12 2 STA T . 2 586PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 7 5 —J UL Y 15 , 2008 ‘ ‘ (4)OPENA N DTR AN S PARENT .—Withresp e c tt oma tters re l ate d to the co n tract w ith the S ecretar yu nder su b section (a) , the entity conducts its business in an open and transparent manner and pro v ides the opportunity f or public comment on its activities. ‘‘( 5 ) VOLU NTAR YC ONSENSUS STANDARDS SETT I N G ORGANI Z A - TION.— T he entity operates as a voluntary consensus standards settin g organi z ation as defined for purposes of section 12 (d) of the N ational Technology Transfer and A dvancement Act of1 9 95( P ublic L aw1 0 4 – 11 3 ) and Office of M anagement and B udget R evised C ircular A–119 (published in the F ederal Reg- ister on February 10, 199 8 ). ‘‘( 6 ) EX PERIENCE.—The entity has at least 4 years of e x peri- ence in establishing national consensus standards. ‘‘( 7 )ME MB ERS H IP F EES.— I f the entity re q uires a member- ship fee for participation in the functions of the entity, such fees shall be reasonable and ad j usted based on the capacity of the potential member to pay the fee. In no case shall member- ship fees pose a barrier to the participation of individuals or groups with low or nominal resources to participate in the functions of the entity. ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—For purposes of carrying out this section, the Secretary shall provide for the transfer, from the Federal H ospital Insurance Trust Fund under section 1817 and the Federal Supple- mentary Medical Insurance Trust Fund under section 1841 (in such proportion as the Secretary determines appropriate), of $ 10,000,000 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Pro- gram Management Account for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012. ’ ’. (2) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the Sense of the Senate that the selection by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- ices of an entity to contract with under section 1890(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by paragraph (1), should not be construed as diminishing the significant contributions of the Boards of Medicine, the quality alliances, and other clinical and technical experts to efforts to measure and improve the quality of health care services. (b) G AO STUDY AND REPORTS ON THE PERFORMANCE AND COSTS OF THE CONSENSUS-BASED ENTITY U NDER THE CONTRACT.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on— (A) the performance of the entity with a contract with the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 1890(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by subsection (a), of its duties under such contract
and (B) the costs incurred by such entity in performing such duties. (2) REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months and 36 months after the effective date of the first contract entered into under such section 1890(a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report containing the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1), together with recommendations for such legislation and administrative action as the Comptroller General determines appropriate.
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