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February 21, 2003 - House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee
Chairman Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) and Ranking Member Pete Stark
(D-Calif.) Feb. 14 reintroduced bipartisan legislation to
reduce the regulatory and paperwork burden currently imposed
on Medicare providers. The new "Medicare Regulatory and
Contracting Reform Act" (MRCRA) (H.R.
810) is based on a similar AAMC-supported bill that was
introduced by Johnson and Stark in August 2001, which was
also called MRCRA (H.R.
2768). At the end of 2001, the House of Representatives
unanimously passed a modified version of MRCRA (H.R.
3391). Most of the MRCRA provisions were also included
in the 2002 comprehensive House Medicare package (H.R.
4954) that passed the House in June of 2002.
Among the reforms outlined by MRCRA are new provider rights
related to overpayments/audits, a competitive process for
selecting Medicare contractors, and newly created "ombudsmen"
to assist providers in resolving grievances or obtaining information.
The legislation creates a Technical Advisory Group to review
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)
regulations and advise the HHS Secretary accordingly. MRCRA
would allow treating physicians to determine whether EMTALA-related
Medicare services are "reasonable and necessary"
based on the information available at the time the care was
provided and requires pilot testing of new E&M guidelines
before implementation.
Johnson and Stark introduced H.R. 810 in conjunction with
a Feb. 13 Health Subcommittee Medicare reform hearing.
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Director
Tom Scully testified at the hearing, as did Dr. Douglas Wood
who chairs the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Regulatory
Reform. Other witnesses included the immediate past president
of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Dr. Michael
Carius, and Dr. J. Edward Hill, AMA Board Chairman. Among
the issues discussed by Drs. Carius and Hill were the problematic
use of extrapolation to estimate Medicare overpayments and
the importance of in MRCRA.
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Affairs Manager
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
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