To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to further require certain additional provider screening under the Medicaid program.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8112) to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to further require certain additional provider screening under the Medicaid program, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8112 is simple. We should not let bad actors that the Medicaid program has determined should not see seniors continue to see Medicaid patients.

Medicare may remove providers for a number of reasons, including felonies that take place in the Medicare program or putting its beneficiaries at immediate risk, such as a malpractice suit that results in conviction for criminal neglect.

For example, a doctor who has been found guilty of running a pill mill can be removed from being able to be paid by Medicare and Medicaid. Doctors that have been terminated are listed in the Data EXchange, or the DEX, a Federal database that monitors doctors who have been terminated from Medicare and Medicaid program, but currently, States are not required to check the DEX.

If a doctor breaks the law in one State and is removed from that State's Medicaid program, the doctor will be entered into the Data EXchange. However, if my home State isn't checking that, the doctor may set up a practice across the State line and be paid by Medicaid.

This bill is straightforward and would require States to check every month to ensure that bad actors aren't in our systems. I hope we can all agree that keeping bad actors and bad doctors out of Medicaid is in everyone's best interests.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Rodgers for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge support for my bill, H.R. 8112, the Medicaid integrity act.

As it stands now, bad actor physicians are logged into the Data EXchange database, or the DEX, and prohibited from participating and billing Medicare, preventing them from further taking advantage of America's seniors.

Tragically, there exists no such protection for Americans on Medicaid, as States are not required to check the status of a provider's eligibility.

Americans who rely on Medicaid are among the most vulnerable populations in this Nation, and the adoption of my bill would implement additional protectors to do right by these vulnerable Americans.

I was sent to Congress by my neighbors in New York's Fourth Congressional District not to restrict or limit Medicare or Medicaid but to protect and expand these vital lifesaving programs. The legislation my colleagues will soon have an opportunity to vote on will do exactly that.

This 1\1/2\ page bill applies the same simple protections we use for Medicare to Medicaid, ensuring the physicians looking to make a quick buck on America's most vulnerable are prohibited from doing so.

This is a no-brainer. This no-brainer legislation strengthens Medicaid, ensuring its integrity, and makes good on America's promise to our vulnerable and elderly made nearly 60 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8112, legislation to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to further require certain additional provider screening under the Medicaid program.

This bill clarifies that States must regularly check a Federal database that identifies healthcare providers that have been revoked from Medicare

or terminated from States' Medicaid programs. It is important that States regularly take this step to identify providers who have been terminated from Medicare or Medicaid for reasons like fraudulent conduct or falsification of medical records. Once these bad actors are identified, States should take appropriate action against them.

This is yet another way that we can protect Americans against healthcare providers who don't have the best interests of their patients in mind.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on H.R. 8112, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again, what we are trying to do here, as the chair of the committee has said, is get rid of bad actors.

I think this is an effective way to do it, so I would hope everyone would join me on both sides of the aisle in voting ``yes'' on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.