NONDISCRIMINATION IN POST-HOSPITAL REFERRAL TO HOME HEALTH AGENCIES AND OTHER ENTITIES.

SEC. 4321. NONDISCRIMINATION IN POST-HOSPITAL REFERRAL TO HOME HEALTH AGENCIES AND OTHER ENTITIES. (a) Notification of Availability of Home Health Agencies and Other Entities as Part of Discharge Planning Process.—Section 1861(ee)(2) (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ee)(2)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (D), by inserting before the period the following: “, including the availability of home health services through individuals and entities that participate in the program under this title and that serve the area in which the patient resides and that request to be listed by the hospital as available”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: “(H) Consistent with section 1802, the discharge plan shall— “(i) not specify or otherwise limit the qualified provider which may provide post-hospital home health services, and “(ii) identify (in a form and manner specified by the Secretary) any entity to whom the individual is referred in which the hospital has a disclosable financial interest 111 STAT. 395(as specified by the Secretary consistent with section 1866(a)(1)(S)) or which has such an interest in the hospital.”. (b) Maintenance and Disclosure of Information on Posthospital Home Health Agencies and Other Entities.—Section 1866(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 1395cc(a)(1)) is amended— (1) by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (Q), (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (R), and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: “(S) in the case of a hospital that has a financial interest (as specified by the Secretary in regulations) in an entity to which individuals are referred as described in section 1861(ee)(2)(H)(ii), or in which such an entity has such a financial interest, or in which another entity has such a financial interest (directly or indirectly) with such hospital and such an entity, to maintain and disclose to the Secretary (in a form and manner specified by the Secretary) information on— “(i) the nature of such financial interest, “(ii) the number of individuals who were discharged from the hospital and who were identified as requiring home health services, and “(iii) the percentage of such individuals who received such services from such provider (or another such provider).”. (c) Disclosure of Information to the Public.—Title XI is amended by inserting after section 1145 the following new section: “public disclosure of certain information on hospital financial interest and referral patterns “Sec. 1146. The Secretary shall make available to the public, in a form and manner specified by the Secretary, information disclosed to the Secretary pursuant to section 1866(a)(1)(S).”. (d) Effective Dates.— (1) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply note to discharges occurring on or after the date which is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall Regulations, issue regulations by not later than the date which is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act to carry out the amendments made by subsections (b) and (c) and such amendments shall take effect as of such date (on or after the issuance of such regulations) as the Secretary specifies in such regulations.