S.Amdt. 3409

SA 3409. Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Lankford) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3378 proposed by Mr.
Grassley (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Portman, Ms.
Klobuchar, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Graham, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr.
Durbin) to the bill S. 524, to authorize the Attorney General to award
grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse
and heroin use; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. EVALUATION OF THE HOSPITAL CONSUMER ASSESSMENT OF
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND SYSTEMS (HCAHPS)
SURVEY; MORATORIUM ON THE USE OF PAIN
MANAGEMENT MEASURES TO ASSESS HOSPITAL
PERFORMANCE SCORES UNDER THE MEDICARE VBP
PROGRAM IN ORDER TO ALLOW TIME FOR EVALUATION.

(a) Evaluation.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(in this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall
conduct an evaluation of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, including
items on such survey related to pain management. Such
evaluation shall include an analysis of--
(1) any implications of using such survey under the
Medicare hospital value-based purchasing program under
section 1886(o) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww)
on opioid prescribing practices;
(2) how best to revise such survey and any effect that such
revisions may have on quality of care; and
(3) other areas determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(b) Input.--As part of conducting the evaluation under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall convene a group that
includes the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating
Committee, hospital representatives, physicians and other
health care providers, experts in the fields of pain research
and addiction research, and representatives of the addiction
community, pain management professional organizations, and
pain advocacy groups to provide the Secretary with input on
the items to be evaluated.
(c) Report.--Not later than March 1, 2017, the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report on the evaluation conducted
under subsection (a), together with recommendations for such
legislation and administrative action as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
(d) Moratorium on the Use of Pain Management Measures to
Assess Hospital Performance Scores Under the Medicare VBP
Program in Order to Allow Time for Evaluation.--Section
1886(o)(5)of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(o)(5))
is amended--
(1) in the first sentence of subparagraph (A), by striking
``subparagraph (B)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and
(C)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Moratorium on use measures of pain management to
assess hospital performance scores.--
``(i) In general.--With respect to payments for discharges
occurring during fiscal year 2017, the performance of a
hospital on measures of pain management during the
performance period for such fiscal year shall not be used in
assessing the hospital performance score of the hospital for
such performance period.
``(ii) No affect on reporting of selected measures.--
Nothing in the clause (i) shall affect the requirement for a
hospital to report measures selected under paragraph (2),
including any measures related to pain management.''.
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