jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Bill 114-S-688 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) with respect to the hospital readmissions reduction program under the inpatient (hospital) prospective payment system (IPPS).

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in determining a hospital's excess readmission ratio for purposes of making payments for discharges occurring during FY2016-FY2017, is required to make a risk adjustment to the ratio that takes into account both: (1) a hospital's proportion of inpatients who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid under SSAct title XIX), and (2) the socioeconomic status of patients served by the hospital.

The Secretary must base the risk adjustment under the readmission program for subsequent fiscal years on specified reports required by the Improving Medicare Post Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 as well as a report the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission shall submit on the appropriateness of using a threshold of 30 days for readmissions under the program. The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must then incorporate report recommendations in carrying out risk adjustments for discharges occurring in such fiscal years in order to ensure that the most vulnerable populations are not unfairly penalized by the program.

The Secretary shall consider the use of V or other International Classification of Diseases-related codes for potential exclusion of noncompliant patient cases when promulgating related regulations for FY2017.

The Secretary must: (1) assess whether to exclude from the calculation of excess readmissions any patients whose clinical conditions or diagnoses may require frequent hospitalizations; then (2) exclude, starting in FY2018, any relevant clinical conditions identified in the assessment recommendations when determining a hospital's publicly reported readmission rate and excess readmissions ratio.

The Secretary is directed to make a payment adjustment to subsection (d) hospitals necessary to ensure that the implementation of this Act does not result in any increase in aggregate expenditures under the IPPS.

(Generally, a subsection (d) hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payment under the IPPS when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)
Bill 114-S-864 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require hospitals to implement and submit to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a staffing plan that complies with specified minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by unit. Requires HHS to develop a transparent method for establishing nurse staffing requirements above minimum ratios.

Directs HHS to adjust Medicare payments to hospitals to cover additional costs incurred in providing services to Medicare beneficiaries that are attributable to compliance with such ratios.

Gives nurses the right to act as the patient's advocate by initiating action to improve health care and by giving the patient an opportunity to make informed health care decisions. Allows a nurse to object to, or refuse to participate in, any assignment if it would violate minimum ratios or if the nurse is not prepared by education or experience to fulfill the assignment without compromising the safety of a patient or jeopardizing the nurse's license. Prohibits a hospital from: (1) taking specified actions against a nurse based on the nurse's refusal to accept an assignment for such a reason; or (2) discriminating against any individual for good faith complaints relating to the care, services, or conditions of the hospital or of any related facilities.

Adds stipends to the nurse workforce loan repayment and scholarship program. Expands the nurse retention grant program to authorize programs to implement nurse preceptorship and mentorship projects.
Bill 114-S-884 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of a hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service with liability protection provided by the United States for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency and post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2016.
Bill 114-S-997 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security

Department of Veterans Affairs Construction, Accountability, and Reform Act

This bill authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the Aurora medical facility project to replace the VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado.

 The Secretary may not pay any bonus during FY2015-FY2016.

If the project to replace the VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, is not completed by September 30, 2016, the Secretary may not pay any bonus until the date on which the Secretary certifies to Congress that such major medical facility project is fully operational. The aggregate amount of subsequent fiscal year bonuses is capped through FY2024.

The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Army for the Army Corps of Engineers to carry out the design, contract, construction management, and other similar services for the Aurora project.

The Secretary is prohibited from carrying out any major medical facility project.

The Secretary of the Army, through the Chief of Engineers, shall carry out all major medical facility projects for the Department.

The Government Accountability Office shall review the Secretary's management of the Aurora project.

The Secretary must notify Congress at least 120 days (currently at least 30 days) before obligating funds for major medical facility projects that exceed authorized amounts.
Bill 114-S-1132 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require each Medicare participating hospital to implement a hospital-wide staffing plan for nursing services furnished in the hospital.

Requires the plan to require that an appropriate number of registered nurses provide direct patient care in each unit and on each shift of the hospital to ensure staffing levels that: (1) address the unique characteristics of the patients and hospital units; and (2) result in the delivery of safe, quality patient care consistent with specified requirements.

Requires each participating hospital to establish a hospital nurse staffing committee which shall implement such plan.

Specifies civil monetary and other penalties for violation of the requirements of this Act.

Sets forth whistleblower protections against discrimination and retaliation involving patients or employees of the hospital for their grievances, complaints, or involvement in investigations relating to such plan.
Bill 114-S-1135 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Hospital Payment Fairness Act of 2015

 Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to sunset on October 1, 2015, the application of budget neutrality on a national basis in the calculation of the Medicare hospital wage index floor.

