Triple A Study Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1089 To direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate appropriate cov- erage of assistive technologies provided to patients who experience ampu- tation or live with limb difference. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 13, 2021 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate appropriate coverage of assistive technologies provided to patients who experience amputation or live with limb difference. 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 ‘‘Access to Assistive 4 Technology and Devices for Americans Study Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘Triple A Study Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1089.IS S1089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1089 IS SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE COVERAGE OF ASSISTIVE TECH- 1 NOLOGIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 4 of the United States shall evaluate, and submit to Con- 5 gress a report on such evaluation, the appropriate cov- 6 erage, through insurance or otherwise, of assistive tech- 7 nologies provided to patients who experience amputation 8 or live with limb difference, particularly prosthetic devices 9 and custom orthoses, including— 10 (1) timely access to care, including educating 11 patients regarding options for assistive technologies; 12 (2) assessments and guidelines for assistive de- 13 vice determinations; 14 (3) matching specific assistive devices with the 15 needs of the individual beneficiary, such as women, 16 children, and racial and ethnic minorities; 17 (4) the affordability of assistive devices; 18 (5) the provision of rehabilitation services to 19 support acclimation to assistive devices; and 20 (6) appropriate timelines for assessments for 21 surgery and assessments of assistive devices. 22 (b) COMPARISON OF CERTAIN DATA.—As part of the 23 evaluation conducted under subsection (a), the Comp- 24 troller General shall compare data on practices and out- 25 comes derived from the Medicare program under title 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1089.IS S1089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1089 IS XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), 1 the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the commercial 2 health insurance market relating to the coverage of assist- 3 ive technologies, including— 4 (1) the percentage of patients who get access to 5 assistive devices; 6 (2) performance measures that monitor the 7 timeliness of processing prosthetic prescriptions; 8 (3) coverage denials and overturn rates; 9 (4) coding for physician or physical therapy or 10 occupational therapy assessments, including whether 11 a prosthetist was engaged in the assessment; 12 (5) the rate of patients returning to work in 13 general, and after receiving a prosthetic device com- 14 parable to other assistive technologies; 15 (6) reductions in long-term assistive technology 16 services and supports; 17 (7) with respect to those using assistive tech- 18 nologies, policies to reduce falls and secondary com- 19 plications, such as diabetes, heart disease, vascular 20 disease, and others; and 21 (8) the amount expended by individual entities 22 on prosthetics relative to total amount expended by 23 such entities. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1089.IS S1089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS