Public Health and Health Insurance Emergency Response Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1769
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2005-09-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Alabama
Appropriations
Armed Forces and National Security
Auditing
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Child health
Chronically ill
Commerce
Communication in medicine
Community health services
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuum of care
Crime and Law Enforcement
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Disaster relief
Displaced persons
Drug abuse
Drug abuse treatment
Drugs
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Emergency communication systems
Emergency medicine
Employee health benefits
Employee training
Environmental Protection
Environmental health
Epidemiology
Families
Family services
Family violence
Federal aid to health facilities
Federal aid to research
Finance and Financial Sector
Food safety
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Health insurance
Health planning
Health surveys
Hurricane aftermath legislation
Hurricanes
Insurance premiums
Labor and Employment
Law
Licenses
Louisiana
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical laboratories
Medical malpractice
Medical personnel
Medical records
Medical research
Medical screening
Medical statistics
Medically uninsured
Mental health services
Military operations
Military personnel
Mississippi
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Physicians
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Preventive medicine
Public health administration
Public service advertising
Quality of care
Science, Technology, Communications
Searches and seizures
Self-insurance
Social Welfare
Suicide
Terrorism
Vaccination
Vaccines
Volunteer workers

Summary:
action_date: 2005-09-26
text: 
Public Health and Health Insurance Emergency Response Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to modify certain requirements during a declared public health emergency, including by: (1) extending deadlines for administrative reporting; (2) waiving matching funds requirements; and (3) waiving health care professionals' licensing requirements. 
 
Allows the Secretary to: (1) extend temporary assistance in meeting health emergencies to 18 months (currently, such assistance is limited to six months); and (2) temporarily provide reimbursements (at the same rate provided to qualified health centers) to any health center or facility providing primary and preventive care that treats individuals displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
 
Amends the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 to provide, in the event of a major disaster and declared public health emergency, for the establishment of a registry to identify and maintain information about individuals with disabilities in emergency shelters and assure that such individuals are receiving necessary services and support.
 
Requires the Secretary to provide for an immediate and independent review of the lessons learned from the federal, state, and local public health, mental health, and medical care planning and preparedness for, and response to, Hurricane Katrina.
 
Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct an audit and investigation of Hurricane Katrina related programs of HHS.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide emergency health coverage continuation relief through the provision of direct payments of health insurance premiums on behalf of eligible businesses and their employees and purchasers of individual health insurance coverage.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-09-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10431-10434)
action_date: 2005-09-26
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10430-10431)
action_date: 2005-09-26
text: Introduced in Senate