To make minor changes to the quality measurement systems provisions with respect to value based purchasing under the medicare program.

SA 2380. Mr. LIEBERMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1932, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202(a) of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2006 (H. Con. Res. 95); which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 368, between line 5 and 6, insert the following:

SEC. 6116. QUALITY MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS AMENDMENTS.

Section 1860E-1 , as added by section 6110(a)(2), is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)(1)--

(A) in subparagraph (B)--

(i) in clause (vi), by striking “and” at the end;

(ii) in clause (vii), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following new clause:

“(viii) measures that address conditions where there is the greatest disparity of health care provided and health outcomes between majority and minority groups.”; and

(B) in subparagraph (E)--

(i) in clause (v), by striking “and” at the end;

(ii) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (vii); and

(iii) by inserting after clause (v) the following new clause:

“(vi) allows quality measures that are reported to be stratified according to patient group characteristics, such as gender, language spoken, insurance status, and race and ethnicity, using, at a minimum, the categories of race and ethnicity described in the 1997 Office of Management and Budget Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity; and”;

(2) in subsection (c)(4)--

(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” at the end;

(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(D) The report commissioned by Congress from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, titled ‘Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care'.”; and

(3) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting “experts in minority health,” after “government agencies,”.