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Statutory Text

SEC. 6403. ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATION BETWEEN THE HEALTHCARE INTEGRITY AND PROTECTION DATA BANK AND THE NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATA BANK. (a) INFORMATION REPORTED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES AND HEALTH PLANS.—Section 1128E of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7e) is amended— (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain a national health care fraud and abuse data collection program under this section for the reporting of certain final adverse actions (not including settlements in which no findings of liability have been made) against health care providers, suppliers, or practitioners as required by subsection (b), with access as set forth in subsection (d), and shall furnish the information collected under this section to the National Practitioner Data Bank established pursuant to the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.).’’; (2) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following: ‘‘(d) ACCESS TO REPORTED INFORMATION.— ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—The information collected under this section shall be available from the National Practitioner Data Bank to the agencies, authorities, and officials which are provided under section 1921(b) information reported under section 1921(a). ‘‘(2) FEES FOR DISCLOSURE.—The Secretary may establish or approve reasonable fees for the disclosure of information under this section. The amount of such a fee may not exceed the costs of processing the requests for disclosure and of providing such information. Such fees shall be available to the Secretary to cover such costs.’’; (3) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following: ‘‘(f) APPROPRIATE COORDINATION.—In implementing this section, the Secretary shall provide for the maximum appropriate coordination with part B of the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11131 et seq.) and section 1921.’’; and (4) in subsection (g)— (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— (i) in clause (iii)— (I) by striking ‘‘or State’’ each place it appears; (II) by redesignating subclauses (II) and (III) as subclauses (III) and (IV), respectively; and (III) by inserting after subclause (I) the following new subclause: ‘‘(II) any dismissal or closure of the proceedings by reason of the provider, supplier, or practitioner surrendering their license or leaving the State or jurisdiction’’; and (ii) by striking clause (iv) and inserting the following: ‘‘(iv) Exclusion from participation in a Federal health care program (as defined in section 1128B(f)).’’; (B) in paragraph (3)— (i) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E); and (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (D); and (C) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘or State’’. (b) INFORMATION REPORTED BY STATE LAW OR FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—Section 1921 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–2) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking ‘‘SYSTEM.—The State’’ and all that follows through the semicolon and inserting SYSTEM.— ‘‘(A) LICENSING OR CERTIFICATION ACTIONS.—The State must have in effect a system of reporting the following information with respect to formal proceedings (as defined by the Secretary in regulations) concluded against a health care practitioner or entity by a State licensing or certification agency:’’; (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (D) as clauses (i) through (iv), respectively, and indenting appropriately; (iii) in subparagraph (A)(iii) (as so redesignated)— (I) by striking ‘‘the license of’’ and inserting ‘‘license or the right to apply for, or renew, a license by’’; and (II) by inserting ‘‘nonrenewability,’’ after ‘‘voluntary surrender,’’; and (iv) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ‘‘(B) OTHER FINAL ADVERSE ACTIONS.—The State must have in effect a system of reporting information with respect to any final adverse action (not including settlements in which no findings of liability have been made) taken against a health care provider, supplier, or practitioner by a State law or fraud enforcement agency.’’; and (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the authority described in paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘a State licensing or certification agency or State law or fraud enforcement agency’’; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: ‘‘(2) to State licensing or certification agencies and Federal agencies responsible for the licensing and certification of health care providers, suppliers, and licensed health care practitioners;’’; (B) in each of paragraphs (4) and (6), by inserting ‘‘, but only with respect to information provided pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A)’’ before the comma at the end; (C) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following: ‘‘(5) to State law or fraud enforcement agencies,’’; (D) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; and (E) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph: ‘‘(7) to health plans (as defined in section 1128C(c));’’; (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (h), and by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsections: ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE AND CORRECTION OF INFORMATION.— ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURE.—With respect to information reported pursuant to subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall— ‘‘(A) provide for disclosure of the information, upon request, to the health care practitioner who, or the entity that, is the subject of the information reported; and ‘‘(B) establish procedures for the case where the health care practitioner or entity disputes the accuracy of the information reported. ‘‘(2) CORRECTIONS.—Each State licensing or certification agency and State law or fraud enforcement agency shall report corrections of information already reported about any formal proceeding or final adverse action described in subsection (a), in such form and manner as the Secretary prescribes by regulation. ‘‘(e) FEES FOR DISCLOSURE.