Mobile Health Record Act of 2018
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a program that enables Medicare enrollees to connect claims data with trusted applications, services, and research programs. The program must allow an enrollee to access claim information through a mobile health record application that is chosen by the enrollee and that is also approved by the CMS, in accordance with specified requirements. Information must be made available to such applications in a similar manner as under the current Blue Button 2.0 program.
The bill also allows states that choose to develop or purchase similar applications for Medicaid enrollees to receive federal payment for the associated costs.
Currently, the CMS administers the Blue Button program, which allows Medicare enrollees to download and save health information on personal computers or other devices. The CMS subsequently launched the Blue Button 2.0 program, which allows enrollees to link health information with mobile applications (these applications are posted on the CMS website, but are not endorsed by the CMS).
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7272 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7272
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to promote the
ability of individuals entitled to benefits under part A or enrolled
under part B of the Medicare program and individuals enrolled under a
State plan under the Medicaid program to access their personal medical
claim data, including their providers, prescriptions, tests, and
diagnoses, through a mobile health record application of the
individual's choosing, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 12, 2018
Mrs. Brooks of Indiana (for herself and Ms. Clarke of New York)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to promote the
ability of individuals entitled to benefits under part A or enrolled
under part B of the Medicare program and individuals enrolled under a
State plan under the Medicaid program to access their personal medical
claim data, including their providers, prescriptions, tests, and
diagnoses, through a mobile health record application of the
individual's choosing, 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 ``Mobile Health Record Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS)
Blue Button 2.0 Program was announced in April 2018 to build
upon CMS's Blue Button Program.
(2) The Blue Button 2.0 Program provides 4 years of
Medicare part A, B, and D data for 53 million Medicare
beneficiaries through an Application Programming Interface
(API). The data contains a variety of information including,
but not limited to, a list of a patient's providers,
prescriptions, tests, and diagnoses. The Blue Button 2.0
Program requires the use of CMS-approved applications to allow
beneficiaries to download coded data.
(3) Mobile applications currently exist that have the power
to decode the Medicare Blue Button data and present it in a
user-friendly, easy-to-read and understand format. Prior to
Blue Button 2.0, the Blue Button Program allowed beneficiaries
to download such data, but the information was not decoded into
the easy-to-read and understand format that a mobile
application provides.
(4) The Blue Button 2.0 Program was created to empower
patients with the use of these applications, but additional
steps need to be taken in order to ensure the program reaches
its intended purpose of providing patients with their personal
medical claim information to prevent harmful medical errors and
reducing redundant spending.
(5) According to a study published by Johns Hopkins
University in 2016, more than 250,000 deaths per year are due
to medical error, making it the 3rd leading cause of death in
the United States. Further, millions of dollars are wasted on
duplicative or unnecessary tests and procedures.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Blue Button 2.0 Program has
the potential to positively influence patient behavior, improve patient
safety and health outcomes, and help reduce unnecessary health care
expenditures, but action needs to be taken to help the initiative meet
the program's goals.
SEC. 3. PROMOTING PATIENT ACCESS TO PERSONAL MEDICAL CLAIM INFORMATION,
INCLUDING A PATIENT'S PROVIDERS, PRESCRIPTIONS, TESTS,
AND DIAGNOSES, THROUGH THE USE OF MOBILE HEALTH RECORD
APPLICATIONS.
(a) Medicare.--Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 1899C. MOBILE ACCESS TO PERSONAL MEDICAL INFORMATION PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2020, the
Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the `Mobile
Access to Personal Medical Information Program' (in this
section referred to as the `Program') for purposes of creating
a developer-friendly, standards-based API that enables
individuals entitled to benefits under part A or enrolled under
part B to connect their claims data to the applications,
services, and research programs they trust while allowing such
individuals to retain full control over how the copy of the
data they receive can be used and by whom. The Program shall
provide such an individual access to the personal medical claim
information of the individual through a mobile health record
application of the individual's choice approved by the
Secretary under subsection (b). Such information shall be made
available through such application in a manner similar to how
such information is made available under the Blue Button 2.0
program (or a successor program).
``(2) Encouraging use of program.--In carrying out the
Program, the Secretary shall consider establishing methods for
encouraging individuals described in paragraph (1) to access
their personal medical claim information under the Program.
Such methods may include--
``(A) providing individuals described in paragraph
(1) access to a one-time financial incentive to
download for free or at a discounted price a CMS-
approved mobile health record application of their
choice that can be used to access their personal
medical claim information under the Program;
``(B) paying a reasonable fee per download to the
application developer to be capped at a fair market
value; or
``(C) other methods determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
For purposes of the previous sentence, the Secretary shall
consult with application developers, insurers, and other
appropriate entities determined by the Secretary, to establish
appropriate methods of financial incentive payment for
applications approved to participate in the program.
