Health Care Management Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.
Health Care Management Act - Defines the terms used in this Act. Title I: Prospective Payments to Hospitals - Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to develop and make available to hospitals one or more methods of obtaining payment on a prospective basis for services provided under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. States that hospitals will have the option of electing either one of such prospective payment methods, or as an alternative, the retrospective cost method of payment for services defined in the Social Security Act. Provides that prospective payment methods authorized under this title shall include in their design provisions: (1) for financial incentives for efficiency and effectiveness of hospital operations; (2) which provide for equity between various payor groups; (3) to assure the substantial participation by hospitals in such prospective payment methods; (4) to assure the availability of hospital services of high quality to beneficiaries and recipients under titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act; and (5) for maintaining independent management discretion and responsibility in such hospitals. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress annually a full report on the impact of prospective payment methods on the efficiency and effectiveness of hospital operations. Title II: Quality Management Payments - Provides that the Secretary shall award on an annual basis quality management payments to any hospital under titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act, which does not elect to participate under title I of this Act, whenever either the percentage amount or the dollar amount of increase in the hospital's actual operating cost on a unit basis, as defined by Secretary, for a fiscal year is less than the average annual increase in such percentage or amount for the three previous fiscal years for all hospitals in the same class. States that to serve as an incentive for hospitals to contain the level of increase in prospective rates or amounts, the Secretary shall establish a quality management payment system to apply to hospitals electing to participate in prospective rate programs under title I of this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 13, 1974. 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 13, 1974: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.
- 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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
WILBUR MILLS (D-AR) introduced it on March 13, 1974, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 March 13, 1974, 19174 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19174 days ago, on March 13, 1974.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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