Medicare Home Health Telehealth Access Act of 2005
Latest action. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (continuing resolutionA stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) H9018-9019)
Medicare Home Health Telehealth Access Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the current requirements for Medicare coverage of telehealth services under the prospective payment system.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to treat as a home health visit any telehealth services furnished by a home health agency via a telecommunication system to an individual receiving home health services, if the telehealth services: (1) are ordered as part of a plan of care certified by a physician; (2) (as under current law) do not substitute for in-person home health services ordered as part of a plan of care certified by a physician; and (3) are considered the equivalent of a visit under criteria developed by the Secretary.
Directs the Secretary to initiate and carry out projects in a variety of geographic locations that provide incentives to home health agencies to utilize home monitoring and communications technologies that will: (1) enhance health outcomes for individuals enrolled under Medicare parts A and B; and (2) reduce part A and B program expenditures for institutional and other providers, practitioners, and suppliers of health care items and services.
Authorizes the Secretary to pay incentive payments to each home health agency participating in a pilot project.
Provides that, if the Secretary determines that any of the pilot projects results in decreased federal Medicare expenditures, and maintains or enhances health outcomes for the participating beneficiaries, the Secretary may initiate or extend comparable projects in additional areas.
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 28, 2005. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H9018-9019)
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The record's latest action, on October 20, 2005: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H9018-9019)
How likely is it to become law?
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In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps 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?
JIM RAMSTAD (R-MN) introduced it on July 28, 2005, and 9 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 5 Democrats, 4 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 28, 2005, 7714 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7630 days ago, on October 20, 2005.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 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
- HouseSponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H9018-9019)
- SenateNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action