Comprehensive Medicare Reform Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Comprehensive Medicare Reform Act of 1979 - Title I: Amendments to Part A (Hospital and Inpatient Services) - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to remove restrictions on: (1) inpatient hospital services; and (2) home health services. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to prescribe regulations which prohibit a physician who has a significant financial interest in a home health agency from certifying that an individual requires home health care services. Directs the Secretary to designate regional agencies or organizations, which have an agreement with the Secretary, to perform functions under such agreement with respect to home health agencies. Requires a home health agency to meet such additional requirements as the Secretary finds necessary. Eliminates the inpatient hospital deductible and coinsurance under part A, except for the deductible for whole blood. Eliminates the coinsurance for post- hospital extended care to Christian Science Skilled Nursing Facilities. Provides payment for 100 percent of a hospital's reasonable charges for emergency services. Includes among the services provided under part A: (1) outpatient services by community mental health centers for up to ten outpatient visits per year; and (2) partial hospitalization services by such centers for up to 60 visits per year. Title II: Amendments to part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) - Removes restrictions under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance for the Aged and Disabled) of title XVIII for: (1) home health services; (2) preventive health services; (3) routine physical checkups; (4) eye exams and eyeglasses; (5) hearing exams and hearing aids; (6) immunizations; (7) orthopedic shoes; (8) certain dental services and items, excluding orthodontic services other than a handicapping molocclusion; (9) treatment of certain foot conditions; and (10) drugs and biologicals. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue a product price list to specify the reasonable cost of drugs and biologicals; and (2) establish schedules of dispensing fees designed to afford to a pharmacy a reasonable reimbursement for the services provided in dispensing drugs and biologicals. Includes comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation services among the services provided under part B. Provides reimbursement for 100 percent of the costs of services under part B, excluding the deductible and certain limitations. Increases allowances for reasonable charges for services under part B. Title III: Funding - Appropriates to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund such amounts as are determined by the Secretary to be necessary to make the payments required by this Act under part A. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums to the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund as the Secretary determines to be necessary to make payments for services under part B of title XVIII.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 22, 1979. 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 May 22, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
- 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 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 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?
DON BONKER (D-WA) introduced it on May 22, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 May 22, 1979, 17325 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17325 days ago, on May 22, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 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