,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cdeg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #bg1 #bjag,mr4 
,bilirakis 7for himself and ,ms4 ,eshoo7
 introduced the following bill2 which   
was referred to the ,committee on       
,energy and ,commerce1 and in addition  
to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means1  
for a period to be subsequently         
determined by the ,speaker1 in each case
 for consideration of such provisions as
 fall within the jurisdiction of the    
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
require the ,comptroller ,general of the
 ,united ,states to conduct an          
evaluation on the extent to which the   
,medicare and ,medicaid programs provide
 reasonable accommodations to           
individuals who are blind or visually   
impaired4  #a4 ,,gao study on ,medicare 
and ,medicaid programs ,not later than  
one year after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general
 of the ,united ,states shall conduct an
 evaluation1 and submit to ,congress a  

report1 on the extent to which          
reasonable accommodations1 as required  
under ,federal law1 are provided under  
the ,medicare program under title       
,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act   
and the ,medicaid program under title   
,,xix of such ,act to individuals who   
are blind or visually impaired4 ,such   
evaluation and report shall include     
information on--  7#a7 an estimate of   
the number of ,medicare beneficiaries   
and the number of ,medicaid enrollees   
who are blind or visually impaired or   
would self-identify as such using       
available data1 such as the ,centers for
 ,disease ,control and ,prevention      
,national ,health ,interview ,survey or 
,medicare_/,medicaid ,,icd codes or     
,census data or other data sources2     
7#b7 how the ,medicare and ,medicaid    
programs inform blind or visually       
impaired individuals that information   
can be available in other formats2  7#c7
 the number of complaints submitted to  
the ,centers for ,medicare  ,medicaid   

,services or ,state ,medicaid agencies  
claiming materials are not being        
provided in an accessible format and    
whether such a failure to provide such  
materials in such a format resulted in--
  7,a7 an interruption in coverage or   
denial in care2 or  7,b7 the failure to 
appeal such a denial before the         
specified deadline 7and the number of   
times such a deadline had been          
extended72  7#d7 how the ,centers for   
,medicare  ,medicaid ,services and      
,state ,medicaid agencies identify      
,medicare beneficiaries and ,medicaid   
beneficiaries who are blind or visually 
impaired or who self-identify as such2  
and  7#e7 the accommodations that the   
,medicare and ,medicaid programs make to
 ensure communications1 including       
written materials1 are accessible for   
the blind1 visually impaired1 or        
individuals who self-identify as such1  
and how individuals are informed of     
these options4