--More sanctions, including jail time, for those who purchase, sell or distribute Medicare beneficiary identification numbers or billing privileges under Medicare or Medicaid with intent to defraud.

--Consideration of the costs and benefits of assigning universal product numbers (UPNs) to selected items and services reimbursed under Medicare.


--Requiring the States to monitor and remediate high-risk billing activity involving a high volume of claims that may indicate abuse or excessive prescription drug utilization.

--Authorization for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to work collaboratively with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to determine which providers have seriously delinquent tax debt, to help identify potentially fraudulent providers sooner.

--Preventing "pay-for-delay" in access to generic drugs by prohibiting agreements between generic drug manufacturers and a brand-name drug manufacturer to limit or forgo research, development, marketing, manufacturing or sales of the generic drug.

Health Care Reform Funding:

--An excise tax on insurance companies for the most expensive health plans.

--A 0.9 percentage point Hospital Insurance tax for households with incomes exceeding $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.

--Health industry fees including on branded prescription drug pharmaceutical companies; excise tax on medical devices; annual fees on health insurance companies; and an excise tax on indoor tanning services.

The health reform proposal may be accessed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/proposal

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