[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1822 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1822
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to make
improvements to the implementation of the medicare prescription drug
benefit.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 5, 2005
Mrs. Murray (for herself and Ms. Cantwell) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to make
improvements to the implementation of the medicare prescription drug
benefit.
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 Help for Every beneficiary
And Low income Senior Act of 2005'' or the ``Medicare HEALS Act of
2005''.
SEC. 2. ALLOWING MEDICAID WRAP.
(a) Repeal.--Subsection (d) of section 1935 of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u-5) is repealed.
(b) Reduction in Clawback Payments by the Amount of Wrap
Payments.--Section 1935(c)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396u-5(c)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause
(i), by striking ``Each'' and inserting ``Subject to
subparagraph (E), each''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(E) Reduction in payment.--The amount of the
payment that a State or the District of Columbia would
otherwise be required to pay to the Secretary under
subparagraph (A) for a month shall be reduced by an
amount equal to the amount of the State share for
medical assistance for covered outpatient drugs
furnished to full-benefit dual eligible individuals for
that month that supplements the prescription drug
coverage under part D of title XVIII, including medical
assistance for cost-sharing under such part D. If a
State or the District of Columbia provides medical
assistance for such cost-sharing, such assistance shall
be considered medicare cost-sharing under section
1905(p)(3) for purposes of payments under section
1903.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The repeal made by subsection (a) and the
amendments made by subsection (b) shall take effect as if included in
the enactment of section 103 of the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 117
Stat. 2154).
SEC. 3. WAIVER OF PART D LATE ENROLLMENT PENALTY FOR TRANSITION PERIOD.
(a) In General.--Section 1860D-13(b) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1895w-113(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(8) Waiver of penalty for months prior to 2008.--A part D
eligible individual who enrolls for the first time in a
prescription drug plan or an MA-PD plan under this part prior
to January 1, 2008, shall not be subject an increase in the
monthly beneficiary premium established under subsection (a)
with respect to months occurring prior to such date.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take
effect as if included in the enactment of section 101(a) of the
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
(Public Law 108-173; 117 Stat. 2071).
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