``(b) Mobile Health Record Applications.--
``(1) Approval.--The Secretary shall establish a process
under which the Secretary, in consultation with staff with
appropriate technical expertise, approves mobile health record
applications for use under the Program. Such process shall
include requirements providing that such application--
``(A) demonstrates the capacity to provide the
personal medical claim information of an individual
described in subsection (a) to such individual in an
easily accessible format;
``(B) utilizes a machine-readable, structured,
coded format conforming to a data content standard
approved by the Secretary;
``(C) has the ability to aggregate data from
multiple sources;
``(D) is encrypted (or contains other data security
safeguards determined appropriate by the Secretary) and
conforms to other cybersecurity standards and best
practices determined appropriate by the Secretary;
``(E) provides for a mechanism through which the
Secretary may track the number of times and frequency
with which such individual accesses the personal
medical claim information of such individual;
``(F) does not use a third-party service for ad
revenue or for any other means; and
``(G) meets such other requirements as may be
specified by the Secretary.
``(2) Annual review of approval.--The Secretary shall, not
less than annually and in consultation with staff with
appropriate technical expertise, review each mobile health
record application approved under paragraph (1) to determine
whether such application continues to meet the requirements
specified in such paragraph. The Secretary shall revoke the
approval of any such application that fails to meet such
requirements.
``(c) Information on Program.--The Secretary shall, through the
public website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, mailed
notices, through a notice at the time of enrollment of an individual in
part A or part B, public awareness campaigns, the notice described in
section 1804(a), the provision of personalized prevention plan services
(as defined in section 1861(hhh)), or otherwise (as determined
appropriate by the Secretary), ensure that individuals described in
subsection (a) receive information not less than twice each year
regarding the Program, including a list of mobile health record
applications approved under subsection (b)(1).
``(d) Cybersecurity and Data Privacy.--
``(1) Consultation.--In carrying out the Program, the
Secretary shall consult with the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology and other Federal agencies
determined appropriate by the Secretary to ensure the
compliance of entities participating in the Program with all
applicable provisions of the regulations promulgated by the
Secretary under part C of title XI and section 264 of the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
``(2) Additional cybersecurity protections.--In carrying
out the Program, the Secretary shall consult with appropriate
Federal agencies, including the National Institute for
Standards and Technology, and appropriate public-private
partnerships (such as the Sector Coordinating Councils),
including the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating
Council, to ensure that relevant and applicable cybersecurity
guidelines are followed when establishing the Program
(including when establishing standards and best practices under
subsection (b)(1)(D) and standards and criteria under
subsection (e)(1)(C)).
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Mobile health record application.--The term `mobile
health record application' means a software application that--
``(A) runs on a mobile device (such as a mobile
phone or handheld computing platform);
``(B) allows an individual to access the
individual's personal medical claim information; and
``(C) meets such cybersecurity and data security
standards and criteria as the Secretary may specify,
which may be similar to such standards and criteria
used under the Blue Button 2.0 program (or a successor
program).
``(2) Personal medical claim information.--The term
`personal medical claim information' means, with respect to an
individual--
``(A) a list of claims for items and services
furnished to such individual payable under part A or
part B, including any prescriptions or tests;
``(B) a list of providers and suppliers who
furnished such items and services;
``(C) any diagnoses made by such providers and
suppliers;
``(D) Medicare Advantage encounter data from an MA
or MA-PD plan under part C; and
``(E) prescription drug event data.''.
(b) Medicaid.--Section 1903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396b) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(aa) Payments for Mobile Access to Personal Medical Claim
Information.--
``(1) Payments.--In addition to payments otherwise provided
under subsection (a), in the case of a State that elects to
develop, or purchase from a private entity, a mobile health
record application through which an individual enrolled under
the State plan (or a waiver of such plan) may access the
personal medical claim information of such individual, the
Secretary shall pay to such State, for each quarter beginning
on or after the date of the enactment of the Mobile Health
Record Act of 2018, an amount equal to 90 percent of so much of
the sums expended during such quarter as are attributable to
the development, or purchase, of such mobile health record
application.
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Mobile health record application.--The term
`mobile health record application' has the meaning
given such term in section 1899C(e).
``(B) Personal medical claim information.--The term
`personal medical claim information' means, with
respect to a State and an individual enrolled under the
State plan (or a waiver of such plan)--
``(i) a list of claims for items and
services furnished to such individual under the
State plan (or waiver), including any
prescriptions or tests;
``(ii) a list of providers and suppliers
who furnished such items and services; and
``(iii) any diagnoses made by such
providers and suppliers.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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