Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1932
Sponsor: Sen. Gregg, Judd [R-NH]
Introduced: 2005-10-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Academic performance
Access to health care
Accreditation (Education)
Administrative fees
Administrative procedure
Adult education
Affordable housing
Agricultural conservation
Agricultural credit
Agricultural labor
Agricultural subsidies
Agriculture and Food
Aid to dependent children
Airline passenger traffic
Alabama
Alaska
Alcohol and youth
Alien labor
Ambulatory care
Animals
Annuities
Apartment houses
Appropriations
Area studies
Arizona
Arkansas
Armed Forces and National Security
Armed forces abroad
Arts, Culture, Religion
Auctions
Auditing
Authorization
Bank reserves
Bankruptcy
Barley
Books
Budget reconciliation
Business education
Case management
Case mix (Medical care)
Cash welfare block grants
Chief financial officers
Child health
Church and social problems
Civics education
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Coastal zone
Coinsurance
Collection of accounts
College costs
College teachers
Colleges
Commerce
Community colleges
Community health services
Compensatory education
Computers
Conflict of interests
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Consultants
Consumer credit
Consumer education
Consumer price indexes
Continuum of care
Cooperative housing
Corn
Cotton
Credit unions
Crime and Law Enforcement
Curricula
Dairy industry
Day care
Deaf
Democracy
Department of Education
Department of Health and Human Services
Deposit insurance
Disabled
Disaster relief
Distance education
District of Columbia
Dividends
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug industry
Drugs
Drugs and youth
Easements
Education
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational accountability
Educational counseling
Educational innovations
Educational research
Educational technology
Electronic data interchange
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency Management
Emergency communication systems
Emergency medicine
Employee health benefits
Energy
Engineering
Engineers
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Estates (Law)
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
Executive reorganization
Families
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to child health services
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Federal aid to housing
Federal aid to transportation
Federally-guaranteed loans
Feed grains
Fees
Finance and Financial Sector
Floods
Food stamps
Foreign service
Foreign students
Freedom of association
Freedom of speech
Garnishment
Generic drugs
Government Operations and Politics
Government contractors
Government corporations
Government internships
Government paperwork
Government procurement
Government publicity
Government spending reductions
Government trust funds
Governmental investigations
Graduate education
Grain
Grants-in-aid
Hawaiians
Health
Health care fraud
Health education
Health information systems
Health insurance
Health maintenance organizations
Higher education
Highway finance
Hispanic Americans
History
Home care services
Home schooling
Honey
Hospital care
Hospital rates
Hospitals
Housing and Community Development
Hurricane aftermath legislation
Hurricanes
Immigrants
Immigration
Income
Indexing (Economic policy)
Indian education
Indian medical care
Infrastructure
Insurance premiums
Interest
Interest rates
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
International Affairs
International education
Interstate highway system
Judicial review
Juvenile delinquency
Kidney diseases
Labor and Employment
Language and languages
Law
Law enforcement officers
Lawyers
Legal education
Legal services
Legislation
Legumes
Libraries
Licenses
Life sciences
Limitation of actions
Literacy programs
Loan defaults
Loans
Long-term care
Long-term care insurance
Louisiana
Maine
Managed care
Maryland
Maternal health services
Mathematics
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical ethics
Medical fees
Medical records
Medical supplies
Medical technology
Medically uninsured
Medicare
Mental health services
Mental illness
Mentoring
Migrant education
Military operations
Milk
Minorities
Minorities in government
Minority education
Minority employment
Minority health
Mississippi
Mortgages
National Guard
New Mexico
Nonprofit organizations
North Dakota
Nursing homes
Oil and gas leases
Oil well drilling
Patient satisfaction
Peace
Peanuts
Pension trust guaranty insurance
Performance measurement
Personal budgets
Pharmacies
Physicians
Police
Policy sciences
Poor children
Preschool education
Prescription pricing
Professional education
Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-27
text: 
Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005 - Provides for reconciliation of the budget for FY2006 pursuant to H.Con.Res. 95 (congressional budget resolution) by the Senate Committees on: (1) Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; (2) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (3) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (4) Energy and Natural Resources; (5) Environment and Public Works; (6) Finance; (7) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (8) the Judiciary.
 
Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005 - Provides for: (1) reduction of commodity program payments; (2) a forfeiture penalty for nonrecourse sugar loans; (3) cotton competitiveness; (4) national dairy market loss payments; (5) advance direct payments; (6) a conservation reserve program; (7) a conservation security program; (8) environmental quality incentives program; and (9) an initiative for future agriculture and food systems.
 
Safe and Fair Deposit Insurance Act of 2005 - Provides for: (1) establishment of the Deposit Insurance Fund; and (2) a merger of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund into it.
 
Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 - Revises requirements for deposit insurance.
 
FHA Asset Disposition Act of 2005 - Provides for Federal Housing Administration asset disposition.
 
Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 - Provides for: (1) an extension of a television broadcast license that authorizes analog television service; (2) additional deadlines for the recovered analog spectrum; (3) supplemental license fees; (4) establishment of the Digital Transition and Public Safety Fund; and (5) additional funds for the essential air service program.
 
Authorizes leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 Coastal Plain Area (ANWR).
 
Makes technical corrections to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
 
Amends the Social Security Act regarding: (1) payment for prescription drugs under Medicaid; (2) long-term care under Medicaid; (3) eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid; (3) state financing under Medicaid; (4) revising the Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) programs; and (5) an option for Hurricane Katrina disaster states to delay application.
 
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) with respect to student loans.
 
Hurricane Katrina Higher Education Recovery Act - Requires waiver authority and modifications to certain HEA provisions with respect to certain students and institutions affected by Hurricane Katrina.
 
Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Education to audit and investigate each program carried out by the Department that includes response and recovery activities related to Hurricane Katrina.
 
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums.
 
Higher Education Amendments of 2005 - Amends HEA with respect to specified higher education programs.
 
Amends: (1) the Education of the Deaf Act of 1986; (2) the United States Institute of Peace Act; (3) the Higher Education Amendments of 1998; and (4) the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978.
 
Navajo Nation Higher Education Act of 2005 - Reauthorizes the Navajo Community College Act. Changes the name of the Navajo Community College to Dine College.
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to recapture unused employment-based immigrant visas and to impose fees for immigration services for intracompany transferees.

action_date: 2005-11-18
text: 
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
 - Title I: Committee on Agriculture 
- Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Subtitle A: Commodity Programs 
- (Sec. 1101) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture, for the 2006 and 2007 crop years (and the 2008 and 2009 crop years if direct payments are provided for those crop years), to reduce, by 1% for the crop year concerned, direct payments to the producers on a farm for a covered commodity or for peanuts. (States that no reduction shall be made if direct payments are made for the 2010 or any subsequent crop year of a covered commodity.)
 
(Sec. 1102) Gives producers of covered commodities or peanuts the option of receiving up to 40% of their direct payments in advance for the 2006 and 2007 crop years (and 50% for the 2005 crop year). (Current law provides for up to 50% advance payments through the 2007 crop year.) 
 
(Sec. 1103) Repeals authority for the upland cotton user marketing certificate program.
 

Subtitle B: Conservation 
- (Sec. 1201) Amends the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act respecting the watershed rehabilitation program to: (1) reduce FY2007 authorizations of appropriations; (2) eliminate multi-year availability of funds; and (3) rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006. 
 
(Sec. 1202) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the conservation security program through FY2011. Revises Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding limits for such program to: (1) increase the total limit, and extend funding limits to FY2015; and (2) establish specified limits for FY2006-FY2010, and for FY2006-FY2115.
 
(Sec. 1203) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to eliminate FY2007 funding for the agricultural management assistance program.
 

Subtitle C: Energy 
- (Sec. 1301) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to eliminate FY2007 CCC funds for the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program.
 

Subtitle D: Rural Development 
- (Sec. 1401) Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 respecting enhanced access to broadband telecommunication services in rural areas to: (1) eliminate FY2007 CCC funds; (2) eliminate multi-year availability of funds; and (3) rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006.
 
(Sec. 1402) Amends the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 respecting value-added agricultural product market development grants to: (1) eliminate FY2007 funding; (2) eliminate multi-year availability of funds; and (3) rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006.
 
(Sec. 1403) Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Rural Act respecting: (1) the rural business investment program to eliminate debenture funding after FY2006, eliminate multi-year availability of funds, and rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006; and (2) rural business strategic investment grants to eliminate multi-year availability of funds, and rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006.
 
(Sec. 1405) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 respecting the rural firefighters and emergency personnel grant program to: (1) eliminate FY2007 funding; (2) eliminate multi-year availability of funds; and (3) rescind funds previously made available but unobligated as of September 30, 2006.
 

Subtitle E: Research 
- (Sec. 1501) Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 respecting the initiative for future food and agriculture systems to: (1) eliminate FY2007-FY2009 funding; and (2) limit the availability of FY2006 funds to the one year period beginning on October 1, 2005.
 

Subtitle F: Nutrition 
- (Sec. 1601) Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to restrict FY2006-FY2010 food stamp program eligibility to only those households in which each member receives temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) cash benefits, with an exception for certain low-income households in which each member receives TANF noncash benefits which are used for shelter, food, health care, child care, job training, utilities, or transportation.
 
Extends funding for certain food stamp employment and training programs through FY2011.
 
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to extend school lunch and breakfast program eligibility to a child who is a member of a household: (1) that has gross monthly income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level; and (2) in which each member receives TANF cash or in-kind benefits.
 
(Sec. 1602) Extends commodity purchase authority for the emergency food assistance program through FY2011. Increases FY2006 purchase amounts, and requires that such increase be used for commodity distributions in States affected by Hurricanes Rita or Katrina.
 
(Sec. 1603) Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to require that until September 30, 2010, an alien must reside in the United States at least seven years (currently, five years) to be eligible for food stamps, with a five-year eligibility exception for an alien who: (1) is 60 years or older, or who has a naturalization application approved or pending; and (2) is a member of a household receiving food stamps.
 
(Sec. 1604) Authorizes the Secretary to pay to state agencies 100% of the administrative costs incurred in the delivery of food stamp benefits under the disaster food stamp program initiated in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
 
 

Title II: Committee on Education and the Workforce - Subtitle A: Welfare Reform - Part 1: Short title; References
 - Personal Responsibility and Family Protection Act of 2005 - 
Part 2: TANF
 - (Sec. 2011) Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to modify state plan requirements to ensure that states require a parent or caretaker relative receiving TANF assistance to engage in work (as under current law) or alternative self-sufficiency activities, in accordance with a family self-sufficiency plan.
 
Replaces requirements for the individual responsibility plan with those for family self-sufficiency plans. Requires a state to establish a self-sufficiency plan for each family, and to monitor and review the participation in such plan of work-eligible family members.
 
Prescribes a penalty against states for failure to establish such plans.
 
(Sec. 2012) Eliminates the separate work participation rate requirements for two-parent families (thus applying the same lower rate to all families).
 
Increases minimum state work participation rates from 50% for FY2006 to 70% for FY2010. Revises requirements for calculation of participation rates and recalibration of the caseload reduction credit.
 
Repeals the state option to include individuals receiving assistance under a tribal family assistance plan or tribal work program. Prescribes requirements for a superachiever credit for states whose caseload for FY2001 has declined by at least 60% from that of FY1995. Increases the state's participation rate by the lesser of the superachiever credit or the number of percentage points by which the minimum participation rate for the fiscal year exceeds 50%.
 
Replaces requirements for work activities and their computation with minimum hours of countable work (now called direct work activities) or of other specified qualified activities, including education and training.
 
Revises the penalties against individuals for failing to engage in work activities or other qualified activities.
 
(Sec. 2013) Modifies state plan requirements to require the plan document to describe strategies, methods, and programs for ending the dependence of needy families on government benefits and for promoting job preparation and work.
 
Requires each eligible state to report annually to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on performance improvement.
 
Requires the Secretary to develop uniform performance measures designed to assess the degree of effectiveness, and the degree of improvement, of state TANF programs in accomplishing the work-related purposes of TANF.
 
(Sec. 2014) Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Labor to report jointly to Congress on common or conflicting data elements, definitions, performance measures, and reporting requirements in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and SSA title IV part A (TANF), and, as appropriate, any other program administered by the respective Secretary, to allow greater coordination between the welfare and workforce development systems.
 
(Sec. 2015) Promotion and Support of Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Act of 2005 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to add a new part C (Fatherhood Program) to promote responsible fatherhood.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for FY2006-FY2010, including: (1) full service and limited purpose grants to public and nonprofit community entities for demonstration service projects and activities designed to test the effectiveness of various approaches to accomplish specified objectives related to responsible, caring, and effective fatherhood; (2) other grants to eligible entities for two multicity, multistate projects demonstrating approaches to achieving such objectives; and (3) economic incentive grants to eligible entities for two to five related demonstration projects.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to carry out projects of national significance relating to fatherhood promotion.
 
Authorizes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 2016) Requires TANF programs to be mandatory partners with One-Stop Employment Training Centers created under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, unless a state governor notifies the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Labor in writing of a decision not to make the state program mandatory.
 
(Sec. 2017) Expresses the sense of the Congress that a state welfare-to-work program should include a mentoring program. 
 
(Sec. 2018) Prohibits a state to which a state family assistance grant is made from using any part of it to: (1) to contract with an entity that, directly or indirectly, provides any related service, activity, or function at a location outside the United States (offshoring); or (2) reduce employment in the United States through the use of one or more employees outside the United States.
 

Part 3: Child Care 
- Caring for Children Act of 2005 - (Sec. 2022) Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA) to assist states to provide child care to low-income parents, to encourage states to improve the quality of child care available to families, and to promote school readiness.
 
(Sec. 2023) Authorizes increased appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 2024) Revises state plan requirements for consumer education information to add child care provider education information, coordination, public private partnerships, child care service quality, and access to care for certain populations.
 
(Sec. 2025) Increases from 4% to 6% the minimum amount of funds for activities to improve the quality of child care services. Specifies permissible activities, including professional development of the child care workforce, activities to enhance early learning for young children, activities to increase the retention and compensation of child care providers, and other appropriate activities.
 
(Sec. 2026) Requires the monthly collection by a state of information about ethnicity and primary language, in addition to race, gender, and age, for reports to the Secretary.
 
(Sec. 2027) Revises requirements for the Secretary's biennial report to specified congressional committees of a summary and analysis of collected program information. Requires the report to contain an assessment, and where appropriate, recommendations for efforts that should be undertaken to improve the access of the public to quality and affordable child care in the United States. 
 
(Sec. 2028) Defines limited English proficient with respect to an individual.
 
(Sec. 2029) Authorizes the Secretary, for a period up to June 30, 2006, and to an extent considered appropriate, to waive or modify, for any affected state, and any state serving significant numbers of individuals adversely affected by a Gulf Hurricane disaster, certain CCDBGA requirements, including those relating to federal income limitations on eligibility to receive child care services.
 

Part 4: State and Local Flexibility 
- (Sec. 2041) Establishes a program of demonstration projects in a state or a portion of a state to coordinate multiple public assistance, workforce development, and other programs, for the purpose of supporting working individuals and families, helping families escape welfare dependency, promoting child well being, or helping build stronger families, using innovative approaches to strengthen service systems and provide more coordinated and effective service delivery. 
 

Part 5: Effective Date 
- Sets forth the effective date of this subtitle.
 

Subtitle B: Higher Education 
- Higher Education Budget Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Part 1: Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 
- Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise HEA title IV student assistance program requirements.
 
(Sec. 2112) Eliminates the 50% rule with respect to distance education, where it currently limits the relative number of courses an institution of higher education (IHE) may offer by telecommunications, and the relative number of students who may be enrolled in such courses, for purposes of student assistance program eligibility. (Continues application of the 50% rule to correspondence courses.) 
 
(Sec. 2113) Reauthorizes the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Extends authority for federal insurance on student loans, and for the guaranteed loan and consolidated loan programs. Refers to loan processing and issuance fees rather than an administrative cost allowance.
 
(Sec. 2114) Increases loan limits. Revises requirements for counting consolidation loans against such limits.
 
(Sec. 2115) Repeals the change from a variable to a fixed interest rate, which is currently scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2006, for FFEL and Direct Loans (DL).
 
Allows borrowers the option to choose a fixed rate or a variable rate for consolidation loans made on or after July 1, 2006. Sets forth formulas for increased rates, with higher rates for consolidation of parent loans (PLUS). 
 
Establishes a special allowance support level to be used in a formula for calculating excess interest to be recaptured by the Treasury.
 
(Sec. 2116) Provides for gradual reduction of loan origination fees paid by student borrowers. 
 
Establishes a limited federal default fee. 
 
Provides a limited fixed rate offset charge for consolidation loans.
 
(Sec. 2117) Revises consolidation loan requirements.
 
Requires the Secretary to offer direct consolidation loans to eligible borrowers who have been denied consolidation loans or consolidation loans with income-sensitive repayment terms by an eligible lender.
 
Eliminates: (1) spousal consolidation loans; (2) in-school consolidation loans; and (3) a requirement that single holder borrowers consolidate with that single loan holder (but does require them to notify that holder of their intent to consolidate).
 
Provides for similar terms and conditions for FFEL consolidation loans and DL consolidations loans.
 
(Sec. 2118) Provides for student loan deferments of up to three years for individuals serving on active duty or performing National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or emergency.
 
(Sec. 2119) Provides for student loan forgiveness for service in areas of national need. (Replaces and expands the current program of loan forgiveness for child care providers.) Makes eligible those who serve under certain conditions as early childhood educators, nurses, foreign language specialists, librarians, highly qualified teachers of bilingual education or in low-income communities, first responders in low-income communities, child welfare workers, speech-language pathologists, or workers in other areas of national need designated by the Secretary.
 
(Sec. 2120) Increases the maximum annual limits for unsubsidized Stafford loans made to graduate students on or after July 1, 2007.
 
(Sec. 2121) Continues certain limitations on special allowance payments under HEA as amended by the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004 (TTPA), by eliminating specified termination dates under TTPA. Sets forth an additional limitation on special allowance payments for loans from the proceeds of tax-exempt issues.
 
Continues TTPA authorization of an increased maximum amount, and new borrower eligibility, for HEA's loan forgiveness program for school teachers who teach certain subjects in high-poverty schools. Expands such loan forgiveness program to include those who primarily teach reading. Sets guidelines for private school teachers to qualify for such forgiveness program.
 
(Sec. 2122) Increases from 0.5% to 1.0% the loan fee lenders to pay on loans for which the first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2006.
 
(Sec. 2123) Revises administrative requirements for special insurance, and sets reinsurance rules for exceptional performance.
 
Reduces the percentages of defaulted loan collection amounts that guarantee agencies may retain.
 
Revises other administrative requirements, including ones relating to: (1) treatment of exempt claims; (2) reduction of insurance percentage; (3) revocation authority; (4) consolidation of defaulted loans; (5) voluntary flexible agreements; (6) repayment requirements in cases of fraud extended to parent loans; (7) the default reduction program, and financial and economic literacy education for borrowers; (8) credit bureau organization agreements; and (9) requirements for IHEs to be eligible lenders.
 
(Sec. 2124) Provides for mandatory funds for FY2006 to be available to the Secretary in a specified limited amount for: (1) administrative costs under the DL and FFEL student loan programs; and (2) account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. 
 
Authorizes appropriations, but eliminates mandatory funding, for such administrative expenses in FY2007-FY2011.
 
Continues mandatory funding for FY2007-FY2011 for account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. Limits such fees to not more than 0.1% of the original principal amount of outstanding loans on which insurance was issued under FFEL.
 
(Sec. 2125) Revises guidelines for determining a student's eligibility for the simplified needs test (SNT) and automatic-zero expected family contribution (AZ-EFC).
 
Provides for simplifying the student aid application process. Directs the Secretary to develop an EZ-FAFSA paper form and a simplified electronic form for applicants eligible for SNT and AZ-EFC.
 
Includes under the definition of an independent student any student who is an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of the court, or was in foster care or a ward of the court until the individual reached the age of 18.
 
(Sec. 2126) Revises need analysis requirements to increase the dependent student income protection allowance.
 
Includes under special circumstances a student being a ward of the court before turning 18, a homeless or unaccompanied youth, or adopted at or after age 13.
 
Treats active duty members of the military as independent students.
 
Excludes consideration of distributions from certain qualified tuition programs and revises requirements for consideration of other such programs.
 
Excludes consideration of certain assistance provided by a state to offset a specific component of the cost of attendance, under specified conditions.
 
Exempts from consideration assets from any small business with 100 or fewer full-time or full-time equivalent employees that is owned or controlled by the family.
 
(Sec. 2127) Makes eligible for student assistance any instructional program that uses or recognizes direct assessment of student learning in place of credit hours or clock hours as the measure of student learning.
 
(Sec. 2128) Makes distance education eligible for student assistance.
 
(Sec. 2129) Revises requirements relating to student eligibility for title IV programs.
 
Requires any student who has pled guilty or no contest to (or been convicted of) a crime involving fraud in obtaining title IV funds to have fully repaid the funds to the Secretary or loan holder before being considered eligible again.
 
Includes incarcerated parents among those not eligible for title IV loans.
 
Prohibits any student subject to an involuntary civil commitment upon completion of a period of incarceration for a sexual offense from being eligible for a title IV loan.
 
Specifies that Pell Grants are the only title IV aid for which students from the Freely Associated States are eligible.
 
Specifies that a conviction for a drug-related offense affects a student's title IV eligibility only if it occurs during the period when the student is enrolled and receiving title IV student aid.
 
(Sec. 2130) Revises various requirements relating to institutional refunds.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to waive the Pell Grant amounts that students are otherwise required to give back when they withdraw from an IHE, if such withdrawals: (1) are by students residing in, employed in, or attending an IHE in a declared major disaster area, and whose attendance was interrupted because of the disaster's impact; and (2) end within the academic year during which the disaster occurred or during the next succeeding academic year.
 
(Sec. 2131) Establishes a college access initiative. Directs the Secretary to require each guaranty agency to gather information on programs and student aid available in the state in which it is designated. Requires such information to be made available for free to the public, particularly to traditionally underrepresented populations, via web sites, publications, and other state services.
 
(Sec. 2132) Directs the Secretary of Education to discharge or cancel the federal student loan indebtedness of spouses or parents of individuals who died (or die) or who became (or become) permanently and totally disabled from injuries suffered in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
 
Provides for such cancellation of: (1) the entire student loan debt of the spouse of such an individual who was a public servant; and (2) that portion of student loans incurred by a spouse or parent on behalf of any other such individual who was a victim.
 
(Sec. 2133) Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an independent evaluation of distance education programs.
 
(Sec. 2134) Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 to provide that certain amendments relating to disbursement of student loans shall be effective on and after July 1, 2006. 
 

Part 2: Higher Education Relief 
- (Sec. 2142) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to waive or modify requirements under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) for student financial assistance programs, or other student or institutional eligibility requirements, as necessary to reflect changes in the financial condition of affected students and their families resulting from a Gulf hurricane disaster.
 
(Sec. 2143) Cancels requirements for institutional repayment by affected colleges and universities affected by a Gulf hurricane disaster.
 
(Sec. 2144) Discharges and cancels student loan amounts for canceled enrollment periods for affected students.
 
(Sec. 2145) Provides for temporary deferment of student loan repayment for affected individuals.
 
(Sec. 2146) Provides that grant or loan funds received by an affected student for a canceled enrollment period shall not be counted against annual or aggregate grant and loan limits for that student.
 
(Sec. 2147) Authorizes the Secretary to waive the consecutive service requirements of the student loan forgiveness program for teachers whose employment is interrupted in schools in areas affected by a Gulf hurricane disaster.
 
(Sec. 2148) Directs the Secretary to make special efforts to notify affected students who qualify for a means-tested federal benefit program of their potential eligibility for a maximum Pell Grant and to disseminate informational materials regarding such eligibility.
 
(Sec. 2150) Terminates the Secretary's authority to issue waivers or modifications under this part at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 academic year, without affecting the continuing validity of any such waivers or modifications after such academic year.
 

Subtitle C: Pensions 
- Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to increase certain premiums to be paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Provides for phasing-in increases of: (1) the annual flat-rate premium paid by all single-employer plans; and (2) the additional risk-based premium, which is to be paid by all underfunded plans. Sets forth a premium rate for certain terminated single-employer plans, with a special rule for plans terminated in bankruptcy reorganization.
 

Title III: Committee on Energy and Commerce - Subtitle A: Medicaid 
- Medicaid Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Chapter 1: Payment for Prescription Drugs 
- (Sec. 3101) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to replace the current federal upper (reimbursement) limit (FUL) requirement for prescription drugs that is based on average wholesale prices with a new FUL formula based on retail average manufacturer price (RAMP).
 
Requires a state which provides medical assistance for covered outpatient drugs to pay a dispensing fee for each covered outpatient drug.
 
Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a methodology to set the FUL based on the reported retail survey price instead of a percentage of RAMP or volume weighted average RAMP.
 
Exempts the Secretary's FUL and RAMP determinations from administrative or judicial review.
 
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on: (1) the appropriateness in payment levels to pharmacies for dispensing fees under the Medicaid program; and (2) whether the estimated average payment amounts to pharmacies for covered outpatient drugs under the Medicaid program after implementation of this Act are below the average prices paid by pharmacies for acquiring such drugs. 
 
Directs the Inspector General of the Department of HHS to report to Congress on the appropriateness of using RAMPs and retail survey prices, rather than the average manufacturer prices or other price measures, as the basis for establishing a FUL for reimbursement for covered outpatient drugs under the Medicaid program.
 
(Sec. 3102) Requires states to submit to the Secretary utilization data and coding information for single source outpatient drugs administered by a physician on or after January 1, 2006, so that the Secretary is able to collect rebates for those drugs.
 
Requires states to submit to the Secretary utilization and coding information for multiple source drugs using National Drug Code codes, unless the Secretary specifies that an alternative coding system should be used.
 
Requires the Secretary to publish a list of the 20 physician administered multiple source drugs that the Secretary determines have the highest dollar volume of physician administered drugs dispensed under Medicaid.
 
(Sec. 3103) Modifies drug price reporting requirements for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Revises the definition of best price to include the lowest price for authorized generic or other drugs to be sold under a new drug application (NDA).
 
(Sec. 3104) Includes children's hospitals in the definition of covered entity to permit those hospitals access to drug prices under the Drug Pricing Program under the Public Health Service Act.
 
(Sec. 3105) Allows a prior authorization requirement for an atypical antipsychotic or antidepressant single source drug only where a drug use review board has determined, based on the strength of the scientific evidence and standards of practice, that placing the drug on prior approval or otherwise imposing restrictions on its use is not likely to harm patients or increase overall medical costs. Requires a prior authorization system to provide, in addition, that, if a response is not received to a request for authorization of such a drug within 24 hours after the prescription is transmitted, payment is made for a 30 day supply of the medication.
 

Chapter 2: Reform of Asset Transfer Rules 
- (Sec. 3111) Lengthens the look-back period to 60 months for income and assets disposed of by the individual after enactment of this Act.
 
Changes the start date of the ineligibility period for all transfers made on or after enactment of this Act, to the first day of a month during or after which assets have been transferred for less than fair market value (as under current law), or the date on which the individual is eligible for medical assistance under the state plan and is receiving certain nursing home or other related long-term care services, whichever is later, and which does not occur during any period of ineligibility as a result of an asset transfer policy.
 
Specifies the criteria by which an application for an undue hardship waiver would be approved (by codifying current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance on state procedure).
 
Permits facilities in which institutionalized individuals reside to file undue hardship waiver applications on behalf of the individual, with the institutionalized individual's consent or the consent of his or her legal guardian.
 
Provides that if the pending application for undue hardship of nursing facility residents meets criteria specified by the Secretary, the state may provide for payments for nursing facility services to hold the bed for these individuals at a facility for up to 30 days while the application remains pending.
 
(Sec. 3112) Requires a state, as a condition for providing medical assistance for long-term care services, to require an individual's application or recertification for such assistance to disclose specified information, including: (1) any interest the individual or community spouse has in an annuity, regardless of whether the annuity is irrevocable or is treated as an asset; and (2) full information about any transaction during the previous 60-month period involving the transfer or disposal of assets exceeding $100,000.
 
Requires an applicant, on any application or recertification form, to designate the state as the remainder beneficiary in the first position under such an annuity or similar financial instrument for the total amount of any medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual.
 
(Sec. 3113) Requires that any transfer or allocation from an institutionalized spouse to meet an income need of a community spouse be made first from the institutionalized spouse's income (income-first method), and then secondly from the institutionalized spouse's resources only when that spouse's income is not available.
 
(Sec. 3114) Excludes from Medicaid eligibility for nursing facility or other long-term care services those individuals with an equity interest in their home of more than $750,000. Requires an annual increase in such amount, beginning in 2011, based on the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers.
 
Exempts from this exclusion any individuals whose spouse, or whose child under age 21 (or blind or permanently and totally disabled) lawfully resides in the individual's home.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a process to waive application of this exclusion for demonstrated hardship cases.
 
(Sec. 3115) Allows state-licensed, registered, certified, or equivalent continuing care retirement communities or life communities to require in their admissions contracts that residents spend their resources, declared for the purpose of admission, on their care before they apply for Medicaid.
 
Considers certain entrance fees for continuing care retirement communities or life care communities to be countable resources available to the applicant for purposes of the Medicaid eligibility determination if certain conditions are met. Requires such fees, among other things, to be usable to pay for an individual's care if other resources or income are insufficient to do so.
 

Chapter 3: Flexibility in Cost-Sharing and Benefits 
- (Sec. 3121) Allows a state, at its option and through a state plan amendment, to impose premiums and cost-sharing for any group of individuals and for any type of services consistent with specified limitations, including waiver of premium for individuals with family income below 100% of the poverty level, and a 5% of family income cost-sharing limit for families below or above 100% of the poverty level. Specifies other types of beneficiaries exempt from premiums and services exempt from cost-sharing.
 
Allows states to: (1) condition the provision of medical assistance on the prepayment of premiums, and to terminate eligibility for such assistance for failure to pay a premium if that failure continues for at least 60 days; (2) waive premium payments in such cases where such payments would impose an undue hardship; and (3) permit Medicaid providers to require a Medicaid beneficiary to pay authorized cost-sharing as a condition for the provision of care or services.
 
Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the impact of Medicaid premiums and cost-sharing on access to, and utilization of, services. 
 
(Sec. 3122) Allows states to impose higher cost-sharing amounts for non-preferred drugs within a class, and waive or reduce the cost-sharing otherwise applicable for lower-cost preferred drugs within such class in order to encourage the use of such lower-cost drugs.
 
Specifies limits for any increase in cost-sharing for non-preferred drugs for beneficiaries under certain income levels.
 
Prohibits a state from: (1) treating as a non-preferred drug any drug treated as a preferred drug under the TRICARE pharmacy benefit program; or (2) imposing cost-sharing that exceeds the cost-sharing imposed under TRICARE standards.
 
Prohibits a state from providing for increased cost-sharing unless it has implemented for outpatient prescription drugs a system for prior authorization and an appeals process for related determinations.
 
(Sec. 3123) Allows states, through state plan amendments, the option to impose cost-sharing on individuals for non-emergency services furnished in a hospital emergency department if certain conditions are met.
 
Establishes limitations on increased cost-sharing for non-emergency services provided in a hospital emergency department for the poorest beneficiaries. 
 
Directs the Secretary to provide for grant payments to states for establishment of alternate non-emergency service providers or networks of such providers.
 
(Sec. 3124) Allows states, at their option through a state plan amendment, to provide Medicaid benefits to certain groups of beneficiaries through benchmark coverage (standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit plan, state employee health benefit plan, or certain health maintenance organization (HMO) plans), including dental coverage for children, or specified benchmark equivalent coverage.
 
(Sec. 3125) Authorizes a non-emergency medical transportation brokerage program, at state option, to provide transportation more cost-effectively to Medicaid-eligible individuals who need access to medical care or services and have no other means of transportation. 
 
(Sec. 3126) Exempts women covered under the Medicaid breast or cervical cancer program from application of the previous sections of this chapter.
 

Chapter 4: Expanded Access to Certain Benefits 
- (Sec. 3131) Allows states to cover home and community-based services (HCBS) as an optional Medicaid benefit for individuals age 65 or over who meet specified criteria, without requiring a waiver.
 
(Sec. 3132) Allows states to cover, under the Medicaid program, payment for part or all of the cost of self-directed personal assistance services (other than room and board) based on a written plan of care to certain individuals who would otherwise require and receive Medicaid personal care services or HCBS under a waiver.
 
(Sec. 3133) Allows certain additional groups of individuals in states with state plan amendments approved after May 14, 1993, to be exempt from estate recovery requirements, if a plan amendment provides for a qualified state long-term care insurance partnership program.
 
(Sec. 3134) Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration program under which a state Medicaid plan may provide for health opportunity accounts for alternative benefits beginning January 1, 2006.
 

Chapter 5: Other Provisions 
- (Sec. 3141) Amends SSA title XI to prescribe annual increases for FY2006-FY2007 in the cap on federal funding for the Medicaid programs in each of the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico.
 
(Sec. 3142) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) with respect to the prohibition on the use of voluntary contributions, and the limitation on the use of provider-specific taxes to obtain federal financial participation under Medicaid. Specifies managed care organizations (MCOs) whose services shall be considered a separate class of health care items and services, including health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, and other similar organizations the Secretary may specify. (Thus applies to both Medicaid and non-Medicaid MCOs any permissible state provider tax that would qualify the state for federal reimbursement.)
 
(Sec. 3143) Directs the Secretary to make Medicaid transformation payments to states during FY2007-FY2008 for the adoption of innovative methods to improve effectiveness and efficiency in providing Medicaid medical assistance, including implementation of a medication risk management program.
 
(Sec. 3144) Amends the list of third parties legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service to include: (1) pharmacy benefit managers; (2) a self-insured plan; and (3) other parties that are, by statute, contract, or agreement legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service.
 
Requires third parties to provide the state with coverage eligibility and claims data. 
 
(Sec. 3145) Prohibits states from receiving federal reimbursement for medical assistance to an individual for whom satisfactory documentary evidence of U.S. citizenship or nationality is not presented.
 
(Sec. 3146) Revises requirements for the reimbursable Medicaid Targeted Case Management (TCM) benefit, specifying: (1) assessment, care plan development, and follow-up procedures; as well as (2) nonreimbursable activities.
 
(Sec. 3147) Declares that any provider of emergency services that does not have in effect a contract with a Medicaid managed care entity that establishes payment amounts for services furnished to an enrolled beneficiary must accept as payment in full the amounts (minus any payments for indirect costs of medical education and direct costs of graduate medical education) it could collect if the beneficiary received Medicaid other than through enrollment in such an entity. 
 
(Sec. 3148) Requires the disregard, in the computation of a state's per capita income, of any significantly disproportionate employer pension contribution when determining the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) beginning FY2006, except in computing the per capita income for the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
 

Subtitle B: Katrina Health Care Relief 
- (Sec. 3201) Sets at 100% the federal matching rate for medical assistance, including child health assistance, furnished between August 28, 2005, and May 15, 2006, in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina or to Katrina Survivors.
 
(Sec. 3202) Reauthorizes and makes appropriations for state high-risk health insurance pools for FY2006.
 
(Sec. 3203) Requires the Secretary to conduct a review of all Hurricane Katrina disaster areas and designate (as appropriate) them as either health professional shortage areas or medically underserved areas, and designate populations living there as medically underserved populations.
 
(Sec. 3204) Directs the Secretary to waive certain requirements applicable to the provision of health care in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
 
(Sec. 3205) Requires the Secretary, when computing the FMAP for any year after 2006 for a state with a significant number of evacuees who were evacuated to, and live in, the state as a result of Hurricane Katrina as of October 1, 2005, to disregard such evacuees and any income attributable to them.
 

Subtitle C: Katrina and Rita Energy Relief 
- (Sec. 3301) Makes directly available to the Secretary for a one-time-only obligation and expenditure an additional $1 billion for FY2006 for allocation under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, for the sole purpose of providing assistance to offset the anticipated higher energy costs caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
 

Subtitle D: Digital Television Transition 
- Digital Television Transition Act of 2005 - (Sec. 3402) Sets forth congressional findings favoring a hard deadline for the transition in the United States from analog (spectrum-based) to digital (satellite signal-based) television (DTV), and thereby allowing the return of spectrum for public safety and wireless use. (Currently, there exists a deadline loophole allowing broadcasters to delay spectrum return until more than 85% of television (TV) households have at least one TV with access to digital broadcast channels.)
 
(Sec. 3403) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) make such deadline December 31, 2008; and (2) remove the 85% exception. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) release by December 31, 2006, an FCC report and order assigning all full-power broadcast TV stations authorized in the DTV service a channel; (2) release by July 31, 2007, any reconsideration of such report and order; and (3) between July 31, 2007, and January 1, 2009, not adopt any further changes to such channels unless doing so is necessary for public safety or to prevent a delay in the end of broadcasting by full-power stations in the analog TV service. Requires FCC status reports to specified congressional committees. Directs the FCC to terminate all licenses for full-power stations in the analog TV service, and require the cessation of broadcasting by such stations in the analog TV service by January 1, 2009.
 
(Sec. 3404) Provides deadlines for the FCC auction of analog spectrum recovered during the DTV transition period. Requires the FCC to study and report to Congress on the participation in the auction process of women, minorities, and small businesses.
 
(Sec. 3405) Provides for the allocation of specified analog spectrum auction proceeds into the following funds (established in the Treasury), to be used to assist in the transition to DTV: (1) the Digital Television Conversion Fund; (2) the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Fund; (3) the NYC 9/11 Digital Transition Fund; and (4) the Low Power Digital-to-Analog Conversion Fund.
 
Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant Secretary) to use funds from the Digital Television Conversion Fund to implement and administer a program through which U.S. households may obtain, upon request, up to two coupons that can be applied toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. Makes the value of each coupon $40. Sets forth provisions concerning coupon redemption and reimbursement to retailers to whom coupons are presented. Requires: (1) the auditing of retailer reimbursements; and (2) program progress reports from the Assistant Secretary to specified congressional committees. Provides required energy standards for converter boxes purchased with such coupons.
 
(Sec. 3406) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use funds from the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Fund to carry out a grant program to assist public safety agencies in the acquisition of, deployment of, or training for the use of interoperable communications systems that utilize, or enable interoperability with systems that can utilize, reallocated public safety spectrum for radio communications. Provides a three-year grant term, and requires grant program reports, on a state-by-state basis, from the Assistant Secretary to specified congressional committees.
 
(Sec. 3407) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use funds from the NYC 9/11 Digital Transition Fund to reimburse the Metropolitan Television Alliance (formed by New York City TV broadcast licensees to locate new shared broadcasting facilities as a result of the attacks of September 11, 2001) for costs incurred in the design and deployment of a temporary DTV broadcast system in the New York City area to ensure an adequate DTV signal there.
 
(Sec. 3408) Prohibits any full-power TV station licensee that operates between 698 (currently, 746) and 806 megahertz from operating at that frequency after the end of the DTV service transition period. Allows a low-power TV station, TV translator station, or TV booster station to operate above 698 megahertz on a secondary basis in accordance with FCC rules, including those governing completion of the DTV service transition for low-power broadcasters.
 
Directs the Assistant Secretary to use funds from the Low Power Digital-to-Analog Conversion Fund to implement and administer a program through which each eligible low-power TV station may receive compensation toward the purchase cost of a digital-to-analog conversion device that enables it to convert the incoming digital station of its corresponding full-power TV station to analog format transmission on the low-power TV station's analog channel.
 
(Sec. 3409) Provides consumer education requirements for the FCC with respect to analog TV service. Requires manufacturers to place in a conspicuous place on analog TV receivers a notice that such receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner, that after December 31, 2008, TV broadcasters will broadcast only in digital format, and that, after such date, a converter box or cable or satellite service will be required to receive digital programming. Directs the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to engage in a public outreach program to educate consumers regarding the DTV transition, and to report semiannually to specified congressional committees on such program. Requires additional public disclosures relating to the approach of the DTV deadline and related matters. Directs the FCC to provide certain requirements with respect to TV reception devices that have, or are sold in a bundle with, display screens.
 
(Sec. 3410) Outlines signal conversion requirements for cable operators and satellite service providers with respect to carriage of the primary video stream of a TV station transmitting broadcast programming exclusively in the DTV service in a local market.
 
(Sec. 3411) Requires the FCC, within 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, to initiate a rulemaking to assess the necessity of rechanneling the spectrum located between 767-773 megahertz and 797-803 megahertz to accommodate broadband applications. Requires such rulemaking to be completed within 180 days.
 
(Sec. 3412) Expresses the sense of Congress that the FCC should disseminate wireless communications licenses consistent with specified findings, and should utilize existing authority which requires the FCC to promote the following objectives: (1) the development and rapid deployment of new technologies, products, and services for the public; (2) promoting economic opportunity and competition and ensuring the public availability of new technologies; (3) recovery for the public of a portion of the value of spectrum made available for commercial use; and (4) efficient and intensive use of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 
(Sec. 3413) Directs the FCC to: (1) commence a proceeding no later than June 1, 2006, to reevaluate the band plan for the auction of the unauctioned portions of the lower 700 megahertz band (currently designated as Blocks A, B, and E); and (2) reconfigure the band plan to license spectrum for Block B according to Cellular Market Areas and Rural Service Areas to facilitate the offering of competitive wireless services by regional and smaller wireless carriers.
 

 Title IV: Committee on Financial Services - Subtitle A: Deposit Insurance Reform
 - Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 - (Sec. 4002) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to merge the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund into the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).
 
(Sec. 4003) Amends the FDIA to: (1) increase the standard maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage from $100,000 to $130,000, coupled with a five-year cost-of-living adjustment index; (2) double the standard maximum deposit insurance for certain retirement accounts; and (3) increase the maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage for instate municipal deposits according to a specified formula, but not to exceed $2 million.
 
