HR-4579 : Still Just a Bill

Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to:

• extend the Independence at Home demonstration program;
• modify provisions regarding access to home dialysis therapy under Medicare and special needs plans under Medicare Advantage (MA);
• expand testing of the MA Value-Based Insurance Design test model;
• allow an MA plan to provide additional telehealth benefits to enrollees and, to chronically ill enrollees, certain supplemental health care benefits;
• modify other provisions regarding the use of telehealth services;
• allow prospective, voluntary assignment of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries to accountable care organizations (ACOs);
• allow ACOs to operate beneficiary incentive programs;
• require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a process for Medicare prescription-drug plan sponsors to request certain claims data from the CMS;
• require the CMS to study and report to Congress on long-term risk factors for chronic conditions among Medicare beneficiaries; and
• eliminate annual funding available to the Medicare Improvement Fund and the Medicaid Improvement Fund beginning in FY2021.

The Government Accountability Office shall conduct studies on:

• the establishment of a payment code for a visit for longitudinal comprehensive care planning services,
• the extent to which Medicare prescription drug plans and private payors use programs that synchronize pharmacy dispensing to facilitate comprehensive counseling and promote medication adherence, and
• the use of prescription drugs to manage the weight of obese patients and the impact of such drug coverage on patient health and health care spending.