Medicare Benefit Equity and Emergency Access to Prescription Drugs Act of 1999

Summary

Medicare Benefit Equity and Emergency Access to Prescription Drugs Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish clinical profiles of the practice and payment patterns of health care providers furnishing items and services under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act in order to determine how their practice and payment patterns compare to each other on a local, State, and national basis; (2) establish a method for disseminating summary information to the public on such clinical profiles; and (3) reduce annually overpayments to providers by five percent of the overpayment amount. Authorizes the Secretary, for items and services furnished on or after January 1, 2003, to adjust the amount of the payments made under Medicare to such health care providers in order to encourage their provision of services in a medically appropriate manner and to discourage significant deviations in underservice or overservice from generally accepted norms of medical practice. Amends Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice) to provide for adjustment in Medicare+Choice payment rates to overpaid counties. Provides that for a contract year consisting of a calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2000, for which the Secretary has determined there is an overpaid payment area, the Secretary shall adjust the annual per capita rate of payment for specified Medicare+Choice payment areas to increase the blended capitation rate applicable to such areas under Medicare+Choice blended capitation rates by the aggregate amount of reductions in payments attributable to this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for coverage of outpatient prescription drugs to eligible Medicare beneficiaries and to provide for such coverage by entering into agreements with eligible organizations to furnish such coverage; (2) provide coverage of outpatient prescription drugs to such a beneficiary for a specified period beginning when such beneficiary loses coverage of outpatient prescription drugs under the Medicare+Choice plan in which they are enrolled; and (3) impose specified cost-sharing requirements under coverage of outpatient prescription drugs. Establishes in the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund under Medicare the Emergency Reserve Outpatient Prescription Drug Account, consisting of specified amounts deposited in the Trust Fund, including amounts attributable to reductions in provider overpayments, to pay for outpatient prescription drugs.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in House (text)

  Introduced in House · EN · 14 October 1999

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in House (PDF)

  Introduced in House · EN · 14 October 1999

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 14 October 1999

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.