Acupuncture for Our Seniors Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3133 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for acupuncturist services under the Medicare program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2023 Ms. CHU (for herself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for acupuncturist services under the Medicare program. 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 ‘‘Acupuncture for Our 4 Seniors Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3133 IH SEC. 2. COVERAGE FOR ACUPUNCTURIST SERVICES UNDER 1 THE MEDICARE PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1861 of the Social Secu- 3 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (s)(2)— 5 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 6 paragraph (JJ); and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 8 subparagraph: 9 ‘‘(KK) qualified acupuncturist services (as de- 10 fined in subsection (nnn)(1));’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 section: 13 ‘‘(nnn) QUALIFIED ACUPUNCTURIST SERVICES.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 15 acupuncturist services’ means such services fur- 16 nished by a qualified acupuncturist (as defined in 17 paragraph (2)), and such services and supplies fur- 18 nished as an incident to services furnished by the 19 qualified acupuncturist, as the qualified 20 acupuncturist is legally authorized to perform under 21 State law. 22 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ACUPUNCTURIST DEFINED.— 23 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified 24 acupuncturist’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3133 IH ‘‘(A) an individual who is licensed as an 1 acupuncturist by a State or, in the case of an 2 individual in a State that does not provide for 3 such licensure, meets such criteria (such as cer- 4 tification through an appropriate nationally rec- 5 ognized certification authority for 6 acupuncturists) as the Secretary may specify; 7 or 8 ‘‘(B) a physician who is legally authorized 9 to perform acupuncture as part of the practice 10 of medicine and surgery by the State in which 11 the physician performs such function or action. 12 In specifying requirements under subparagraph (A), 13 the Secretary may use the same requirements as 14 those established by a certification authority de- 15 scribed in such subparagraph.’’. 16 (b) PAYMENT RULES.— 17 (1) PAYMENT UNDER PHYSICIAN FEE SCHED- 18 ULE.—Section 1848(j)(3) of the Social Security Act 19 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(j)(3)) is amended by inserting 20 ‘‘(2)(KK),’’ before ‘‘(3),’’. 21 (2) SEPARATE PAYMENT FOR SERVICES OF IN- 22 STITUTIONAL PROVIDERS.—Section 1833(a)(2)(B) 23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 24 1395l(a)(2)(B)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3133 IH (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and in the 1 case of qualified acupuncturist services,’’ after 2 ‘‘1999,’’; 3 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or in the 4 case of qualified acupuncturist services,’’ after 5 ‘‘1999,’’; and 6 (C) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘(other 7 than qualified acupuncturist services)’’ after 8 ‘‘such services’’. 9 (3) QUALIFIED ACUPUNCTURIST TREATMENT 10 AS A PRACTITIONER.—Section 1842(b)(18)(C) of the 11 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395u(b)(18)(C)) is 12 amended by adding at the end the following new 13 clause: 14 ‘‘(ix) A qualified acupuncturist (as defined in 15 section 1861(nnn)(2)).’’. 16 (4) SEPARATE BILLING FOR ACUPUNCTURIST 17 SERVICES FURNISHED IN AN INPATIENT HOSPITAL 18 SETTING.—Section 1861(b)(4) of the Social Security 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(b)(4)) is amended by insert- 20 ing ‘‘qualified acupuncturist services,’’ after ‘‘quali- 21 fied psychologist services,’’. 22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section apply with respect to services furnished on or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3133 IH after the date that is 270 days after the date of enactment 1 of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3133.IH H3133 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS