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H.R. 16747 · 93th CongressIn committee

National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Act

Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means. · September 19, 1974

Live record from Congress.gov, updated as the official record changes.
What this bill would do
Official summary · Congressional Research Service

National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Act - Creates the National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Insurance Agency to operate a National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Insurance Plan with funds supplied by voluntary subscriptions and matching United States Treasury funds, to pay all reasonable costs of all medically necessary and appropriate medical and hospital services for all voluntary enrollees. Provides that this Act shall become operative within two years of its enactment, and that Congress shall appropriate $50,000,000 for the first calendar year after this Act becomes effective. Provides that payment shall be made by the plan to or on behalf of every enrollee for all legal, appropriate, and professionally recognized and medically necessary service provided as a personal professional service by or under the direct supervision of a licensed medical doctor, whenever performed. Specifies services excluded from benefits of the plan. Provides for premium payments in the amount of fifteen dollars per month for each adult and one-half of the amount for each child. Provides that subscribers with a total earned and unearned family income of less than $9,969 per year shall be entitled to have their premiums calculated at 1.8 percent of such income for each adult enrollee, and at half that amount for each child enrollee. Provides that not more than 3 percent of all premiums received shall be used for the payment of costs of the plan other than benefits. States that the Agency shall affix a fee to every professionally recognized diagnostic and therapeutic medical service procedure or treatment and laboratory pathological test and procedure that is proportionate to the customary and reasonable fee for such service in each general area of the United States. Enumerates, with respect to claims for the benefits of this plan, the form of, items of information to be contained in, and procedures for auditing, assessment, and payment of, such claims. States that the Agency shall have the right to temporarily or permanently exclude any enrollee or provider of services found to have made any false claim for payment for services. Provides for the arbitration of claims for damages resulting from the alleged malpractice in the provision of any service that is a benefit of the plan.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 19, 1974. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Status
Introduced
September 19, 1974
In committee
September 19, 1974
Passed a chamber
Cleared Congress
Enacted
Where this sits in the process
Common questions
Composed from the official record
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 September 19, 1974: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.

  1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
  2. Passage by the House
  3. Passage by the Senate
  4. 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?

WILLIAM KETCHUM (R-CA) introduced it on September 19, 1974, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.

They are 2 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 September 19, 1974, 18984 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 18984 days ago, on September 19, 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

  1. House
    In committee, no floor vote yet
  2. Senate
    Awaits House passage
  3. President
    Awaits both chambers
No recorded votes yet
No roll call in this Congress cites this bill. Most bills die in committee without ever reaching a recorded floor vote.