text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Preservation of Access to 
  Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2011''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) Since 1997, Congress has recognized the importance of 
          osteoporosis prevention by standardizing coverage under the 
          Medicare program for bone mass measurement.
              (2) Osteoporosis remains underdiagnosed and undertreated 
          despite numerous Federal initiatives, including recommendations 
          of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the 2004 
          United States Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health and 
          Osteoporosis, and education, counseling, and referral for bone 
          mass measurement during the Welcome to Medicare exam.
              (3) Even though osteoporosis is a highly manageable 
          disease, many patients lack access to early diagnosis that can 
          prevent debilitating fractures, morbidity, and loss of 
          mobility.
              (4) Although Caucasians are most likely to sustain 
          osteoporosis fractures, from 2005 to 2025 the cost of fractures 
          among other populations is projected to increase by 175 percent 
          for Latinos and Asian-Americans and 80 percent for African-
          Americans.
              (5) African-American women are more likely than Caucasian 
          women to die following a hip fracture.
              (6) Osteoporosis is a critical women's health issue. Women 
          account for 71 percent of fractures and 75 percent of 
          osteoporosis-associated costs and the incidence of 
          osteoporosis-related fractures is greater than the annual 
          combined incidence, with respect to women, of heart attack, 
          stroke, and breast cancer.
              (7) The World Health Organization, the Centers for Medicare 
          & Medicaid Services, and other medical experts concur that the 
          most widely accepted method of measuring bone mass to predict 
          fracture risk is dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (in this 
          section referred to as ``DXA''). Vertebral fracture assessment 
          (in this section referred to as ``VFA'') is another test used 
          to identify patients at high risk for future fracture.
              (8) DXA is a cost-effective preventive test with proven 
          results in real world settings. DXA testing increases the 
          number of people diagnosed with osteoporosis and treated, 
          dramatically reducing hip fractures and related costs.
              (9) DXA screening is associated with a significant (37 
          percent) reduction in hip fracture rates.
              (10) Unlike other imaging procedures, DXA remains severely 
          underutilized, with only one in four women enrolled in the 
          Medicare program getting a DXA every two years.
              (11) Underutilization of bone mass measurement will strain 
          the Medicare budget because--
                      (A) over half of all individuals in the United 
                  States who are age 50 or older have osteoporosis or low 
                  bone mass;
                      (B) more than 52.4 million people in the United 
                  States had osteoporosis or low bone mass in 2010, as 
                  compared to 44 million people in the United States in 
                  2002;
                      (C) osteoporosis fractures are projected to 
                  increase by almost 50 percent from 2005 to 2025 with 
                  over 3 million fractures expected to occur annually by 
                  2025;
                      (D) the population aged 65 and older represents 89 
                  percent of fracture costs; and
                      (E) the economic burden of osteoporosis fractures 
                  is projected to increase by nearly 50 percent from 2005 
                  to 2025, reaching 25.3 million in 2025.
              (12) Underutilization of bone mass measurement will also 
          strain the Medicaid budget, which bears the cost of nursing 
          home admissions for hip fractures for low-income Americans.
              (13) Reimbursement under the Medicare program for DXA 
          provided in physician offices and other non-hospital settings 
          was reduced by 50 percent and is scheduled to be reduced by a 
          total of 62 percent by 2013. This drop represents one of the 
          largest reimbursement reductions in the history of the Medicare 
          program. Reimbursement for VFA will also be reduced by 30 
          percent by 2013.
              (14) The reduction in reimbursement discourages physicians 
          from continuing to provide access to DXA or VFA in their 
          offices. DXA testing for older women declined in 2009 for the 
          first time since Congress passed the Bone Mass Measurement Act 
          in 1997. Since two-thirds of all DXA scans are performed in 
          non-facility settings, such as physician offices, patient 
          access to bone mass measurement will continue to be severely 
          compromised when more physicians discontinue providing such 
          tests in their offices, thereby exacerbating the current 
          underutilization of the benefit.
  
  SEC. 3. EXTENDING MINIMUM PAYMENT FOR BONE MASS MEASUREMENT.
  
      (a) In General.--Section 1848 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
  1395w-4) is amended--
              (1) in subsection (b)--
                      (A) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ``for 2010 and 
                  2011'' and inserting ``for each of 2010 through 2013''; 
                  and
                      (B) in paragraph (6)--
                              (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                          (A), by striking ``and 2011'' and inserting ``, 
                          2011, 2012, and 2013''; and
                              (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and 
                          2011'' and inserting ``, 2011, 2012, and 
                          2013''; and
              (2) in subsection (c)(2)(B)(iv)(IV), by striking ``or 
          2011'' and inserting ``, 2011, 2012, or 2013''.
      (b) Implementation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
  the Secretary may implement the amendments made by subsection (a) by 
  program instruction or otherwise.
target: Preservation of Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend through 2013 the minimum payment amount for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) services for bone mass measurement.
feat_title: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve access to, and utilization of, bone mass measurement benefits under the Medicare part B program by extending the minimum payment amount for bone mass measurement under such program through 2013.