To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to exempt certain hospice programs from the limitation applicable to payments for hospice care under the Medicare program, and for other purposes.
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt from the cap on payments for hospice care any care furnished on or after November 1, 2004, under the Medicare program by a qualified hospice program.
Qualifies a hospice program under this Act if: (1) at least 50% of the shares of its common stock are owned by a minority individual or group of minority individuals (African-Americans, American Indians, Asian-Americans, or Latin-Americans), and (2) at least 75% of the individuals electing to participate in the program reside in a county or parish half of whose population consists of minority individuals or for which the average per capita income is the lowest quantile of counties in the state in which the hospice program is located.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recalculate and reconcile payments under part A (Hospital Insurance) of the Medicare program for qualified hospice care furnished between November 1, 2004, and the date of enactment of this Act if the current cap was applied.
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 20, 2012. 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 September 20, 2012: Referred to the 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
Larry Kissell (D-NC) introduced it on September 20, 2012. 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 September 20, 2012, 5103 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5103 days ago, on September 20, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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