H.R. 3611: Healthcare Outcomes Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-07-28 · Health · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-07-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Paulsen, Erik [R-MN-3] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 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.

What does this mean?

Official title

Healthcare Outcomes Act of 2017

Plain summary

Healthcare Outcomes Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to replace the existing methodology for calculating Medicare payment adjustments for subsection (d) hospitals based on outcomes in readmissions and complications with a new methodology based on value-based outcomes in those and other areas. (In general, a "subsection (d) hospital" is an acute care hospital that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system.) Specifically, the bill: (1) establishes a methodology for determining a hospital's financial impact attributable to complications, readmissions, return emergency room visits, and post-acute care episode expenditures; and (2) requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to select methodologies for identifying potentially avoidable outcomes in those categories. Subject to both a ceiling and a floor, among other specified refinements, a hospital's payment adjustment factor for an applicable prospective period shall be based on the ratio of that financial impact to the aggregate amount of standardized payments made to the hospital with respect to that period. The CMS must ensure budget neutrality with respect to application of the payment adjustment factor across all subsection (d) hospitals. The CMS shall regularly report to hospitals and to the public on each hospital's performance with regard to potentially avoidable outcomes.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), 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.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Healthcare Outcomes Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Paulsen, Erik [R-MN-3] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

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 (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
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 House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hr3611.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hr>

Record fed-us-cong115-hr3611 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115