{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=47f23301-dff2-40fd-a4cb-f56e0d11f7b8", "Senate Finance Committee Reports Out Bipartisan Fix to Medicare Physician Payment with Several Amendments Championed by Sen. Carper", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON- Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, voted to report out of the Senate Finance Committee Medicare physician payment legislation, including the repeal and replacement of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR).\r\n\u201cToday we took a positive step forward by reporting out a bill to permanently repeal and replace the current Medicare fee-for-service system,\u201d Sen. Carper said. \u201cThis bicameral and bipartisan bill will help improve health outcomes and drive down costs by encouraging our country\u2019s health care providers to participate in accountable care organizations, patient-centered medical homes and other innovative payment and delivery models. Instead of paying physicians and other health care providers for the number of services they provide, this legislation encourages our country\u2019s health care providers to keep patients as healthy as possible. \u00a0With the cost of repealing the SGR at a historic low, we cannot afford to continue to kick the can down the road on reforming Medicare physician payments. Today we took an important step towards improving and stabilizing Medicare payments to physicians, and I am hopeful that we will be able to enact this bicameral and bipartisan solution.\u201d\r\nIn addition to reporting out the SGR fix, the Senate Finance Committee approved a number of provisions to enhance the Medicare program, several of which Sen. Carper introduced or co-sponsored. They include:\r\nPreventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME)\r\nAmong its provisions, the PRIME Act would: enact stronger penalties for Medicare and Medicaid fraud; curb improper or mistaken payments made by Medicare and Medicaid; establish stronger fraud and waste prevention strategies within Medicare and Medicaid to help phase out the practice of \"pay and chase;\u201d take steps to help states identify and prevent Medicaid overpayments; and improve the sharing of fraud data across state and federal agencies and programs.\r\nWaiver Authority for Programs of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to participate in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center programs.\r\nThe amendment allows PACE to participate in demonstration programs under Section 1115 Research & Demonstration Projects and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).\u00a0 This amendment would allow the CMMI to test and improve the PACE program\u2019s ability to reduce hospitalizations and emergency room use, manage chronic illness, and improve functioning and quality of life; and also encourages the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to increase operational flexibility and reduce administrative barriers that hinder PACE enrollment.\r\nQuality Measurement to Encourage Health Care Providers\u2019 Transfer of Existing Patient Care Preferences\r\nUnder current law, hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies frequently fail to transfer existing patient health care information and preferences when patients are discharged from the hospital or move into a new care setting.\u00a0 As a result, patients may receive inadequate or inappropriate services that do not follow the patients\u2019 own preferences and decisions. The amendment would create a Medicare quality measure based on the transfer of patient health information and care preferences as they move to other care settings or return home.\r\nAn amendment to allow physician assistants to provide and manage hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries\r\nThis amendment seeks to amend the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants to provide and manage hospice care services for Medicare beneficiaries.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=47f23301-dff2-40fd-a4cb-f56e0d11f7b8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8483619205653667, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}