To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent the catastrophic loss of wage index reclassification.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend through FY2013 the reclassification to a specific Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or New England County Metropolitan Area of any hospital so reclassified for FY2010 by the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board, if: (1) that hospital would no longer qualify for such reclassification for FY2011; and (2) for FY2011 the average wage index for the geographic area in which such hospital is located is at least 0.1 less than the hospital's average wage index for FY2010.

Declares that such extension shall not result in the recalculation of any diluted wage index for hospitals otherwise utilizing the wage index of the geographic area to which such hospital is reclassified.

[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6512 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6512

    To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent the 
           catastrophic loss of wage index reclassification.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2010

Mr. Space (for himself, Mr. Austria, and Mr. Wilson of Ohio) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prevent the 
           catastrophic loss of wage index reclassification.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PREVENTING CATASTROPHIC LOSS OF MEDICARE WAGE INDEX 
              RECLASSIFICATION.

    Section 1886(d)(10)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395ww(d)(10)(D)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause:
    ``(vii) Under the Secretary's guidelines described in clause (i), 
in the case of a hospital that was reclassified by the Board for fiscal 
year 2010 to a specific Metropolitan Statistical Area or New England 
County Metropolitan Area and which would no longer qualify for such 
reclassification to that same Metropolitan Statistical Area or New 
England County Metropolitan Area for fiscal year 2011 and if for fiscal 
year 2011 the average wage index for the geographic area in which such 
hospital is located is at least 0.1 less than such hospital's average 
wage index for fiscal year 2010--
            ``(I) such hospital's reclassification for fiscal year 2011 
        shall be extended until the end of fiscal year 2013;
            ``(II) such extension shall not result in the recalculation 
        of any diluted wage index for hospitals otherwise utilizing the 
        wage index of the geographic area to which such hospital is 
        reclassified; and
            ``(III) the Secretary shall implement such extension on a 
        budget neutral basis as though such hospital satisfied the 
        guidelines published by the Secretary under clause (i) for 
        fiscal year 2011 and each subsequent fiscal year to which 
        subclause (I) applies.''.
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