NASL Article Details



General Announcement

Bipartisan BETTER Act of 2019 Expected on the Ways and Means Committee Agenda this Fall

NASL, 8/14/2019


The Beneficiary Education Tools, Telehealth, and Extenders Reauthorization (BETTER) Act of 2019 (H.R. 3417) was introduced by House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) on June 21st, 2019.  The legislation, which underwent a round of markups the last week of June, is a wide-ranging piece of health care legislation that seeks to improve the quality of, and access to, services for Medicare beneficiaries.  

This bipartisan legislation has been introduced by the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Ranking Member.  What this means is that the Committee plans to make it a priority for passage out of the Committee.  Included in the bill are provisions that impact different groups like Medicare beneficiaries; the extension of current policies like CMS’ contract with the National Quality Forum (NQF) and the Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) floor; and some policies specific to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and other post-acute care settings.  Since Congress is in August recess, NASL expects that the Ways and Means Committee will take up this legislation in September or later.  
Read NASL's full analysis here.