1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Preserving Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2013”.
Preserving Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2013
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve access to rehabilitation innovation centers under the Medicare program.
2. Finding
Congress makes the following findings:
In the United States, there are an estimated 1,181 inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Among these facilities is a small group of rehabilitation institutions that are important for the future of rehabilitation care and medicine, as well as to patient recovery.
This unique category of inpatient rehabilitation institutions treat the most complex conditions, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, childhood disease, burns, and wartime injuries.
These leading inpatient rehabilitation institutions are all not-for-profit or Government-owned institutions and serve a high volume of Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries.
Each member of this small group of inpatient rehabilitation institutions has been recognized by the Federal Government for its contributions to cutting-edge research to develop solutions that enhance quality of care, improve patient outcomes, and reduce health care costs.
This cohort of inpatient rehabilitation institutions helps to improve the practice and standard of rehabilitation medicine across the Nation by training physicians, medical students, and other clinicians.
It is vital that these unique inpatient rehabilitation institutions are supported so they can continue to lead the Nation’s efforts to—
advance integrated, multidisciplinary rehabilitation research;
provide cutting-edge medical care to the most complex rehabilitation patients;
serve as education and training facilities for the physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who serve rehabilitation patients; and
ensure Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries receive state-of-the-art, high-quality rehabilitation care.
3. Indirect costs payment for rehabilitation innovation centers
Section 1886(j) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(j)) is amended—
by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (9); and
by inserting after paragraph (7) the following new paragraph:
“(8) Indirect costs payment for rehabilitation innovation centers
“(A) Study relating to additional payments to rehabilitation innovation centers to account for higher costs; authority to increase payments
“(i) Study—Not later than July 1, 2015, the Secretary shall conduct a study to determine whether there should be an increase in the prospective payment rate that would otherwise be made to a rehabilitation innovation center under this subsection for purposes of covering the additional costs that are incurred by such centers in furnishing items and services to individuals under this title, conducting research, and providing medical training, and if the Secretary determines that such an increase is recommended, the amount of such increase that is needed to cover such additional costs.
“(ii) Authority to increase payments—Insofar as the Secretary determines under clause (i) that there should be an increase in the prospective payment rate to rehabilitation innovation centers, the Secretary may provide on a prospective basis for an appropriate percentage increase in such rate.
“(B) Rehabilitation innovation center defined
“(i) In general—Subject to clause (iv), in this paragraph, the term rehabilitation innovation center means a rehabilitation facility that, determined as of the date of the enactment of this paragraph, is described in clause (ii) or clause (iii).
“(ii) Not-for-profit—A rehabilitation facility described in this clause is a facility that—
“(I) is classified as a not-for-profit entity under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2010 Provider of Services file;
“(II) holds at least one Federal rehabilitation research and training designation for research projects on traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or stroke rehabilitation research from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers or the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center at the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the Department of Education;
“(III) has a minimum Medicare case mix index of 1.1144 according to the IRF Rate Setting File for the Correction Notice for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2012 (78 Fed. Reg. 59256); and
“(IV) has at least 300 Medicare discharges per year or at least 200 Medicaid discharges per year.
“(iii) Government-owned—A rehabilitation facility described in this clause is a facility that—
“(I) is classified as a Government-owned institution under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2010 Provider of Services file;
“(II) holds at least one Federal rehabilitation research and training designation for research projects on traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or stroke rehabilitation research from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center, or the Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems at the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the Department of Education;
“(III) has a minimum Medicare case mix index of 1.1144 according to the IRF Rate Setting File for the Correction Notice for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2012 (78 Fed. Reg. 59256); and
“(IV) has a disproportionate share hospital (DSH) percentage of at least 0.6300 according to the IRF Rate Setting File for the Correction Notice for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2012 (78 Fed. Reg. 59256).
“(iv) Authority—The Secretary may consider applications from inpatient rehabilitation facilities that are not described in clause (ii) or (iii) as of the date of the enactment of this paragraph but who are subsequently so described.”