(PPACA requires application of the budget neutrality requirement associated with the effect of the imputed rural floor on the area wage index under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 through a uniform national, instead of state-by-state, adjustment to the area hospital wage index floor.)
Bill 114-S-1347 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on July 30, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2015 

(Sec. 3) This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit, for a payment year after 2015, any patient encounter of an eligible professional occurring at an ambulatory surgical center from being treated as such an encounter in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful electronic health record (EHR) user.

Terminates this prohibition three years after the Department of Health and Human Services determines, through notice and comment rulemaking, that certified EHR technology is applicable to the ambulatory surgical center setting.
Bill 114-S-1349 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act or the NOTICE Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital or critical access hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give each individual who receives observation services as an outpatient for more than 24 hours an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours after beginning to receive them which:

 explains the individual's status as an outpatient and not as an inpatient and the reasons why; explains the implications of that status on services furnished (including those furnished as an inpatient), in particular the implications for cost-sharing requirements and subsequent coverage eligibility for services furnished by a skilled nursing facility; includes appropriate additional information; is written and formatted using plain language and made available in appropriate languages; and is signed by the individual or a person acting on the individual's behalf (representative) to acknowledge receipt of the notification, or if the individual or representative refuses to sign, the written notification is signed by the hospital staff who presented it.
Bill 114-S-1461 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on July 30, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

(Sec. 1) This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to continue to instruct Medicare contractors not to enforce requirements for direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2015.
Bill 114-S-1466 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Ensuring Equal Access to Treatments Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create certain additional groups of covered OPD services that classify separately, from those that do not utilize such a drug, procedures that utilize a drug (other than contrast agents, diagnostic radiopharmaceutical, or anesthesia drugs) that both has a cost above the drug packaging threshold and functions as a supply when used in a diagnostic test or procedure.
Bill 114-S-1534 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security

Treto Garza South Texas Veterans Inpatient Care Act of 2015

 Designates the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) located in Harlingen, Texas, as the "Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center."

Directs the VA to: (1) ensure that such Center includes a full-service inpatient health care facility; (2) modify the existing facility to meet such requirement; and (3) include in the annual VA strategic capital investment plan a project to expand the Center's capabilities to provide increased inpatient capacity, an urgent care center, and a full range of services to meet the health care needs of women veterans.
Bill 114-S-1549 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Care Planning Act of 2015

 Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to cover advanced illness planning and coordination services furnished to an eligible individual with progressive illness, including Alzheimer's disease, by a hospice or other provider through an interdisciplinary team.

Amends SSAct title XI with respect to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and its selection for Phase I testing of innovative payment and service delivery models to reduce Medicare and Medicaid expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care. Adds a model for payments to providers that furnish advanced illness care coordination services to eligible individuals who are entitled to, or enrolled for, benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), but not enrolled under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice).

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services, in awarding grants, contracts, or agreements under provisions for quality measure development, to give priority to the development of quality measures that allow the assessment of various specified factors including the effectiveness, patient-centeredness (and, where relevant, family caregiver-centeredness), and accuracy of care plans, including documentation of individual goals, preferences, and values.

Amends SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) to require inclusion of information on advanced care planning materials in the "Medicare and You Handbook."

Revises requirements for the use under Medicare of advanced directives, portable treatment orders, and other treatment directions from an individual or legally authorized representative.

Amends the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 with respect to advanced directives.

Establishes additional requirements under Medicare for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and hospice programs with respect to completion before discharge of care plan documentation.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to certain entities to:

 develop online training modules, decision support tools, and instructional materials for individuals, family caregivers, and health care providers; establish a website and telephone hotline to disseminate such resources and any materials designed by the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships for faith communities; and conduct a national public education campaign to raise public awareness of advance care planning and advanced illness care.
Bill 114-S-1568 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of Senate passed version is repeated here.)

Amends the Construction Authorization and Choice Improvement Act to remove the FY2015 limitation on, and increase the amount authorized for, the replacement of the existing Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver, Colorado.

