US Congress Senate Bill 1849 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: Introduced on July 23 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-07-23 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Pending: Senate Finance Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

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.

Medicare Patient Empowerment Act of 2015

Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]	Sen. James Inhofe [R-OK]	Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]	Sen. Bill Cassidy [R-LA]
Sen. John Barrasso [R-WY]	Sen. Roy Blunt [R-MO]	Sen. Roger Wicker [R-MS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2015-07-23	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

HB1650 (Same As) 2015-04-07 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
HB2300 (Related) 2015-11-16 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
SB2519 (Related) 2016-02-09 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S740-741)

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1849/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s1849/BILLS-114s1849is.pdf