skip to main content
Hide All The Ads With a Yearly Membership Subscribe ▶

H.R. 5927 (114th): Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016

Compare this bill to another bill:

React to this bill with an emoji

(About Ads | Hide These Ads)

The text of the bill below is as of Jul 25, 2016 (Introduced). The bill was not enacted into law.

I

114th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 5927

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 25, 2016

(for himself and Miss Rice of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To delay for one year the release of the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016.

2.

One-year delay for release of Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings

(a)

In general

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to any Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for hospitals (such as ratings generated by the rating system described in the Fact Sheet issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through the QualityNet Internet website entitled Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings Fact Sheet, July 2016 Preview Period)—

(1)

shall make publicly available detailed information on the methodology used to calculate such Ratings;

(2)

shall have the validity and accuracy of such methodology confirmed by an independent statistician not otherwise engaged by the Secretary in star ratings measure development activities;

(3)

shall provide, with respect to the ratings system that is to use such methodology and data to calculate such Ratings, a public comment period that—

(A)

begins on a date that is after the date on which the Secretary, under paragraph (1), makes publicly available the detailed information described in such paragraph; and

(B)

is at least 60 days in duration; and

(4)

may not make such Ratings publicly available (such as by publishing on the Internet website commonly known as the Hospital Compare website) on a date that is before the latest of—

(A)

the date on which the independent statistician described in paragraph (2) provides the confirmation described in such paragraph;

(B)

the date on which the public comment period described in paragraph (3) concludes; and

(C)

July 31, 2017.

(b)

Application in case of publication before enactment

In the case that the Secretary publishes such Ratings on the Internet website commonly known as the Hospital Compare website on a date that is before the date of the enactment of this act, the Secretary shall apply subsection (a) by—

(1)

removing such Ratings from such Internet website as soon as is practicable; and

(2)

in accordance with subsection (a)(4), not republishing after the date of the enactment of this Act any such Ratings on such Internet website or otherwise so making any such Ratings publicly available on a date that is before the latest of the dates described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of such subsection.