A bill to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide Secretarial authority to temporarily waive or modify application of certain Medicare requirements with respect to ambulance services furnished during certain emergency periods.

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 149 To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide Secretarial authority to temporarily waive or modify application of certain Medicare require- ments with respect to ambulance services furnished during certain emer- gency periods. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2021 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide Secretarial authority to temporarily waive or modify ap- plication of certain Medicare requirements with respect to ambulance services furnished during certain emer- gency periods. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S149.IS S149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 149 IS SECTION 1. SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY TO TEMPORARILY 1 WAIVE OR MODIFY APPLICATION OF CER- 2 TAIN MEDICARE REQUIREMENTS WITH RE- 3 SPECT TO AMBULANCE SERVICES FUR- 4 NISHED DURING CERTAIN EMERGENCY PERI- 5 ODS. 6 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 1135(b) of the 7 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(b)) is amended— 8 (1) in the first sentence— 9 (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 10 the end; 11 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe- 12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the 14 following new paragraph: 15 ‘‘(9) any requirement under section 1861(s)(7) 16 or section 1834(l) that an ambulance service include 17 the transport of an individual to the extent nec- 18 essary to allow payment for ground ambulance serv- 19 ices furnished in response to a 911 call (or the 20 equivalent in areas without a 911 call system) in 21 cases in which an individual would have been trans- 22 ported to a destination permitted under Medicare 23 regulations (as described in section 410.40 to title 24 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 25 lations)) but such transport did not occur as a result 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S149.IS S149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 149 IS of community-wide emergency medical service 1 (EMS) protocols due to the public health emergency 2 described in subsection (g)(1)(B).’’; and 3 (2) in the flush matter at the end, by adding 4 at the end the following: ‘‘Ground ambulance serv- 5 ices for which payment is made pursuant to para- 6 graph (9) shall be paid at the base rate that would 7 have been paid under the fee schedule established 8 under 1834(l) (excluding any mileage payment) if 9 the individual had been so transported and, with re- 10 spect to ambulance services furnished by a critical 11 access hospital or an entity described in paragraph 12 (8) of such section, at the amount that otherwise 13 would be paid under such paragraph.’’. 14 (b) EMERGENCY PERIOD EXCEPTION.—Section 15 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 16 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)) is amended, in the matter preceding 17 clause (i), by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(8)’’ and inserting 18 ‘‘paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection (b)’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S149.IS S149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS