[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6506 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6506
To amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to require SCHIP annual
reports to include information on the HEDIS measure relating to access
to primary care practitioners by individuals eligible for child health
assistance under such plans and on State efforts to avoid certain
displacement of private health coverage, and to express the sense of
Congress that such States should utilize Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems consumer satisfaction surveys to
measure access by such individuals to physicians.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 16, 2008
Mr. Boustany introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
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A BILL
To amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to require SCHIP annual
reports to include information on the HEDIS measure relating to access
to primary care practitioners by individuals eligible for child health
assistance under such plans and on State efforts to avoid certain
displacement of private health coverage, and to express the sense of
Congress that such States should utilize Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems consumer satisfaction surveys to
measure access by such individuals to physicians.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Children's Doctor Access
Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. STATE REQUIREMENT UNDER SCHIP TO REPORT ON HEDIS MEASURE
RELATING TO ACCESS TO PCPS.
(a) In General.--Section 2108(a) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1397hh(a)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, with appropriate
indentation;
(2) by designating the sentence beginning with ``The State
shall'' as a paragraph (1) with the hearing ``(1) In general.--
'' and appropriate indentation; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Information on certain hedis measure required.--
``(A) In general.--Each annual report of a State
submitted under paragraph (1)(B) for a fiscal year
shall include information on the access HEDIS measure
described in subparagraph (B) for individuals eligible
for child health assistance under the State child
health plan during the fiscal year.
``(B) Access hedis measure described.--The access
HEDIS measure described in this subparagraph is the
Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS)
measure established by the National Committee for
Quality Assurance that is the following (or, in the
case of an update to such measure, such update):
``(i) The percentage of each of the
following populations of individuals described
in subparagraph (A) who had a visit with a
primary care practitioner during the previous
12-month period:
``(I) Individuals who are at least
12 months of age and who have not
attained 25 months of age.
``(II) Individuals who are at least
25 months of age and have not attained
7 years of age.
``(ii) The percentage of each of the
following populations of individuals described
in subparagraph (A) who had a visit with a
primary care practitioner during the previous
24-month period:
``(I) Individuals who are at least
7 years of age and who have not
attained 12 years of age.
``(II) Individuals who are at least
12 years of age and who have not
attained 19 years of age.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)(3) shall
be effective for annual reports submitted for fiscal year 2010 and each
subsequent fiscal year.
SEC. 3. STATE EFFORTS UNDER SCHIP TO AVOID DISPLACEMENT OF PRIVATE
HEALTH COVERAGE.
(a) In General.--Section 2102(c) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1397bb(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(3) Efforts to avoid displacement of private health
coverage.--(A) Prioritization of outreach to families with
income below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level.
``(B) Discouragement of the crowd out of private health
insurance coverage for families with income at least 300
percent of the Federal poverty level.''.
(b) Annual State Reports Under SCHIP on Efforts To Avoid
Displacement of Private Health Coverage.--
(1) In general.--Section 2108(a) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1397hh(a)), as amended by section 2, is further
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Information on efforts to avoid displacement of
private health coverage.--Each annual report of a State
submitted under paragraph (1)(B) shall include, with respect to
the State child health plan under this title for a fiscal year,
a description of the measures taken by the State, and the
progress of the State, to follow the procedures described by
the State pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section
2102(c)(3).''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall be effective for annual reports submitted for fiscal year
2010 and each subsequent fiscal year.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING UTILIZATION OF CAHPS CONSUMER
SATISFACTION SURVEYS.
It is the sense of Congress that each State that has a State child
health plan under title XXI of the Social Security Act should--
(1) utilize consumer satisfaction surveys developed by the
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS)
administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,
specifically the Getting Needed Care and Getting Care Quickly
question components of the CAHPS 4.0H Child Survey (or in the
case of an update to such survey, of such update), to measure
the extent to which individuals eligible for child health
assistance under the State plan have access to physicians,
including primary care practitioners and specialists, and the
degree of ease with which such access is attainable by such
individuals; and
(2) include the results of such surveys for a fiscal year
in the annual report submitted for such fiscal year by the
State to the Secretary under section 2108(a) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397hh(a)).
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