(Sec. 2) Authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transfer specified amounts of the unobligated balances available to the VA for FY2015 from the following appropriations accounts to the Construction, Major Projects account to carry out the major medical facility construction project in Denver:

 Medical Services, to be derived from amounts available for the Human Capital Investment Plan; Medical Support and Compliance, to be derived from amounts available for such Plan; Medical Facilities, to be derived from amounts available for green energy projects of the VA and human capital investment plans; National Cemetery Administration, to be derived from amounts available for such Plan; General Administration, to be derived from amounts available for the Office of the Secretary; General Operating Expenses, Veterans Benefits Administration, to be derived from amounts available for such Plan; Information Technology Systems, to be derived from amounts available for such Plan; and Construction, Minor Projects, to be derived from amounts available for minor construction projects at the staff offices of the VA. Authorizes the VA to transfer specified amounts of the unobligated balances available in the VA's revolving supply fund and in the VA's Franchise Fund to the Construction, Major Projects account to carry out the Denver project.

Requires funds transferred under this Act to remain available until September 30, 2016.
Bill 114-S-1602 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Puerto Rico Hospital HITECH Amendments Act of 2015 

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to apply Medicare HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) payments to subsection (d) hospitals in Puerto Rico to allow them to qualify for incentives for adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health record Technology.

(Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)
Bill 114-S-1916 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Science, technology, communications

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to include skilled nursing facilities among the types of health care providers that may request from a telecommunications carrier under the Universal Service Fund the necessary telecommunications and information services to serve persons who reside in rural areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to rates charged for similar services in urban areas.
Bill 114-S-2071 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) require the payment system for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services to feature certain positive annual adjustments equivalent to those made with respect to hospital outpatient department (OPD) services; (2) revise quality reporting requirements to permit publicly available, side-by-side comparisons of quality measures for ASCs and OPDs in the same geographic area; and (3) require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), when excluding requested procedures from the list of those approved to be performed in ASCs, to cite specified reasons for doing so.

With respect to excluding procedures from the approved list for ASCs, HHS may not cite as a basis for exclusion that a procedure can only be reported using an unlisted surgical procedure code. (Physicians sometimes use unlisted codes when performing new procedures or services if no existing code is adequately descriptive.)
Bill 114-S-2108 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to delay by two additional years the application of negative payment adjustments under the "25-percent rule" to certain long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) and satellite facilities. This rule reduces payments to a long-term care facility that admits proportionately more patients from any single hospital.

The bill also continues for two additional years the moratorium, for the purposes of Medicare, on establishing new LTCHs or increasing LTCH beds.
Bill 114-S-2197 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to periodically revise the Medicare Advantage (MA) risk adjustment system, such that an individual's risk score takes into account the number of chronic conditions with which the individual has been diagnosed.

In addition, CMS must evaluate the impacts to the system of: (1) using two years of data, (2) removing diagnostic codes related to chronic kidney disease, and (3) modifying the use of encounter data (information on services furnished to MA enrollees). If CMS subsequently determines that any of these revisions would better reflect the population served, CMS shall make such revisions. Before doing so, however, CMS must: (1) ensure that the changes do not prevent an MA organization from performing activities that are consistent with national health policy goals, and (2) provide an opportunity for review and public comment.
Bill 114-S-2228 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow adminstrative or judicial review of additional Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payment determinations for acute care hospitals known as subsection (d) hospitals. Under current law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid must make DSH payments to qualifying hospitals that treat a disproportionate share of low-income patients.
Bill 114-S-2261 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Rural ACO Provider Equity Act of 2015 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish additional requirements for assigning Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries to accountable care organizations (ACOs) under the Medicare shared savings program. (The program enables ACOs to receive payments for savings stemming from care coordination and management.)

Specifically, the bill requires the basis for assignment to reflect beneficiaries' utilization of not only primary care services provided by ACO physicians, but also those furnished in federally qualified health centers or rural health clinics.
Bill 114-S-2758 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016 or the PROP Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude certain pain-related measures for purposes of calculating incentive payments under the value-based purchasing program (VBP). (VBP is a program that links hospital payments to the quality of care provided.)

Specifically, VPB measures shall not include measures based on a patient's assessment of: (1) the patient's need for pain medicine during a hospital stay; (2) how often, during the stay, the patient's pain was well controlled; or (3) how often, during the stay, hospital staff did everything they could to help manage the patient's pain.
Bill 114-S-2832 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Health

Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish, with respect to hospitals not located in a frontier state, a floor on the area wage adjustment factor for hospital inpatient and outpatient services covered under Medicare. (Such a floor already applies with respect to hospitals located in frontier states.)
Bill 114-S-2871 — Health / Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security

Veterans Choice Program Resolution Act

This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to direct the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to select from among employees of the Office of Inspector General a Choice Program Ombudsman to manage complaints about program hospital care and medical services.

The VA shall publish on publicly available Internet websites of the VA and the Office of Inspector General information regarding the process for submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman.