On the recordJuly 14, 2010
I rise to join everybody else who has spoken in favor of this bill and urge passage of H.R. 5712, the Veterans, Seniors and Children's Health Technical Corrections Act. It's a small set of noncontroversial changes to the law needed to provide for the smooth functioning of the Medicare, Medicaid, Child Health Insurance, or CHIP program, as well as the 340B program. The legislation has no cost. One provision ensures that a special enrollment period into Medicare part B does not exclude some of the veterans for whom the policy was intended. Another provision clarifies that the redistribution of unused Medicare-funded residency slots not inadvertently take slots away from hospitals that were cooperating with other hospitals to actually use these slots. This is a practice that occurs in 36 States, and they want this clarification. We also have a clarification that children's hospitals will continue to have access to discounts on orphan drugs through the 340B program tape. The bill would modify the payment system for nursing facilities in Medicare, ensuring smoother operations of that program.
