Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2048 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facil- ity services under Medicare. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hos- pital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare. 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 ‘‘Improving Access to 4 Medicare Coverage Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2048.IS S2048 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2048 IS SEC. 2. COUNTING A PERIOD OF RECEIPT OF OUTPATIENT 1 OBSERVATION SERVICES IN A HOSPITAL TO- 2 WARD THE 3-DAY INPATIENT HOSPITAL RE- 3 QUIREMENT FOR COVERAGE OF SKILLED 4 NURSING FACILITY SERVICES UNDER MEDI- 5 CARE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1861(i) of the Social Se- 7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(i)) is amended by adding at 8 the end the following: ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, 9 an individual receiving outpatient observation services 10 shall be deemed to be an inpatient during such period, 11 and the date such individual ceases receiving such services 12 shall be deemed the hospital discharge date (unless such 13 individual is admitted as a hospital inpatient at the end 14 of such period).’’. 15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 16 subsection (a) shall apply to receipt of outpatient observa- 17 tion services beginning on or after January 1, 2021, but 18 applies to a period of post-hospital extended care services 19 that was completed before the date of the enactment of 20 this Act only if an administrative appeal is or has been 21 made with respect to such services not later than 90 days 22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. Notwith- 23 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of 24 Health and Human Services may implement such amend- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2048.IS S2048 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2048 IS ment through an interim final regulation, program in- 1 struction, or otherwise. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:09 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2048.IS S2048 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS