Triple A Study Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8581 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 13, 2020 Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Veterans’ Af- fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8581.IH H8581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8581 IH 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 (4) the affordability of assistive devices; 17 (5) the provision of rehabilitation services to 18 support acclimation to assistive devices; and 19 (6) appropriate timelines for assessments for 20 surgery and assessments of assistive devices. 21 (b) COMPARISON OF CERTAIN DATA.—As part of the 22 evaluation conducted under subsection (a), the Comp- 23 troller General shall compare data on practices and out- 24 comes derived from the Medicare program under title 25 XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8581.IH H8581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8581 IH the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the commercial 1 health insurance market relating to the coverage of assist- 2 ive technologies, including— 3 (1) the percentage of patients who get access to 4 assistive devices; 5 (2) performance measures that monitor the 6 timeliness of processing prosthetic prescriptions; 7 (3) coverage denials and overturn rates; 8 (4) coding for physician or physical therapy as- 9 sessments, including whether a prosthetist was en- 10 gaged in the assessment; 11 (5) the rate of patients returning to work in 12 general, and after receiving a prosthetic device com- 13 parable to other assistive technologies; 14 (6) reductions in long-term assistive technology 15 services and supports; 16 (7) with respect to those using assistive tech- 17 nologies, policies to reduce falls and secondary com- 18 plications, such as diabetes, heart disease, vascular 19 disease, and others; and 20 (8) the amount expended by individual entities 21 on prosthetics relative to total amount expended by 22 such entities. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8581.IH H8581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS