Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1544 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to streamline enrollment under the Medicaid program of certain providers across State lines, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to streamline enrollment under the Medicaid program of certain pro- viders across State lines, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Accelerating Kids’ Ac- 4 cess to Care Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1544.IS S1544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1544 IS SEC. 2. STREAMLINED ENROLLMENT PROCESS FOR ELIGI- 1 BLE OUT-OF-STATE PROVIDERS UNDER THE 2 MEDICAID PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1902(kk) of the Social Se- 4 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(kk)) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(10) STREAMLINED ENROLLMENT PROCESS 7 FOR ELIGIBLE OUT-OF-STATE PROVIDERS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State adopts and 9 implements a process that enables an eligible 10 out-of-State provider to enroll as a provider in 11 the State plan without the imposition of addi- 12 tional screening requirements by the State. An 13 eligible out-of-State provider that enrolls in the 14 State plan through such process shall be so en- 15 rolled for a 5-year period and may revalidate 16 such enrollment through such process for subse- 17 quent 5-year periods. 18 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 19 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE OUT-OF-STATE PRO- 20 VIDER.—The term ‘eligible out-of-State 21 provider’ means, with respect to a State, a 22 provider— 23 ‘‘(I) that furnishes to qualifying 24 individuals any item or service for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1544.IS S1544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1544 IS which payment is available under the 1 State plan of the State; 2 ‘‘(II) that is located in any other 3 State; 4 ‘‘(III) with respect to which the 5 Secretary has determined there is a 6 limited risk of fraud, waste, or abuse 7 for purposes of determining the level 8 of screening to be conducted under 9 section 1866(j)(2)(B); 10 ‘‘(IV) that has been screened 11 under such section 1866(j)(2)(B) for 12 purposes of enrolling in the Medicare 13 program under title XVIII or the 14 State plan of the State in which such 15 provider is located; and 16 ‘‘(V) that has not been excluded 17 from participation in the Medicare 18 program under such title or the Med- 19 icaid program under this title. 20 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFYING INDIVIDUAL.—The 21 term ‘qualifying individual’ means, with re- 22 spect to an eligible out-of-State provider— 23 ‘‘(I) an individual under 18 years 24 of age to whom the provider furnishes 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1544.IS S1544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1544 IS items and services for the treatment 1 of a condition; and 2 ‘‘(II) an individual 18 years of 3 age or older to whom the provider fur- 4 nishes items and services for the 5 treatment of a condition that onset 6 before such individual attained 18 7 years of age.’’. 8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 9 (1) Section 1902(a)(77) of the Social Security 10 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(77)) is amended by insert- 11 ing ‘‘enrollment,’’ after ‘‘screening,’’. 12 (2) Section 1902(kk) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 13 1396a(kk)), as amended by subsection (a), is further 14 amended— 15 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 16 ‘‘ENROLLMENT,’’ after ‘‘SCREENING,’’; and 17 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘Noth- 18 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para- 19 graph (10), nothing’’. 20 (3) Section 2107(e)(1)(G) of such Act (42 21 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)(G)) is amended by inserting 22 ‘‘enrollment,’’ after ‘‘screening,’’. 23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1544.IS S1544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1544 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 1 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 2 take effect on January 1, 2022. 3 (2) EXCEPTION FOR STATE LEGISLATION.—In 4 the case of a State plan under title XIX of the So- 5 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) or a State 6 child health plan under title XXI of such Act (42 7 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.) which the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services determines requires 9 State legislation (other than legislation appro- 10 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the ad- 11 ditional requirements imposed by the amendments 12 made by this section, such State plan or State child 13 health plan shall not be regarded as failing to com- 14 ply with the requirements of such title XIX or title 15 XXI, respectively, solely on the basis of its failure to 16 meet these additional requirements before the first 17 day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the 18 close of the first regular session of the State legisla- 19 ture that begins after the date of the enactment of 20 this Act. For purposes of the previous sentence, in 21 the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative ses- 22 sion, each year of such session shall be deemed to 23 be a separate regular session of the State legislature. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1544.IS S1544 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS