,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agia  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #aj1 
#bjac,mr4 ,rockefeller introduced the   
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,finance 
,a ,,bill  ,to provide for the treatment
 of certain hospitals under the         
,medicare program4  #a4 ,short title    
,this ,act may be cited as the ,fair    
,competition for ,hospitals ,act of     
#bjac4  #b4 ,treatment of certain       
hospitals  7a7 ,treatment  7#a7 ,in     
general ,notwithstanding any other      
provision of law1 effective for         
discharges occurring on or after        
,october #a1 #bjad1 for purposes of     
making payments under section #ahhf7;d7 
of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db      
,u4,s4,c4 #acieww7 to a hospital        
described in paragraph 7#b71 the wage   
index that applies to such hospital     
under such section shall be the highest 
wage index assigned to hospitals in the 
core-based statistical area in which the

 hospital is located 7regardless of     
which ,state the hospital is located in7
 as a result of the application of      
section #ddaj7;a7 of the ,balanced      
,budget ,act of #aiig 7#db ,u4,s4,c4    
#acieww note74  7#b7 ,hospital described
 ,a hospital described in this paragraph
 is a hospital-- 7,a7 that is located in
 a core-based statistical area which is 
comprised of counties from more than #a 
,state2  7,b7 that is not located in a  
core-based statistical area in which #a 
or more hospitals are subject to the    
minimum wage index under paragraph      
7h77#d7 of section #dab4fd of title #db1
 ,code of ,federal ,regulations2 and    
7,c7 that is not located in a core-based
 statistical area in which the highest  
wage index described in paragraph 7#a7  
applies to hospitals described in such  
paragraph under a ,state reimbursement  
system under section #ahad7;b77#c7 or   
#ahhf7;c7 of the ,social ,security ,act 
7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acie;f7b77#c72          
#acieww7c774  7b7 ,rules ,any increase  

in the wage index of a hospital as a    
result of the application of subsection 
7a7 shall be treated as the result of a 
decision of the ,medicare ,geographic   
,classification ,review ,board under    
paragraph 7#aj7 of section #ahhf7;d7 of 
the ,social ,security ,act 7#db         
,u4,s4,c4 #acieww7d77 and subject to    
budget neutrality under paragraph       
7#h77;,d7 of such section4