UPDATE: H.R.3417 – BETTER Act of 2019

LATEST ACTION: December 24, 2020 - Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 574.

BILL TITLE: BETTER Act of 2019

BILL SUMMARY:

Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization Act of 2019 or the BETTER Act of 2019

This bill extends funding for, and makes a series of changes to, Medicare enrollment, payment, and prescription drug programs.

Among other things, the bill

-- extends funding through FY2022 for state health insurance programs, area agencies on aging, aging and disability resource centers, technical assistance related to outreach and enrollment, and certain quality-measurement activities;

-- requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish a transition program under the Medicare prescription drug benefit for limited-income, newly eligible individuals (i.e., individuals who are eligible for subsidies and have not yet enrolled in, or whose coverage has not yet taken effect under, a Medicare or Medicare Advantage prescription drug plan);

-- revises payment rules for graduate medical education costs with respect to a hospital that establishes a new medical residency training program; and

-- authorizes additional quality measures for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) value-based purchasing program, which provides incentive payments to SNFs based on their quality of care.

[NOTE: The contents of this legislative update are current as of 06:00 AM on December 28, 2020.]

BILL NUMBER: 116th Congress: House Bill 3417 (H.R.3417)

CHAMBER OF ORIGIN: U.S. House of Representatives

CURRENT CHAMBER: U.S. House of Representatives

For DETAILED LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION on H.R.3417, visit: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3417

BILL TEXT: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3417/text

ACTIONS-TO-DATE (ordered by most recent first):

12/24/2020 -- House -- Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 574.

12/24/2020 -- House -- Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.

12/24/2020 -- House -- Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 116-691, Part I.

06/26/2019 -- House -- Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 41 - 0.

06/26/2019 -- House -- Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

06/24/2019 -- House -- Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

06/21/2019 -- House -- Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

06/21/2019 -- House -- Introduced in House.

SPONSOR(S)*:

-- Rep. Neal, Richard E. [D-MA-1]

CO-SPONSOR(S)*:

[*Note: Sponsors and co-sponsors are current as of December 24, 2020. For the most up-to-date version of the sponsor and co-sponsor lists, visit: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3417/cosponsors ]

-- Rep. Brady, Kevin [R-TX-8]

COMMITTEES: House Energy and Commerce Committee; House Ways and Means Committee.

SUBJECTS: Administrative remedies, Aging, Congressional oversight, Department of Health and Human Services, Disability assistance, Education programs funding, Executive agency funding and structure, Government trust funds, Health care costs and insurance, Health care quality, Health facilities and institutions, Health information and medical records, Health personnel, Health programs administration and funding, Health promotion and preventive care, Health technology, devices, supplies, Home and outpatient care, Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care, Medical education, Medical tests and diagnostic methods, Medicare, Mental health, Nursing, Performance measurement, Poverty and welfare assistance, Prescription drugs, Public contracts and procurement, Public-private cooperation, State and local finance, State and local government operations, User charges and fees.