[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3254 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3254
To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish criminal penalties
for unlawful payments for referrals to recovery homes and clinical
treatment facilities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 19, 2018
Mr. Rubio (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish criminal penalties
for unlawful payments for referrals to recovery homes and clinical
treatment facilities.
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 ``Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery
Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
(a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 219 the following:
``Sec. 220. Illegal remunerations for referrals to recovery homes and
clinical treatment facilities
``(a) Offense.--Except as provided in subsection (c), it shall be
unlawful to, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly
and willfully--
``(1) solicit or receive any remuneration (including any
kickback, bribe, or rebate) directly or covertly, in cash or in
kind, in return for referring a patient or patronage to a
recovery home or clinical treatment facility;
``(2) being a recovery home or clinical treatment facility,
or an officer or employee of a recovery home or clinical
treatment facility acting in the course of their employment,
pay or offering any remuneration (including any kickback,
bribe, or rebate) directly or covertly, in cash or in kind,
to--
``(A) a person in exchange for the person referring
an individual to that recovery home or clinical
treatment facility; or
``(B) an individual in exchange for that individual
using the services of that recovery home or clinical
treatment facility; or
``(3) being a clinical service provider, or an officer or
employee of a clinical service provider acting in the course of
their employment, pay, solicit, or receive any remuneration
(including any kickback, bribe, or rebate) directly or
covertly, in cash or in kind, to a recovery home or clinical
treatment facility, or to an officer or employee of a recovery
home or clinical treatment facility, in exchange for referring
an individual with a substance use disorder to a clinical
service provider for clinical services.
``(b) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be
fined not more than $200,000, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or
both.
``(c) Applicability.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to--
``(1) a discount or other reduction in price obtained by a
provider of services or other entity under a health care
benefit program if the reduction in price is properly disclosed
and appropriately reflected in the costs claimed or charges
made by the provider or entity;
``(2) any amount paid by an employer to an employee (who
has a bona fide employment relationship with such employer) for
employment in the provision of covered items or services and
the employee's remuneration is not determined by the number of
individuals referred to a particular recovery home or clinical
treatment facility;
``(3) any amount paid by a vendor of goods or services to a
person authorized to act as a purchasing agent for a group of
individuals or entities who are furnishing services reimbursed
if--
``(A) the person has a written contract, with each
such individual or entity, which specifies the amount
to be paid to the person, which amount may be a fixed
amount or a fixed percentage of the value of the
purchases made by each such individual or entity under
the contract; and
``(B) in the case of a recovery home or clinical
treatment facility that is a provider of services, the
person discloses to the health care benefit program the
remuneration received from each such vendor with
respect to purchases made by or on behalf of the
entity;
``(4) a discount in the price of an applicable drug of a
manufacturer that is furnished to an applicable beneficiary
under the Medicare coverage gap discount program under section
1860D-14A(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-
114a(g));
``(5) any payment made by a principal to an agent as
compensation for the services of the agent under a personal
services and management contract that meets the requirements of
section 1001.952(d) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations,
as in effect on the date of enactment of this section;
``(6) a waiver or discount (as defined in section
1001.952(h)(5) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, as in
effect on the date of enactment of this section) of any
coinsurance or copayment by a health care benefit program, as
determined by the health care benefit program; or
``(7) any remuneration between a health center or entity
described under clause (i) or (ii) of section 1905(l)(2)(B) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B)) and any
individual or entity providing goods, items, services,
donations, loans, or a combination thereof, to such health
center entity pursuant to a contract, lease, grant, or other
agreement, if such agreement contributes to the ability of the
health center entity to maintain or increase the availability,
or enhance the quality, of services provided to a medically
underserved population served by the health center entity.
``(d) Intent Requirement.--With respect to a violation of this
section, a person need not have actual knowledge of this section or
specific intent to commit a violation of this section.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the terms `applicable beneficiary' and `applicable
drug' have the meanings given those terms in section 1860D-
14A(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-114a(g));
``(2) the term `clinical treatment facility' means a
medical setting other than a hospital that provides
detoxification, risk reduction, outpatient treatment,
residential treatment, or rehabilitation for substance use;
``(3) the term `health care benefit program' has the
meaning given the term in section 24(b); and
``(4) the term `recovery home' means a shared living
environment free from alcohol and illicit drug use and centered
on peer support and connections to promote sustained recovery
from substance use disorders.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 11 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
related to section 219 the following:
``220. Illegal remunerations for referrals to recovery homes and
clinical treatment facilities.''.
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