[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3049 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3049
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain
amendments relating to reporting requirements with respect to clinical
diagnostic laboratory tests, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 12, 2019
Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Burr) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain
amendments relating to reporting requirements with respect to clinical
diagnostic laboratory tests, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Laboratory Access for Beneficiaries
Act'' or the ``LAB Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO REPORTING REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO
CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY TESTS.
(a) Revised Reporting Period for Reporting of Private Sector
Payment Rates for Establishment of Medicare Payment Rates.--Section
1834A(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m-1(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``Beginning January 1, 2016'' and
inserting the following:
``(A) General reporting requirements.--Subject to
subparagraph (B), beginning January 1, 2016'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), as added by subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph, by inserting ``(referred to in
this subsection as the `reporting period')'' after ``at
a time specified by the Secretary''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Revised reporting period.--In the case of
reporting with respect to clinical diagnostic
laboratory tests that are not advanced diagnostic
laboratory tests, the Secretary shall revise the
reporting period under subparagraph (A) such that--
``(i) no reporting is required during the
period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending
December 31, 2020;
``(ii) reporting is required during the
period beginning January 1, 2021, and ending
March 31, 2021; and
``(iii) reporting is required every three
years after the period described in clause
(ii).''; and
(2) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by striking ``In this section'' and inserting
the following:
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), in
this section''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Exception.--In the case of the reporting
period described in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) with respect
to clinical diagnostic laboratory tests that are not
advanced diagnostic laboratory tests, the term `data
collection period' means the period beginning January
1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2019.''.
(b) Corrections Relating to Phase-In of Reductions From Private
Payor Rate Implementation.--Section 1834A(b)(3) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m-1(b)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``through 2022'' and
inserting ``through 2023''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``through 2019'' and
inserting ``through 2020''; and
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ``2020 through
2022'' and inserting ``2021 through 2023''.
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT BY MEDPAC.
(a) In General.--The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (in this
section referred to as the ``Commission'') shall conduct a study to
review the methodology the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services has implemented for the private payor rate-based
clinical laboratory fee schedule under the Medicare program under title
XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.).
(b) Scope of Study.--In carrying out the study described in
subsection (a), the Commission shall consider the following:
(1) How best to implement the least burdensome data
collection process required under section 1834A(a)(1) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m-1(a)(1)) that would--
(A) result in a representative and statistically
valid data sample of private market rates from all
laboratory market segments, including hospital outreach
laboratories, physician office laboratories, and
independent laboratories; and
(B) consider the variability of private payor
payment rates across market segments and laboratory
setttings.
(2) Appropriate statistical methods for estimating rates
that are representative of the market.
(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the
Administrator, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and the
Committees on Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
(1) conclusions about the methodology described in such
subsection; and
(2) any recommendations the Commission deems appropriate.
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