To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to restore the full market basket percentage increase applied to payments to hospitals for inpatient hospital services furnished to medicare beneficiaries, and for other purposes.

April 11, 2003

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. BAYH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to restore the full market basket percentage increase applied to payments to hospitals for inpatient hospital services furnished to medicare beneficiaries, 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 `American Hospital Preservation Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. RESTORING FULL MARKET BASKET UPDATE FOR INPATIENT PPS HOSPITALS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 1886(b)(3)(B)(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)(i)) is amended--

(1) in subclause (XVIII), by striking `and' at the end; and

(2) by striking subclause (XIX) and inserting the following new subclauses:

`(XIX) for fiscal year 2004, the market basket percentage increase plus 0.55 percentage points for hospitals in all areas; and

`(XX) for fiscal year 2005 and each subsequent fiscal year, the market basket percentage increase for hospitals in all areas.'.

(b) PROTECTING FULL MARKET BASKET UPDATE FOR FISCAL YEARS 2004 AND THEREAFTER- Such section, as amended by subsection (a), is further amended by inserting after subclause (XX) the following:

`Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the `applicable percentage increase' for any fiscal year after fiscal year 2005 may not be a percentage that is less than the market basket percentage increase for such year.'.

SEC. 2. FREEZING INDIRECT MEDICAL EDUCATION (IME) ADJUSTMENT PERCENTAGE AT 6.5 PERCENT.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 1886(d)(5)(B)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(B)(ii)) is amended--

(1) in subclause (VI), by striking `and' at the end; and

(2) by striking subclause (VII) and inserting the following new subclauses:

`(VII) during fiscal year 2003, `c' is equal to 1.35.

`(VIII) during fiscal year 2004, `c' is equal to 1.85; and

`(IX) on or after October 1, 2004, `c' is equal to 1.6.'.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO DETERMINATION OF STANDARDIZED AMOUNT- Section 1886(d)(2)(C)(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(2)(C)(i)) is amended--

(1) by striking `1999 or' and inserting `1999,'; and

(2) by inserting `, or the American Hospital Preservation Act of 2003' after `2000'.

END