Revises the requirement that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provide pass-through deposit insurance for the deposits of any employee benefit plan. Repeals the exception from such coverage requirement for any insured depository institution which, at the time such deposits are accepted, may not accept brokered deposits. Excepts from such coverage requirement, instead, any insured depository institution that is neither well-capitalized nor adequately capitalized, which may not accept such deposits.
 
Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to: (1) change the insured amount of deposits to a net insured amount, according to a specified formula; (2) the maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage for instate municipal deposits according to a specified formula, but not to exceed $2 million; (3) double the standard maximum deposit insurance for certain retirement accounts; and (4) require the National Credit Union Administrator to provide pass-through share insurance of up to $130,000, adjusted for cost-of-living, for the deposits or shares of any employee benefit plan.
 
(Sec. 4004) Amends the FDIA to replace assessment guidelines for achieving and maintaining a designated reserve ratio (DRR) and for independent treatment of deposit insurance funds. Requires the FDIC Board of Directors (Board) to set assessments as it determines appropriate, including a maximum base rate for assessments at one basis point for insured depository institutions in the lowest-risk category. (Thus, eliminates the current minimum 23 basis point cliff rate.) 
 
Reduces from five years to three years the mandatory assessment recordkeeping period. 
 
Increases penalties from $100 to 1% of assessments per day for failure of a depository institution assessed more than $10,000 to make timely assessment payments. 
 
Revises guidelines governing the risk-based assessment system to make the portion of deposits attributable to lifeline accounts subject to half the assessment rate that would otherwise be applicable. 
 
(Sec. 4005) Replaces the current 1.25% DRR used to recapitalize undercapitalized insurance funds with a reserve ratio range of 1.15% to 1.4% of estimated insured deposits, subject to specified factors and annual redetermination. 
 
(Sec. 4006) Directs the Board to collect information from all appropriate sources in determining risk of DIF losses. 
 
(Sec. 4007) Revises requirements for FDIC repayment of overpaid assessments and refunds of any balance in the insurance fund in excess of the DRR. 
 
Prescribes guidelines governing: (1) the payment of mandatory dividends to insured depository institutions whenever the DIF reserve ratio exceeds specified percentages of the estimated insured deposits required to maintain the DRR in effect at the time; and (2) a one-time credit based upon the December 31, 1996, assessment base of each eligible depository institution, as compared to the combined aggregate assessment base of all such institutions. Restricts the amount of such credit for depository institutions that exhibit financial, operational, or compliance weakness, including undercapitalization. 
 
Requires the Board to establish an ongoing system of credits (ongoing credit pool) to be applied against future assessments on the same basis as such dividends. 
 
(Sec. 4008) Requires the Board to establish and implement a DIF restoration plan whenever its reserve ratio is projected to fall, or actually falls, below the DRR. Prescribes requirements for such plans, notably restoration to the DRR level within ten years. 
 
(Sec. 4009) Requires the FDIC to prescribe final regulations, within 270 days after enactment of this Act, establishing the DRR, implementing increases in deposit insurance coverage, implementing the dividend requirement and the one-time assessment credit, and providing for premium assessments. 
 
(Sec. 4010) Requires studies and reports to Congress by: (1) the Comptroller General and the FDIC on the effectiveness of the prompt corrective action program administered by federal banking agencies as well as the accuracy of FDIC risk assessments made, and the appropriateness of FDIC organizational structure in light of its regulatory mission; (2) the FDIC and the National Credit Union Administration on the feasibility of establishing a voluntary deposit insurance system for deposits in excess of the maximum amount of deposit insurance, and of privatizing all deposit insurance at insured depository institutions and credit unions; (3) the FDIC on the feasibility of using actual domestic deposits rather than estimated insured deposits in calculating and designating the DRR; and (4) the FDIC on the reserve methodology and loss accounting it used between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 2004, with respect to insured depository institutions in a troubled condition. 
 
(Sec. 4011) Directs the FDIC to conduct a biannual survey and report to Congress on efforts by insured depository institutions to bring into the conventional finance system those individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a checking account, a savings account, or other type of transaction or check cashing account at an insured depository institution (&quot;unbanked individuals&quot;).
 
(Sec. 4012) Establishes the Deposit Insurance Fund for use by the FDIC with respect to insured depository institutions whose deposits are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund. 
 
Authorizes the FDIC to borrow from the federal home loan banks, with the concurrence of the Federal Housing Finance Board, such funds as it considers necessary for DIF use. 
 
(Sec. 4013) Amends specified federal statutes to make technical and conforming amendments to reflect the changes made by this Act. 
 

Subtitle B: FHA Asset Disposition 
- FHA Asset Disposition Act of 2005 - (Sec. 4103) Provides for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) asset disposition.
 
Subjects the discount sale of multifamily real property during FY2006-FY2010, by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the property value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the multifamily real property is sold during that period for an amount equal to or greater than the property market value. 
 
Subjects a discount loan sale during FY2006-FY2010 to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the loan value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the discount loan sale is sold, during such fiscal years, for an amount equal to or greater than the loan market value. 
 
(Sec. 4104) Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing And Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to state that a grant provided during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary costs of rehabilitation, demolition, or construction on HUD-owned multifamily properties (with a view to disposing of them) shall be available only to the extent that appropriations are made in advance for such purposes, and shall not be derived from the General Insurance Fund.
 
Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to limit discretionary assistance by the Secretary of HUD for upfront grants during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary cost of rehabilitation and other related development costs of multifamily housing projects, to the extent that budget authority is made available for such use in advance in appropriation Acts.
 
 

Title V: Committee on Judiciary - Subtitle A: Visa Fees 
- (Sec. 5101) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to impose a $1,500 fee on employers for nonimmigrant visa applications and extensions for intracompany transferees.
 

Subtitle B: Circuit and District Judgeships 
- Federal Judgeship Act of 2005 - (Sec. 5202) Directs the President to appoint one additional circuit judge for the first circuit court of appeals, two additional circuit judges for the second circuit court of appeals, one additional circuit judge for the sixth circuit court of appeals, and five additional circuit judges for the ninth circuit court of appeals, whose official duty station shall be in California. Directs the President to appoint one temporary circuit judge for the eighth circuit court of appeals and two temporary circuit judges for the ninth circuit court of appeals, whose official duty station shall be in California.
 
(Sec. 5203) Directs the President to appoint additional district judges in judicial districts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Directs the President to appoint temporary judges in judicial districts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah. 
 
Provides for permanent judicial appointments in the district of Hawaii, the district of Kansas, and the eastern district of Missouri. Extends the term of a temporary judgeship in the northern district of Ohio from 15 to 20 years. 
 
(Sec. 5204) Establishes a federal judicial district in the Virgin Islands. Defines the jurisdiction of the courts of the Virgin Islands, including jurisdiction over tax matters. 
 

Subtitle C: Bankruptcy Judgeships 
- Enhanced Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2005 - (Sec. 5302) Authorizes additional bankruptcy judgeships in judicial districts in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Authorizes temporary bankruptcy judgeships in Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.
 
(Sec. 5304) Converts certain temporary bankruptcy judgeships in judicial districts in Delaware, Illinois, Puerto Rico, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee into permanent positions. 
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that bankruptcy judges in the eastern district of California should conduct bankruptcy proceedings on a daily basis in Bakersfield, California. 
 

Subtitle D: Ninth Circuit Reorganization 
- Judicial Administration and Improvements Act of 2005 - ( Sec. 5403) Amends the federal judicial code to divide the ninth judicial circuit into the new ninth circuit (to be composed of California, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the twelfth circuit (to be composed of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington). 
 
(Sec. 5405) Directs that the new ninth circuit hold regular sessions in Honolulu, Pasadena, and San Francisco and that the twelfth circuit hold regular sessions in Las Vegas, Missoula, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. 
 
(Sec. 5406) Assigns active circuit judges of the former ninth circuit to the new ninth circuit or the twelfth circuit depending upon the location of their duty station prior to the effective date of this Act. 
 
(Sec. 5407) Allows senior circuit judges of the former ninth circuit to elect assignment to either the new ninth circuit or the twelfth circuit after notification of their election to the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 
 
(Sec. 5409) Specifies the disposition of cases pending in the former ninth circuit prior to the effective date of this Act, as follows: (1) proceedings in matters that have been submitted for decision shall continue without regard to this Act; (2) matters not yet submitted for decision shall be transferred to the court to which they would have been submitted under this Act; and (3) pending petitions for rehearing en banc shall be considered by the court of appeals to which the petition would have been submitted if this Act had been in full force and effect at the time that the appeal or other proceeding was filed. 
 
(Sec. 5410) Authorizes the temporary assignment of circuit and district court judges of the former ninth circuit in the new ninth and twelfth circuits. 
 
(Sec. 5412) Directs that the former ninth circuit shall cease to exist for administrative purposes two years after the enactment of this Act. 
 

Subtitle E: Authorization of Appropriations 
- Authorizes appropriations for FY2006-FY2009 to carry out subtitles B, C, and D.
 

Title VI: Committee on Resources - Subtitle A: Miscellaneous Amendments Relating to Mining 
- (Sec. 6101) Amends the Revised Statutes to modify guidelines governing mining claims upon veins or lodes bearing specified deposits. Includes (currently excluded) claims located before exposure of the vein or lode.
 
Declares that: (1) prior to issuance of a patent, timely payment of the claim maintenance fee secures the rights of the holder of a mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site, both prior to and after discovery of valuable mineral deposits, to use and occupy public lands for mineral exploration and reclamation activities; and (2) no other fees or fair market value assessments shall be applied to such activities but certain location and maintenance fees and patent prices.
 
Revises patent requirements to prescribe a processing fee for claim sites.
 
Modifies guidelines governing: (1) mining district regulations by miners; (2) recordation of mining claims and abandonment; (3) claim maintenance and location fees; (4) work requirements for unpatented claims; and (5) small miner claim maintenance fees.
 
Prescribes guidelines for administration and enforcement.
 
Exempts from the revised mining laws under this Act oil shale claims subject to claim maintenance fees under Energy Policy Act of 1992.
 
(Sec. 6102) Amends the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 to repeal the limitation on the use of funds to accept or process patent applications for a mining or mill site claim.
 
Amends the Revised Statutes to increase from $5 per acre to $1,000 per acre or fair market value, whichever is greater, the payments for: (1) patents; (2) placer claims; and (3) patents for nonmineral lands.
 
Revises mineral development work requirements to increase the value of work necessary to make a patent application from $500 to $7,500.
 
Prescribes requirements for: (1) alternative valuable mineral deposit criteria; (2) mineral examinations; (3) disposition of proceeds; (4) patent issuance; and (5) small miner patent adjudication and prerequisite mineral development work.
 
(Sec. 6103) Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from requiring a mineral examination report to approve a plan of operations if mining claims and mill sites are contiguous to patented or unpatented mining claims or mill sites where authorized mineral development activities have been conducted.
 
(Sec. 6104) Amends the Revised Statutes to direct the Secretary of the Interior to make mineral deposits and the lands containing them available for purchase, including lands in which the valuable mineral deposit has been depleted. Exempts from such requirement any unit of the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, or National Trails System, or to any National Conservation Area, any National Recreation Area, any National Monument, or any unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
 
(Sec. 6105) Amends the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 to declare it is federal policy to: (1) facilitate the productive second use of lands used for mining and energy production; and (2) promote the mining of oil shale and uranium, whether located onshore or offshore.
 

Subtitle B: Disposal of Public Lands - Chapter 1: Disposal of Certain Public Lands in Nevada 
- Northern Nevada Sustainable Development in Mining Act - (Sec. 6203) Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to Coeur Rochester, Inc., in return for a payment of $500 per acre, all right, title, and interest, in the approximately 7,000 acres of federal lands subject to specified mining claims.
 
Exempts such conveyance from review, consultation, or approval under any other federal law.
 
(Sec. 6204) Prescribes the division of proceeds from such conveyance, payable to certain federal, state, and local governments.
 

Chapter 2: Disposal of Certain Public Lands in Idaho 
- Central Idaho Sustainable Development in Mining Act - (Sec. 6213) Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to TDS LLC, an affiliated company of L&W Stone Corporation, for a payment of $1,000 per acre, all right, title, and interest in the approximately 519.7 acres of federal lands subject to specified mining claims.
 
Exempts such conveyance from review, consultation, or approval under any other federal law.
 
(Sec. 6214) Prescribes the division of proceeds from such conveyance, payable to certain federal, state, and local governments.
 

Subtitle C: Oil Shale 
- (Sec. 6301) Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 regarding commercial leasing of oil shale and tar sands to repeal: (1) the requirement that the Secretary of the Interior, before holding an oil shale and tar sands lease sale, consult with state governors and Indian tribes to determine their support and interest in development of tar sands and oil shale resources; and (2) the prerequisite for sufficient state support and interest as a condition of the Secretary's authorization to conduct lease sales of oil shale and tar sands.
 
Directs the Secretary to hold such sales.
 
Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prescribe guidelines governing royalty rates for commercial leases and the disposition of revenues received from an oil shale or tar sands lease.
 

Subtitle D: Sale and Conveyance of Federal Land 
- (Sec. 6401) Identifies federal lands the Secretary shall make available for immediate sale through a competitive sale process at fair market value. States that requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 shall not apply to such sale.
 
Directs the Secretary to convey certain lands to the District of Columbia, and to transfer specified properties from the District to the United States for administration by the Secretary.
 
Sets aside certain property in the District of Columbia for the establishment of a memorial to honor disabled veterans.
 

Title VII: Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
- (Sec. 7001) Amends maritime law to revise and extend vessel tonnage duties for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Title XVIII: Committee on Ways and Means 
- Work, Marriage, and Family Promotion Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Subtitle A: TANF
 - (Sec. 8102) Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to extend through FY2010 both family assistance grants to states and matching grants to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa (territories).
 
(Sec. 8103) Eliminates the bonus to eligible states and territories for reducing the illegitimacy ratio. Replaces the bonus with healthy marriage promotion grants, which the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall make to states, territories, and tribal organizations for 50% of the cost of developing programs to promote healthy, married two-parent families. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 8104) Makes appropriations for supplemental grants for population increases in certain states for FY2006-FY2009.
 
(Sec. 8105) Repeals the bonus to reward high performance states. 
 
(Sec. 8106) Extends the current TANF contingency fund for FY2006-FY2010.
 
Provides for consideration of certain child care expenditures in determining state compliance with contingency fund maintenance of effort requirements.
 
(Sec. 8107) Authorizes states to use TANF funds for any purposes or activities permitted under pre-TANF rules. 
 
Repeals the requirement that an eligible state's family assistance plan indicate its treatment of families migrating into the state.
 
Increases from 30% to 50% the overall ceiling on state transfers of TANF funds to Child Care Development Block Grants, and from 4.25% to 10% any such transfers to title XX Social Services Block Grants.
 
Allows states and tribes to: (1) use carry-over funds for any benefit or service without fiscal year limitation; and (2) designate some unspent TANF funds as a contingency reserve.
 
(Sec. 8108) Repeals the authority for federal loans to state welfare programs.
 
(Sec. 8109) Allows a parent or caretaker receiving TANF to engage in alternative self-sufficiency activities instead of mandatory work.
 
Replaces mandatory individual responsibility plans with mandatory family self-sufficiency plans designed to assist the family in achieving their maximum degree of self-sufficiency.
 
(Sec. 8110) Revises work participation requirements (including alternative self-sufficiency activities).
 
Prescribes minimum state participation rates for FY2006-FY2010 and beyond, beginning with the current 50% and rising by 5% increments yearly to reach 70% in FY2010. Eliminates the separate standard for two-parent families.
 
Provides for recalibration of the caseload reduction credit and establishes a superachiever caseload reduction credit for a state with a caseload reduction of at least 60% from FY1995 to FY2001.
 
Revises requirements for hours engaged in work or other specified activities, including substance abuse counseling or treatment and rehabilitation treatment and services, as well as direct work activities.
 
Revises penalties against individuals, repealing the exception for single custodial parents caring for a child under age 6 who refuse to engage in required work because of demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care.
 
(Sec. 8111) Continues through FY2010 the administrative penalty for state failure in maintenance of effort .
 
Allows states, territories, or tribal organizations to use any TANF grant for marriage promotion activities.
 
Provides that federal TANF funds used for marriage promotion may not be counted as state funds with respect to maintenance of effort.
 
(Sec. 8112) Requires the state TANF plan to describe how the state will: (1) pursue ending dependence of needy families on government benefits and reducing poverty by promoting job preparation and work; and (2) encourage the formation and maintenance of healthy two-parent married families, encourage responsible fatherhood, and (as under current law) prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
 
Requires the state TANF plan to describe any strategies and programs to address employment retention and advancement, efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, services for struggling and compliant families, and program integration.
 
Requires the plan also to describe strategies to improve program management and performance and to engage religious organizations in the provision of TANF-funded services.
 
Requires a three-year tribal family assistance plan to provide assurance that the state in which the tribe is located has been consulted regarding the plan and its design.
 
Requires the Secretary to develop uniform performance measures to assess the degree of effectiveness, and the degree of improvement, of state programs funded under TANF in accomplishing its purposes.
 
Revises requirements for the annual ranking of states regarding success with their TANF programs.
 
(Sec. 8113) Revises data collection and reporting requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to designate core elements that must be reported for all families. Requires reporting of the race and educational level of each minor parent. Requires the Secretary to analyze each state single audit report to determine appropriate corrective actions for problems related to state oversight of nongovernmental contractors with the state program.
 
(Sec. 8114) Continues through FY2010 tribal family assistance grants and grants for Indian tribes that received JOBS funds.
 
(Sec. 8115) Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 for research and demonstration projects and for technical assistance to states, Indian tribal organizations, and other entities chosen by the Secretary.
 
Sets aside annually specified funds for demonstration projects for coordination of child welfare and TANF services to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect.
 
Extends through FY2010 the funding for studies and demonstrations related to research on, and evaluations and national studies of, the benefits, effects, and costs of operating different state TANF programs.
 
Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the enforcement of affidavits of support and sponsor deeming as required under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
 
Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Labor to report jointly to Congress on common or conflicting data elements, definitions, performance measures, and reporting requirements in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the TANF program, and, to the degree each Secretary deems appropriate, any other program, to allow greater coordination between the welfare and workforce development systems. 
 
(Sec. 8116) Authorizes appropriations to the Census Bureau for FY2006-FY2010.
 
Directs the Bureau to implement or enhance a longitudinal survey of program participation to allow for the outcomes assessment of continued welfare reform on the economic and child well-being of low-income families with children. 
 
(Sec. 8117) Defines assistance as payment, by cash, voucher, or other means, to or for an individual or family to meet a subsistence need, but not nonrecurring short-term benefits.
 
(Sec. 8119) Promotion and Support of Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Act of 2005 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to add a new part C (Fatherhood Program). Authorizes the Secretary to make full-service and limited purpose grants for FY2006-FY2010 to public and nonprofit community entities, and to Indian tribes and tribal organizations, for demonstration service projects and activities designed to test the effectiveness of various approaches to accomplish four specified objectives related to promotion and support of responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage. Requires full-service grant applications to address child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, and sexual activity.
 
Sets a maximum 80% federal share (or 90% in certain circumstances) for full-service grants, and 100% for limited purpose grants.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants for FY2006-FY2010 to eligible entities for two multicity, multistate projects demonstrating approaches to achieving the four objectives; and (2) carry out projects and activities of national significance relating to fatherhood promotion.
 
Sets a maximum 80% federal share for multicity, multistate demonstration project grants. Requires grant applications to address child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, and sexual activity.
 
Authorizes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 8120) Amends SSA title IV part A to give states the option of making TANF programs mandatory partners with one-stop employment training centers.
 
(Sec. 8121) Expresses the sense of Congress that a state welfare-to-work program should include a mentoring program.
 
(Sec. 8122) Outlines requirements for drug testing of TANF applicants and recipients.
 

Subtitle B: Child Care 
- (Sec. 8201) Appropriates funds for mandatory child care for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Subtitle C: Child Support 
- (Sec. 8301) Provides that a state shall not be required to pay to the federal government the federal share of an amount of child support collected during a month on behalf of a TANF recipient family to the extent that: (1) the state distributes the amount to the family; (2) the total so distributed exceeds the amount (if any) that, as of December 31, 2001, was required under state law to be distributed to a family, but not more than $100, or $50 plus the required amount; and (2) the amount is disregarded in determining the family's TANF benefit amount.
 
(Sec. 8302) Gives states the option of providing families that have left TANF the full amount of the child support collected on their behalf.
 
(Sec. 8303) Requires states to review and, if appropriate, adjust child support orders in TANF cases every three years. (Currently, where child support orders involve an assignment under a TANF block grant, such reviews require the request of the state agency under the TANF plan or of either parent.) 
 
(Sec. 8304) Requires families that have never been on TANF to pay a $25 annual user fee when child support enforcement efforts yield at least $500 of support on their behalf.
 
(Sec. 8305) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the procedures that states use generally to locate custodial parents for whom child support has been collected but not yet distributed. 
 
(Sec. 8306) Authorizes the denial, revocation, or restriction of passports to noncustodial parents whose child support arrearages exceed $2,500, rather than $5,000 as under current law.
 
(Sec. 8307) Permits the federal income tax refund offset program to be used to collect arrearages on behalf of non-TANF children who are no longer minors.
 
