Bill Summary & Status for the 106th Congress

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S.1499
Sponsor: Sen Mack, Connie (introduced 8/5/1999)
Latest Major Action: 8/5/1999 Referred to Senate committee
Title: A bill to title XVIII of the Social Security Act to promote the coverage of frail elderly medicare beneficiaries permanently residing in nursing facilities in specialized health insurance programs for the frail elderly.
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TITLE(S):  (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
STATUS: (color indicates Senate actions) (Floor Actions/Congressional Record Page References)
8/5/1999:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
COMMITTEE(S):
RELATED BILL DETAILS:

***NONE***

AMENDMENT(S):

***NONE***

COSPONSORS(5), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

Sen Grams, Rod - 8/5/1999 Sen Grassley, Charles E. - 8/5/1999
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. - 8/5/1999 Sen Sarbanes, Paul S. - 9/15/1999
Sen Wellstone, Paul D. - 8/5/1999

SUMMARY AS OF:
8/5/1999--Introduced.

Medicare's Elderly Receiving Innovative Treatments (MERIT) Act of 1999 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with regard to the frail elderly by modifying: (1) payment rules (including requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and implement a new payment system); (2) eligibility, election, and enrollment provisions (adding special rules for frail elderly Medicare+Choice beneficiaries enrolling in specialized programs for the frail elderly that establish a continuous open enrollment period for such individuals); and (3) benefits and beneficiary protections provisions (requiring the Secretary to develop and implement a program to measure the quality of care provided in specialized programs for the frail elderly). Exempts Medicare+Choice beneficiaries in a specialized program for the frail elderly from any risk adjustment system until the Secretary certifies to Congress that a comprehensive risk adjustment methodology taking certain factors into account is being fully implemented.