Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2666 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide payment under part A of the Medicare Program on a reasonable cost basis for anesthesia services furnished by an anesthesiologist in certain rural hospitals in the same manner as payments are provided for anesthesia services fur- nished by anesthesiologist assistants and certified registered nurse anes- thetists in such hospitals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2019 Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Missouri) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide payment under part A of the Medicare Program on a reasonable cost basis for anesthesia services furnished by an anesthesiologist in certain rural hospitals in the same manner as payments are provided for anesthesia services furnished by anesthesiologist assistants and cer- tified registered nurse anesthetists in such hospitals, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 May 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2666 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Access to 2 Rural Anesthesiology Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. MEDICARE PART A PAYMENT FOR ANESTHESIOL- 4 OGIST SERVICES IN CERTAIN RURAL HOS- 5 PITALS BASED ON CRNA PASS-THROUGH 6 RULES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1814 of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395f) is amended by adding at the 9 end the following new subsection: 10 ‘‘Anesthesiologist Services Provided in Certain Rural 11 Hospitals 12 ‘‘(m)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 13 title, coverage and payment shall be provided under this 14 part for physicians’ services that are anesthesia services 15 furnished by a physician who is an anesthesiologist in a 16 rural hospital described in paragraph (3) in the same 17 manner as payment is made under the exception provided 18 in section 9320(k) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 19 Act of 1986, as amended by section 6132 of the Omnibus 20 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 1395k 21 note) (relating to payment on a reasonable cost, pass- 22 through basis), for certified registered nurse anesthetist 23 services furnished by a certified registered nurse anes- 24 thetist in a hospital described in such section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 May 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2666 IH ‘‘(2) No payment shall be made under any other pro- 1 vision of this title for physicians’ services for which pay- 2 ment is made under this subsection. 3 ‘‘(3) A rural hospital described in this paragraph is 4 a hospital described in section 9320(k) of the Omnibus 5 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, as so amended (42 6 U.S.C. 1395k note), except that— 7 ‘‘(A) any reference in such section to a ‘cer- 8 tified registered nurse anesthetist’ or ‘anesthetist’ is 9 deemed a reference to a ‘physician who is an anes- 10 thesiologist’ or ‘anesthesiologist’, respectively; and 11 ‘‘(B) any reference to ‘January 1, 1988’ or 12 ‘1987’ is deemed a reference to such date and year 13 as the Secretary shall specify.’’. 14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 15 subsection (a) shall apply to services furnished during cost 16 reporting periods beginning on or after the date of the 17 enactment of this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 May 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2666.IH H2666 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS