Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2013
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.
Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2013 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to terminate after 2013 the permission to disenroll, between January 1 and March 15 of each year, only from a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan to elect enrollment in the original Medicare fee-for-service program.
Restores the option under previous law to elect to change from an MA plan to the original Medicare fee-for-service plan, or from the original Medicare fee-for-service to an MA plan, once a year during the first three months.
Permits an MA organization to offer individuals enrolled in one of its MA plans one or more incentive programs designed to improve their health care.
Permits an MA plan, through mechanisms such as value based insurance design (VBID) practices, to vary cost sharing for the purpose of encouraging enrollees to use providers that the MA organization has identified as performing well on quality metrics.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to evaluate and, as appropriate, revise for 2017 and periodically thereafter the risk adjustment system so that a risk score, with respect to an individual, takes into account the number of chronic conditions with which the individual has been diagnosed, and, to the extent available, at least two years of diagnostic data including data obtained during the individual's health risk assessments.
Requires the Secretary to take steps necessary to ensure that the MA 5-star rating system: (1) does not disadvantage a plan that enrolls a disproportionately high proportion of enrollees who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals, subsidy eligible individuals, or other individuals with complex health care needs such as individuals with multiple conditions; and (2) allows adjustments to account for differences in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of enrollees and geographic variation in health outcomes.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 19, 2013. 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 July 26, 2013: 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 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?
Diane Black (R-TN) introduced it on July 19, 2013, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 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 July 19, 2013, 4801 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4794 days ago, on July 26, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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