Tim Scott

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Executive Calendar Nos. 936 through 946, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force; that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate; the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.J. Res. 110.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be considered read a third time.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I know of no further debate on the joint resolution.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of the H.R. 5458 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7460, which was received from the House.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5852, which was received from the House.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the junior Senator from South Carolina be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions on Sunday, December 20, and Monday, December 21.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Monday, December 21; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the date; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, today I would like to take a moment to recognize and honor Mayor Joseph T. McElveen of Sumter, SC. Mayor McElveen served in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from the Citadel in 1968 and from the University of South Carolina Law School in 1971. Mayor McElveen has served on the city council, as a member of the S.C. House of Representatives for Sumter County, and now is retiring after serving as mayor of Sumter. He has dedicated over 20 years of his life to serving the great people of Sumter and has seen prosperity and growth come to Sumter County firsthand. I want to thank Mayor McElveen for his service and for emulating in his life what it means to be a public servant.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Mr. President, yesterday, the Provide Accurate Information Directly, PAID Act took a pivotal step closer to becoming law. Once enacted, this vital legislation, which I had the privilege of coauthoring with Senator Cardin, will save tens of millions of taxpayer dollars through targeted and commonsense updates to the Medicare secondary payer, MSP, statute, which Congress first codified four decades ago. The PAID Act aims to ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, in coordinating claims related to Medicare Advantage MA, or Medicare Part D plans, can provide the information needed for settling parties to resolve claims-fairly and efficiently. In short, this bill is a boon for seniors, Main Street job creators, and the American taxpayer. As this bill approaches the legislative finish line, I would like to thank Chairman Grassley for his invaluable support in working with my office, as well as with our Democratic counterparts and with CMS, to bolster, refine, and identify legislative avenues for our proposal. I would also like to thank Senator Cardin for his partnership in co- leading this legislation, along with Representatives Kind and Bilirakis, who introduced a companion bill in the House, which passed by voice vote yesterday. Together, I feel confident that we can see the PAID Act signed into law by the end of the year. Congress amended the MSP statute in 2007 to require parties to a dispute--known as primary plans--to report settlements, judgments, and awards to Medicare through so-called section 111 reports. This amendment allowed Medicare to-seek recovery from settling parties when Medicare paid for healthcare because other payment was not available or reasonably expected to be available. While this system has functioned well for the Medicare Fee-for-Service program, where CMS has the claims data needed for recovery, it has not worked successfully for the MA Part C and Part D programs, where CMS does not have the requisite Part C and Part D claims data and cannot recover for payments that have been made. To compound the problem, settling parties are often unable to identify the correct Part C or Part D plan to be able to coordinate benefits, should they choose to do so. This legislation closes that critical information by having CMS communicate the Part C and Part D plan identification to settling parties in response to a section 111 report. CMS has that data and can provide it. Congress recognizes that for the last 8 years, CMS has provided section 111 reports to the Part C and Part D Plans, and Congress expects that CMS will continue to do so after this legislation is enacted. Further, the existing MSP statute and regulations impose specific requirements on CMS, and on Part C and Part D plans, to pay for claims in some situations, to not pay for claims in other situations, and to pursue recovery of claims when appropriate. Nothing in this legislation is intended to change any of those obligations or requirements, and Congress expects Part C and Part D plans to continue to seek recovery of claims by timely notifying settling parties when a payment has been made that should be reimbursed, consistent with the CMS notice procedures. This legislation is only intended to provide more information to the settling parties so that they have the ability to coordinate with Part C and Part D plans earlier, if they so choose. Congress has afforded CMS 12 months to implement this law, and we urge the agency to move with all deliberate speed to both implement its own system changes and coordinate with primary plans throughout the implementation process. Regular communication and coordination will prove critical in ensuring that Primary Plans are aware of the data exchange requirements that CMS plans to implement and are prepared as quickly as possible to utilize the data CMS will be providing under this law. By involving all stakeholders throughout the implementation process, CMS can implement our intent that the needed plan identity information be available for parties to coordinate benefits as efficiently as possible.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the Vaden nomination be waived.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.