(Sec. 8308) Provides for garnishment of compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities in order to enforce child support obligations, if such payments are more than 60 days in arrears.
 
(Sec. 8309) Changes the amount available from appropriations for technical assistance funding to 1% of the federal share of child support collected (as under existing law), or the amount appropriated for FY2002, whichever is greater.
 
(Sec. 8310) Changes the amount available from appropriations for the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) to 2% of the federal share of child support collected(as under existing law), or the amount appropriated for FY2002, whichever is greater. 
 
(Sec. 8311) Authorizes the Secretary, through FPLS, to compare information concerning individuals owing past-due support with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards, and payments, and to furnish information resulting from a match to the state agencies responsible for collecting child support from such individuals.
 
(Sec. 8312) Give tribal child support enforcement programs access to FPLS.
 
(Sec. 8313) Requires the Secretary of Education to reimburse the Secretary for any costs incurred by the Secretary (currently, only additional costs incurred) in providing requested information on new hires.
 
(Sec. 8314) Revises the authority of a state to enter into cooperative agreements with certain Indian tribes for cooperative delivery of child support enforcement services in Indian country. Repeals the requirement that the state already receive federal payments to pass through to Indian tribal organizations for child welfare services.
 
(Sec. 8315) Revises the requirement a state use high-volume automated administrative enforcement, to the same extent as used for intrastate cases, in response to a request by another State to enforce support orders. Allows an assisting state to establish a corresponding case based on the other state's request for assistance.
 
(Sec. 8316) Modifies the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF. Leaves to a state's discretion whether it includes in the assignment child support that accrued to the family before the family began receiving TANF. (Currently such previously accrued child support must be included in an assignment.)
 
(Sec. 8317) Revises the requirement that any rights to support obligations, assigned to a state as a condition of receiving TANF and in effect on September 30, 1997 (or such earlier date, on or after August 22, 1996, as the State may choose), remain assigned after such date. Gives states the option to discontinue such support assignments.
 
(Sec. 8319) Reduces the federal matching (reimbursement) rate for child support program administrative costs by specified percentages between FY2007 and FY2010.
 
(Sec. 8320) Ends the federal matching (reimbursement) of state expenditures of federal child support program incentive payments in the child support program.
 

Subtitle D: Child Welfare 
- (Sec. 8401) Extends the authority of the Secretary to permit child welfare demonstration projects through FY2010.
 
(Sec. 8402) Removes the restriction on the number of demonstration projects the Secretary may approve in each fiscal year.
 
(Sec. 8403) Prohibits the Secretary from refusing to grant a state a waiver of specified requirements on the grounds that the purpose of the waiver or of the demonstration project for which the waiver is necessary is similar to the purpose of another waiver or demonstration project. 
 
(Sec. 8404) Prohibits the Secretary from imposing a limit on the number of waivers or demonstration projects that a single state may be granted or authorized to conduct.
 
(Sec. 8405) Directs the Secretary to develop a streamlined process for consideration of amendments and extensions to their demonstration projects that states propose.
 
(Sec. 8406) Requires the Secretary to make available to states or other interested parties any of the demonstration project evaluation reports received from a state, and any demonstration project evaluation or report made by the Secretary, with a focus on information that promotes best practices and program improvements.
 
(Sec. 8407) Revises eligibility requirements for federal foster care and adoption assistance.
 
Requires the eligibility for federal foster care maintenance payments of a child who was eligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), as the AFDC program existed on July 16, 1996, to be determined with respect to the home (&quot;contrary to the child's welfare&quot;) from which the child was removed, or the home from which the child's parent or legal guardian entered into a voluntary agreement to place the child in foster care.
 
Repeals the adoption assistance requirement that a child meet AFDC eligibility criteria (as they existed on July 16, 1996) at the time the adoption proceedings were initiated.
 
(Sec. 8408) Provides that state training, data collection, case management, and other administrative costs on behalf of otherwise eligible children who are placed in settings ineligible for SSA title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) funding shall be considered for such funding in only two circumstances: (1) in the case of a child placed in the home of a relative who is not a licensed foster care provider, for 12 months or as long as it takes a state to normally license a foster family home (whichever is shorter); and (2) in the case of a child moved from an ineligible facility (e.g. juvenile detention center) to a licensed foster family home or an eligible child care institution, for no longer than 30 calendar days.
 
Declares that, in the case of a child at imminent risk of removal to foster care, the state may only make administrative claims if: (1) reasonable efforts are being made to prevent the removal of the child from the home or (if necessary) to pursue the removal; and (2) not less than every six months the state determines that the child continues to be at imminent risk of removal.
 
Subtitle E: Supplemental Security Income 
- (Sec. 8501) Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income for Aged, Blind, and Disabled) (SSI) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to review determinations made by state agencies that applicants who have attained age 18 became blind or disabled as of a specified onset date. 
Requires the Commissioner to review, also, at least 20% of such determinations made in FY2006, 40% of those made in FY2007, and 50% of those made in FY2008 and subsequent fiscal years.
 
(Sec. 8502) Revises the formula for determining the amount of past-due monthly SSI benefits that must be paid to eligible individuals in three installments over six months. Reduces from 12 to 3 the number multiplied by the monthly benefit to establish (minus any interim assistance paid) the trigger amount for determining eligibility for lump-sum installments.
 

Subtitle F: State and Local Flexibility 
- (Sec. 8601) Establishes a program under which state or sub-state entities may apply to federal agencies for waivers of certain requirements in order to launch demonstration projects to coordinate multiple public assistance, workforce development, and other programs.
 

Subtitle G: Repeal of Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset 
- (Sec. 8701) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to repeal the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA).
 
Requires deposit in the general fund of the Treasury of all amounts remaining in the CDSOA special account for the receipt of antidumping and countervailing duties collected for pro-rata distribution to affected domestic producers.
 

Subtitle H: Effective Date 
- Sets forth the effective date of this Act.

action_date: 2005-12-19
text: 
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 - 
Title I: Agriculture Provisions
 - Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Subtitle A: Commodity Programs
 - (Sec. 1101) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to revise the national dairy market loss payment formula by decreasing the multiplier for the periods beginning on: (1) October 1, 2005, and ending on August 31, 2007; and (2) September 1, 2007. 
 
Extends the sign-up and contract periods through September 30, 2007.
 
(Sec. 1102) Reduces advance payments for peanuts and for covered commodities to: (1) 40% for crop year 2006; and (2) 22% for crop year 2007.
 
(Sec. 1103) Repeals authority to issue upland cotton user marketing certificates.
 

Subtitle B: Conservation
 - (Sec. 1201) Cancels the watershed rehabilitation program.
 
(Sec. 1202) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to: (1) extend conservation security program authority through FY2011; and (2) extend and increase Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding for such program.
 
(Sec. 1203) Amends environmental quality incentives program provisions to: (1) extend program authority through FY2010; (2) apply the aggregate payment limitation to any six-year period. (Currently, such limitation applies to FY2002-FY2007); and (3) set forth specified funding provisions for FY2007-FY2009, and for FY2010.
 

Subtitle C: Energy
 - (Sec. 1301) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to reduce FY 2007 funding for the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program.
 

Subtitle D: Rural Development
 - (Sec. 1401) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for expanded access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1402) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for value-added agricultural product market development grants unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1403) Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to terminate rural business investment program funding after FY2006. Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for such program unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1404) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for rural business strategic investment grants unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1405) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to terminate rural firefighters and emergency personnel grant authority after FY2006. Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for such program unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 

Subtitle E: Research
 - (Sec. 1501) Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to eliminate FY2007-FY2009 CCC transfer funding for the initiative for future agriculture and food systems. Makes funds available for a two-year period from the date of transfer, except for FY2006 funds which shall be available for a one-year period beginning on October 1, 2005.
 

Title II: Housing and Deposit Insurance Provisions - Subtitle A: FHA Asset Disposition
 - (Sec. 2003) Provides for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) asset disposition.
 
Subjects the discount sale of multifamily real property during FY2006-FY2010, by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the property value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the multifamily real property is sold during that period for an amount equal to or greater than the property market value. 
 
Subjects a discount loan sale during FY2006-FY2010 to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the loan value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the discount loan sale is sold, during such fiscal years, for an amount equal to or greater than the loan market value. 
 
(Sec. 2004) Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to state that a grant provided during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary costs of rehabilitation, demolition, or construction on HUD-owned multifamily properties (with a view to disposing of them) shall be available only to the extent that appropriations are made in advance for such purposes, and shall not be derived from the General Insurance Fund.
 
Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to limit discretionary assistance by the Secretary of HUD for upfront grants during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary cost of rehabilitation and other related development costs 
 

Subtitle B: Deposit Insurance Reform
 - Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 - (Sec. 2102) Merges the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund into the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).
 
(Sec. 2103) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and the Federal Credit Union Act to prescribe an inflation adjustment formula governing the standard maximum deposit insurance amount (defined as $100,000).
 
Requires the FDIC Board of Directors and the National Credit Union Administration Board, upon determining every five years that an inflation adjustment is appropriate, to calculate it and prescribe jointly the new standard maximum deposit insurance amount (for depository institutions) and the standard maximum share insurance amount (for credit unions).
 
Requires the FDIC to provide pass-through deposit insurance for the deposits of an employee benefit plan. Prohibits an insured depository institution that is neither well capitalized nor adequately capitalized, from accepting such deposits.
 
Increases from $100,000 to $250,000 the standard maximum deposit insurance for certain retirement accounts.
 
(Sec. 2104) Amends the FDIA to replace assessment guidelines for achieving and maintaining a designated reserve ratio (DRR) and for independent treatment of deposit insurance funds. Requires the FDIC Board of Directors (Board) to set assessments as it determines appropriate.
 
Declares that no insured depository institution shall be barred from the lowest-risk category solely because of size.
 
Reduces from five years to three years the mandatory assessment recordkeeping period. 
 
Increases penalties from $100 to 1% of assessments per day for failure of a depository institution assessed more than $10,000 to make timely assessment payments. 
 
Reduces the statute of limitations for assessment actions from five years to three years after the date the assessment was due.
 
Provides that if an insured depository institution has made a false or fraudulent statement with intent to evade its assessment, the FDIC shall have until three years after discovery of the false or fraudulent statement in which to bring an action to recover the underpaid amount.
 
Deems assessment deposit information to be conclusive and not subject to change if it is contained in records that are no longer required to be maintained beyond the semiannual period.
 
(Sec. 2105) Replaces the current 1.25 percent DRR used to recapitalize undercapitalized insurance funds with a reserve ratio range of 1.15 to 1.5% of estimated insured deposits, subject to specified factors and annual redetermination. 
 
(Sec. 2106) Directs the Board to collect information from all appropriate sources in determining the risk of DIF losses. 
 
(Sec. 2107) Revises requirements for FDIC repayment of overpaid assessments and refunds of any balance in the insurance fund in excess of the DRR. 
 
Prescribes guidelines governing the payment of mandatory dividends to insured depository institutions whenever the DIF reserve ratio exceeds specified percentages of the estimated insured deposits required to maintain the DRR.
 
Cites conditions under which the Board may suspend or limit dividends if it makes certain determinations in writing.
 
Requires the Board to provide a one-time credit based upon the December 31, 1996, assessment base of each eligible depository institution, as compared to the combined aggregate assessment base of all such institutions.
 
Places a temporary restriction on the use of such credits.
 
Restricts the amount of such credit for depository institutions that exhibit financial, operational, or compliance weakness, including undercapitalization.
 
(Sec. 2108) Requires the Board to establish and implement a DIF restoration plan whenever its reserve ratio is projected to fall, or actually falls below the DRR. Prescribes requirements for such plans, notably restoration to the DRR level within five years (or such longer period as the Corporation may determine to be necessary due to extraordinary circumstances).
 
(Sec. 2109) Requires the FDIC to prescribe final regulations, within 270 days after enactment of this Act, establishing the DRR, implementing increases in deposit insurance coverage, implementing the dividend requirement and the one-time assessment credit, and providing for premium assessments.
 

Title III: Digital Television Transition and Public Safety
 - Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 - (Sec. 3002) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), by February 18, 2009: (1) to terminate all licenses for full-power television (TV) stations in the analog TV service, and require the cessation of broadcasting by such stations in the analog TV service; and (2) to require that all broadcasting by Class A stations, whether in the analog or digital TV service, and all broadcasting by full-power stations in the digital TV service, occur only between channels 2 and 38, inclusive, or 38 and 51, inclusive (between frequencies 54 and 698 megahertz, inclusive).
 
(Sec. 3003) Provides deadlines for the FCC auction of recovered analog spectrum. Extends auction authority through the end of FY2011.
 
(Sec. 3004) Requires: (1) proceeds from the auction of recovered analog spectrum to be deposited into the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund (Fund) (established in this section); and (2) a specified amount from the Fund to be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury on September 30, 2009.
 
(Sec. 3005) Directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant Secretary) to: (1) implement and administer a program through which U.S. households may obtain, upon request, up to two coupons that can be applied toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes; and (2) make specified payments from the Fund through FY2009 to carry out such program. Provides that all such coupons, valued at $40 each, shall expire three months after issuance. Authorizes the use of additional funds if the Assistant Secretary certifies to the congressional commerce committees that current amounts will be insufficient to fulfill coupon requests from eligible households.
 
(Sec. 3006) Authorizes the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement a grant program to assist public safety agencies in the acquisition of, deployment of, or training for the use of interoperable communications systems that utilize, or enable interoperability with systems that can utilize, reallocated public safety spectrum for radio communication. Requires the public safety agency to provide, from nonfederal sources, at least 20 percent of the costs of acquiring and deploying the systems funded under the grant program.
 
(Sec. 3007) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to carry out a grant program to reimburse the Metropolitan Television Alliance (formed by New York City TV broadcast licensees to locate new shared broadcasting facilities as a result of the attacks of September 11, 2001) for costs incurred in the design and deployment of a temporary digital TV broadcast system in the New York City area to ensure an adequate digital TV signal there.
 
(Sec. 3008) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement and administer a program through which each eligible low-power TV station may receive compensation toward the purchase of a digital-to-analog conversion device to convert the incoming digital signal of its corresponding full-power TV station to analog format transmission on the low-power TV station's analog channel.
 
(Sec. 3009) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement and administer a program through which each licensee of an eligible low-power TV station may receive reimbursement for equipment to upgrade low-power TV stations in eligible rural communities from analog to digital format.
 
(Sec. 3010) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement: (1) a unified national emergency alert system, including a tsunami warning and coastal vulnerability program; and (2) the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004.
 
(Sec. 3012) Directs the Secretary of Commerce, upon a specified condition, to make amounts from the Fund available to the Secretary of Transportation for carrying out the essential air service program for FY2007 or FY2008.
 
(Sec. 3014) Directs the FCC to assess extraordinary fees for licenses in the aggregate amount of $10 million, which shall be deposited in the Treasury during FY2006 as offsetting receipts.
 

Title IV: Transportation Provisions
 - (Sec. 4001) Amends maritime law to revise and extend vessel tonnage duties for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Title V: Medicare - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Part A 
- (Sec. 5001) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require that subsection (d) hospitals that do not submit certain required data to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary in this title) in FY2007 and each subsequent year will have the applicable market basket percentage reduced by two percentage points.
 
Requires each &quot;subsection (d) hospital&quot; to submit data on measures selected by the Secretary in the established form, manner, and specified time.
 
Requires the Secretary to expand the set of measures appropriate for the measurement of the quality of care furnished by hospitals in inpatient settings.
 
Directs the Secretary, in expanding the number of such measures, to: (1) begin to adopt the baseline set of performance measures as set forth in the November 2005 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003; and (2) subsequently add other measures that reflect consensus among affected parties, including measures set forth by one or more national consensus building entities.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to implement a value based purchasing program for Medicare payments for subsection (d) hospitals beginning with FY2009.
 
Provides that, for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2008, the diagnosis-related group (DRG) assigned for a described discharge shall be a DRG that does not result in higher payment based on the presence of a secondary described diagnosis code.
 
Requires a hospital to report an individual's secondary diagnosis at admission with the information submitted with respect to the individual's discharge in order for payment to be made.
 
Requires the Secretary to select diagnosis codes associated with at least two conditions.
 
(Sec. 5002) Permits the Secretary to include inpatient hospital days of patients eligible for medical assistance under a certain demonstration waiver in the Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment calculation. Ratifies certain existing regulations.
 
(Sec. 5003) Extends the Medicare dependent hospital (MDH) status for qualifying rural hospitals through discharges occurring before October 1, 2011. Authorizes an MDH, with respect to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2006, to elect payments based on its FY2002 hospital-specific costs, if that would result in higher Medicare payments. Bases MDH payments on 75% (currently 50%) of their adjusted hospital-specific costs starting for discharges on October 1, 2006.
 
(Sec. 5004) Reduces payments to skilled nursing facilities for allowable bad debts attributable to Medicare coinsurance by 30% for those individuals who are not dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
 
(Sec. 5005) Establishes the compliance threshold at: (1) 60% during the 12-month period beginning on July 1, 2006; (2) 65% during the 12-month period beginning on July 1, 2007; and (3) 75% on July 1, 2008 and subsequently. Directs the Secretary to apply such applicable percentages in the classification criterion used to determine whether a hospital or hospital unit is an inpatient rehabilitation facility for Medicare purposes.
 
(Sec. 5006) Directs the Secretary to develop a strategic and implementing plan regarding physician investment in specialty hospitals that address issues related to proportionality of investment return, bona fide investments, annual disclosure of investment information, and the provision of Medicaid and charity care by specialty hospitals. Requires the Secretary to continue the suspension on enrollment of the new specialty hospitals until a certain time. 
 
(Sec. 5007) Directs the Secretary to establish a qualified gainsharing demonstration program for projects to: (1) test and evaluate methodologies and arrangements between hospitals and physicians designed to govern the utilization of inpatient hospital resources and physician work to improve the quality and efficiency of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries; and (2) develop improved operational and financial hospital performance with sharing of remuneration as specified in the project. 
 
(Sec. 5008) Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration program for the purposes of understanding costs and outcomes across different post-acute care sites.
 

Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Part B - Chapter 1: Payment Provisions
 - (Sec. 5101) Amends SSA title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to: (1) require the supplier to transfer the title of durable medical equipment (DME) in the capped rental category to the beneficiary after a thirteen month rental period; (2) eliminate automatic payments to the supplier every six months for maintenance and servicing; and (3) allow reasonable and necessary payments (for parts and labor not covered by the supplier's or manufacturer's warranty).
 
Requires the supplier of oxygen equipment (including portable oxygen equipment) to transfer the title to it to the beneficiary after a 36-month rental period. Requires payments for oxygen to continue after title transfer in the recognized amount for the period of medical need. Allows reasonable and necessary payments for maintenance and servicing of the equipment (for parts and labor not covered by the supplier's or manufacturer's warranty).
 
(Sec. 5102) Provides that the reduced expenditures attributable to the multiple procedure payment reduction for imaging (under the final rule published November 21, 2005) shall not be taken into account for purposes of the budget neutrality calculation for 2006 and 2007.
 
Declares that, for specified imaging services furnished on or after January 1, 2007, if the technical component (including the technical component of a global fee) exceeds the Medicare outpatient department (OPD) fee schedule amount established under the prospective payment system (PPS) for such service, the Secretary shall substitute the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount, adjusted by the relevant geographic adjustment factor.
 
(Sec. 5103) Requires that the ambulatory care surgery center (ASC) be paid the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount whenever the ASC facility payment (without application of any geographic price differences) is greater than the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount for the same service.
 
(Sec. 5104) Provides that the update to the single conversion factor for physicians' services for 2006 shall be 0%.
 
Requires the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to report to Congress on mechanisms that could be used to replace the sustainable growth rate system. Makes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 5105) Requires an increase in Medicare payments for covered OPD services in calendar 2006-2008 to non-sole community small rural hospitals with no more than 100 beds, if their OPD payments under the PPS are less than under the prior reimbursement system.
 
(Sec. 5106) Directs the Secretary to increase the amount of the composite rate component of the basic case-mix adjusted PPS for dialysis services furnished on or after January 1, 2006, by 1.6% above the amount of such component for such services furnished on December 31, 2005.
 
(Sec. 5107) Directs the Secretary to implement an exceptions process with respect to physical therapy, speech language pathology, and occupational therapy caps for expenses incurred in 2006.
 
Directs the Secretary to implement clinically appropriate code edits with respect to Medicare part B payments for physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, and speech-language pathology services in order to identify and eliminate improper payments.
 

Chapter 2: Miscellaneous
 - (Sec. 5111) Revises requirements for the reduction in Medicare part B premium subsidy based on income. Increases the monthly adjustment amounts, and accelerates their phase-in for higher income enrollees, with the provision fully effective in 2009.
 
(Sec. 5112) Authorizes Medicare coverage of ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms for an individual meeting certain criteria. 
 
Includes ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms in the package of services provided in the initial preventive service exam offered to new Medicare enrollees.
 
Makes the part B deductible inapplicable to ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm.
 
(Sec. 5113) Makes the part B deductible inapplicable to colorectal cancer screening tests.
 
(Sec. 5114) Adds diabetes self-management training and medical nutrition therapy services to those that may be covered under the all-inclusive per visit payment rate for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Allows FQHCs to receive payments for services provided through a health care professional who contracts with the center.
 
(Sec. 5115) Permits delayed enrollment under Medicare part B without a delayed enrollment penalty to individuals who: (1) serve as volunteers outside the United States through a program sponsored by a tax-exempt organization that covers at least 12 months; and (2) demonstrate health insurance coverage while serving in the program. Creates a special six-month special part B enrollment period for such individuals, beginning on the first day of the month the individual was no longer in the program.
 

Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Parts A and B
 - (Sec. 5201) Revises requirements for home health payments, eliminating the update for home health payments in 2006. 
 
Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act to extend through calendar 2006 the current 5% additional payment for home health episodes or visits furnished in a rural area.
 
Requires a home health agency to submit certain quality data to the Secretary annually, or incur a 2% reduction in the fiscal year market basket update.
 
Requires MedPAC to report to Congress on a detailed structure of value based payment adjustments for home health services under the Medicare program. Makes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 5202) Lengthens from 26 days to 28 days after a claim is received the period during which a Medicare administrative contract for the disbursement of funds must prohibit the payment of a claim not submitted electronically. 
 
(Sec. 5203) Delays Medicare part A and B payments by nine days. (Claims that would otherwise be paid on September 22 through September 30, 2006, would be paid on the first business day of October 2006.) Prohibits payment of any interest or late penalty to an entity or individuals for any delay in a payment during the period. 
 
(Sec. 5204) Increases Medicare Integrity Program funding amounts by $100 million for FY2006.
 

Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Part C
 - (Sec. 5301) Provides for the phase-out of risk adjustment budget neutrality over 2007 through 2010 in determining the amount of payments to Medicare Advantage Organizations.
 
(Sec. 5302) Directs the Secretary to establish a process and criteria to award site development grants to qualified Programs of All-inclusive Care for Elderly (PACE) providers that have been approved to serve a rural area. Makes appropriations for FY2006.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a technical assistance program to provide: (1) outreach and education to state agencies and provider organizations interested in establishing PACE programs in rural areas; and (2) such assistance necessary to support rural PACE pilot sites.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish an outlier fund to reimburse rural PACE pilot sites for recognized outlier costs incurred for eligible outlier participants.
 
Outlines outlier expense payments with respect to rural PACE pilot sites. 
 
Requires a rural PACE pilot site to have access and exhaust any risk reserves held or arranged for the provider and any working capital established through a site development grant awarded before receiving any payment from the outlier fund.
 
Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Title VI: Medicaid and SCHIP - Subtitle A: Medicaid - Chapter 1: Payment for Prescription Drugs
 - (Sec. 6001) - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to modify the federal upper payment limit (FUL) to 250% of the average manufacturer price (AMP) for multiple source drugs, computed without regard to prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers. Modifies the definition of multiple source drug so that one qualifies as a multiple source drug if there is at least one other drug (instead of the current two or more) sold and marketed during the period that it is rated as therapeutically equivalent and bioequivalent.
 
Directs the Secretary to provide on a monthly basis to states the most recently reported AMPs for both single source and multiple source drugs. Requires quarterly updates posted on a website accessible to the public. 
 
Excludes customary prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers from the definition of AMP.
 
Requires manufacturers to report the customary prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers within 30 days after the last day of each rebate period.
 
Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to review and report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on the requirements for, and manner in which, Amps are determined under the Social Security Act, with any recommendations for changes.
 
Requires the Secretary to promulgate a regulation clarifying such requirements, taking into consideration the Inspector General's recommendations.
 
Requires manufacturers to report information on sales of Medicaid covered drugs at a nominal price.
 
Allows the Secretary to contract with a vendor to obtain retail survey prices for Medicaid covered outpatient drugs that represent a nationwide average of pharmacy sales costs for such drug, net of all discounts and rebates. Requires the vendor to update the Secretary at least monthly on such retail survey prices.
 
Directs the Secretary to devise and implement a means for providing access to each state Medicaid agency to the retail survey price.
 
Requires states to report annually to the Secretary the payment rates for all covered drugs, dispensing fees, and utilization rates for noninnovator multiple source drugs.
 
Directs the Secretary annually to: (1) compare the national retail sales price data for the 50 most widely prescribed drugs with data on Medicaid prices for each such drug for each state; and (2) report the annual rankings to Congress and the states. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 6002) Requires states to provide for the collection and submission of utilization and coding information for each Medicaid single source drug, and the 20 multiple source drugs with highest dollar volume, that are physician administered.
 
Prohibits payment for covered outpatient drugs, unless required information respecting utilization data and coding on such drugs is submitted. 
 
(Sec. 6003) Modifies the existing drug price reporting requirements to require the reporting of both the average manufacturer price and the manufacturer's best price for single source drugs, innovator multiple source drugs, and any drugs sold under a new drug application approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
 
(Sec. 6004) Adds certain children's hospitals to the list of providers that may have access to certain discounted drug prices. 
 

Chapter 2: Long-Term Care Under Medicaid - Subchapter A: Reform of Asset Transfer Rules
 - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to revise requirements relating to long-term care.
 
(Sec. 6011) Lengthens from the usual 36 months to 60 months, or five years, the look-back period for counting for eligibility purposes all income and assets disposed of by the individual for less than fair market value after this Act's enactment. 
 
Changes the start date of the ineligibility period, for all less-than-fair-market-value transfers made on or after enactment of this Act, to the first date of a month during or after which assets have been transferred, or the date on which the individual is eligible for Medicaid and would otherwise be receiving institutional level care based on an approved application but for the application of the penalty period, whichever is later, and which does not occur during any other period of ineligibility as a result of an asset transfer policy. 
 
Specifies the criteria by which an application for an undue hardship waiver shall be approved.
 
Requires each state to provide for a hardship waiver of the transfer of assets requirement in specified circumstances for individuals residing in nursing facilities. Authorizes the state to make bed hold payments for hardship waiver applicants.
 
(Sec. 6012) Requires a state to require an individual, upon application for or recertification of medical assistance for LTC services, to disclose to the state any interest the individual or community spouse has in an annuity (or similar financial instrument), regardless of whether the annuity is irrevocable or is treated as an asset. 
 
Requires the state to notify the annuity's issuer of the state's right as a preferred remainder beneficiary for Medicaid assistance furnished to the individual.
 
Requires treatment of the purchase of an annuity as the disposal of an asset for less than fair market value unless the state is named: (1) as the remainder beneficiary in the first position for at least the total amount of Medicaid expenditures paid on the annuitant's behalf; or (2) as such a beneficiary in the second position after the community spouse or minor or disabled child, and is named in the first position if such spouse or a representative of such child disposes of any such remainder for less than fair market value.
 
Treats as an asset subject to transfer penalties any annuity purchased by or on behalf of an applicant for a Medicaid-covered nursing facility or other LTC services, unless it meets one or the other of specified requirements, including absence of a deferral or balloon payments.
 
(Sec. 6013) Revises requirements for treatment of income and resources for certain institutionalized spouses. Requires states to consider that all income of the institutionalized spouse that could be made available to a community spouse, in accordance with the calculation of the community spouse monthly income allowance, has been made available (&quot;income first&quot; rule) before the state allocates to the community spouse an allowance of resources adequate to provide the difference between the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance and all income available to the community spouse.
 
(Sec. 6014) Makes ineligible for Medicaid for nursing facility or other LTC services certain individuals with an equity interest in their homes greater than $500,000. Allows a state to elect an equity interest threshold exceeding $500,000, but not more than $750,000. Indexes such dollar amounts for inflation, beginning with 2011.
 
(Sec. 6015) Authorizes state-licensed, registered, certified, or equivalent continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) or life care communities (including related nursing facility services) to require in their admissions contracts that residents spend their resources on their care before applying for Medicaid. 
 
Treats an entrance fee in a CCRC or life care community as a resource for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility in specified circumstances.
 
(Sec. 6016) Revises Medicaid asset transfer rules.
 
Prohibits a state from rounding down or otherwise disregarding any fractional period of ineligibility with respect to the disposal of assets when determining the ineligibility period for Medicaid long-term care services. 
 
Authorizes states to accumulate multiple assets transfers into one penalty period.
 
Includes among assets: (1) funds used to purchase a promissory note, loan, or mortgage, except under certain conditions; and (2) the purchase of a life estate interest in another individual's home, unless the purchaser resides in the home for at least one year after the date of purchase.
 

Subchapter B: Expanded Access to Certain Benefits
 - (Sec. 6021) Exempts an individual who received medical assistance under a State plan with an amendment providing for a qualified state long-term care (LTC) insurance partnership from the requirement that the state seek adjustment or recovery from the individual's estate on account of medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual for nursing facility and other long-term care services. Declares that a qualified state LTC insurance partnership disregards any assets or resources equal in amount to LTC insurance benefit payments made, if the insurance policy meets certain requirements.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop standards for uniform reciprocal recognition of qualified state LTC insurance partnership policies among states with such partnerships.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Chapter 3: Eliminating Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Medicaid
 - (Sec. 6032) Provides that, if a state has in effect a law relating to false or fraudulent claims that meets certain requirements, the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), with respect to any amounts recovered under a state action brought under such law, shall be decreased by 10 percentage points. 
 
(Sec. 6033) Requires state plans for medical assistance to require entities receiving annual Medicaid payments of at least $5 million to establish written policies for all employees with respect to the False Claims Act and associated administrative remedies for false claims and statements.
 
(Sec. 6034) Prohibits federal matching payments for the ingredient cost of a covered outpatient drug for which the pharmacy has already received payment (other than a reasonable restocking fee).
 
(Sec. 6035) Establishes the Medicaid Integrity Program under which the Secretary shall promote the integrity of the Medicaid program by entering into contracts with eligible entities to carry out specified activities, including: (1) a review of the actions of individuals or entities furnished items or services for which Medicaid payment may be made to determine whether fraud, waste, or abuse has occurred; and (2) an audit of claims for payment for items or services furnished under a state Medicaid plan. Makes appropriations for FY2006 and following fiscal years.
 
Provides for increased funding for Medicaid fraud and abuse control activities of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services for FY2006-FY2010. 
 
Directs the Secretary to enter into contracts with eligible entities for the purpose of ensuring that, beginning with 2006, the Medicare-Medicaid Data Match Program (Medi-Medi Program) is conducted to identify vulnerabilities of the Medicare and state Medicaid programs, and work with states, the Attorney General, and the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate appropriate actions to protect the federal and state share of expenditures under such programs. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 and following fiscal years for the Medi-Medi Program.
 
(Sec. 6036) Amends the list of third parties legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service for which states must take all reasonable measures to ascertain the legal liability to: (1) substitute the term &quot;managed care organization&quot; for &quot;health maintenance organization;&quot; and (2) include self-insured plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and other parties that are legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service. 
 
Requires a state to provide assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that it has laws in effect requiring health insurers, as a condition of doing business in the state, to: (1) provide, upon state request, information to determine during what period the individual or spouses or dependents may be (or may have been) covered by a health insurer, and the nature of that coverage; (2) accept the state's right of recovery and the assignment to the state of any right of an individual or other entity to payment from the party for an item or service paid for under the state plan; (3) respond to any state inquiry regarding a claim submitted within three years after provision of an item or service; and (4) agree not to deny a claim submitted by the state solely on the basis of date of submission, type or format of claim form, or failure to present proper documentation at point-of-sale, if certain procedural deadlines are met.
 
(Sec. 6037) Prohibits Medicaid assistance to an individual who declares he or she is a U.S. citizen unless one example of specified kinds of documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality is presented.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish an outreach program designed to educate individuals likely to be affected by such requirements.
 

Chapter 4: Flexibility in Cost Sharing and Benefits
 - (Sec. 6041) Authorizes a state to impose varied alternative Medicaid premiums and cost-sharing for different income groups of individuals, subject to specified limitations.
 
(Sec. 6042) Sets forth special rules for state-determined cost-sharing for the least (or less) costly effective prescription drugs.
 
(Sec. 6043) Gives states the option of permitting hospitals to impose cost-sharing for non-emergency care furnished in an emergency department, if certain conditions are met.
 
Directs the Secretary to provide for payments to states for the establishment of alternative non-emergency service providers or provider networks.
 
(Sec. 6044) Allows states, at their option through a state plan amendment, to provide Medicaid benefits to certain groups of beneficiaries through benchmark coverage (federal employee health benefit standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit plan, state employee health benefit plan, or certain health maintenance organization (HMO) plans). 
 
Specifies groups who may not be required to enroll in benchmark coverage, including certain pregnant women, blind or disabled individuals, dual eligibles, medically frail and special medical needs individuals, certain children in foster care, TANF parents, and women in the breast or cervical cancer program.
 

Chapter 5: State Financing under 

Medicaid
 - (Sec. 6051) Expands the Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) provider class to include all MCOs.
 
(Sec. 6052) Specifies the meaning of case management services in terms of the development of a specific care plan, including referral and monitoring and related activities, based on the information collected through an assessment.
 
Defines targeted case management services (TCM) as those furnished, without regard to certain requirements, to specific classes of individuals or to individuals who reside in specific areas.
 
(Sec. 6053) Provides that if, for purposes of SSA titles XIX and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP), the FMAP determined for Alaska for FY2006 or FY2007 is less than the FMAP determined for FY2005, the FY2005 FMAP shall be substituted for the FY2006 or FY2007 FMAP, as the case may be.
 
Requires the Secretary, in computing the FMAP for any year after 2006 for a state with a significant number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees as of October 1, 2005, to disregard such evacuees (and income attributable to them) from such computation.
 
(Sec. 6054) Revises the formula for calculation of the disproportionate share (DSH) allotment for the District of Columbia for FY2000-FY2002.
 
(Sec. 6055) Amends SSA title XI to increase the FY2006-FY2007 total annual caps on federal spending for the Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marianas, and American Samoa. 
 

Chapter 6: Other Provisions - Subchapter A: Family Opportunity Act
 - Family Opportunity Act of 2005, or the Dylan Lee James Act - (Sec. 6062) Amends SSA title XIX to give states the option to: (1) allow families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for such children; and (2) impose income-related premiums with respect to such children provided medical assistance
 
(Sec. 6063) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct, during each of FY2007-FY2011, demonstration projects under which up to ten states are awarded grants, on a competitive basis, to test the effectiveness in improving or maintaining a child's functional level, as well as the cost-effectiveness, of covering home and community-based alternatives to psychiatric residential treatment for children enrolled in the Medicaid program. Makes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011.
 
(Sec. 6064) Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations for FY2007-FY2009 for the development and support of family-to-family health information centers under SPRANS (Special Projects of Regional and National Significance).
 
(Sec. 6065) Extends Medicaid eligibility to persons who are under age 21 and who are eligible for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) under SSA title XVI, effective on the later of: (1) the date the application was filed: or (2) the date SSI eligibility was granted. 
 

Subchapter B: Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration
 - (Sec. 6071) Authorizes the Secretary to award, on a competitive basis, grants to states for (Money Follows the Person, or MFP) demonstration projects designed to achieve certain objectives, including rebalancing, that is, increasing the use of home and community-based, rather than institutional, long-term care services under state Medicaid programs. Makes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011.
 

Subchapter C: Miscellaneous
 - (Sec. 6081) Directs the Secretary to provide for payments to states for the adoption of innovative methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in providing medical assistance under Medicaid. 
 
(Sec. 6082) Directs the Secretary to establish a five-year demonstration program under which up to 10 states may provide under their state Medicaid plans for alternate benefits (including contributions to a health opportunity account) for eligible population groups in one or more geographic areas of the state.
 
(Sec. 6083) Gives states the option of providing for establishment of a non-emergency medical transportation brokerage program in order more cost-effectively to provide transportation for Medicaid-eligible individuals to medical care or services.
 
(Sec. 6084) Extends the Transitional Medical Assistance and the abstinence education block grant programs through December 31, 2006. 
 
(Sec. 6085) Requires any provider of emergency services that does not have in effect a contract with a Medicaid managed care entity to accept as payment in full no more than it could collect if the beneficiary received medical assistance other than through enrollment in such entity. Specifies a payment formula for a state where rates are negotiated by contract and not publicly released. 
 
(Sec. 6086) Provides for home and community-based services as an optional benefit for elderly and disabled individuals.
 
(Sec. 6087) Allows a state to provide as &quot;medical assistance&quot; payment for self-directed personal assistance services pursuant to a written plan of care to individuals who would otherwise require and receive Medicaid personal care services, or home and community-based services under a waiver. 
 

Subtitle B: SCHIP
 - (Sec. 6101) Amends SSA title XXI (SCHIP) to provide for additional allotments to states to eliminate FY2006 funding shortfalls.
 
(Sec. 6102) Prohibits a waiver, experimental, pilot, or demonstration project from allowing the use of funds to provide child health assistance to nonpregnant childless adults.
 
(Sec. 6103) Continues through FY2004-FY2005 the authority for qualifying states to apply federal SCHIP matching funds toward the coverage of certain children enrolled in regular Medicaid.
 

Subtitle C: Katrina Relief
 - (Sec. 6201) Appropriates $2 billion (in addition to any funds made available for the National Disaster Medical System under the Department of Homeland Security for health care costs related to Hurricane Katrina) for use by the Secretary to pay eligible states for: (1) the nonfederal share of expenditures with respect to evacuees receiving health care under an approved Multi-State Section 115 Demonstration Project; (2) reimbursement of the reasonable administrative costs related to such projects; (3) reimbursement of the nonfederal share of expenditures for medical care provided to individuals under Medicaid and SCHIP plans; and (4) other purposes, if approved by the Secretary, to restore access to health care in impacted communities. 
 
(Sec. 6202) Authorizes and makes appropriations for FY2006 grants to states for: (1) up to half the losses incurred by a state in connection with the operation of their high risk pool; and (2) seed money to create and initially fund a high risk pool.
 

Title VII: Human Resources and Other Provisions - Subtitle A: TANF
 - (Sec. 7101) Amends SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to extend the TANF program at the FY2004 level through FY2010. Makes appropriations.
 
Extends the National Random Sample Study of Child Welfare through FY2010.
 
(Sec. 7102) Revises the formula for the caseload reduction credit with respect to work participation rates.
 
Includes families receiving assistance under separate state programs in the calculation of work participation rates.
 
Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for determining whether activities may be counted as work activities, how to count and verify reported hours of work, and work-eligible individuals.
 
Provides for a state penalty for failure to establish or comply with work participation verification procedures.
 
(Sec. 7103) Replaces incentive bonuses to states for a decrease in the illegitimacy rate with healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants. Limits the use of funds for: (1) demonstration projects designed to test the effectiveness of tribal governments or consortia in coordinating the provision of child welfare services to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect; and (2) activities promoting responsible fatherhood. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Subtitle B: Child Care
 - (Sec. 7201) Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 for entitlement grants to states for child care.
 

Subtitle C: Child Support
 - (Sec. 7301) Modifies the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF.
 
Revises requirements for the distribution of arrearages with respect to families that formerly received TANF. 
 
Declares that states shall not be required to pay the federal government the federal share of amounts collected on behalf of a family: (1) that formerly received TANF, to the extent that the state pays (passes through) the amount to the family; or (2) that currently receives assistance, to the extent of a certain portion passed through to the family.
 
Requires the State plan to include an election as to which rules, new or old, to apply in distributing child support arrearages collected on behalf of families formerly receiving assistance.
 
Gives States the option to discontinue pre-1997 support assignments, and to discontinue post-1997 assignments.
 
Revises requirements for use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors.
 
Gives states assisting other states the option to use their statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system for interstate cases.
 
(Sec. 7302) Revises requirements for the mandatory three-year review and adjustment of child support orders for families receiving TANF. Eliminates the state's dependence on a request of the state agency or of either parent to conduct such a review, if there has been an assignment to the state of rights to collect child support on behalf of a child. (Requires the state, in the case of an assignment, to conduct such a review and adjustment.)
 
(Sec. 7303) Reduces from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of a child support arrearage triggering referral for passport denial of the parent responsible for the arrearage.
 
(Sec. 7304) Revises the formula for the permanent appropriation of funds for: (1) technical assistance to states, training of state and federal staff, staffing studies, and related activities needed to improve child support and paternity establishment programs; and (2) research, demonstration, and special projects of regional or national significance relating to the operation of such state programs. Appropriates the greater of the preceding fiscal year appropriation or the FY2002 appropriation.
 
(Sec. 7305) Revises the formula for the permanent appropriation of funds for the Federal Parent Locator Service. Appropriates the greater of the preceding fiscal year appropriation or the FY2002 appropriation. Repeals the fiscal year limitation to make permanent the continuing availability of appropriations until they are expended.
 
(Sec. 7306) Authorizes the Secretary, through the Federal Parent Locator Service, to: (1) compare information concerning individuals owning past-due support with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards, and payments; and (2) furnish information resulting from the data matches to the state agencies responsible for collection child support from the individuals.
 
(Sec. 7307) Requires that all child support orders include a provision for medical support for children to be provided by either or both parents, and be enforced. 
 
