Puerto Rico Recovery Act of 2016
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (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) S1465-1466)
Puerto Rico Recovery Act of 2016
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make citizens of Puerto Rico eligible for the federal earned income tax credit and allow them to claim the refundable portion of the child tax credit on the same basis as U.S. taxpayers.
Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) is amended to terminate the limitations on general Medicaid funding, as well as the specific federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP, or matching rate), beginning FY2017 for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa (territories).
The authority to waive or modify certain Medicaid requirements in American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands shall now extend as well to Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.
Federal financial participation shall not be available to a territory, however, for medical assistance (with certain exceptions) for an individual whose family income exceeds 100% percent of the official poverty line.
The bill prescribes a formula for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments to the territories beginning FY2017, and revises a formula element for calculating Medicare DSH payments under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for subsection (d) hospitals in Puerto Rico. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's IPPS when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)
The bill repeals the exclusion of Puerto Rico residents from deemed enrollment under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits), permitting them now to be deemed enrolled. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall extend such residents a special seven-month enrollment period. The late enrollment penalty shall be recalculated to 15% of the usual penalty for residents of Puerto Rico who are current enrollees or who enroll during a specified transition period.
HHS shall increase the geographic adjustment practice expense index for Puerto Rico.
The blended benchmark component of payments to Medicare+Choice organizations for an area in a territory under SSAct title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice) shall be at least 80% of the national average of specified base payment amounts for the year (but never more than the lowest blended benchmark amount).
The summary continues for 4 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 14, 2016. 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 March 14, 2016: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S1465-1466)
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 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?
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced it on March 14, 2016, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 7 Democrats.
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 March 14, 2016, 3832 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3832 days ago, on March 14, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers