House Passes 4 Medicare Bills by Voice Votes

1. H.R. 6561
The "Comprehensive Care for Seniors Act of 2018" bill

This bill would make it possible for for-profit companies to offer Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly plans, or PACE plans.

A PACE plan can use federal Medicare money and, in many cases, state Medicaid money to provide soup-to-nuts care for older people who need the equivalent of nursing home care but can live safely in the community.

(Photo: Scott Eells/BB)

3. H.R. 6662
The "Empowering Seniors' Enrollment Decision Act of 2018" bill

This bill is supposed to help Medicare enrollees cope with the winding down of the Medicare cost plan program.

Private insurers have been offering Medicare cost plans, or old school Medicare managed care plans, since the 1970s. The plans resemble Medicare Advantage plans in some ways but operate under different rules. In January, Medicare will eliminate the plans in counties in which consumers have access to two or more Medicare Advantage plans.

H.R. 6662 would set formal rules for the special enrollment period a Medicare cost plan enrollee will get when a cost plan goes away. The bill would also let the issuer of a disappearing cost plan "deem" the enrollees into a new Medicare Advantage plan.

(Image: Thinkstock)

4. H.R. 3635
The "Local Coverage Determination Clarification Act of 2018" bill

Traditional Medicare uses private organizations, called Medicare administrative contractors (MACs), to administer the traditional Medicare program in each region of the country. Each regional MAC has some ability to decide what medical services it will cover, and when.

H.R. 3635 would establish standard procedures the regional MACs must follow when making "local coverage determinations."

One provision would require a MAC to post its local coverage decisions online.