[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1127 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1127
To establish administrative law judges involved in the appeals process
provided for under the medicare program under title XVIII of the Social
Security Act within the Department of Health and Human Services, to
ensure the independence of, and preserve the role of, such
administrative law judges, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 22, 2003
Ms. Stabenow (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Dodd, Mr.
Corzine, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Durbin, and Mr.
Rockefeller) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish administrative law judges involved in the appeals process
provided for under the medicare program under title XVIII of the Social
Security Act within the Department of Health and Human Services, to
ensure the independence of, and preserve the role of, such
administrative law judges, and for other purposes.
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 ``Fair And Impartial Rights (FAIR) for
Medicare Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES WITHIN HHS; ENSURING INDEPENDENCE OF
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES; PRESERVATION OF THE ROLE OF
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES.
(a) ALJs Within HHS.--Any administrative law judge performing the
administrative law judge functions described in section 1869 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ff) shall be within the Department
of Health and Human Services.
(b) Ensuring Independence of ALJs.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall ensure the independence of administrative law judges
described in subsection (a).
(2) Independence described.--In order to ensure the
independence described in paragraph (1), each administrative
law judge described in subsection (a) shall--
(A) be an impartial decisionmaker;
(B) be bound only by applicable statutes,
regulations, and rulings issued in accordance with
subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the
``Administrative Procedures Act'');
(C) be placed by the Secretary in an administrative
office that is organizationally and functionally
separate from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services; and
(D) report to, and be under the general supervision
of, the Secretary, but shall not report to, or be
subject to supervision by, another officer of the
Department of Health and Human Services.
(c) Preservation of the Role of ALJs.--An individual who is not an
administrative law judge appointed pursuant to section 3105 of title 5,
United States Code, may not perform the functions of an administrative
law judge specified in section 1869 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395ff).
(d) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1869(f)(2)(A)(i) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ff(f)(2)(A)(i)) is amended by striking ``of
the Social Security Administration''.
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