Law and Government Legislation regarding 'Medicare' in Federal Government

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt certain rural hospitals from the 12% cap on disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment percentages.

Fair Share Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) of the Social Security Act to treat certain foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies performing services under a contract with the U.S. government as U.S. employers for purposes of Social Security and Medicare employment taxes.

Fair Share Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) of the Social Security Act to treat certain foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies performing services under a contract with the U.S. government as U.S. employers for purposes of Social Security and Medicare employment taxes.

Medicare Hearing Health Care Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for direct access to qualified audiologists for Medicare beneficiaries, without regard to any requirement that the beneficiary be under the care of (or referred by) a physician or other health care practitioner, or that such services are provided under the supervision of a physician or other health care practitioner.

Covers audiology services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).

Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor Program Moratorium Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to effect a one-year moratorium on the Medicare recovery audit contractor program, under which the Secretary contracts with recovery audit contractors to identify underpayments and overpayments, and recoup overpayments, with respect to all services for which payment is made under part A or B of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.

Requires: (1) the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to evaluate the program for Congress; and (2) the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the use of recovery audit contractors in the Medicare Integrity program.

Ambulatory Surgical Center Medicare Payment Modernization Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the requirements and the formula for payments for services, including an implantable medical device, furnished to individuals in ambulatory surgical centers.

Transparency in Medical Device Pricing Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require manufacturers of implantable medical devices to report annually to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on sales prices and related data about such devices.

Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2007 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) establishment of one or more Medicare operated prescription drug plan options; (2) an appeals process for denials of benefits under a Medicare operated prescription drug plan; and (3) pharmacy payments under such a plan.

Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2007 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) establishment of one or more Medicare operated prescription drug plan options; (2) an appeals process for denials of benefits under a Medicare operated prescription drug plan; and (3) pharmacy payments under such a plan.

Disapproves a specified rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to Medicare coverage for the use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents in cancer and related neoplastic conditions.

Declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.

Medicare Mental Health Prescription Drug Access Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover barbiturates and benzodiazepines as Medicare part D drugs, beginning in 2008.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit Medicare beneficiaries to continue to rent certain items of complex durable medical equipment.

Long Term Care Quality Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing facilities to separately report expenditures for wages and benefits for nursing staff (by staff level, breaking out (at a minimum) registered nurses, licensed professional nurses, and certified nurse assistants).

Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act - Establishes the National Commission on Entitlement Solvency to review and report to the President and Congress on the Social Security and Medicare programs with respect to: (1) their current and long-term actuarial financial condition; (2) problems that may threaten their long-term solvency, and potential solutions; and (3) recommendations and proposed legislative language that will ensure their long-term solvency and the provision of appropriate benefits.

Provides for expedited congressional consideration of Commission recommendations.

Medicare Preventive Services Coverage Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) extend from six months to one year the eligibility period for the "Welcome to Medicare" physical examination; and (2) cover and waive cost-sharing for specified additional preventive screening services.

Disapproves a specified rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to Medicare coverage for the use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents in cancer and related neoplastic conditions.

Declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.

Preserving Access to Laboratory Services Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the mandate for a Medicare Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project for Clinical Laboratory Services.

Medicare Independent Living Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the in-the-home restriction for Medicare coverage of mobility devices for individuals with expected long-term needs. Deems such devices to be durable medical equipment (DME) if they are used in customary settings for the purpose of normal domestic, vocational, or community activities.

Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act of 2007 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action to address, and report to the President and Congress on, the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances, including those attributable to the Medicare and Social Security programs and the gap between their projected revenues and expenditures.

Provides for expedited legislative consideration of Task Force recommendations.

Declares that certain closed critical access hospitals and adjoining skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) that seek to reopen on or after the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to continue to be designated as a critical access hospital, and both the hospital and the SNF shall be deemed to continue to meet the applicable life safety code standards, for purposes of titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act.

Confines the application of this Act to a hospital and an adjoining SNF that operated under common management before 1983 and closed during 2005, if before such closure the hospital was designated as a critical access hospital and the hospital and SNF both met the National Fire Protection Agency Life Health Safety Code as a facility existing as of March 16, 1982.

Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act of 2007 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action to address, and report to the President and Congress on, the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances, including those attributable to the Medicare and Social Security programs and the gap between their projected revenues and expenditures.

Provides for expedited legislative consideration of Task Force recommendations.

Medicare Anesthesiology Teaching Funding Restoration Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to set forth a special payment rule of 100% of the fee schedule amount for teaching anesthesiologists involved in the training of physician residents, if certain presence and availability requirements are met.

Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2007 - Amends part A of title XI of the Social Security Act to require quarterly transparency reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services of payments to physicians or their employers by manufacturers of covered drugs, devices, or medical supplies under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)) of the Social Security Act.

Community Clinical Laboratory Fairness in Competition Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the mandate for a Medicare Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project for Clinical Laboratory Services.

Amends federal civil service to subject the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services (solely with respect to its capacity to issue rules governing the Medicare part B fee schedule for clinical laboratory services) to the requirement to submit to a small business advocacy review panel for comment any proposed rule which will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should: (1) begin an immediate reconsideration of the final National Coverage Determination on the Use of Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents in Cancer and Related Neoplastic Conditions (CAG-000383N); (2) consult with members of the clinical oncology community to determine appropriate revisions to it: and (3) implement such revisions as soon as feasible, and brief Congress in advance of announcing such changes.

Medicare Equity and Accessibility Act of 2007 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to certain factors and indices in geographic adjustments to the fee schedule for determination of payments for physicians' services.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase the practice expense geographic index to 1.0 for any location for which the practice expense geographic index is less than 1.0.

Repeals the current termination date in order to extend permanently the 1.0 floor for the work expense geographic index.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish new separate fee schedule areas for physicians' services in states with multiple fee schedule areas to improve Medicare physician geographic payment accuracy.