Medicare Residency Program Fairness Act of 2006

Medicare Residency Program Fairness Act of 2006 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to payments to hospitals for the direct graduate medical education (DGME) costs of inpatient hospital services, particularly the redistribution among qualifying hospitals of unused resident positions which figure in the calculation of DGME costs.

Requires a specified adjustment to the reduction of Medicare resident positions for rural and small urban hospitals, where that reduction was based on a cost report subsequently settled, whether as a result of an appeal or otherwise, if the reference resident level under such settled cost report is higher than the resident level used for the reduction.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5935 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5935

   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an 
  adjustment to the reduction of Medicare resident positions based on 
                         settled cost reports.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2006

    Mr. Green of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an 
  adjustment to the reduction of Medicare resident positions based on 
                         settled cost reports.

    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 ``Medicare Residency Program Fairness 
Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT TO THE REDUCTION OF MEDICARE RESIDENT POSITIONS 
              BASED ON SETTLED COST REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1886(h)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395ww(h)(7)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(D) Adjustment based on settled cost report for 
                rural and small urban hospitals.--In the case of a 
                hospital located in a rural area (as defined in 
                subsection (d)(2)(D)) or in an urban area that is not a 
                large urban area (as so defined) for which--
                            ``(i) the otherwise applicable resident 
                        limit was reduced under subparagraph (A)(i)(I); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) such reduction was based on a 
                        reference resident level that was determined 
                        using a cost report that was subsequently 
                        settled, whether as a result of an appeal or 
                        otherwise, and the reference resident level 
                        under such settled cost report is higher than 
                        the level used for the reduction under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i)(I);
                the Secretary shall apply subparagraph (A)(i)(I) using 
                the higher resident reference level and make any 
                necessary adjustments to the reduction described in 
                clause (i). Any such necessary adjustments shall be 
                effective for portions of cost reporting periods 
                occurring on or after July 1, 2005.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in the enactment of section 422 of the Medicare 
Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public 
Law 108-173).
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