The following amendments were offered to
Title II through Title IX:
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Brown, #27, re: striking the language in the Republican bill
that would privatize Medicare (the Republican legislation would convert traditional
Medicare from a "defined benefit" program to a "defined contribution"
program in 2010; under the Republican legislation, seniors would be provided with a
voucher (defined contribution) to buy private insurance that may - or may not - cover all
of their medical needs and health benefits), was defeated by a yea-nay
vote: 25 - 29;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Messrs.
Issa and Towns, #28, re: offering of specialized Medicare
Advantage plans by Medicare Advantage plans that disproportionately serve special needs
beneficiaries who are frail, elderly Medicare beneficiaries, was adopted
by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Pallone, #29, re: protect seniors from increased costs in
traditional Medicare (The Republican legislation could divert healthier seniors away from
traditional Medicare into private insurance plans. This would make traditional
Medicare more costly and result in higher premiums for seniors who remain in traditional
Medicare. The amendment would protect seniors who remain in traditional Medicare
from having their premiums increase as a way of paying for the privatization that will
take place in 2010), was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 20 - 27;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Markey, #30, re: access to catastrophic protection in
traditional Medicare, providing seniors traditional Medicare with an optional
$2,000 catastrophic protection benefit, so seniors would not be forced into private plans
to obtain catastrophic coverage (The Republican legislation does not provide
catastrophic protection to seniors in traditional Medicare but would permit catastrophic
protection in private plans), was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 18 - 25;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Engel, #31, re: cost-sharing protections for seniors in private
plans - the amendment would prohibit private plans from charging higher co-payments for a
service than traditional Medicare charges (The Republican legislation does not
limit what private plans can charge seniors in co-payments), was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 21 -24;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Ms.
Eshoo, #32, the Senate bi-partisan compromise - this amendment
replaces both the drug and Medicare+Choice titles of the Republican legislation with the
Senate compromise language, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 9 -42;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Towns, #33, re: expanding the work of Medicare Quality
Improvement organizations to include Parts C, D, and E, was withdrawn;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Brown, #34, re: requiring that private plans offering enhanced
benefits agree that if they stop participating in Medicare within two years of enrolling a
senior, they will pay that senior an amount equal to the actuarial value of two years of
the enhanced benefits (the purpose of the amendment is to mitigate the harm to seniors
when Medicare HMOs withdraw from a market), was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Tauzin, #35, re: study of adequacy of average wholesale price
rates in legislation (study to occur two years after the enactment of the legislation),
was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mrs.
Capps, #36, re: replacing the current oncology drug
reimbursement level of 95% of the Average Wholesale Price with the Average Sales Price
plus 15%, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 20 -26;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mrs.
Capps, #37, re: directing the Center of Medicare and Medicaid
Services to reimburse appropriately for outpatient oncology services not currently
covered, was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 22 - 23;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Brown, #38, re: durable medical equpment (DME) - the
amendment would delete the language relating to competitive bidding of durable medical
equipment and the drugs that are used with the DME and off-the-shelf orthotics; the
amendment would also delete the demonstration project to evaluate competitive bidding for
clinical laboratories, was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Cox, #39, re: a General Accounting Office study on safe and
effective home infusion and inhalation therapy standards, was adopted by
a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Messrs.
Walden and Whitfield, #40, re: two-year increase for home health
services furnished in a rural area, was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
John, #41, re: improved rural health care services - the
amendment would increase payment levels under Medicare for several important rural health
services. It would ensure that critical-access hospitals are appropriately
reimbursed for providing emergency medical services, permanently reinstate the 10%
increase for rural home health payments, increase the reimbursement rates for physicians
in rural areas, and more equitably compensate rural ambulance services, was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 22 - 24;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Walden, #42, re: application of functional equivalence test, was
adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Deutsch, #43, re: to strike the provision that increases Part B
deductible by Medicare cost growth, was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Pickering, #44, re: demonstration project for the coverage of
self-injected biologics for beneficiaries with rheumatoid arthritis, was adopted
by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Strickland, #45, re: parity in treatment for outpatient mental
health services, was withdrawn;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mrs.
Wilson, #46, re: establishment of floor on work geographic
adjustment, was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Green, #47, re: coverage of diabetes lab tests, was adopted
by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Davis, #48, re: indexing the Part B deductible to the
cost-of-living increase for Social Security checks, was defeated by a
voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Strickland, #49, re: coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for
Medicare beneficiaries without regard to when an organ transplant occurred, was defeated
by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Ms.
Eshoo, #50, re: coverage of remote monitoring services
- expanding Medicare reimbursement by ensuring equal payment for remote monitoring
services that are comparable to Medicare covered in-office services, was withdrawn;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Rogers, #51, re: private contracting authority for dentists, was
adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mrs.
Capps, #52, re: increase in update to physician fee schedule,
was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Ms.
DeGette, #53, re: coverage of counseling for cessation of
tobacco use under the Medicare program, was defeated by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Tauzin, #54, re: beneficiary education for disease management
through medical nutrition therapy, was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Rush, #55, re: chronic care improvement, was adopted
by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Ms.
DeGette and Mr. Fossella, #56, re: establishment of Medicare
pancreatic islet cell transplant demonstration project, was adopted by a
voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Stearns, #57, re: establishment of consumer-directed chronic
outpatient services, was adopted, amended by the Dingell amendment, by a
voice vote;
An amendment to the Stearns amendment by Mr.
Dingell, #57A, re: establishment of consumer-directed chronic
outpatient services, was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Ms.
Solis, #58, re: establishment of a demonstration project
promoting access for Medicare beneficiaries with limited English proficiency, was withdrawn;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Tauzin, #59, re: eliminating imposition of a home health
co-payment, was adopted by a yea-nay vote; 41 - 5;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Cox, #60, re: overcharge for Medicare-covered services
- under current law, doctors who participate in the Medicare program may only charge
Medicare-approved rates for covered procedures, yet patients can still pay for, and
receive, non-coverred treatments. The Cox amendment would allow physicians to charge
more for Medicare-covered procedures than Medicare permits, and seniors would be required
to pay the difference. The amendment would increase out-of-pocket costs for Medicare
participants and would allow doctors to choose which patients get overcharged. This
amendment was defeated by a yea-nay vote: 19 -27;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Markey, #61, re: establishment of a demonstration project to
clarify the definition of 'homebound,' was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Whitfield, #62, re: Medicaid disproportionate share hospital
payments, was adopted by a voice vote;
An amendment to the Whitfield amendment by Ms.
DeGette, #62A, re: continuation of Medicaid allotment for
disproportionate share hospitals - Hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of
indigent patients may receive additional compensation under Medicaid. The Balanced
Budget Act of 1997 reduced the amount of compensation that these hospitals may receive.
The amendment would restore compensation for hospitals that serve a
disproportionate share of indigent patients to its full amount. The amendment was defeated
by a yea-nay vote: 22 - 26;
An amendment to the Tauzin amendment by Mr.
Shadegg, #63, re: clarification of inclusion of inpatient drug
prices charged to certain public hospitals in the best price exemptions for the Medicaid
drug rebate program, was adopted by a voice vote.
