Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2017

Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2017

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish a separate Medicare benefit category for complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) items that: (1) are designed or configured to meet an individual's unique needs and capacities; (2) are primarily used to serve a medical or functional purpose; and (3) require certain services to ensure appropriate design, configuration, and use. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall designate CRT items and establish eligibility criteria with respect to such items, in accordance with specified exclusions and other requirements.

The CMS must also establish: (1) a payment system applicable to CRT items, subject to clinical conditions and other specified requirements; (2) quality standards for suppliers of CRT items; and (3) a formal process for the submission of certain CRT code-set modification requests by stakeholder groups.

If specified requirements are met, Medicare payment must be made for the replacement of a CRT item (or item part), without regard to certain continuous-use or useful-lifetime restrictions applicable to items of durable medical equipment.

In addition, Medicare payment may be made for the temporary rental of a CRT item if such an item owned by a qualified enrollee is undergoing necessary repairs.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov