Emergency Health Care Relief Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1716
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2005-09-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Emergency Management
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Aid to dependent children
Alabama
Alcoholism
Appropriations
Auditing
Cash welfare block grants
Child health
Child support
Collection of accounts
Community health services
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Counseling
Credit cards
Debt
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Disaster relief
Displaced persons
Drug abuse
Drug abuse treatment
Drugs
Economics and Public Finance
Evacuation of civilians
Families
Federal aid to child health services
Finance and Financial Sector
Floods
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government procurement
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Health
Health care fraud
Health insurance
Home care services
Homeless
Hospital rates
Hospitals
Housing and Community Development
Hurricane aftermath legislation
Hurricanes
Inspectors general
Insurance premiums
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Labor and Employment
Law
Liability (Law)
Louisiana
Medicaid
Medical screening
Medical supplies
Medicare
Mental health services
Mississippi
Office of Management and Budget
Old age, survivors and disability insurance
Poor children
Pregnant women
Prescription pricing
Psychotherapy
Public records
Quality of care
Self-help devices for the disabled
Social Welfare
Social work
State laws
Unemployment
Unemployment insurance
Water Resources Development
Welfare eligibility
Women
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2005-09-15
text: 
Emergency Health Care Relief Act of 2005 - Requires a state to provide medical assistance to eligible Hurricane Katrina survivors under a state Medicaid plan. 
 
Increases the federal medical assistance percentage for providing medical assistance under a state Medicaid plan to any individual residing in certain affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
 
Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive certain requirements in any geographical area in which there are a significant number of evacuees from an emergency area.
 
Establishes the Disaster Relief Fund for payments to: (1) Medicaid providers to offset costs incurred by such providers as a result of Hurricane Katrina; and (2) state insurance commissioners for making payments to health insurance issuers for health insurance premiums for eligible individuals or qualified employers.
 
Amends the TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005 to revise the definition of &quot;needy state&quot; for purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) block grants to include any direct impact states and any other states that provide benefits or services to a family that resided in a direct impact state and traveled to the state as a result of the hurricane. Increases the maximum amount of all TANF loans that can be made to a state.
 
Allows the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor to make payments of temporary extended unemployment compensation to individuals who are not otherwise entitled to such compensation.
 
Authorizes modifications to procurement procedures as necessary for the support of Hurricane Katrina rescue and relief operations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11473)
action_date: 2005-09-26
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10416)
action_date: 2005-09-19
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 214.
action_date: 2005-09-15
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2005-09-15
text: Introduced in Senate