[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2691 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2691
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to ensure adequate access
to vaccines under the Medicaid program and the Vaccines for Children
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 10, 2021
Mr. Reed (for himself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to ensure adequate access
to vaccines under the Medicaid program and the Vaccines for Children
program, 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 ``Strengthening the Vaccines for
Children Program Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. ENSURING ADEQUATE ACCESS TO VACCINES UNDER THE MEDICAID PROGRAM
AND THE VACCINES FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM.
(a) Expansion of Definition of Federally Vaccine-Eligible Child.--
Paragraph (2) of section 1928(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396s(b)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) in clause (iii), by striking ``A child who''
and all that follows through the period at the end and
inserting ``A child who is administered a qualified
pediatric vaccine and is not insured with respect to
such vaccine.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(v) A child who is enrolled for child
health assistance under a State child health
plan approved under title XXI.''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(II), by striking ``for purposes
of subparagraph (A)(iii)(II)'' and inserting ``for purposes of
subparagraph (A)(iii)''.
(b) Coverage of Vaccine Counseling and Educational Services Under
Medicaid.--
(1) In general.--Section 1905(a) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1396d) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (30), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (31) as paragraph
(32); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (30) the following
new paragraph:
``(31) vaccine counseling and educational services
furnished to children under the age of 19 on or after the date
of the enactment of this paragraph, including any such services
furnished as part of a multiple component vaccine (identified
as of July 1, 2021, by CPT code 90461) and including any such
services furnished under the program established by the State
pursuant to section 1928 to a vaccine-eligible child (as
defined in subsection (b) of such section); and''.
(2) Mandatory benefit.--Section 1902(a)(10)(A) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)) is amended by
striking ``and (30)'' and inserting ``(30), and (31)''.
(c) Clarification of Coverage of Pediatric Vaccines and Vaccine
Counseling and Educational Services Under the Vaccines for Children
Program.--Section 1928(c)(2)(C)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396s(c)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended to read as follows:
``(ii) The provider may impose--
``(I) in the case of a qualified pediatric
vaccine not described in subclause (II), a fee
for the administration of and counseling for
such vaccine so long as the fee in the case of
a federally vaccine-eligible child does not
exceed the costs of such administration and
counseling (as determined by the Secretary
based on actual regional costs for such
administration and counseling); and
``(II) in the case of a qualified pediatric
vaccine that is a multiple component vaccine, a
separate charge for the administration of and
counseling for each component of such vaccine
so long as the charge in the case of a
federally vaccine-eligible child does not
exceed--
``(aa) with respect to the first
component of such vaccine, the costs of
such administration and counseling for
such component (as determined by the
Secretary based on actual regional
costs for such administration and
counseling for such first component);
and
``(bb) with respect to a subsequent
component of such vaccine, the payment
rate that applies to such
administration and counseling for such
component and provider under part B of
title XVIII.''.
(d) Minimum Payment Requirement for Vaccine Administration
Services.--Section 1902(a)(13) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396a(a)(13)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the semicolon at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) for payment for vaccine administration,
counseling and educational services provided on or
after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph,
with regard to vaccine administration and counseling
services furnished by a provider for each additional
component of a vaccine after the first component, at a
rate that is at least 80 percent of the payment rate
that applies to such services and provider for the
first or only component of a vaccine under the State
plan at the time of service;''.
(e) Increase in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), for each
calendar quarter occurring during the period beginning on
January 1, 2022, and ending on December 31, 2023, the Federal
medical assistance percentage determined for each State,
including the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and
the United States Virgin Islands, under section 1905(b) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(b)), after application of
section 6008 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
(Public Law 116-127) (if applicable), shall be increased by 1
percentage point.
(2) Requirements.--
(A) In general.--A State described in paragraph (1)
may not receive the increase described in such
paragraph in the Federal medical assistance percentage
for such State, with respect to a quarter, if,
throughout such quarter, such State does not ensure
culturally competent and effective messages for
vaccination outreach to child populations, which may
include the dissemination of information highlighting--
(i) advancements in research and vaccine
development that have saved millions of
individuals from death and disability from now-
preventable diseases;
(ii) information on how individuals across
the lifespan benefit from immunizations,
including those who cannot be vaccinated and
rely on community immunity;
(iii) information on the dangers of not
being vaccinated, including the potential for
infectious disease outbreaks within
communities; and
(iv) information on vaccine safety and the
systems in place to monitor vaccine safety.
(B) Requirement for certain states.--Section
1905(cc) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396d(cc)) is amended--
(i) by striking ``and section 6008'' and
inserting ``, section 6008'';
(ii) inserting ``, and section 2(e) of the
Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program
Act of 2021'' before ``, except that in
applying''; and
(iii) by inserting ``, and in applying such
treatments to the increases in the Federal
medical assistance percentage under section
2(e) of the Strengthening the Vaccines for
Children Program Act of 2021, the reference to
`December 31, 2009' shall be deemed to be a
reference to `December 31, 2021''' before the
period at the end.
(f) Tribal Epidemiology Center Data Access.--With respect to data
access for tribal epidemiology centers established under section 214 of
the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1621m), the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may create a data
sharing strategy that ensures such centers have access to data, data
sets, monitoring systems, delivery systems, and other protected health
information with respect to health care and public health surveillance
systems of child and adolescent health necessary to accomplish such
centers' public health authority responsibilities described in such
section or section 164.501 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations.
(g) Reports.--
(1) In general.--For each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023,
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
in coordination with each State that has established a
pediatric vaccine distribution program under section 1928 of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396s), shall publish on the
public internet website of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, in such manner as determined appropriate by the
Director, information on vaccination rates under each such
program during such year, including such rates disaggregated by
region, age, sex, race, ethnicity, and other demographic
factors determined appropriate by the Director.
(2) Effects on vaccination rates and program
participation.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report containing an analysis
of the effects of the provisions of, and the amendments made
by, this Act on--
(A) vaccination rates under the pediatric vaccine
distribution program under section 1928 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396s); and
(B) provider participation in such program.
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