jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-02-01 00:00:00

Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act of 2012 - Expresses the sense of the Senate that residents of rural and frontier communities should have access to affordable, quality health care. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to: (1) the Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment for rural hospitals, (2) extension of the temporary increase in payments to certain rural hospitals (Medicare hold harmless provision), (3) the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals, (4) Medicare wage index reclassifications for certain hospitals, (5) Medicare reasonable costs payments for certain clinical diagnostic laboratory tests furnished to hospitals in certain rural areas, (6) elimination of the isolation test for the cost-based ambulance reimbursement for critical access hospitals, (7) the Medicare incentive payment program for physician scarcity areas, (8) extension of the 1.00 floor on Medicare work geographic adjustment to payments for physician services, (9) Medicare home health care planning, (10) rural health clinics, (11) a temporary Medicare payment increase for home health services furnished in a rural area, and (12) extension of increased Medicare payments for rural ground ambulance services. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to provide for the extension of the payment for the technical component of certain physician pathology services under Medicare. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to encourage and facilitate the adoption of provisions allowing for multi state practitioner practice across state lines. Extends Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) coverage and payment, on a reasonable cost basis, to anesthesia services furnished by a physician anesthesiologist in certain rural hospitals in the same manner as payment is made for anesthesia services furnished by a certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) in such hospitals. Establishes the floor at 1.00 on the practice expense geographic index for services furnished during a specified period in certain rural areas outside of frontier states under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Revises the standard for designation of sole community hospitals. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for grants to states for operation of offices of rural health. Requires the proportion of members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) who represent the interests of health care providers and Medicare beneficiaries located in rural areas to be no less than the proportion of the total number of Medicare beneficiaries who reside in rural areas.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-03-08 00:00:00

Insurance Fairness for Amputees Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to require a group health plan that provides medical and surgical benefits and also provides benefits for prosthetics and custom orthotics to offer such prosthetics and custom orthotics in the same manner as applicable to medical and surgical benefits. Prohibits separate financial requirements or more restrictive treatment limitations. Requires a health plan that does not provide coverage for benefits outside of a network to ensure that such provider network is adequate to ensure enrollee access to prosthetic and custom orthotic devices and related services provided by appropriately credentialed practitioners and accredited suppliers. Limits coverage for required benefits for prosthetics and custom orthotics to the most appropriate device or component that adequately meets the medical requirements of the patient. Requires benefits to include repair and replacement due to normal wear and tear, irreparable damage, a change in the condition of the patient, or as otherwise determined appropriate by the treating physician. Prohibits any annual or lifetime dollar limitation on benefits for prosthetics and custom orthotics unless such limitation applies in the aggregate to all benefits. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the effects of the implementation of this Act.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-03-22 00:00:00

Ensuring Quality Health Care for All Americans Act of 2012 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and restores provisions of law amended by such Act or provisions. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010 and restores provisions of law amended by such Act's health care provisions. Revises Public Health Service Act provisions concerning health insurance coverage to require each health insurance issuer offering health insurance coverage in the group market (currently, individual or group market) in a state to accept every employer and every individual in a group (currently, every employer and every individual) in the state applying for such coverage. Prohibits a group health plan or a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage from imposing: (1) any preexisting condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage, or (2) lifetime or annual limits. Requires dependent coverage beyond age 18 until the first of either a dependent turning 26, marrying, or no longer residing at home. Requires plans to offer catastrophic coverage and sets forth coverage requirements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to States for planning for the establishment and implementation of health insurance risk adjustment mechanisms. Sets forth provisions limiting the liability of health care providers.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2012-03-22 00:00:00

Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), in the case of a veteran entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act or enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplemental Security Income), to reimburse such veteran for the Medicare deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance applied against such veteran with respect to emergency medical treatment items and services provided in non-VA facilities.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2012-03-22 00:00:00

VA Enrollment Act - Includes among veterans eligible to receive reimbursement from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for emergency treatment services provided in a non-VA facility those who enroll in the VA health care system within 30 days after receiving such emergency treatment.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2012-05-18 00:00:00

Restoring Access to Medication Act of 2012 - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that limit payments for medications from health savings accounts, Archer medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending arrangements and reimbursement arrangements to only prescription drugs or insulin (thus allowing distributions from such accounts for over-the-counter drugs).
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-06-08 00:00:00

Quality Improvement Organization Program Restoration Act - Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal its revisions to requirements for contracts with Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs). Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to specify expenditures or funding for: (1) 3-year QIO contracts for contract periods beginning on or after August 1, 2014, and ending on or before July 31, 2021, but with a certain reduction in aggregate funds payable after October 1, 2014; and (2) contracts with utilization and quality control peer review organizations for any contract period beginning on or after August 1, 2014.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-06-21 00:00:00

Choice in Healthcare Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration program under which Medicare and Medicaid eligible beneficiaries are given: (1) the option of purchasing qualifying health benefits coverage, and (2) access to a debit style card (Medi-Choice card) for purchasing such coverage under the program and for paying certain other out-of-pocket health care expenditures. Directs the Secretary to contract with a major credit card provider or financial institution for issuing Medi-Choice cards under the program. Limits the demonstration program to specified counties in California and to a period of ten years.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-06-21 00:00:00

Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2012 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give states the option to provide Medicaid coverage for low-income HIV-infected individuals, and (2) provide an enhanced federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) to states taking this option. Amends SSA title XI to exempt medical assistance for optional low-income HIV-infected individuals from the funding limitation for territories.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2012-07-12 00:00:00

Veterans E-Health & Telemedicine Support Act of 2012 or VETS Act of 2012 - Allows a health care professional who is authorized to provide health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and who is a licensed professional to practice at any location in any state, the District of Columbia, or U.S. commonwealth, territory, or possession, regardless of where the professional or patient is located, if the professional is using telemedicine to provide treatment. Allows such treatment regardless of whether such professional or patient is located in a facility owned by the federal government.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-07-31 00:00:00

Medicare Better Health Rewards Program Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a three-year Better Health Rewards Program under which incentives are provided to Medicare beneficiaries who voluntarily agree to participate in the Program. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for measuring better health targets and points for achieving them for participating Medicare beneficiaries, including those for: (1) an annual wellness visit, (2) tobacco cessation, (3) Body Mass Index (BMI), (4) a diabetes screening test, (5) cardiovascular disease screening, (6) cholesterol level screening, and (7) screening tests and specified vaccinations. Requires the Secretary to make specified incentive payments to each participating Medicare beneficiary who achieves at least 20 points during a year. Authorizes Medicare Advantage Plans, "Section 1876" health maintenance organization and competitive medical cost plans, and programs of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) to make incentives to their enrollees to participate in a Better Health Rewards Program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any payment made under: (1) the Medicare Better Health Rewards Program; and (2) any other Better Health Rewards Program.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-07-31 00:00:00

Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to allow a state-authorized public entity benefits pool to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for pass-through funding with respect to health care benefits provided through the pool for coverage years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. Requires the Secretary to approve such a pool if the pool will: (1) provide at least the essential health benefits; (2) provide coverage and cost-sharing protections against excessive out-of-pocket spending that are at least as affordable as the health insurance requirements of PPACA would provide; and (3) result in cost savings to the federal government because the cost of coverage through the pool is less than the cost of coverage through an exchange. Treats an individual covered under such a plan as having minimum essential coverage for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. Requires the Secretary to provide for an alternative means by which an aggregate amount shall be paid to the pool annually based on the premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, and small business credits that would have been provided to an exchange plan. Gives the Secretary 180 days to make a determination on an application under this Act.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-08-01 00:00:00

Start Healthy Act of 2012 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide: (1) mandatory coverage of qualified (uninsured) newborns, and (2) 100% federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for temporary coverage of such newborns.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-08-02 00:00:00

Guaranteed Access to Health Insurance Act of 2012 - Repeals the health insurance and health coverage expansion provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Restores provisions of law amended or repealed by them. Amends the Public Health Service Act to expand the program to establish state high risk health insurance pools to include qualified reinsurance programs and other innovative methods implemented by a state to provide access to health insurance coverage for eligible individuals that will: (1) mitigate the cost of providing such coverage better than a qualified high risk pool; and (2) ensure that individuals receive consumer protections that are similar to those required for a qualified high risk pool. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to a state for its costs for creating and initially operating a qualified reinsurance program or an innovative method. Makes states that establish a qualified reinsurance program or an innovative method eligible for grants for losses incurred in connection with its operation. Revises requirements for a qualified high risk pool. Prohibits lifetime limits as well as premiums greater than 150% of the average premium in the individual market for health insurance coverage in the state. Eliminates bonus grants for supplemental consumer benefits for current or potential enrollees in qualified high risk pools. Requires the Secretary, in awarding competitive grants for federal funding for which only states are eligible, to give preference to any state that has received a grant to create and operate a qualified high risk pool in the year during which that grant is awarded. Requires the Secretary to establish a federal fallback high risk pool program to provide health insurance coverage for eligible individuals in a state that: (1) has not established a high risk pool, qualified reinsurance program, or innovative method at any point in the five-year period before October 1, 2015; or (2) has failed to operate such a pool, program, or method for two consecutive years after such date. Terminates the federal program if the state establishes such a pool, program, or method.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-08-02 00:00:00

Safeguarding Care Of Patients Everywhere Act or SCOPE Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the requirement that qualified health plans contract only with health care providers, including hospitals with more than 50 beds, that implement a specified patient safety evaluation system and health care quality mechanisms required by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-08-02 00:00:00

