S. 1849 · 114th Congress
Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2015
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 114th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
MurkowskiSponsor6 cosponsors · 6 R
4 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow any Medicare beneficiary to enter into a contract with an eligible professional, regardless of whether the professional is a participating or non-participating physician or practitioner, for any item or service covered by Medicare.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Jul 23, 2015
Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2015
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow any Medicare beneficiary to enter into a contract with an eligible professional, regardless of whether the professional is a participating or non-participating physician or practitioner, for any item or service covered by Medicare. Such beneficiaries may submit a claim for Medicare payment in the amount that would otherwise apply, except that, where the professional is considered to be non-participating, payment shall be paid as if the professional were participating.
An "eligible professional" is a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, certified nurse-midwife, clinical social worker, clinical psychologist, physical or occupational therapist, qualified speech-language pathologist, or qualified audiologist.
A Medicare beneficiary must agree in writing in such a contract to: (1) pay the eligible professional for a Medicare-covered item or service; and (2) submit, in lieu of the eligible professional, a claim for Medicare payment. However, a beneficiary maynegotiate, as a term of the contract, for the eligible professional to file such claims on the beneficiary's behalf.
The bill preempts state laws from limiting the amount of charges for physician and practitioner services for which Medicare payment is made.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2015
Latest action (Jul 23, 2015): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Policy area: Health · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jul 23, 2015
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.