BILL ANALYSIS
AJR 42
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR 42 (Solorio)
As Introduced May 28, 2010
Majority vote
HEALTH 18-0
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|Ayes:|Monning, Fletcher, |
| |Ammiano, Carter, Conway, |
| |De La Torre, De Leon, |
| |Eng, Gaines, Hayashi, |
| |Hernandez, Jones, Bonnie |
| |Lowenthal, V. Manuel |
| |Perez, Salas, Smyth, |
| |Audra Strickland, |
| |Nestande |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Makes specified legislative findings and declarations
regarding H.R. 4796, the Medicare Secondary Payer Enhancement
Act of 2010 (MSPEA) and requests that the Congress and the
President of the United States enact MSPEA. Specifically, this
resolution :
1)Makes the following declarations regarding the federal
Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) law:
a) It is an important law that is designed to protect the
Medicare Trust Fund and ensure that Medicare pays only for
medical expenses for which it is responsible;
b) With respect to claims involving individuals who are
eligible for the Medicare Program, it has caused
considerable delay and unfairness in settlement of claims;
and,
c) The delays in settlement of claims and uncertainty of
the scope of responsibility for Medicare has increased
settlement costs.
2)States that the MSPEA has received bipartisan support and is
supported by a broad coalition.
AJR 42
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3)Respectfully requests that the Congress and the President of
the United States enact MSPEA.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The MSPEA was introduced on March 9, 2010, to address
inefficiencies and problems in the MSP system that make it
nearly impossible for many parties to determine how much is owed
to Medicare. There is currently no appeal process for an entity
with MSP responsibility that disagrees with Medicare's
calculation, which results in claims not being resolved in a
timely manner. In an effort to enhance efficiencies of the
process, the MSPEA would revise the flow of information so
parties know how much is owed to Medicare before settling,
create a right of appeal for parties who disagree with MSP
calculation and establish a reasonable statute of limitations,
adopt a sensible MSP recovery threshold so that Medicare does
not spend more taxpayer money pursuing a claim than the claim is
actually worth, and removes the requirement that Medicare
beneficiaries disclose sensitive personal ID numbers.
Analysis Prepared by : Martin Radosevich / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097 FN:
0004944