Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2015
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Health.
Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2015
(Sec. 2) Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish cost-effective procedures to ensure that: (1) a Social Security account number (or any derivative) is not displayed, coded, or embedded on the Medicare card issued to an individual entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) or enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance); and (2) any other identifier displayed on such card is not identifiable as a Social Security account number (or any derivative).
Directs the Secretary to make specified transfers during FY2015-FY2018 from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund to: (1) the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Program Management Account, (2) the Social Security Administration Limitation on Administration Account, and (3) the Railroad Retirement Board Limitation on Administration Account.
(Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary to establish procedures to ensure that Medicare payment is not made for items and services furnished to an individual incarcerated, deceased, or otherwise ineligible and not lawfully present in the United States.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary, if cost-effective and technologically viable, to consider appropriate measures to implement use of electronic Medicare beneficiary and provider smart cards.
(Sec. 5) Extends the Medicare durable medical equipment face-to-face encounter documentation requirement to include physician assistants, practitioners, or specialists as well as physicians (as under current law).
(Sec. 6) Requires each Medicare administrative contractor to establish an improper payment outreach and education program for service providers and suppliers in order to reduce improper Medicare payments.
Requires the Secretary to retain a portion of the amounts recovered by recovery audit contractors to improve the ability of chiropractors to provide documentation of services to the Secretary to ensure that they are reasonable and necessary.
(Sec.7) Requires the Secretary to develop a plan to revise the incentive program under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to encourage greater participation by individuals to report fraud and abuse in the Medicare program.
The summary continues for 15 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on March 18, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 19, 2015: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
KEVIN BRADY (R-TX) introduced it on February 24, 2015, and 31 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 11 Democrats, 20 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 24, 2015, 4216 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4193 days ago, on March 19, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers