Treatment in Place Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1609 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mrs. AXNE (for herself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, and Mr. WESTERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Treatment in Place 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1609 IH SEC. 2. 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 03:46 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1609 IH 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 03:46 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1609.IH H1609 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS