PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 183.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Jul 30, 2015
Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures Act of 2015 or the PRIME Act of 2015
(Sec. 2) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to cover the costs of equipment, salaries and benefits, and travel and training in appropriations for the Medicaid Integrity Program. Allows the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staff whose duties consist solely of protecting the integrity of the Medicare program under SSAct title XVIII by a number determined necessary to carry out the Program (currently, by 100).
(Sec. 3) Directs HHS to provide incentives for Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) to reduce the improper payment error rates in their jurisdictions.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Authorizes among such incentives:
a sliding scale of award fee payments and additional incentives to MACs that either reduce the improper payment rates in their jurisdictions to certain HHS-determined thresholds or accomplish tasks that further improve payment accuracy; and
substantial reductions in award fee payments under cost-plus-award-fee contracts for MACs that reach an upper end improper payment rate threshold or fail to accomplish tasks that further improve payment accuracy.
(Sec. 4) Requires imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to $500,000 ($1 million in the case of a corporation), or both, for without lawful authority knowingly and willfully purchasing, selling, distributing, or arranging for the purchase, sale, or distribution of a beneficiary identification number or unique health identifier for a health care provider under SSAct titles XVIII, XIX, or XXI (Children's Health Insurance Program) (CHIP).
(Sec. 5) Directs HHS to establish a plan to encourage and facilitate the participation of states in the Medicare-Medicaid Data Match Program (Medi-Medi Program). Revises Medi-Medi Data Match Program purposes.
Directs HHS to develop and implement a plan that allows state agencies responsible for administering a state Medicaid plan access to relevant data on improper or fraudulent payments made under the Medicare program for health care items or services provided to dual eligible individuals (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid).
People & committees
Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · D–DE
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 183.
Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Hatch with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-104.
Committee on Finance. Reported by Senator Hatch with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-104.
Committee on Finance. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jan 21, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.861 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.861 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.861 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.861 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.