(Sec. 7308) Reduces from 90% to 66% the federal matching rate for laboratory costs incurred in determining paternity. 
 
(Sec. 7309) Ends federal matching of state spending of federal incentive payments.
 
(Sec. 7310) Provides for a mandatory annual fee of $25 for each case of successful child support collection for a family that has never received TANF, if the state collects more than $500.
 

Subtitle D: Child Welfare Authority
 - (Sec. 7401) Prescribes the contents of applications for court improvement grants, including grants for improved data collection and training. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 for grants to: (1) ensure that the safety, permanence, and well-being needs of children are met in a timely and complete manner; and (2) provide for the training of judges, attorneys, and other legal personnel in child welfare cases.
 
Requires that courts and agencies demonstrate meaningful collaboration between them in child welfare services programs.
 
Provides for the use of child welfare records in state court proceedings. 
 
(Sec. 7402) Authorizes appropriations for FY2006 for safe and stable families programs. 
 
(Sec. 7403) Specifies criteria for the foster care circumstances of otherwise federally eligible children living with unlicensed relatives, in another ineligible setting, or who have not yet entered foster care, where the state may receive federal matching funds for the associated administrative expenditures.
 
(Sec. 7404) Revises eligibility requirements for foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance.
 

Subtitle E: Supplemental Security Income
 - (Sec. 7501) Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to direct the Commissioner, before taking any implementing action, to review state agency determinations that individuals who have attained age 18 are blind or disabled.
 
(Sec. 7502) Revises the formula for determining eligibility of individuals to installment payment of past-due monthly SSI benefits.
 

Subtitle F: Repeal of Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset
 - (Sec. 7601) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to repeal the continued dumping and subsidy offset. 
 

Subtitle G: Effective Date
 - (Sec. 7701) Sets forth the effective date of this title.
 
 

Title VIII: Education and Pension Benefit Provisions - Subtitle A: Higher Education Provisions
 - Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise title IV student assistance program requirements.
 
(Sec. 8002) Eliminates the 50% rule with respect to distance education, where it currently limits the relative number of courses an institution of higher education (IHE) may offer by telecommunications, and the relative number of students who may be enrolled in such courses, for purposes of student assistance program eligibility. (Continues application of the 50% rule to correspondence courses.) 
 
(Sec. 8003) Establishes a program of: (1) academic competitiveness grants for first and second year undergraduate students; and (2) national science and mathematics access to retain talent (SMART) grants for third and fourth year undergraduate students of physical, life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering, or critical foreign languages. Establishes the Academic Competitiveness Council.
 
(Sec. 8004) Reauthorizes the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Extends authority for federal insurance on student loans, and for the guaranteed loan and consolidated loan programs. Refers to loan processing and issuance fees rather than an administrative cost allowance.
 
(Sec. 8005) Increases loan limits.
 
(Sec. 8006) Increases PLUS loan interest rates. Establishes a special allowance support level to be used in a formula for calculating excess interest to be recaptured by the Treasury.
 
(Sec. 8007) Provides for student loan deferments of up to three years for individuals serving on active duty or performing National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or emergency.
 
(Sec. 8008) Revises loan terms and conditions relating to: (1) disbursement to students studying abroad; and (2) repayment plans for direct loans.
 
Provides for gradual reduction of loan origination fees paid by student borrowers under the FFEL program.
 
(Sec. 8009) Revises consolidation loan requirements.
 
Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary, under this title) to offer direct consolidation loans to eligible borrowers who have been denied consolidation loans or consolidation loans with income-sensitive repayment terms by an eligible lender.
 
Eliminates in-school consolidation loans.
 
Provides for similar terms and conditions for FFEL consolidation loans and DL consolidations loans.
 
(Sec. 8010) Revises requirements for disbursements of student loans.
 
(Sec. 8011) Revises requirements for IHEs as lenders.
 
(Sec. 8013) Continues certain limitations on special allowance payments under HEA, as amended by the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004 (TTPA), by eliminating specified TTPA termination dates. Prescribes an additional limitation on special allowance payments for loans from the proceeds of tax-exempt issues.
 
Continues TTPA authorization of an increased maximum amount, and new borrower eligibility, for HEA's loan forgiveness program for school teachers who teach certain subjects in high-poverty schools. Sets guidelines for private school teachers to qualify for such forgiveness program.
 
(Sec. 8014) Establishes a limited federal default fee. 
 
Revises administrative requirements for: (1) insurance percentage; (2) treatment of exempt claims; (3) consolidation of defaulted loans; (4) documentation of forbearance agreements; (5) voluntary flexible agreements; (6) the default reduction program; (7) exceptional performance insurance rate; and (8) uniform administrative and claims procedure.
 
(Sec. 8016) Provides for mandatory funds for FY2006 to be available to the Secretary in a specified limited amount for: (1) administrative costs under the DL and FFEL student loan programs; and (2) account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. 
 
Authorizes appropriations, but eliminates mandatory funding, for such administrative expenses in FY2007-FY2011.
 
Continues mandatory funding for FY2007-FY2011 for account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. Limits such fees to not more than 0.1% of the original principal amount of outstanding loans on which insurance was issued under FFEL.
 
(Sec. 8017) Revises cost of attendance and family contribution requirements.
 
(Sec. 8019) Revises guidelines for determining a student's eligibility for the simplified needs test (SNT) and automatic-zero expected family contribution (AZ-EFC).
 
(Sec. 8020) Revises need analysis requirements to treat active duty members of the military as independent students.
 
Exempts from consideration assets from any small business with 100 or fewer full-time or full-time equivalent employees that is owned or controlled by the family.
 
Excludes consideration of certain assistance provided by a state to offset a specific component of the cost of attendance, under specified conditions.
 
(Sec. 8021) Makes eligible for student assistance distance education, including certain instructional programs that use or recognize direct assessment of student learning in place of credit hours or clock hours as the measure of student learning.
 
(Sec. 8022) Requires any student who has pled guilty or no contest to (or been convicted of) a crime involving fraud in obtaining title IV funds to repay the funds in full to the Secretary or loan holder before being considered eligible again.
 
Specifies that a conviction for a drug-related offense affects a student's title IV eligibility only if it occurs during the period when the student is enrolled and receiving title IV student aid.
 
(Sec. 8023) Revises requirements relating to institutional refunds.
 
(Sec. 8024) Establishes a college access initiative. Directs the Secretary to require each guaranty agency to gather information on programs and student aid available in the state in which it is designated. Requires such information to be made available for free to the public, particularly to traditionally underrepresented populations, via web sites, publications, and other state services.
 
(Sec. 8026) Increases, from 10% to 15%, the maximum portion of disposable wages for any pay period which may be garnished to repay a student loan under HEA (unless the individual consents to a greater portion).
 

Subtitle B: Pensions
 - (Sec. 8201) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to increase annual premiums to be paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) by single-employer plans and by multiemployer plans, respectively. Sets forth a premium rate for certain terminated single-employer plans, with a special rule for plans terminated in bankruptcy reorganization.
 

Title IX: LIHEAP Provisions
 - (Sec. 9001) Appropriates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for one-time only obligation and expenditure for low-income energy assistance: (1) $250 million for FY2007; and (2) $750 million for FY2007.
 
Prescribes allocation guidelines.
 

Title X: Judiciary Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Civil Filing Adjustments
 - (Sec. 10001) Amends the federal judicial code to increase from $250 to: (1) $350 the filing fee for civil actions filed in district courts; and (2) $450 the fee for docketing a case on appeal or review, or any other proceeding in a court of appeals.
 

Subtitle B: Bankruptcy Fees
 - (Sec. 10002) Increases bankruptcy filing fees: (1) from $220 to $245 for cases commenced under chapter 7 (Liquidation); and (2) from $150 to $235 for cases commenced under chapter 13 (Adjustment of debts of an individual with regular income).
 
Requires that incremental amounts collected by reason of increased civil filing fees and bankruptcy filing fees be deposited in a special fund in the Treasury, to be available to offset funds appropriated for the operation and maintenance of the federal courts.

action_date: 2006-02-08
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since the Conference Report was filed in the House on December 19, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 - 
Title I: Agriculture Provisions
 - Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 2005 - 
Subtitle A: Commodity Programs
 - (Sec. 1101) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to revise the national dairy market loss payment formula by decreasing the multiplier for the periods beginning on: (1) October 1, 2005, and ending on August 31, 2007; and (2) September 1, 2007. 
 
Extends the sign-up and contract periods through September 30, 2007.
 
(Sec. 1102) Reduces advance payments for peanuts and for covered commodities to: (1) 40% for crop year 2006; and (2) 22% for crop year 2007.
 
(Sec. 1103) Repeals authority to issue upland cotton user marketing certificates.
 

Subtitle B: Conservation
 - (Sec. 1201) Cancels the watershed rehabilitation program.
 
(Sec. 1202) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to: (1) extend conservation security program authority through FY2011; and (2) extend and increase Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding for such program.
 
(Sec. 1203) Amends environmental quality incentives program provisions to: (1) extend program authority through FY2010; (2) apply the aggregate payment limitation to any six-year period. (Currently, such limitation applies to FY2002-FY2007); and (3) set forth specified funding provisions for FY2007-FY2009, and for FY2010.
 

Subtitle C: Energy
 - (Sec. 1301) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to reduce FY 2007 funding for the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program.
 

Subtitle D: Rural Development
 - (Sec. 1401) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for expanded access to broadband telecommunications services in rural areas unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1402) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for value-added agricultural product market development grants unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1403) Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to terminate rural business investment program funding after FY2006. Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for such program unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1404) Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for rural business strategic investment grants unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 
(Sec. 1405) Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to terminate rural firefighters and emergency personnel grant authority after FY2006. Cancels authority to obligate funds previously made available for such program unobligated as of October 1, 2006, as of that date.
 

Subtitle E: Research
 - (Sec. 1501) Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to eliminate FY2007-FY2009 CCC transfer funding for the initiative for future agriculture and food systems. Makes funds available for a two-year period from the date of transfer, except for FY2006 funds which shall be available for a one-year period beginning on October 1, 2005.
 

Title II: Housing and Deposit Insurance Provisions - Subtitle A: FHA Asset Disposition
 - (Sec. 2002) Provides for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) asset disposition.
 
Subjects the discount sale of multifamily real property during FY2006-FY2010, by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the property value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the multifamily real property is sold during that period for an amount equal to or greater than the property market value. 
 
Subjects a discount loan sale during FY2006-FY2010 to the availability of appropriations to the extent that the loan value exceeds the sale proceeds.
 
States that such transaction is not subject to the availability of appropriations if the discount loan sale is sold, during such fiscal years, for an amount equal to or greater than the loan market value. 
 
(Sec. 2003) Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to state that a grant provided during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary costs of rehabilitation, demolition, or construction on HUD-owned multifamily properties (with a view to disposing of them) shall be available only to the extent that appropriations are made in advance for such purposes, and shall not be derived from the General Insurance Fund.
 
Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to limit discretionary assistance by the Secretary of HUD for upfront grants during FY2006-FY2010 for the necessary cost of rehabilitation and other related development costs 
 

Subtitle B: Deposit Insurance Reform
 - Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act of 2005 - (Sec. 2102) Merges the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund into the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).
 
(Sec. 2103) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) and the Federal Credit Union Act to prescribe an inflation adjustment formula governing the standard maximum deposit insurance amount (defined as $100,000).
 
Requires the FDIC Board of Directors and the National Credit Union Administration Board, upon determining every five years that an inflation adjustment is appropriate, to calculate it and prescribe jointly the new standard maximum deposit insurance amount (for depository institutions) and the standard maximum share insurance amount (for credit unions).
 
Requires the FDIC to provide pass-through deposit insurance for the deposits of an employee benefit plan. Prohibits an insured depository institution that is neither well capitalized nor adequately capitalized, from accepting such deposits.
 
Increases from $100,000 to $250,000 the standard maximum deposit insurance for certain retirement accounts.
 
(Sec. 2104) Amends the FDIA to replace assessment guidelines for achieving and maintaining a designated reserve ratio (DRR) and for independent treatment of deposit insurance funds. Requires the FDIC Board of Directors (Board) to set assessments as it determines appropriate.
 
Declares that no insured depository institution shall be barred from the lowest-risk category solely because of size.
 
Reduces from five years to three years the mandatory assessment recordkeeping period. 
 
Increases penalties from $100 to 1% of assessments per day for failure of a depository institution assessed more than $10,000 to make timely assessment payments. 
 
Reduces the statute of limitations for assessment actions from five years to three years after the date the assessment was due.
 
Provides that if an insured depository institution has made a false or fraudulent statement with intent to evade its assessment, the FDIC shall have until three years after discovery of the false or fraudulent statement in which to bring an action to recover the underpaid amount.
 
Deems assessment deposit information to be conclusive and not subject to change if it is contained in records that are no longer required to be maintained beyond the semiannual period.
 
(Sec. 2105) Replaces the current 1.25 percent DRR used to recapitalize undercapitalized insurance funds with a reserve ratio range of 1.15 to 1.5% of estimated insured deposits, subject to specified factors and annual redetermination. 
 
(Sec. 2106) Directs the Board to collect information from all appropriate sources in determining the risk of DIF losses. 
 
(Sec. 2107) Revises requirements for FDIC repayment of overpaid assessments and refunds of any balance in the insurance fund in excess of the DRR. 
 
Prescribes guidelines governing the payment of mandatory dividends to insured depository institutions whenever the DIF reserve ratio exceeds specified percentages of the estimated insured deposits required to maintain the DRR.
 
Cites conditions under which the Board may suspend or limit dividends if it makes certain determinations in writing.
 
Requires the Board to provide a one-time credit based upon the December 31, 1996, assessment base of each eligible depository institution, as compared to the combined aggregate assessment base of all such institutions.
 
Places a temporary restriction on the use of such credits.
 
Restricts the amount of such credit for depository institutions that exhibit financial, operational, or compliance weakness, including undercapitalization.
 
(Sec. 2108) Requires the Board to establish and implement a DIF restoration plan whenever its reserve ratio is projected to fall, or actually falls below the DRR. Prescribes requirements for such plans, notably restoration to the DRR level within five years (or such longer period as the Corporation may determine to be necessary due to extraordinary circumstances).
 
(Sec. 2109) Requires the FDIC to prescribe final regulations, within 270 days after enactment of this Act, establishing the DRR, implementing increases in deposit insurance coverage, implementing the dividend requirement and the one-time assessment credit, and providing for premium assessments.
 

Title III: Digital Television Transition and Public Safety
 - Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 - (Sec. 3002) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), by February 18, 2009: (1) to terminate all licenses for full-power television (TV) stations in the analog TV service, and require the cessation of broadcasting by such stations in the analog TV service; and (2) to require that all broadcasting by Class A stations, whether in the analog or digital TV service, and all broadcasting by full-power stations in the digital TV service, occur only between channels 2 and 38, inclusive, or 38 and 51, inclusive (between frequencies 54 and 698 megahertz, inclusive).
 
(Sec. 3003) Provides deadlines for the FCC auction of recovered analog spectrum. Extends auction authority through the end of FY2011.
 
(Sec. 3004) Requires: (1) proceeds from the auction of recovered analog spectrum to be deposited into the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund (Fund) (established in this section); and (2) a specified amount from the Fund to be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury on September 30, 2009.
 
(Sec. 3005) Directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant Secretary) to: (1) implement and administer a program through which U.S. households may obtain, upon request, up to two coupons that can be applied toward the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes; and (2) make specified payments from the Fund through FY2009 to carry out such program. Provides that all such coupons, valued at $40 each, shall expire three months after issuance. Authorizes the use of additional funds if the Assistant Secretary certifies to the congressional commerce committees that current amounts will be insufficient to fulfill coupon requests from eligible households.
 
(Sec. 3006) Authorizes the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement a grant program to assist public safety agencies in the acquisition of, deployment of, or training for the use of interoperable communications systems that utilize, or enable interoperability with systems that can utilize, reallocated public safety spectrum for radio communication. Requires the public safety agency to provide, from nonfederal sources, at least 20 percent of the costs of acquiring and deploying the systems funded under the grant program.
 
(Sec. 3007) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to carry out a grant program to reimburse the Metropolitan Television Alliance (formed by New York City TV broadcast licensees to locate new shared broadcasting facilities as a result of the attacks of September 11, 2001) for costs incurred in the design and deployment of a temporary digital TV broadcast system in the New York City area to ensure an adequate digital TV signal there.
 
(Sec. 3008) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement and administer a program through which each eligible low-power TV station may receive compensation toward the purchase of a digital-to-analog conversion device to convert the incoming digital signal of its corresponding full-power TV station to analog format transmission on the low-power TV station's analog channel.
 
(Sec. 3009) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement and administer a program through which each licensee of an eligible low-power TV station may receive reimbursement for equipment to upgrade low-power TV stations in eligible rural communities from analog to digital format.
 
(Sec. 3010) Directs the Assistant Secretary to use amounts from the Fund to implement: (1) a unified national emergency alert system, including a tsunami warning and coastal vulnerability program; and (2) the ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004.
 
(Sec. 3012) Directs the Secretary of Commerce, upon a specified condition, to make amounts from the Fund available to the Secretary of Transportation for carrying out the essential air service program for FY2007 or FY2008.
 
(Sec. 3013) Directs the FCC to assess extraordinary fees for licenses in the aggregate amount of $10 million, which shall be deposited in the Treasury during FY2006 as offsetting receipts.
 

Title IV: Transportation Provisions
 - (Sec. 4001) Amends maritime law to revise and extend vessel tonnage duties for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Title V: Medicare - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Part A 
- (Sec. 5001) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require that subsection (d) hospitals that do not submit certain required data to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary in this title) in FY2007 and each subsequent year will have the applicable market basket percentage reduced by two percentage points.
 
Requires each &quot;subsection (d) hospital&quot; to submit data on measures selected by the Secretary in the established form, manner, and specified time.
 
Requires the Secretary to expand the set of measures appropriate for the measurement of the quality of care furnished by hospitals in inpatient settings.
 
Directs the Secretary, in expanding the number of such measures, to: (1) begin to adopt the baseline set of performance measures as set forth in the November 2005 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003; and (2) subsequently add other measures that reflect consensus among affected parties, including measures set forth by one or more national consensus building entities.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to implement a value based purchasing program for Medicare payments for subsection (d) hospitals beginning with FY2009.
 
Provides that, for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2008, the diagnosis-related group (DRG) assigned for a described discharge shall be a DRG that does not result in higher payment based on the presence of a secondary described diagnosis code.
 
Requires a hospital to report an individual's secondary diagnosis at admission with the information submitted with respect to the individual's discharge in order for payment to be made.
 
Requires the Secretary to select diagnosis codes associated with at least two conditions.
 
(Sec. 5002) Permits the Secretary to include inpatient hospital days of patients eligible for medical assistance under a certain demonstration waiver in the Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment calculation. Ratifies certain existing regulations.
 
(Sec. 5003) Extends the Medicare dependent hospital (MDH) status for qualifying rural hospitals through discharges occurring before October 1, 2011. Authorizes an MDH, with respect to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2006, to elect payments based on its FY2002 hospital-specific costs, if that would result in higher Medicare payments. Bases MDH payments on 75% (currently 50%) of their adjusted hospital-specific costs starting for discharges on October 1, 2006.
 
(Sec. 5004) Reduces payments to skilled nursing facilities for allowable bad debts attributable to Medicare coinsurance by 30% for those individuals who are not dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
 
(Sec. 5005) Establishes the compliance threshold at: (1) 60% during the 12-month period beginning on July 1, 2006; (2) 65% during the 12-month period beginning on July 1, 2007; and (3) 75% on July 1, 2008 and subsequently. Directs the Secretary to apply such applicable percentages in the classification criterion used to determine whether a hospital or hospital unit is an inpatient rehabilitation facility for Medicare purposes.
 
(Sec. 5006) Directs the Secretary to develop a strategic and implementing plan regarding physician investment in specialty hospitals that address issues related to proportionality of investment return, bona fide investments, annual disclosure of investment information, and the provision of Medicaid and charity care by specialty hospitals. Requires the Secretary to continue the suspension on enrollment of the new specialty hospitals until a certain time. 
 
(Sec. 5007) Directs the Secretary to establish a qualified gainsharing demonstration program for projects to: (1) test and evaluate methodologies and arrangements between hospitals and physicians designed to govern the utilization of inpatient hospital resources and physician work to improve the quality and efficiency of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries; and (2) develop improved operational and financial hospital performance with sharing of remuneration as specified in the project. 
 
(Sec. 5008) Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration program for the purposes of understanding costs and outcomes across different post-acute care sites.
 

Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Part B - Chapter 1: Payment Provisions
 - (Sec. 5101) Amends SSA title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to: (1) require the supplier to transfer the title of durable medical equipment (DME) in the capped rental category to the beneficiary after a thirteen month rental period; (2) eliminate automatic payments to the supplier every six months for maintenance and servicing; and (3) allow reasonable and necessary payments (for parts and labor not covered by the supplier's or manufacturer's warranty).
 
Requires the supplier of oxygen equipment (including portable oxygen equipment) to transfer the title to it to the beneficiary after a 36-month rental period. Requires payments for oxygen to continue after title transfer in the recognized amount for the period of medical need. Allows reasonable and necessary payments for maintenance and servicing of the equipment (for parts and labor not covered by the supplier's or manufacturer's warranty).
 
