Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 113 Part 2.djvu/894

 113 STAT. 1501A-376 PUBLIC LAW 106-113—APPENDIX F "(C) APPLICATION.— ^A hospital seeking a grant under this paragraph shall submit an application to the Secretary on or before such date and in such form and manner as the Secretary specifies. "(D) AMOUNT OF GRANT. —^A grant to a hospital under this paragraph may not exceed $50,000. "(E) USE OF FUNDS.—^A hospital receiving a grant under this paragraph may use the funds for the purchase of computer software and hardware, the education and training of hospital staff on computer information systems, and to offset costs related to the implementation of prospective payment systems. " (F) REPORTS.— "(i) INFORMATION.—^A hospital receiving a grant under this section shall furnish the Secretary with such information as the Secretary may require to evaluate the project for which the grant is made and to ensure that the grant is expended for the purposes for which it is made. "(ii) TIMING OF SUBMISSION.— "(I) INTERIM REPORTS.— The Secretary shall report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate at least annually on the grant program established under this section, including in such report information on the number of grants made, the nature of the projects involved, the geographic distribution of grant recipients, and such other matters as the Secretary deems appropriate. "(II) FINAL REPORT.— The Secretary shall submit a final report to such committees not later than 180 days after the completion of all of the projects for which a grant is made under this section.". SEC. 410. GAG STUDY ON GEOGRAPHIC RECLASSIFICATION. (a) IN GENERAL. —The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of the current laws and regulations for geographic reclassification of hospitals to determine whether such reclassification is appropriate for purposes of applying wage indices under the medicare program and whether such reclassification results in more accurate payments for all hospitals. Such study shall examine data on the number of hospitals that are reclassified and their reclassified status in determining payments under the medicare program. The study shall evaluate— (1) the magnitude of the effect of geographic reclassification on rural hospitals that are not reclassified; (2) whether the current thresholds used in geographic reclassification reclassify hospitals to the appropriate labor markets; (3) the effect of eliminating geographic reclassification through use of the occupational mix data; (4) the group reclassification policy; (5) changes in the number of reclassifications and the compositions of the groups;

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