PATCH Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1624 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1624

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a floor on 
the work geographic index for physicians' services furnished in Hawaii.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 6, 2025

Mr. Schatz (for himself and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a floor on 
the work geographic index for physicians' services furnished in Hawaii.

    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 ``Protecting Access To Care in Hawaii 
Act'' or the ``PATCH Act''.

SEC. 2. FLOOR ON WORK GEOGRAPHIC INDEX FOR PHYSICIANS' SERVICES 
              FURNISHED IN HAWAII.

    Section 1848(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(e)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A), in the matter preceding clause 
        (i), by striking ``and (I)'' and inserting ``(I), and (J)''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(J) Floor on work geographic index for services 
                furnished in hawaii.--For purposes of payment for 
                services furnished in Hawaii on or after January 1, 
                2026, after calculating the work geographic index in 
                subparagraph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall increase the 
                work geographic index to 1.5 if such index would 
                otherwise be less than 1.5. The preceding sentence 
                shall not be applied in a budget neutral manner.''.
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