—The Secretary may establish or approve reasonable fees for the disclosure of information under this section. The amount of such a fee may not exceed the costs of processing the requests for disclosure and of providing such information. Such fees shall be available to the Secretary to cover such costs. ‘‘(f) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR REPORTING.—No person or entity, including any agency designated by the Secretary in subsection (b), shall be held liable in any civil action with respect to any reporting of information as required under this section, without knowledge of the falsity of the information contained in the report. ‘‘(g) REFERENCES.—For purposes of this section: ‘‘(1) STATE LICENSING OR CERTIFICATION AGENCY.—The term ‘State licensing or certification agency’ includes any authority of a State (or of a political subdivision thereof) responsible for the licensing of health care practitioners (or any peer review organization or private accreditation entity reviewing the services provided by health care practitioners) or entities. ‘‘(2) STATE LAW OR FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term ‘State law or fraud enforcement agency’ includes— ‘‘(A) a State law enforcement agency; and ‘‘(B) a State medicaid fraud control unit (as defined in section 1903(q)). ‘‘(3) FINAL ADVERSE ACTION.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘final adverse action’ includes— ‘‘(i) civil judgments against a health care provider, supplier, or practitioner in State court related to the delivery of a health care item or service; ‘‘(ii) State criminal convictions related to the delivery of a health care item or service; ‘‘(iii) exclusion from participation in State health care programs (as defined in section 1128(h)); ‘‘(iv) any licensing or certification action described in subsection (a)(1)(A) taken against a supplier by a State licensing or certification agency; and ‘‘(v) any other adjudicated actions or decisions that the Secretary shall establish by regulation. ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not include any action with respect to a malpractice claim.’’; and (4) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting ‘‘In implementing this section, the Secretary shall provide for the maximum appropriate coordination with part B of the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11131 et seq.) and section 1128E.’’. (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1128C(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7c(a)(1)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ after the comma at the end; (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘, and’’ and inserting a period; and (3) by striking subparagraph (E). (d) TRANSITION PROCESS; EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall implement a transition process under which, by not later than the end of the transition period described in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall cease operating the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank established under section 1128E of the Social Security Act (as in effect before the effective date specified in paragraph (6)) and shall transfer all data collected in the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank to the National Practitioner Data Bank established pursuant to the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.). During such transition process, the Secretary shall have in effect appropriate procedures to ensure that data collection and access to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank and the National Practitioner Data Bank are not disrupted. (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b). (3) FUNDING.— (A) AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—Fees collected pursuant to section 1128E(d)(2) of the Social Security Act prior to the effective date specified in paragraph (6) for the disclosure of information in the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank shall be available to the Secretary, without fiscal year limitation, for payment of costs related to the transition process described in paragraph (1). Any such fees remaining after the transition period is complete shall be available to the Secretary, without fiscal year limitation, for payment of the costs of operating the National Practitioner Data Bank. (B) AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—In addition to the fees described in subparagraph (A), any funds available to the Secretary or to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services for a purpose related to combating health care fraud, waste, or abuse shall be available to the extent necessary for operating the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank during the transition period, including systems testing and other activities necessary to ensure that information formerly reported to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank will be accessible through the National Practitioner Data Bank after the end of such transition period. (4) SPECIAL PROVISION FOR ACCESS TO THE NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATA BANK BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the 1-year period that begins on the effective date specified in paragraph (6), the information described in subparagraph (B) shall be available from the National Practitioner Data Bank to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs without charge. (B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), the information described in this subparagraph is the information that would, but for the amendments made by this section, have been available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank. (5) TRANSITION PERIOD DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘transition period’’ means the period that begins on the date of enactment of this Act and ends on the later of— (A) the date that is 1 year after such date of enactment; or (B) the effective date of the regulations promulgated under paragraph (2). (6) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall take effect on the first day after the final day of the transition period.