PCIP Improvement Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to immediate access to insurance under the Preexisting Condition Insurance Program (PCIP) for uninsured individuals with a preexisting condition. Revises the eligibility requirement for the temporary high risk health insurance pool under the PCIP that individuals be without creditable coverage for six months before applying for coverage through the high risk pool. Adds the condition that an individual has not had creditable coverage terminated in order to become eligible through such pool. Defines “creditable coverage” to exclude any coverage (commonly referred to as mini-med coverage) that limits the annual benefits payable to an amount less than $250,000.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2012-09-13 00:00:00

Veterans Health Access Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, when it is determined that Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities are not capable of furnishing economic hospital care or medical services because of geographical inaccessibility or the care or services required, to determine whether or not to furnish such care or services to a veteran in a non-VA facility. Requires such determination to be made within 30 days following the request for such care or services. Amends the Wounded Warrior Act to authorize the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to allow any former member of the Armed Forces with a severe injury or illness to receive necessary medical and dental care in a non-VA facility when such care is determined by the member's physician to be in their best interest. Extends such authority through 2016.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-09-19 00:00:00

Medicare Secondary Payer and Late Enrollment Penalty Family Fairness Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to apply the eligibility requirements of Medicare special enrollment periods, secondary payer rules, and late enrollment penalties in a way to take into consideration the current employment status of all family members of an employee (currently, only the employment status of the employee or of the employee's spouse).
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2012-09-21 00:00:00

Medicaid Integrity Act of 2012 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to a state's option to use Medicaid managed care organizations and primary care case managers. Requires a state, acting through the state medical assistance agency or another state entity, in order to receive federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) payments for expenditures under a contract with a managed care entity, to contract with an independent auditor to conduct biannual financial and performance-compliance audits of the entity. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set uniform audit standards according to specified requirements. Requires the state to document for the Secretary its response to deficiencies reported in such audits. Requires contracts between the state and managed care entities to require the managed care entity to give the independent auditor access to all necessary information. Establishes sanctions for misrepresentation or falsification of information. Prescribes requirements a state must meet to be allowed to enter into an agreement with an actuary with respect to the state's administration of a contract with a managed care entity.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2011-01-25 00:00:00

American Liberty Restoration Act - Repeals provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that require individuals to maintain minimum essential health care coverage. Applies the Internal Revenue Code as if such provisions had never been enacted.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2011-01-25 00:00:00

State Leadership in Health Care Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to allow states to apply for a waiver of specified requirements under PPACA with respect to health insurance coverage within that state due to implementation of a state plan that provides comparable coverage for plan years beginning in 2014 (currently, 2017). Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) or the Secretary of the Treasury to deny waivers only if: (1) the state plan does not meet requirements for granting a waiver, (2) the Secretary of HHS or Treasury notifies the state in writing of the requirements that the state plan did not meet and provides the state with information used in making such a determination, and (3) the state is given an opportunity to appeal. Requires the Secretary of HHS or Treasury to reconsider the determination in the event of an appeal and issue a written decision within 60 days.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2011-01-27 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through June 30, 2012, the increased 80% tax credit for health insurance costs (including advance payments) for trade adjustment assistance (TAA) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) pension recipients. Makes TAA recipients who are in a break in training under a training program, or who are receiving unemployment compensation, eligible for such tax credit for the period through June 30, 2012. Amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to extend through June 30, 2012, the TAA pre-certification period rule disregarding any 63-day lapse in creditable health care coverage for TAA workers. Extends the continued eligibility for the credit for qualifying family members and certain qualified TAA-eligible individuals and PBGC pension recipients for COBRA premium assistance through June 30, 2012. Extends through June 30, 2012, coverage under an employee benefit plan funded by a voluntary employees' beneficiary association established pursuant to an order of a bankruptcy court, or by agreement with an authorized representative. Expands for the two-year period beginning after the enactment of this Act the continuous tax levy on payments to vendors for goods and services leased to the federal government to include payments for all property sold or leased to the federal government.
Topic: Health — Insurance
Subject: Health
Date: 2011-02-03 00:00:00

Medication Therapy Management Empowerment Act of 2011 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to increase the number of diseases and conditions for which beneficiaries may be targeted for medication therapy management (MTM) services. Requires a Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) sponsor to establish a process, subject to approval by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), for identifying individuals who are not targeted beneficiaries, are not otherwise offered MTM services, and whom a pharmacist or other qualified provider determines may benefit from MTM services. Requires any such individual to be treated as a targeted beneficiary. Requires any MTM program to offer both comprehensive and targeted medication reviews to individuals dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid (under SSA title XIX), regardless of whether they are MTM-targeted beneficiaries. Requires a PDP sponsor to offer any willing pharmacy in its network and any other qualified health care provider the opportunity to provide MTM services. Requires the PDP sponsor to reimburse pharmacists and other qualified health care providers furnishing MTM services based on the resources used and the time required to provide such services. Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) establish measures and standards for data collection by PDP sponsors to evaluate performance of pharmacies and other entities in furnishing MTM services; and (2) support the continued development and refinement of performance measures. Provides pharmacies and other entities that furnish MTM services with additional incentive payments based on their performance in meeting quality measures established under this Act.