Preserving Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act of 2008
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 30, 2008
Preserving Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act of 2008 - Declares that between October 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, specified regulations regarding the formula for determining the federal rate for inpatient hospital capital-related costs under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) shall apply without the mandatory phase out of the indirect medical education adjustment factor.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to delay for six months following enactment of this Act any implementation of the Medicaid outpatient hospital services regulation proposed on September 28, 2007.
Prohibits the Secretary from phasing out or eliminating the Medicare hospice wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor before April 1, 2009.
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Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and upon the request of the state of California, to extend approval, and full federal financial participation, of the state's Medicaid family planning demonstration project until June 30, 2009, under the eligibility requirements and processes that were in place before the project's first extension period.
Directs the Secretary to delay until April 1, 2009, implementation of a proposed rule published on June 27, 2008 (or any similar rule), relating to: (1) decertification of rural health clinics under the Medicare program that are no longer in nonurbanized areas; and (2) changes in the Medicare payment methodology for rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers.
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with regard to mechanized claims processing and information retrieval systems, to require states to incorporate compatible methodologies of the National Correct Coding Initiative for claims filed after October 1, 2009. Directs the Secretary to identify such methodologies.
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to increase funding for the Medicare Improvement Fund.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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