(Sec. 5102) Provides that the reduced expenditures attributable to the multiple procedure payment reduction for imaging (under the final rule published November 21, 2005) shall not be taken into account for purposes of the budget neutrality calculation for 2006 and 2007.
 
Declares that, for specified imaging services furnished on or after January 1, 2007, if the technical component (including the technical component of a global fee) exceeds the Medicare outpatient department (OPD) fee schedule amount established under the prospective payment system (PPS) for such service, the Secretary shall substitute the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount, adjusted by the relevant geographic adjustment factor.
 
(Sec. 5103) Requires that the ambulatory care surgery center (ASC) be paid the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount whenever the ASC facility payment (without application of any geographic price differences) is greater than the Medicare OPD fee schedule amount for the same service.
 
(Sec. 5104) Provides that the update to the single conversion factor for physicians' services for 2006 shall be 0%.
 
Requires the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to report to Congress on mechanisms that could be used to replace the sustainable growth rate system. Makes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 5105) Requires an increase in Medicare payments for covered OPD services in calendar 2006-2008 to non-sole community small rural hospitals with no more than 100 beds, if their OPD payments under the PPS are less than under the prior reimbursement system.
 
(Sec. 5106) Directs the Secretary to increase the amount of the composite rate component of the basic case-mix adjusted PPS for dialysis services furnished on or after January 1, 2006, by 1.6% above the amount of such component for such services furnished on December 31, 2005.
 
(Sec. 5107) Directs the Secretary to implement an exceptions process with respect to physical therapy, speech language pathology, and occupational therapy caps for expenses incurred in 2006.
 
Directs the Secretary to implement clinically appropriate code edits with respect to Medicare part B payments for physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, and speech-language pathology services in order to identify and eliminate improper payments.
 

Chapter 2: Miscellaneous
 - (Sec. 5111) Revises requirements for the reduction in Medicare part B premium subsidy based on income. Increases the monthly adjustment amounts, and accelerates their phase-in for higher income enrollees, with the provision fully effective in 2009.
 
(Sec. 5112) Authorizes Medicare coverage of ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms for an individual meeting certain criteria. 
 
Includes ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms in the package of services provided in the initial preventive service exam offered to new Medicare enrollees.
 
Makes the part B deductible inapplicable to ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm.
 
(Sec. 5113) Makes the part B deductible inapplicable to colorectal cancer screening tests.
 
(Sec. 5114) Adds diabetes self-management training and medical nutrition therapy services to those that may be covered under the all-inclusive per visit payment rate for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Allows FQHCs to receive payments for services provided through a health care professional who contracts with the center.
 
(Sec. 5115) Permits delayed enrollment under Medicare part B without a delayed enrollment penalty to individuals who: (1) serve as volunteers outside the United States through a program sponsored by a tax-exempt organization that covers at least 12 months; and (2) demonstrate health insurance coverage while serving in the program. Creates a special six-month special part B enrollment period for such individuals, beginning on the first day of the month the individual was no longer in the program.
 

Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Parts A and B
 - (Sec. 5201) Revises requirements for home health payments, eliminating the update for home health payments in 2006. 
 
Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act to extend through calendar 2006 the current 5% additional payment for home health episodes or visits furnished in a rural area.
 
Requires a home health agency to submit certain quality data to the Secretary annually, or incur a 2% reduction in the fiscal year market basket update.
 
Requires MedPAC to report to Congress on a detailed structure of value based payment adjustments for home health services under the Medicare program. Makes appropriations.
 
(Sec. 5202) Lengthens from 26 days to 28 days after a claim is received the period during which a Medicare administrative contract for the disbursement of funds must prohibit the payment of a claim not submitted electronically. 
 
(Sec. 5203) Delays Medicare part A and B payments by nine days. (Claims that would otherwise be paid on September 22 through September 30, 2006, would be paid on the first business day of October 2006.) Prohibits payment of any interest or late penalty to an entity or individuals for any delay in a payment during the period. 
 
(Sec. 5204) Increases Medicare Integrity Program funding amounts by $100 million for FY2006.
 

Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Part C
 - (Sec. 5301) Provides for the phase-out of risk adjustment budget neutrality over 2007 through 2010 in determining the amount of payments to Medicare Advantage Organizations.
 
(Sec. 5302) Directs the Secretary to establish a process and criteria to award site development grants to qualified Programs of All-inclusive Care for Elderly (PACE) providers that have been approved to serve a rural area. Makes appropriations for FY2006.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a technical assistance program to provide: (1) outreach and education to state agencies and provider organizations interested in establishing PACE programs in rural areas; and (2) such assistance necessary to support rural PACE pilot sites.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish an outlier fund to reimburse rural PACE pilot sites for recognized outlier costs incurred for eligible outlier participants.
 
Outlines outlier expense payments with respect to rural PACE pilot sites. 
 
Requires a rural PACE pilot site to have access and exhaust any risk reserves held or arranged for the provider and any working capital established through a site development grant awarded before receiving any payment from the outlier fund.
 
Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Title VI: Medicaid and SCHIP - Subtitle A: Medicaid - Chapter 1: Payment for Prescription Drugs
 - (Sec. 6001) - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to modify the federal upper payment limit (FUL) to 250% of the average manufacturer price (AMP) for multiple source drugs, computed without regard to prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers. Modifies the definition of multiple source drug so that one qualifies as a multiple source drug if there is at least one other drug (instead of the current two or more) sold and marketed during the period that it is rated as therapeutically equivalent and bioequivalent.
 
Directs the Secretary to provide on a monthly basis to states the most recently reported AMPs for both single source and multiple source drugs. Requires quarterly updates posted on a website accessible to the public. 
 
Excludes customary prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers from the definition of AMP.
 
Requires manufacturers to report the customary prompt pay discounts extended to wholesalers within 30 days after the last day of each rebate period.
 
Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to review and report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on the requirements for, and manner in which, Amps are determined under the Social Security Act, with any recommendations for changes.
 
Requires the Secretary to promulgate a regulation clarifying such requirements, taking into consideration the Inspector General's recommendations.
 
Requires manufacturers to report information on sales of Medicaid covered drugs at a nominal price.
 
Allows the Secretary to contract with a vendor to obtain retail survey prices for Medicaid covered outpatient drugs that represent a nationwide average of pharmacy sales costs for such drug, net of all discounts and rebates. Requires the vendor to update the Secretary at least monthly on such retail survey prices.
 
Directs the Secretary to devise and implement a means for providing access to each state Medicaid agency to the retail survey price.
 
Requires states to report annually to the Secretary the payment rates for all covered drugs, dispensing fees, and utilization rates for noninnovator multiple source drugs.
 
Directs the Secretary annually to: (1) compare the national retail sales price data for the 50 most widely prescribed drugs with data on Medicaid prices for each such drug for each state; and (2) report the annual rankings to Congress and the states. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 
(Sec. 6002) Requires states to provide for the collection and submission of utilization and coding information for each Medicaid single source drug, and the 20 multiple source drugs with highest dollar volume, that are physician administered.
 
Prohibits payment for covered outpatient drugs, unless required information respecting utilization data and coding on such drugs is submitted. 
 
(Sec. 6003) Modifies the existing drug price reporting requirements to require the reporting of both the average manufacturer price and the manufacturer's best price for single source drugs, innovator multiple source drugs, and any drugs sold under a new drug application approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
 
(Sec. 6004) Adds certain children's hospitals to the list of providers that may have access to certain discounted drug prices. 
 

Chapter 2: Long-Term Care Under Medicaid - Subchapter A: Reform of Asset Transfer Rules
 - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to revise requirements relating to long-term care.
 
(Sec. 6011) Lengthens from the usual 36 months to 60 months, or five years, the look-back period for counting for eligibility purposes all income and assets disposed of by the individual for less than fair market value after this Act's enactment. 
 
Changes the start date of the ineligibility period, for all less-than-fair-market-value transfers made on or after enactment of this Act, to the first date of a month during or after which assets have been transferred, or the date on which the individual is eligible for Medicaid and would otherwise be receiving institutional level care based on an approved application but for the application of the penalty period, whichever is later, and which does not occur during any other period of ineligibility as a result of an asset transfer policy. 
 
Specifies the criteria by which an application for an undue hardship waiver shall be approved.
 
Requires each state to provide for a hardship waiver of the transfer of assets requirement in specified circumstances for individuals residing in nursing facilities. Authorizes the state to make bed hold payments for hardship waiver applicants.
 
(Sec. 6012) Requires a state to require an individual, upon application for or recertification of medical assistance for LTC services, to disclose to the state any interest the individual or community spouse has in an annuity (or similar financial instrument), regardless of whether the annuity is irrevocable or is treated as an asset. 
 
Requires the state to notify the annuity's issuer of the state's right as a preferred remainder beneficiary for Medicaid assistance furnished to the individual.
 
Requires treatment of the purchase of an annuity as the disposal of an asset for less than fair market value unless the state is named: (1) as the remainder beneficiary in the first position for at least the total amount of Medicaid expenditures paid on the annuitant's behalf; or (2) as such a beneficiary in the second position after the community spouse or minor or disabled child, and is named in the first position if such spouse or a representative of such child disposes of any such remainder for less than fair market value.
 
Treats as an asset subject to transfer penalties any annuity purchased by or on behalf of an applicant for a Medicaid-covered nursing facility or other LTC services, unless it meets one or the other of specified requirements, including absence of a deferral or balloon payments.
 
(Sec. 6013) Revises requirements for treatment of income and resources for certain institutionalized spouses. Requires states to consider that all income of the institutionalized spouse that could be made available to a community spouse, in accordance with the calculation of the community spouse monthly income allowance, has been made available (&quot;income first&quot; rule) before the state allocates to the community spouse an allowance of resources adequate to provide the difference between the minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance and all income available to the community spouse.
 
(Sec. 6014) Makes ineligible for Medicaid for nursing facility or other LTC services certain individuals with an equity interest in their homes greater than $500,000. Allows a state to elect an equity interest threshold exceeding $500,000, but not more than $750,000. Indexes such dollar amounts for inflation, beginning with 2011.
 
(Sec. 6015) Authorizes state-licensed, registered, certified, or equivalent continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) or life care communities (including related nursing facility services) to require in their admissions contracts that residents spend their resources on their care before applying for Medicaid. 
 
Treats an entrance fee in a CCRC or life care community as a resource for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility in specified circumstances.
 
(Sec. 6016) Revises Medicaid asset transfer rules.
 
Prohibits a state from rounding down or otherwise disregarding any fractional period of ineligibility with respect to the disposal of assets when determining the ineligibility period for Medicaid long-term care services. 
 
Authorizes states to accumulate multiple assets transfers into one penalty period.
 
Includes among assets: (1) funds used to purchase a promissory note, loan, or mortgage, except under certain conditions; and (2) the purchase of a life estate interest in another individual's home, unless the purchaser resides in the home for at least one year after the date of purchase.
 

Subchapter B: Expanded Access to Certain Benefits
 - (Sec. 6021) Exempts an individual who received medical assistance under a State plan with an amendment providing for a qualified state long-term care (LTC) insurance partnership from the requirement that the state seek adjustment or recovery from the individual's estate on account of medical assistance paid on behalf of the individual for nursing facility and other long-term care services. Declares that a qualified state LTC insurance partnership disregards any assets or resources equal in amount to LTC insurance benefit payments made, if the insurance policy meets certain requirements.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop standards for uniform reciprocal recognition of qualified state LTC insurance partnership policies among states with such partnerships.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Chapter 3: Eliminating Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Medicaid
 - (Sec. 6031) Provides that, if a state has in effect a law relating to false or fraudulent claims that meets certain requirements, the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), with respect to any amounts recovered under a state action brought under such law, shall be decreased by 10 percentage points. 
 
(Sec. 6032) Requires state plans for medical assistance to require entities receiving annual Medicaid payments of at least $5 million to establish written policies for all employees with respect to the False Claims Act and associated administrative remedies for false claims and statements.
 
(Sec. 6033) Prohibits federal matching payments for the ingredient cost of a covered outpatient drug for which the pharmacy has already received payment (other than a reasonable restocking fee).
 
(Sec. 6034) Establishes the Medicaid Integrity Program under which the Secretary shall promote the integrity of the Medicaid program by entering into contracts with eligible entities to carry out specified activities, including: (1) a review of the actions of individuals or entities furnished items or services for which Medicaid payment may be made to determine whether fraud, waste, or abuse has occurred; and (2) an audit of claims for payment for items or services furnished under a state Medicaid plan. Makes appropriations for FY2006 and following fiscal years.
 
Provides for increased funding for Medicaid fraud and abuse control activities of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services for FY2006-FY2010. 
 
Directs the Secretary to enter into contracts with eligible entities for the purpose of ensuring that, beginning with 2006, the Medicare-Medicaid Data Match Program (Medi-Medi Program) is conducted to identify vulnerabilities of the Medicare and state Medicaid programs, and work with states, the Attorney General, and the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate appropriate actions to protect the federal and state share of expenditures under such programs. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 and following fiscal years for the Medi-Medi Program.
 
(Sec. 6035) Amends the list of third parties legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service for which states must take all reasonable measures to ascertain the legal liability to: (1) substitute the term &quot;managed care organization&quot; for &quot;health maintenance organization;&quot; and (2) include self-insured plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and other parties that are legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service. 
 
Requires a state to provide assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that it has laws in effect requiring health insurers, as a condition of doing business in the state, to: (1) provide, upon state request, information to determine during what period the individual or spouses or dependents may be (or may have been) covered by a health insurer, and the nature of that coverage; (2) accept the state's right of recovery and the assignment to the state of any right of an individual or other entity to payment from the party for an item or service paid for under the state plan; (3) respond to any state inquiry regarding a claim submitted within three years after provision of an item or service; and (4) agree not to deny a claim submitted by the state solely on the basis of date of submission, type or format of claim form, or failure to present proper documentation at point-of-sale, if certain procedural deadlines are met.
 
(Sec. 6036) Prohibits Medicaid assistance to an individual who declares he or she is a U.S. citizen unless one example of specified kinds of documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality is presented.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish an outreach program designed to educate individuals likely to be affected by such requirements.
 

Chapter 4: Flexibility in Cost Sharing and Benefits
 - (Sec. 6041) Authorizes a state to impose varied alternative Medicaid premiums and cost-sharing for different income groups of individuals, subject to specified limitations.
 
(Sec. 6042) Sets forth special rules for state-determined cost-sharing for the least (or less) costly effective prescription drugs.
 
(Sec. 6043) Gives states the option of permitting hospitals to impose cost-sharing for non-emergency care furnished in an emergency department, if certain conditions are met.
 
Directs the Secretary to provide for payments to states for the establishment of alternative non-emergency service providers or provider networks.
 
(Sec. 6044) Allows states, at their option through a state plan amendment, to provide Medicaid benefits to certain groups of beneficiaries through benchmark coverage (federal employee health benefit standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield preferred provider option service benefit plan, state employee health benefit plan, or certain health maintenance organization (HMO) plans). 
 
Specifies groups who may not be required to enroll in benchmark coverage, including certain pregnant women, blind or disabled individuals, dual eligibles, medically frail and special medical needs individuals, certain children in foster care, TANF parents, and women in the breast or cervical cancer program.
 

Chapter 5: State Financing under 

Medicaid
 - (Sec. 6051) Expands the Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) provider class to include all MCOs.
 
(Sec. 6052) Specifies the meaning of case management services in terms of the development of a specific care plan, including referral and monitoring and related activities, based on the information collected through an assessment.
 
Defines targeted case management services (TCM) as those furnished, without regard to certain requirements, to specific classes of individuals or to individuals who reside in specific areas.
 
(Sec. 6053) Provides that if, for purposes of SSA titles XIX and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP), the FMAP determined for Alaska for FY2006 or FY2007 is less than the FMAP determined for FY2005, the FY2005 FMAP shall be substituted for the FY2006 or FY2007 FMAP, as the case may be.
 
Requires the Secretary, in computing the FMAP for any year after 2006 for a state with a significant number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees as of October 1, 2005, to disregard such evacuees (and income attributable to them) from such computation.
 
(Sec. 6054) Revises the formula for calculation of the disproportionate share (DSH) allotment for the District of Columbia for FY2000-FY2002.
 
(Sec. 6055) Amends SSA title XI to increase the FY2006-FY2007 total annual caps on federal spending for the Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Marianas, and American Samoa. 
 

Chapter 6: Other Provisions - Subchapter A: Family Opportunity Act
 - Family Opportunity Act of 2005, or the Dylan Lee James Act - (Sec. 6062) Amends SSA title XIX to give states the option to: (1) allow families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for such children; and (2) impose income-related premiums with respect to such children provided medical assistance
 
(Sec. 6063) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct, during each of FY2007-FY2011, demonstration projects under which up to ten states are awarded grants, on a competitive basis, to test the effectiveness in improving or maintaining a child's functional level, as well as the cost-effectiveness, of covering home and community-based alternatives to psychiatric residential treatment for children enrolled in the Medicaid program. Makes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011.
 
(Sec. 6064) Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations for FY2007-FY2009 for the development and support of family-to-family health information centers under SPRANS (Special Projects of Regional and National Significance).
 
(Sec. 6065) Extends Medicaid eligibility to persons who are under age 21 and who are eligible for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) under SSA title XVI, effective on the later of: (1) the date the application was filed: or (2) the date SSI eligibility was granted. 
 

Subchapter B: Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration
 - (Sec. 6071) Authorizes the Secretary to award, on a competitive basis, grants to states for (Money Follows the Person, or MFP) demonstration projects designed to achieve certain objectives, including rebalancing, that is, increasing the use of home and community-based, rather than institutional, long-term care services under state Medicaid programs. Makes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011.
 

Subchapter C: Miscellaneous
 - (Sec. 6081) Directs the Secretary to provide for payments to states for the adoption of innovative methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in providing medical assistance under Medicaid. 
 
(Sec. 6082) Directs the Secretary to establish a five-year demonstration program under which up to 10 states may provide under their state Medicaid plans for alternate benefits (including contributions to a health opportunity account) for eligible population groups in one or more geographic areas of the state.
 
(Sec. 6083) Gives states the option of providing for establishment of a non-emergency medical transportation brokerage program in order more cost-effectively to provide transportation for Medicaid-eligible individuals to medical care or services.
 
(Sec. 6084) Extends the Transitional Medical Assistance and the abstinence education block grant programs through December 31, 2006. 
 
(Sec. 6085) Requires any provider of emergency services that does not have in effect a contract with a Medicaid managed care entity to accept as payment in full no more than it could collect if the beneficiary received medical assistance other than through enrollment in such entity. Specifies a payment formula for a state where rates are negotiated by contract and not publicly released. 
 
(Sec. 6086) Provides for home and community-based services as an optional benefit for elderly and disabled individuals.
 
(Sec. 6087) Allows a state to provide as &quot;medical assistance&quot; payment for self-directed personal assistance services pursuant to a written plan of care to individuals who would otherwise require and receive Medicaid personal care services, or home and community-based services under a waiver. 
 

Subtitle B: SCHIP
 - (Sec. 6101) Amends SSA title XXI (SCHIP) to provide for additional allotments to states to eliminate FY2006 funding shortfalls.
 
(Sec. 6102) Prohibits a waiver, experimental, pilot, or demonstration project from allowing the use of funds to provide child health assistance to nonpregnant childless adults.
 
(Sec. 6103) Continues through FY2004-FY2005 the authority for qualifying states to apply federal SCHIP matching funds toward the coverage of certain children enrolled in regular Medicaid.
 

Subtitle C: Katrina Relief
 - (Sec. 6201) Appropriates $2 billion (in addition to any funds made available for the National Disaster Medical System under the Department of Homeland Security for health care costs related to Hurricane Katrina) for use by the Secretary to pay eligible states for: (1) the nonfederal share of expenditures with respect to evacuees receiving health care under an approved Multi-State Section 115 Demonstration Project; (2) reimbursement of the reasonable administrative costs related to such projects; (3) reimbursement of the nonfederal share of expenditures for medical care provided to individuals under Medicaid and SCHIP plans; and (4) other purposes, if approved by the Secretary, to restore access to health care in impacted communities. 
 
(Sec. 6202) Authorizes and makes appropriations for FY2006 grants to states for: (1) up to half the losses incurred by a state in connection with the operation of their high risk pool; and (2) seed money to create and initially fund a high risk pool.
 

Title VII: Human Resources and Other Provisions - Subtitle A: TANF
 - (Sec. 7101) Amends SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to extend the TANF program at the FY2004 level through FY2010. Makes appropriations.
 
Extends the National Random Sample Study of Child Welfare through FY2010.
 
(Sec. 7102) Revises the formula for the caseload reduction credit with respect to work participation rates.
 
Includes families receiving assistance under separate state programs in the calculation of work participation rates.
 
Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for determining whether activities may be counted as work activities, how to count and verify reported hours of work, and work-eligible individuals.
 
Provides for a state penalty for failure to establish or comply with work participation verification procedures.
 
