,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #heha  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,october #ac1        
#bjbj,mr4 ,butterfield 7for himself and 
,mr4 ,guthrie7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1 and
 in addition to the ,committees on ,ways
 and ,means1 and ,veterans' ,affairs1   
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     
direct the ,government ,accountability  
,office to evaluate appropriate coverage
 of assistive technologies provided to  
patients who experience amputation or   
live with limb difference4  #a4 ,short  
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,access to ,assistive ,technology and   
,devices for ,americans ,study ,act or  
the ,triple ,a ,study ,act4  #b4        
,appropriate coverage of assistive      
technologies  7a7 ,in general ,not later

 than #ah months after the date of      
enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller
 ,general of the ,united ,states shall  
evaluate1 and submit to ,congress a     
report on such evaluation1 the          
appropriate coverage1 through insurance 
or otherwise1 of assistive technologies 
provided to patients who experience     
amputation or live with limb difference1
 particularly prosthetic devices and    
custom orthoses1 including-- 7#a7 timely
 access to care1 including educating    
patients regarding options for assistive
 technologies2  7#b7 assessments and    
guidelines for assistive device         
determinations2  7#c7 matching specific 
assistive devices with the needs of the 
individual beneficiary1 such as women2  
7#d7 the affordability of assistive     
devices2  7#e7 the provision of         
rehabilitation services to support      
acclimation to assistive devices2 and   
7#f7 appropriate timelines for          
assessments for surgery and assessments 
of assistive devices4  7b7 ,comparison  

of certain data ,as part of the         
evaluation conducted under subsection   
7a71 the ,comptroller ,general shall    
compare data on practices and outcomes  
derived from the ,medicare program under
 title ,,xviii of the ,social ,security 
,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acie et seq471 the 
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
the commercial health insurance market  
relating to the coverage of assistive   
technologies1 including-- 7#a7 the      
percentage of patients who get access to
 assistive devices2  7#b7 performance   
measures that monitor the timeliness of 
processing prosthetic prescriptions2    
7#c7 coverage denials and overturn      
rates2  7#d7 coding for physician or    
physical therapy assessments1 including 
whether a prosthetist was engaged in the
 assessment2  7#e7 the rate of patients 
returning to work in general1 and after 
receiving a prosthetic device comparable
 to other assistive technologies2  7#f7 
reductions in long-term assistive       
technology services and supports2  7#g7 

with respect to those using assistive   
technologies1 policies to reduce falls  
and secondary complications1 such as    
diabetes1 heart disease1 vascular       
disease1 and others2 and  7#h7 the      
amount expended by individual entities  
on prosthetics relative to total amount 
expended by such entities4