A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers are touting a new bill that they say for the first time would allow Medicare to reward seniors for improving their health.  

The Medicare Better Health Rewards bill (S. 1228, H.R. 2524), introduced June 26, would establish a voluntary three-year wellness program that would use the annual wellness visit Medicare already pays for to ascertain and measure improvements in six key areas of health: tobacco usage; body mass index; diabetes indicators; blood pressure; cholesterol; and vaccinations and screenings.  

Under the program, first-year participants would be assessed in each of the key health areas and then work with their physician to develop a plan to bring those indicators into a healthier range, the lawmakers said.  

Progress would be measured during subsequent wellness visits in years two and three of the program, the lawmakers said. Participants who achieve and maintain their indicator targets would be eligible for up to $200 after their second visit and up to $400 after their third visit, they said  

The rewards would be allocated entirely from savings generated by seniors getting healthy and needing less health care services, the lawmakers said.  

Among those introducing the bill were Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), as well as Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.).