,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #afjg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #bb1      
#bjai,mr4 ,kennedy introduced the       
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,finance 
,a ,,bill  ,to amend title ,,xviii of   
the ,social ,security ,act to provide   
protections for patients scheduling     
non-emergency procedures at in-network  
hospitals1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,medical ,billing ,fairness ,act of 
#bjai4  #b4 ,additional conditions of   
participation for hospitals under the   
,medicare program with respect to       
scheduling of non-emergency procedures  
at in-network hospitals  7a7 ,in general
 ,section #ahff7;a77#a7 of the ,social  
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acie;cc7a77#a77 is amended-- 7#a7 by   
moving the indentation of subparagraph  
7,w7 #b ems to the left2  7#b7 in       
subparagraph 7,x7-- 7,a7 by moving the  
indentation #b ems to the left2 and     

7,b7 by striking and at the end2  7#c7  
in subparagraph 7,y71 by striking the   
period at the end and inserting 1 and2  
and  7#d7 by inserting after            
subparagraph 7,y7 the following new     
subparagraph3  7,z7 7i7 in the case of a
 hospital1 with respect to a            
non-emergency procedure scheduled by a  
patient in the hospital where the       
hospital is in-network for the patient--
 7,i7 to provide to the patient at the  
time of scheduling the opportunity to   
inform the hospital that they would like
 in-network treatment only for the      
procedure2 and  7,,ii7 if such treatment
 is not available at the time of the    
procedure despite the patient informing 
the hospital that they would like such  
treatment at the time of scheduling1 to 
provide for payment by the hospital of  
any additional cost to the patient1     
group health plan1 or group or          
individual health insurance coverage for
 the procedure as a result of any       
treatment that is not in-network4  7ii7 

,for purposes of this subparagraph1 the 
term non-emergency procedure means      
examination or treatment for a medical  
condition 7other than an emergency      
medical condition1 as defined in section
 #ahfg7;e77#a774  4  7b7 ,effective date
 ,the amendments made by subsection 7a7 
shall take effect on the date of the    
enactment of this ,act and apply to     
contracts entered into or renewed on or 
after the date that is six months after 
such date of enactment4