The Secretary shall make two payments under this section to each children’s hospital for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2005, each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011, each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018, and each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, one for the direct expenses and the other for indirect expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs. The Secretary shall promulgate regulations pursuant to the rulemaking requirements of title 5 which shall govern payments made under this subpart.
The amount determined under subsection (c) for direct expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs.
The total of the payments made to children’s hospitals under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (1)(B) in a fiscal year shall not exceed the funds appropriated under paragraph (1) or (2), respectively, of subsection (f) for such payments for that fiscal year.
If the Secretary determines that the amount of funds appropriated under subsection (f)(1) for a fiscal year is insufficient to provide the total amount of payments otherwise due for such periods under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall reduce the amounts so payable on a pro rata basis to reflect such shortfall.
Before imposing a reduction under clause (i) on the basis of a hospital’s failure to provide information described in clause (i)(II), the Secretary shall provide notice to the hospital of such failure and the Secretary’s intention to impose such reduction and shall provide the hospital with the opportunity to provide the required information within a period of 30 days beginning on the date of such notice. If the hospital provides such information within such period, no reduction shall be made under clause (i) on the basis of the previous failure to provide such information.
The Secretary shall compute for each hospital operating an approved graduate medical education program (regardless of whether or not it is a children’s hospital) a single per resident amount equal to the average (weighted by number of full-time equivalent residents) of the primary care per resident amount and the non-primary care per resident amount computed under section 1395ww(h)(2) of this title for cost reporting periods ending during fiscal year 1997.
The Secretary shall estimate the average proportion of the single per resident amounts computed under subparagraph (A) that is attributable to wages and wage-related costs.
The Secretary shall compute a national average per resident amount equal to the average of the standardized per resident amounts computed under subparagraph (C) for such hospitals, with the amount for each hospital weighted by the average number of full-time equivalent residents at such hospital.
The Secretary shall update such per resident amount for each such children’s hospital by the estimated percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers during the period beginning October 1997 and ending with the midpoint of the Federal fiscal year for which payments are made.
The amount determined under this subsection for payments to a children’s hospital for indirect expenses associated with the treatment of more severely ill patients and the additional costs associated with the teaching of residents for a fiscal year is equal to an amount determined appropriate by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall determine, before the beginning of each fiscal year involved for which payments may be made for a hospital under this section, the amounts of the payments for direct graduate medical education and indirect medical education for such fiscal year and shall (subject to paragraph (2)) make the payments of such amounts in 12 equal interim installments during such period. Such interim payments to each individual hospital shall be based on the number of residents reported in the hospital’s most recently filed Medicare cost report prior to the application date for the Federal fiscal year for which the interim payment amounts are established. In the case of a hospital that does not report residents on a Medicare cost report, such interim payments shall be based on the number of residents trained during the hospital’s most recently completed Medicare cost report filing period.
The Secretary shall withhold up to 25 percent from each interim installment for direct and indirect graduate medical education paid under paragraph (1) as necessary to ensure a hospital will not be overpaid on an interim basis.
Prior to the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine any changes to the number of residents reported by a hospital in the application of the hospital for the current fiscal year to determine the final amount payable to the hospital for the current fiscal year for both direct expense and indirect expense amounts. Based on such determination, the Secretary shall recoup any overpayments made and pay any balance due to the extent possible. The final amount so determined shall be considered a final intermediary determination for the purposes of section 1395oo of this title and shall be subject to administrative and judicial review under that section in the same manner as the amount of payment under section 1395ww(d) [1] of this title is subject to review under such section.
The term “approved graduate medical residency training program” has the meaning given the term “approved medical residency training program” in section 1395ww(h)(5)(A) of this title.
The term “children’s hospital” means a hospital with a Medicare payment agreement and which is excluded from the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system pursuant to section 1395ww(d)(1)(B)(iii) of this title and its accompanying regulations.
The term “direct graduate medical education costs” has the meaning given such term in section 1395ww(h)(5)(C) of this title.
The Secretary is authorized to make available up to 25 percent of the total amounts in excess of $245,000,000 appropriated under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (f), but not to exceed $7,000,000, for payments to hospitals qualified as described in paragraph (2), for the direct and indirect expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs, as described in subsection (a).
In the case of a freestanding children’s hospital that, on April 7, 2014, meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) but for which the Secretary has not determined an average number of full-time equivalent residents under section 1395ww(h)(4) of this title, the Secretary may establish such number of full-time equivalent residents for the purposes of calculating payments under this subsection.
Payments to hospitals made under this subsection shall be made in the same manner as payments are made to children’s hospitals, as described in subsections (b) through (e).
The direct and indirect payment amounts under this subsection shall be determined using per resident amounts that are no greater than the per resident amounts used for determining direct and indirect payment amounts under subsection (a).
A hospital receiving payments under this subsection shall be subject to the reporting requirements under subsection (b)(3).
If the payments to qualified hospitals under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year are less than the total amount made available under such paragraph for that fiscal year, any remaining amounts for such fiscal year may be made available to all hospitals participating in the program under this subsection or subsection (a).
For purposes of distributing the remaining amounts described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary may establish a quality bonus system, whereby the Secretary distributes bonus payments to hospitals participating in the program under this subsection or subsection (a) that meet standards specified by the Secretary, which may include a focus on quality measurement and improvement, interpersonal and communications skills, delivering patient-centered care, and practicing in integrated health systems, including training in community-based settings. In developing such standards, the Secretary shall collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including program accrediting bodies, certifying boards, training programs, health care organizations, health care purchasers, and patient and consumer groups.