S. 3118: Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008
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S. 3118: Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008
110th Congress · introduced 2008-06-11 · Health · Latest: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 776.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2008-06-11 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 776. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008
Plain summary
Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008 - Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act of 2008 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise the payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals; (2) extend increased Medicare payments for ground ambulance services; (3) extend the authorization for Medicare rural hospital flexibility program grants; (4) provide for rebasing for sole community hospitals; and (5) extend the rural home health add-on policy through 2009. Revises the formula for payments for physician services to provide an update to the single conversion factor of: (1) 0.5% for the remainder of 2008; and (2) 1.1% for 2009. Extends the Physician Assistance and Quality Initiative (PAQI) Fund. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Physician Feedback Program. Revises requirements or provides for: (1) incentive payments for electronic prescribing and primary care services in physician scarcity areas; (2) the Medicare anesthesia teaching program; (3) advanced diagnostic imaging services; (4) Medicare coverage of items and services under cardiac rehabilitation and pulmonary rehabilitation programs; (5) phase-out of the indirect costs of medical education (IME) from capitation rates; (6) quality improvement programs; and (7) certain prohibitions with respect to marketing of Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to establish specified pilot projects regarding chronic kidney disease. Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 to extend the transitional medical assistance (TMA) and abstinence education programs. Amends SSA title XIX to extend: (1) the qualifying individual program; and (2) the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment for Tennessee and Hawaii. Provides for: (1) asset verification under Medicaid; and (2) reduction in payments for Medicaid administrative costs to prevent certain payment duplications. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to extend authority for supplemental grants under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF). Amends the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to provide for additional funding for state health insurance assistance programs, area agencies on aging, and aging and disability resource centers. Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make appropriations for federal reimbursement of eligible providers for emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Preserving Access to Medicare Act of 2008
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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The strongest published arguments
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · 15 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] reported raising $527,998 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (4)
- Appropriation
- Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Ballot initiative
- A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-110s3118.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/110/s>
Record fed-us-cong110-s3118 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110