Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2006
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2006 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem hospitals, emergency rooms, physicians (including on-call physicians), and physicians groups that provide emergency care to uninsured individuals to be employees of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to items and services furnished.
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide additional payments from the Federal Supplementary Insurance Trust Fund for physicians' services in the emergency department of a hospital or critical access hospital to a Medicare recipient.
Provides for incentive payments to hospitals that certify to the Secretary that they meet established standards for prompt admission by a hospital of individuals presenting to the emergency department that need inpatient hospital services.
Requires the Comptroller General to submit to the relevant congressional committees a report that evaluates whether such standards will achieve the stated objectives and recommends any changes.
Sets forth civil monetary penalties for filing a false certification and engaging in a pattern or practice of failing to meet established standards.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 4, 2006. 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 4, 2006: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- 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 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 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?
James DeMint (R-SC) introduced it on May 4, 2006, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 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 May 4, 2006, 7434 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7434 days ago, on May 4, 2006.
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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers