CRS report analyzes S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007
On December 29, 2007, the President signed S. 2499,the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-173).This Act was passed by the House on December 19, 2007, and by a voicevote in the Senate on December 18, 2007. The Act makes changes to thenation’s three major health programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and the StateChildren’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), as well as other federallyfunded programs. The most prominent provisions in the Act were to (1)suspend the Medicare physician payment cut scheduled to take effect and(2) provide SCHIP funding through March 2009. P.L. 110-173 mandates a0.5% increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule for the six-monthperiod from January 1, 2008, through June 30, 2008, and provides FY2008and FY2009 SCHIP funding allotments through March 31, 2009. The Actalso extends a number of expiring provisions and programs. Theseextensions affect Medicare plans and providers and Medicaid paymentsand programs. The Act also includes funding for some miscellaneousactivities. The Act’s Medicare extensions include incentive paymentsfor certain physicians, and extensions of current law provisions forMedicare Special Needs Plans and cost-based plans. A variety ofextensions also affect how long-term care, rural, and acute carehospitals are paid or classified. Other extensions affect Medicarepayments for certain services and providers, outpatient physicaltherapy services, speech language pathology services, certain pathologylaboratories, brachytherapy services, and therapeuticradiopharmaceuticals. The Act also includes Medicaid provisionsdesigned to extend certain payments and programs, such as Medicaiddisproportionate hospital share (DSH) allotments for Tennessee andHawaii, the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) program, and theQualifying Individual (QI) program, among other provisions.Miscellaneous provisions include using Medicare funds to make grants toState Health Insurance Assistance Programs, Area Agencies on Aging, andAging and Disability Resource Centers. The Act also establishes theMedicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) as a congressionalagency. The Act provides a number of offsets to pay for the spendingincreases, including a reduction in the Medicare Advantagestabilization fund in 2012. The Act also includes provisions affectingMedicare’s responsibility as a secondary payer for covered services,Medicare payments for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs),payments for most Medicare part B drugs, payments for certaindiagnostic laboratory tests, and Medicare Long-Term Care Hospitals.This report provides short descriptions of the provisions contained inP.L. 110173.
Get it from Open CRS, http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RL34360