Max Baucus: “some of the provisions in the bioterrorism bill have not received much attention. These provisions affect Medicare…”

“some of the provisions in the bioterrorism bill have not received much attention. These provisions affect Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. What we have done here is to give the HHS Secretary the ability to waive certain requirements in the face of a bioterror event or other public health emergency. For example, the bill would give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the ability to pay providers for services rendered in good faith during an emergency, even if certain paperwork or other regulations are not followed. In short, the bill gives our federal health programs the flexibility they need to operate in times of emergency, while ensuring accountability if the waiver authority is ever used. The administration asked Congress for these provisions, and Senator Grassley and I both agreed that they are needed. I also want to add that the Medicare and Medicaid provisions in this legislation were hammered out together in a bipartisan and bicameral fashion. Although Senator Grassley and I were not conferees, our staffs worked extensively with the conference staffs to negotiate these provisions. In fact, all of the authorizing Committees, both sides of the aisle and both House and Senate, worked together on these provisions.”