,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dahh  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #aa1 #bjad    
,mr4 ,renacci 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,heck  
of ,nevada1 ,mr4 ,joyce1 ,mr4 ,ryan of  
,ohio1 ,mr4 ,fitzpatrick1 ,mr4 ,turner1 
,mr4 ,kelly of ,pennsylvania1 ,mrs4     
,capito1 ,mr4 ,stivers1 ,mr4 ,tiberi1   
,mr4 ,la,malfa1 ,mr4 ,perry1 ,mr4 ,sam  
,johnson of ,texas1 ,mr4 ,gibbs1 ,mr4   
,chabot1 ,mr4 ,meehan1 ,mr4 ,johnson of 
,ohio1 ,mr4 ,carney1 ,mr4 ,johnson of   
,georgia1 ,mr4 ,engel1 ,ms4 ,kaptur1    
,mr4 ,david ,scott of ,georgia1 and ,ms4
 ,eddie ,bernice ,johnson of ,texas7    
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,ways and
 ,means  ,a ,,bill  ,to amend title     
,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act to
 adjust the ,medicare hospital          
readmission reduction program to respond
 to patient disparities1 and for other  
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,establishing       
,beneficiary ,equity in the ,hospital   

,readmission ,program ,act4  #b4        
,adjusting the ,medicare hospital       
readmission reduction program to respond
 to patient disparities  7a7 ,removal of
 certain readmissions ,section          
#ahhf7q77#e77;,e7 of the ,social        
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7q77#e77;,e77 is amended by      
adding at the end the following3 ,such  
term does not include an admission that 
is classified within one or more of the 
following3 transplants1 end-stage renal 
disease1 burns1 trauma1 psychosis1 or   
substance abuse4 4  7b7 ,adjustment for 
dual eligible population ,section       
#ahhf7q77#d77;,c7 of the ,social        
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7q77#d77;,c77 is amended by      
adding at the end the following new     
clause3  7iii7 ,adjustment for dual     
eligibles ,in applying clause 7i71 the  
,secretary shall provide for such risk  
adjustment as will take into account a  
hospital's proportion of inpatients who 
are full-benefit dual eligible          

individuals 7as defined in section      
#aice7;c77#f77 in order to ensure that  
hospitals that treat the most vulnerable
 populations are not unfairly penalized 
by the program under this subsection4  4
  7c7 ,med,p,a,c study on #cj-;,day     
readmission threshold ,the ,medicare    
,payment ,advisory ,commission shall    
conduct a study on the appropriateness  
of using a threshold of #cj days for    
readmissions under section              
#ahhf7q77#e77;,e7 of the ,social        
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7q77#e77;,e774 ,the ,commission  
shall submit to ,congress a report on   
such study in its report to ,congress in
 ,june #bjad4  7d7 ,addressing issue of 
noncompliant patients ,section          
#ahhf7q77#d77;,c7 of the ,social        
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7q77#d77;,c771 as amended by     
subsection 7b71 is further amended by   
adding at the end the following new     
clause3  7iv7 ,consideration of         
exclusion of noncompliant patient cases 

based on ,v codes ,in promulgating      
regulations to carry out this subsection
 for the applicable period with respect 
to fiscal year #bjae1 the ,secretary    
shall consider the use of ,v codes for  
potential exclusions of cases in order  
to address the issue of noncompliant    
patients4  4  7e7 ,effective date2      
budget neutral implementation  7#a7 ,the
 amendments made by this section shall  
be effective for applicable periods with
 respect to fiscal year #bjae and each  
succeeding fiscal year4  7#b7 ,the      
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services shall make such payment       
adjustment to subsection 7d7 hospitals  
under the inpatient prospective payment 
system under section #ahhf of the       
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#acieww7 as may be necessary to ensure  
that the implementation of the          
amendments made by this section do not  
result in an increase in aggregate      
expenditures under such section4