(Sec. 7103) Replaces incentive bonuses to states for a decrease in the illegitimacy rate with healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood grants. Limits the use of funds for: (1) demonstration projects designed to test the effectiveness of tribal governments or consortia in coordinating the provision of child welfare services to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect; and (2) activities promoting responsible fatherhood. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010.
 

Subtitle B: Child Care
 - (Sec. 7201) Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 for entitlement grants to states for child care.
 

Subtitle C: Child Support
 - (Sec. 7301) Modifies the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF.
 
Revises requirements for the distribution of arrearages with respect to families that formerly received TANF. 
 
Declares that states shall not be required to pay the federal government the federal share of amounts collected on behalf of a family: (1) that formerly received TANF, to the extent that the state pays (passes through) the amount to the family; or (2) that currently receives assistance, to the extent of a certain portion passed through to the family.
 
Requires the State plan to include an election as to which rules, new or old, to apply in distributing child support arrearages collected on behalf of families formerly receiving assistance.
 
Gives States the option to discontinue pre-1997 support assignments, and to discontinue post-1997 assignments.
 
Revises requirements for use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors.
 
Gives states assisting other states the option to use their statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system for interstate cases.
 
(Sec. 7302) Revises requirements for the mandatory three-year review and adjustment of child support orders for families receiving TANF. Eliminates the state's dependence on a request of the state agency or of either parent to conduct such a review, if there has been an assignment to the state of rights to collect child support on behalf of a child. (Requires the state, in the case of an assignment, to conduct such a review and adjustment.)
 
(Sec. 7303) Reduces from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of a child support arrearage triggering referral for passport denial of the parent responsible for the arrearage.
 
(Sec. 7304) Revises the formula for the permanent appropriation of funds for: (1) technical assistance to states, training of state and federal staff, staffing studies, and related activities needed to improve child support and paternity establishment programs; and (2) research, demonstration, and special projects of regional or national significance relating to the operation of such state programs. Appropriates the greater of the preceding fiscal year appropriation or the FY2002 appropriation.
 
(Sec. 7305) Revises the formula for the permanent appropriation of funds for the Federal Parent Locator Service. Appropriates the greater of the preceding fiscal year appropriation or the FY2002 appropriation. Repeals the fiscal year limitation to make permanent the continuing availability of appropriations until they are expended.
 
(Sec. 7306) Authorizes the Secretary, through the Federal Parent Locator Service, to: (1) compare information concerning individuals owning past-due support with information maintained by insurers (or their agents) concerning insurance claims, settlements, awards, and payments; and (2) furnish information resulting from the data matches to the state agencies responsible for collection child support from the individuals.
 
(Sec. 7307) Requires that all child support orders include a provision for medical support for children to be provided by either or both parents, and be enforced. 
 
(Sec. 7308) Reduces from 90% to 66% the federal matching rate for laboratory costs incurred in determining paternity. 
 
(Sec. 7309) Ends federal matching of state spending of federal incentive payments.
 
(Sec. 7310) Provides for a mandatory annual fee of $25 for each case of successful child support collection for a family that has never received TANF, if the state collects more than $500.
 

Subtitle D: Child Welfare Authority
 - (Sec. 7401) Prescribes the contents of applications for court improvement grants, including grants for improved data collection and training. Makes appropriations for FY2006-FY2010 for grants to: (1) ensure that the safety, permanence, and well-being needs of children are met in a timely and complete manner; and (2) provide for the training of judges, attorneys, and other legal personnel in child welfare cases.
 
Requires that courts and agencies demonstrate meaningful collaboration between them in child welfare services programs.
 
Provides for the use of child welfare records in state court proceedings. 
 
(Sec. 7402) Authorizes appropriations for FY2006 for safe and stable families programs. 
 
(Sec. 7403) Specifies criteria for the foster care circumstances of otherwise federally eligible children living with unlicensed relatives, in another ineligible setting, or who have not yet entered foster care, where the state may receive federal matching funds for the associated administrative expenditures.
 
(Sec. 7404) Revises eligibility requirements for foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance.
 

Subtitle E: Supplemental Security Income
 - (Sec. 7501) Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to direct the Commissioner, before taking any implementing action, to review state agency determinations that individuals who have attained age 18 are blind or disabled.
 
(Sec. 7502) Revises the formula for determining eligibility of individuals to installment payment of past-due monthly SSI benefits.
 

Subtitle F: Repeal of Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset
 - (Sec. 7601) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to repeal the continued dumping and subsidy offset. 
 

Subtitle G: Effective Date
 - (Sec. 7701) Sets forth the effective date of this title.
 
 

Title VIII: Education and Pension Benefit Provisions - Subtitle A: Higher Education Provisions
 - Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise title IV student assistance program requirements.
 
(Sec. 8002) Eliminates the 50% rule with respect to distance education, where it currently limits the relative number of courses an institution of higher education (IHE) may offer by telecommunications, and the relative number of students who may be enrolled in such courses, for purposes of student assistance program eligibility. (Continues application of the 50% rule to correspondence courses.) 
 
(Sec. 8003) Establishes a program of: (1) academic competitiveness grants for first and second year undergraduate students; and (2) national science and mathematics access to retain talent (SMART) grants for third and fourth year undergraduate students of physical, life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering, or critical foreign languages. Establishes the Academic Competitiveness Council.
 
(Sec. 8004) Reauthorizes the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. Extends authority for federal insurance on student loans, and for the guaranteed loan and consolidated loan programs. Refers to loan processing and issuance fees rather than an administrative cost allowance.
 
(Sec. 8005) Increases loan limits.
 
(Sec. 8006) Increases PLUS loan interest rates. Establishes a special allowance support level to be used in a formula for calculating excess interest to be recaptured by the Treasury.
 
(Sec. 8007) Provides for student loan deferments of up to three years for individuals serving on active duty or performing National Guard duty during a war or other military operation or emergency.
 
(Sec. 8008) Revises loan terms and conditions relating to: (1) disbursement to students studying abroad; and (2) repayment plans for direct loans.
 
Provides for gradual reduction of loan origination fees paid by student borrowers under the FFEL program.
 
(Sec. 8009) Revises consolidation loan requirements.
 
Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary, under this title) to offer direct consolidation loans to eligible borrowers who have been denied consolidation loans or consolidation loans with income-sensitive repayment terms by an eligible lender.
 
Eliminates in-school consolidation loans.
 
Provides for similar terms and conditions for FFEL consolidation loans and DL consolidations loans.
 
(Sec. 8010) Revises requirements for disbursements of student loans.
 
(Sec. 8011) Revises requirements for IHEs as lenders.
 
(Sec. 8013) Continues certain limitations on special allowance payments under HEA, as amended by the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004 (TTPA), by eliminating specified TTPA termination dates. Prescribes an additional limitation on special allowance payments for loans from the proceeds of tax-exempt issues.
 
Continues TTPA authorization of an increased maximum amount, and new borrower eligibility, for HEA's loan forgiveness program for school teachers who teach certain subjects in high-poverty schools. Sets guidelines for private school teachers to qualify for such forgiveness program.
 
(Sec. 8014) Establishes a limited federal default fee. 
 
Revises administrative requirements for: (1) insurance percentage; (2) treatment of exempt claims; (3) consolidation of defaulted loans; (4) documentation of forbearance agreements; (5) voluntary flexible agreements; (6) the default reduction program; (7) exceptional performance insurance rate; and (8) uniform administrative and claims procedure.
 
(Sec. 8015) Provides for mandatory funds for FY2006 to be available to the Secretary in a specified limited amount for: (1) administrative costs under the DL and FFEL student loan programs; and (2) account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. 
 
Authorizes appropriations, but eliminates mandatory funding, for such administrative expenses in FY2007-FY2011.
 
Continues mandatory funding for FY2007-FY2011 for account maintenance fees payable to guaranty agencies under FFEL. Limits such fees to not more than 0.1% of the original principal amount of outstanding loans on which insurance was issued under FFEL.
 
(Sec. 8016) Revises cost of attendance and family contribution requirements.
 
(Sec. 8018) Revises guidelines for determining a student's eligibility for the simplified needs test (SNT) and automatic-zero expected family contribution (AZ-EFC).
 
(Sec. 8019) Revises need analysis requirements to treat active duty members of the military as independent students.
 
Exempts from consideration assets from any small business with 100 or fewer full-time or full-time equivalent employees that is owned or controlled by the family.
 
Excludes consideration of certain assistance provided by a state to offset a specific component of the cost of attendance, under specified conditions.
 
(Sec. 8020) Makes eligible for student assistance distance education, including certain instructional programs that use or recognize direct assessment of student learning in place of credit hours or clock hours as the measure of student learning.
 
(Sec. 8021) Requires any student who has pled guilty or no contest to (or been convicted of) a crime involving fraud in obtaining title IV funds to repay the funds in full to the Secretary or loan holder before being considered eligible again.
 
Specifies that a conviction for a drug-related offense affects a student's title IV eligibility only if it occurs during the period when the student is enrolled and receiving title IV student aid.
 
(Sec. 8022) Revises requirements relating to institutional refunds.
 
(Sec. 8023) Establishes a college access initiative. Directs the Secretary to require each guaranty agency to gather information on programs and student aid available in the state in which it is designated. Requires such information to be made available for free to the public, particularly to traditionally underrepresented populations, via web sites, publications, and other state services.
 
(Sec. 8024) Increases, from 10% to 15%, the maximum portion of disposable wages for any pay period which may be garnished to repay a student loan under HEA (unless the individual consents to a greater portion).
 

Subtitle B: Pensions
 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to increase annual premiums to be paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) by single-employer plans and by multiemployer plans, respectively. Sets forth a premium rate for certain terminated single-employer plans, with a special rule for plans terminated in bankruptcy reorganization.
 

Title IX: LIHEAP Provisions
 - (Sec. 9001) Appropriates to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for one-time only obligation and expenditure for low-income energy assistance: (1) $250 million for FY2007; and (2) $750 million for FY2007.
 
Prescribes allocation guidelines.
 

Title X: Judiciary Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Civil Filing Adjustments
 - (Sec. 10001) Amends the federal judicial code to increase from $250 to: (1) $350 the filing fee for civil actions filed in district courts; and (2) $450 the fee for docketing a case on appeal or review, or any other proceeding in a court of appeals.
 

Subtitle B: Bankruptcy Fees
 - (Sec. 10101) Increases bankruptcy filing fees: (1) from $220 to $245 for cases commenced under chapter 7 (Liquidation); and (2) from $150 to $235 for cases commenced under chapter 13 (Adjustment of debts of an individual with regular income).
 
Requires that incremental amounts collected by reason of increased civil filing fees and bankruptcy filing fees be deposited in a special fund in the Treasury, to be available to offset funds appropriated for the operation and maintenance of the federal courts.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-02-08
text: Became Public Law No: 109-171.
action_date: 2006-02-08
text: Became Public Law No: 109-171.
action_date: 2006-02-08
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2006-02-08
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2006-02-07
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2006-02-07
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2006-02-06
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2006-02-01
text: Cleared for White House.
action_date: 2006-02-01
text: House agreed to Senate amendment to House amendment pursuant to H. Res. 653. (consideration: CR H68-114; text as House agreed to Senate amendment: CR H69-114)
action_date: 2006-02-01
text: Resolving differences -- House actions: House agreed to Senate amendment to House amendment pursuant to H. Res. 653.(consideration: CR H68-114; text as House agreed to Senate amendment: CR H69-114)
action_date: 2006-01-31
text: Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 653 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of S. 1932. Upon adoption of the resolution, the House shall be deemed to have agreed to the Senate amendment to the House amendment to S. 1932.
action_date: 2005-12-22
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Conference report defeated by operation of the Budget Act.
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Senate concurred in the House amendment with an amendment (SA 2691) Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 50. Record Vote Number: 363. (consideration: CR S14221)
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate concurred in the House amendment with an amendment (SA 2691) Yea-Nay Vote. 51 - 50. Record Vote Number: 363.(consideration: CR S14221)
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Points of order were sustained against the applicable sections within the conference report.
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Motion to waive sections 313(b)(1)(A) and 313(b)(1)(D) of the Budget Act with respect to the conference report to accompany S. 1932 rejected in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 48. Record Vote Number: 362.
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Points of order against conference report to accompany S.1932 raised in Senate.
action_date: 2005-12-21
text: Conference report considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S14202-14221)
action_date: 2005-12-20
text: Conference report considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S14073-14084, S14086-14087, S14089-14099, S14101-14111, S14113-14120, S14123-14132, S14146-14164)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Conference report considered in Senate. (consideration: CR S14015-14024)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Motion to proceed to to the conference report on the measure considered in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 86 - 9. Record Vote Number: 361.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Conference papers: Senate report and manager's statement and message on House action held at the desk in Senate.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: On agreeing to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 212 - 206 (Roll no. 670). (consideration: CR H12277)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Motions to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Conference report agreed to in House: On agreeing to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 212 - 206 (Roll no. 670).(consideration: CR H12277)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: The previous question was ordered without objection. (consideration: CR H12276)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 640, the House proceeded with one hour of debate on the conference report to accompany S. 1932.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Mr. Nussle brought up conference report H. Rept. 109-362 for consideration under the provisions of H. Res. 640. (consideration: CR H12269-12277)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Rule H. Res. 640 passed House.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 640 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of the conference report to S. 1932. All points of order against the conference report and against its consideration are waived. The conference report shall be considered as read. Section 2 of House Resolution 619 is amended.
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Conference report H. Rept. 109-362 filed. (text of conference report:  CR H12641-12737)
action_date: 2005-12-19
text: Conference report filed: Conference report H. Rept. 109-362 filed.(text of conference report:  CR H12641-12737)
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: CHANGE OF CONFEREE - Without objection and pursuant to clause 11 of rule 1, the Chair announced the removal of Mr. Upton as a conferee on S. 1932 and appointed Mr. Barton to fill the vacancy.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Ways and Means for consideration of secs. 6039, 6071, and subtitle B of title VI of the Senate bill and title VIII of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Thomas, Herger, and Rangel.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for consideration of title V and Division A of the Senate bill and title VII of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Young (AK), LoBiondo, and Oberstar.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Resources for consideration of title IV of the Senate bill and title VI of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Pombo, Gibbons, and Rahall.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on the Judiciary for consideration of title VIII of the Senate bill and title V of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Sensenbrenner, Smith (TX), and Conyers.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees Provided that Mr. Ney is appointed in lieu of Mr. Bachus for consideration of subtitles C and D of title II of the Senate bill and subtitle B of title IV of the House amendment.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Energy and Commerce for consideration of title III and title VI of the Senate bill and title III of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Barton (TX), Deal (GA), and Dingell.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Financial Services for consideration of title II of the Senate bill and title IV of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Oxley, Bachus, and Frank (MA).
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Education and the Workforce for consideration of title VII of the Senate bill and title II and subtitle C of title III of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Boehner, McKeon, and Miller, George.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees - from the Committee on Agriculture for consideration of title I of the Senate bill and title I of the House amendment, and modifications committed to conference: Goodlatte, Lucas, and Peterson (MN).
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The Speaker appointed conferees for consideration of the Senate bill, and the House amendment thereto, and modifications committed to conference: Nussle, Ryun (KS), Crenshaw, Putnam, Wicker, Hulshof, Ryan (WI), Blunt, DeLay, Spratt, Moore (KS), Neal (MA), DeLauro, Edwards, and Ford.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: On motion that the House instruct conferees Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 246 - 175 (Roll no. 652).
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: The previous question was ordered without objection. (consideration: CR H11967)
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on the Spratt motion to instruct conferees. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the managers on the part of the House to recede to the Senate by eliminating House provisions reducing eligibility for food stamps; reducing funding for child support enforcement; repealing the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset; modifying the Mining Law of 1972; eliminating the sections of the House amendment that reduce Medicaid benefits and allow increases in beneficiary costs; reducing to the maximum extent possible increases in interest rates and fees paid by student and parent borrowers on student loans; adopting the Senate provision eliminating the stabilization fund that makes payments to Medicare Advantage Regional Plans; adopting the Senate provision on Medicare Advantage risk adjustment; and adopting the Senate provision on Medicare physician payments.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: Mr. Spratt moved that the House instruct conferees. (consideration: CR H11959; text: CR H11959)
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: On motion that the House insist upon its amendment, and agree to a conference Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2005-12-16
text: Mr. Nussle asked unanimous consent that the House insist upon its amendment, and agree to a conference. (consideration: CR H11959-11968)
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Senate appointed conferees. Gregg; Domenici; Grassley; Enzi; Allard; Sessions; Stevens; Shelby; Specter; Chambliss; McConnell; Conrad; Murray; Harkin; Sarbanes; Inouye; Bingaman; Baucus; Kennedy; Leahy.
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Motion by Senator Reed to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 63 - 28. Record Vote Number: 357. (consideration: CR S13634-13635)
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Motion by Senator Kennedy to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 83 - 8. Record Vote Number: 356. (consideration: CR S13633-13634)
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Motion by Senator Kohl to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 75 - 16. Record Vote Number: 355. (consideration: CR S13632-13633)
action_date: 2005-12-15
text: Motion by Senator DeWine to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 71 - 20. Record Vote Number: 354. (consideration: CR S13630-13632)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Reed to instruct Senate conferees on a provision that makes available $2,920,000,000 for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.), in addition to the $2,183,000,000 made available for such Act in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2006 made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13544-13546; text: CR S13544)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Kennedy to instruct Senate conferees that the Senate provisions increasing need based financial aid in the bill S.1932 which were fully offset by savings in the bill S.1932 be included in the final conference report and that the House provisions in the bill H.R.4241 that impose new fees and costs on students in school and in repayment be rejected in the final conference report made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13536-13537; text: CR S13536-13537)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Harkin to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 66 - 26. Record Vote Number: 353.
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Baucus to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 75 - 16. Record Vote Number: 352.
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Carper to instruct Senate conferees agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 64 - 27. Record Vote Number: 351.
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Carper to instruct Senate conferees that any conference report shall not include the provisions in the House amendment relating to the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, including those which would increase work hours for single motehrs with young children, impose new cuts on already inadequate child care funding and other proven work supports such as child support, restrict education and training, and reduce State flexibility, and insist that Congress enact free standing legislation that builds on the bipartisan Senate Committee on Finance's reported version of the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone Act (the PRIDE Act, S.667) to reauthorize the Nation's welfare-to-work laws made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13528-13529; text: CR S13528)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Baucus to instruct Senate conferees to not report a conference report that would impair access to, undermine eligibility for, make unaffordable by increasing beneficiary cost-sharing, adversely affect Medicaid services, or in any way undermine Medicaid's Federal guarantee of health insurance coverage with respect to low-income children, pregnant women, disabled individuals, elderly individuals, individuals with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and diabetes, individuals with mental illnesses, and other Medicaid beneficiaries made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13527-13528, S13529-13530; text: CR S13527)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Harkin to instruct Senate conferees that any reconciliation conference report agreed to jointly by the House and the Senate does not contain any cuts to Federal food assistance programs, including the food stamp program established under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13527, S13530-13531; text: CR S13527)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator Kohl to instruct Senate conferees that any conference report shall not include any of the provisions in the House amendment that reduce funding for the child support program established under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), which would reduce funds by $4,900,000,000 over 5 years and have the effect of reducing child support collections by $7,900,000,000 over 5 years and $24,100,000,000 over 10 years, and to insist that the conference report shall not include any restrictions on the ability of States to use Federal child support incentive payments for child support program expenditures that are eligible for Federal matching payments made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13523-13524; text: CR S13523)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Motion by Senator DeWine to instruct Senate conferees that any conference report shall not include the provisions contained in section 8701 of the House amendment relating to the repeal of section 754 of the Tariff Acct of 1930 made in Senate. (consideration: CR S13522-13523; text: CR S13522)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Senate disagreed to the amendment of the House, and requests a conference by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S13521-13531)
action_date: 2005-12-14
text: Resolving differences -- Senate actions: Senate disagreed to the amendment of the House, and requests a conference by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S13521-13531)
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill.
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: On passage Passed without objection. (text: CR 11/17/2005 H10646-10649)
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed without objection.(text: CR 11/17/2005 H10646-10649)
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: Considered by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR 11/17/2005 H10646-10649)
action_date: 2005-11-18
text: Mr. Nussle asked unanimous consent to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the provisions of H.R. 4241 as passed by the House.
action_date: 2005-11-14
text: Held at the desk.
action_date: 2005-11-14
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2005-11-14
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2005-11-03
text: Passed Senate with amendments by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 47. Record Vote Number: 303.
action_date: 2005-11-03
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with amendments by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 47. Record Vote Number: 303.
action_date: 2005-11-03
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S12286, S12291-12345)
action_date: 2005-11-02
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S12149-12219)
action_date: 2005-11-01
text: Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S12079-12099, S12099-12122)
action_date: 2005-10-31
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S12065-12073)
action_date: 2005-10-27
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 274.
action_date: 2005-10-27
text: Committee on the Budget. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Gregg. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-10-27
text: Committee on the Budget. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Gregg. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-10-27
text: Introduced in Senate
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: Committee on the Budget ordered to be reported an original measure.

Enacted as: number: 109-171