.
(Sec. 105) The bill reduces the amount by which hospital payment rates for inpatient services increase in FY2018.
TITLE II--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART B
(Sec. 201) The bill excludes certain off-campus outpatient departments (OPDs) from specified rules that mandate lower Medicare payments. Specifically, the exclusion applies to: (1) cancer hospitals in off-campus OPDs, and (2) mid-build OPDs. A "mid-build" OPD is one for which the provider had, before a certain date, a binding written agreement with an outside party for construction.
(Sec. 203) With respect to payment reductions for failing to meet requirements for the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs), the bill exempts eligible professionals who are based in ambulatory surgical centers.
TITLE III--OTHER MEDICARE PROVISIONS
(Sec. 301) Until plan year 2019, CMS may not terminate an MA plan solely because the plan failed to achieve a specified minimum quality rating.
(Sec. 302) CMS must annually report on Medicare enrollment data, as specified by the bill.
(Sec. 303) CMS shall: (1) request information and recommendations from stakeholders on information included in the Welcome to Medicare package, and (2) update the information included in the package accordingly.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on May 18, 2016.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Original | May 18, 2016 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred May 18, 2016Markup May 24, 2016Reported Jun 7, 2016 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred May 19, 2016 | |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred May 18, 2016Discharged Jun 7, 2016 |
| Senate | Finance Committee | Referred Jun 8, 2016 |
Actions 14
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 8, 2016Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Jun 7, 2016Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 114-604, Part I.
- Jun 7, 2016Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
- Jun 7, 2016Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 470.
- Jun 7, 2016Mr. Tiberi moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E863 | Jim McDermott D-WA | Jun 9, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H3470–H3475Text printed H3470–H3473 | Danny K. Davis D-IL, Don Young R-AK, James B. Renacci R-OH, Jim McDermott D-WA, Kevin Brady R-TX, Patrick J. Tiberi R-OH | Jun 7, 2016 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Jun 3, 2016H.R. 5273, Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016As ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on May, 24 2016
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 162, no. 79, May 18, 2016, page H2845.
Related bills 9
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 34 | 21st Century Cures Act | Related bill | Dec 13, 2016 |
| S 202 | A bill to provide for a technical change to the Medicare long-term care hospital moratorium exception. | Related bill | Jan 21, 2015 |
| HR 441 | To provide for a technical change to the Medicare long-term care hospital moratorium exception. | Related bill | Feb 27, 2015 |
| S 607 | Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 | Related bill | Feb 5, 2016 |
| HR 672 | Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 | Related bill | Feb 12, 2015 |
| HR 2506 | Seniors' Health Care Plan Protection Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jun 16, 2015 |
| HR 2580 | LTCH Technical Correction Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jun 16, 2015 |
| HR 3291 | Medicare Crosswalk Hospital Code Development Act of 2015 | Related bill | Aug 12, 2015 |
| HR 5268 | Medicare Beneficiary Enrollment Improvement Act | Related bill | May 20, 2016 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for regulatory relief under the Medicare program for certain providers of services and suppliers and increased transparency in hospital coding and enrollment data, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016
- Short Titles as Passed House
- Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Building construction
- Congressional oversight
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Health
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Health care quality
- Health facilities and institutions
- Health information and medical records
- Health promotion and preventive care
- Hospital care
- Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
- Medicare
- Performance measurement
- Public contracts and procurement
- Rural conditions and development
Text 4
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 8, 2016Referred in Senate
- Jun 7, 2016Reported in House
- Jun 7, 2016Engrossed in House
- May 18, 2016Introduced 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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
