Medicare Voucher Act of 1986

Summary

Medicare Voucher Act of 1986 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to contract with health benefits organizations (HBOs) to provide private alternative coverage for Medicare beneficiaries who enroll in HBO plans. Provides for enrollments in HBOs during August and September and as prescribed by the Secretary in the case of individuals who move from the area served by one HBO to an area served by another HBO. Limits the actuarial value of the aggregate payments (excluding premiums) that Medicare enrollees in the HBO have to make, for the categories of services Medicare covers, to the actuarial value of the aggregate payments they would otherwise have had to make under Medicare. Requires HBOs to cover inpatient hospital services for at least 90 days annually, with a required payment for the day of admission of not more than the Medicare inpatient hospital deductible and not more than 25 percent of such deductible for each day remaining in the 90 day period. Permits HBOs to provide annual rebates instead of charging premiums. Requires HBOs to make efforts to provide health benefits to at least as many individuals who are not entitled to Medicare or Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) benefits as they provide to individuals who are entitled to such benefits. Sets forth provisions, required in agreements between the Secretary and HBOs, protecting beneficiaries from the HBOs' legal obligations and enhancing the Secretary's HBO oversight capacity. Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII of the Act to permit organizations that have been providing or arranging for medical or other health services for not more than a year to elect to be paid on a cost basis for 36 months for the provision of part B benefits. Requires hospitals, at the request of an HBO, to accept as payment in full, for hospital services furnished to an HBO enrollee, the amounts that would be accepted as payment in full if the enrollees had not chosen to enroll in the HBO. Sets forth effective date and transitional provisions.

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

1 official file

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 18 December 1985

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.