lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2015-09-24 00:00:00

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements for payment under the Medicare program for ambulance services furnished by critical access hospitals (CAHs), which are rural community hospitals that meet specified criteria and receive special payment.

Under current law, ambulance services furnished either by a CAH or by an entity owned or operated by a CAH are paid at a rate of 101% of reasonable costs incurred in furnishing those services, as long as the CAH or entity is the only provider of ambulance services that is located within a 35-mile drive of the CAH. The bill maintains this requirement but further requires that the CAH or entity furnishing the ambulance services be licensed or otherwise authorized to furnish services in the state in which the CAH is located.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2015-10-21 00:00:00

Putting Patients and Providers Ahead of Compressed Regulatory Timelines Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate provider penalties for failure to comply with electronic health records (EHR) use requirements.

Under current law, certain hospitals, Medicare Advantage organizations, and professionals participating in Medicare are subject to negative payment adjustments if they fail to comply with established requirements for EHR use. The bill eliminates these penalties and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse such providers for payments that they would have received within a specified timeframe had such penalties not been applied.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

VA Health Center Management Stability and Improvement Act

(Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) develop and implement a plan to hire highly qualified directors for each VA medical center that lacks a permanent director, and (2) prioritize such hiring for the medical centers that have been without a permanent director for the longest periods. The plan shall include: (1) a hiring deadline; (2) identification of possible hiring impediments; and (3) identification of opportunities to promote and train candidates from within the VA for senior executive positions, including medical center directors.

(Sec. 4) The VA shall ensure that the director of each VA medical facility annually certifies that the facility is in full compliance with all provisions of law and regulations relating to scheduling appointments for veterans hospital care and medical services. The VA may not waive any applicable provision of such laws or regulations.

If unable to make such certification, the director shall provide the VA with an explanation of noncompliance and a description of compliance actions being taken. If a director does not make a certification for any year, each covered official may not receive specified awards or bonuses during the subsequent year. A covered official is the: (1) director, (2) chief of staff, (3) associate director, (4) associate director for patient care, and (5) deputy chief of staff.

(Sec. 5) The VA shall ensure that its directives and policies apply uniformly to each VA office or facility.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2015-11-19 00:00:00

Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to include skilled nursing facilities among the types of health care providers who 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.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-01-06 00:00:00

Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs Seismic Safety and Construction Authorization Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the following major medical facility projects (each with specified maximum authorized funds):

 seismic corrections to buildings, including retrofitting and replacement of high-risk buildings, in San Francisco, California; seismic corrections to facilities, including facilities to support homeless veterans, at the medical center in West Los Angeles, California; seismic corrections to the mental health and community living center in Long Beach, California; construction of an outpatient clinic, administrative space, cemetery, and columbarium in Alameda, California; realignment of medical facilities in Livermore, California; construction of a medical center in Louisville, Kentucky; construction of a replacement community living center in Perry Point, Maryland; and seismic corrections and other renovations to several buildings and construction of a specialty care building in American Lake, Washington. A specified amount is authorized to be appropriated to the VA for such projects for FY2016 or the year in which funds are appropriated for the Construction, Major Projects, account.

Such projects may only be carried out using specified funds.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-01-08 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on December 6, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Faster Care for Veterans Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin an 18-month pilot program in at least three Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) under which veterans use an Internet website or mobile application to schedule and confirm appointments at VA medical facilities.The program's duration may be extended and the number of VISNs may be increased if the VA determines that the program is reducing the wait times of veterans seeking medical care and ensuring that more available appointment times are filled.

The VA shall seek to enter into a contract using competitive procedures with one or more contractors to provide the scheduling capability. The VA's request for proposals shall be open to any contractor that has an existing commercially available, off-the-shelf online patient self-scheduling system that includes the capabilities to:

 schedule, modify, and cancel appointments for primary care, specialty care, and mental health; support appointments for the provision of health care regardless of whether such care is provided in person or through telehealth services; view appointment availability in real time; make available, in real time, appointments that were previously filled but later cancelled by other patients; provide prompts or reminders to veterans to schedule follow-up appointments; be used 24 hours per day, 7 days per week; and integrate with the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture of the VA. The VA shall seek to enter into an agreement with an appropriate non-governmental, not-for-profit entity with expertise in health information technology to independently validate and verify that the system used in the program and any other patient self-scheduling appointment system developed or used by the VA includes such capabilities. The bill sets deadlines for the validation and verification of such systems. The Government Accountability Office shall evaluate and report to specified congressional committees on each validation and verification conducted. By December 31, 2017, the VA shall certify to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs that such systems include such capabilities.

If the VA develops or begins using a new patient self-scheduling appointment system that is not covered by such certification, it shall: (1) certify that such new system includes such capabilities by 30 days after it makes the determination to replace the previous system, or (2) replace any such system developed that is in use with a commercially available, off-the-shelf online patient self-scheduling system that includes the specified capabilities.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-02-02 00:00:00

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.)
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-02-09 00:00:00

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.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-02-12 00:00:00

Critical Access and Rural Equity Act of 2016 or the CARE Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to specify that, for purposes of determining Medicare payment and reasonable costs for both inpatient and outpatient critical access hospital (CAH) services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall recognize as allowable costs those related to specified emergency, diagnostic, anesthetist, community health, and off-campus clinical services.

Furthermore, in determining payment and reasonable costs for both inpatient and outpatient CAH services, CMS shall not disallow payment to a CAH on the basis that such payment offsets the cost of a current permissible health care-related tax imposed on and paid by the CAH. CMS must make specified payment adjustments to account for such a tax. 

Generally, under current law, a facility must be located beyond a specified driving distance from another hospital or facility in order to be designated as a CAH. The bill specifies that this requirement does not apply with respect to a CAH's off-campus provider-based clinic.

Current law further requires a facility to provide certain 24-hour emergency care services as a condition of designation as a CAH. The bill allows CMS to waive this requirement with respect to a facility that coordinates with a nearby facility or hospital that provides such services.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-02-23 00:00:00

Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs Seismic Safety and Constructions Authorization Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the following major medical facility projects (each with specified maximum authorized funds):

 seismic corrections to buildings, including retrofitting and replacement of high-risk buildings, in San Francisco, California; seismic corrections to facilities, including facilities to support homeless veterans, at the medical center in West Los Angeles, California; seismic corrections to the mental health and community living center in Long Beach, California; construction of an outpatient clinic, administrative space, cemetery, and columbarium in Alameda, California; realignment of medical facilities in Livermore, California; construction of a replacement community living center in Perry Point, Maryland; and seismic corrections and other renovations to several buildings and construction of a specialty care building in American Lake, Washington. The bill authorizes appropriations for such projects for FY2016 or the year in which funds are appropriated for the Construction, Major Projects, account. Only specified funds may be used to carry out such projects.

(Sec. 3) The VA shall submit the following information for each project:

 a line item accounting of construction management expenditures, future amounts budgeted for construction management, a justification for expenditures and future amounts, and any agreement entered into by the VA regarding the Army Corps of Engineers providing project services.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-03-23 00:00:00

Access to Substance Abuse Treatment Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to federally qualified health centers, substance abuse treatment centers, rehabilitation treatment centers, and residential treatment centers to expand access to evidence-based and cost-effective substance abuse treatment services.

Priority for grants must be given to centers and programs: (1) serving communities with a greater incidence of substance abuse; or (2) providing, or proposing to incorporate, medication-assisted treatment. Services must be delivered in a manner reflecting person-centered care.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-04-18 00:00:00

VA Scheduling Accountability Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that the director of each VA medical facility annually certifies to the VA that the facility is in full compliance with all provisions of law and regulations relating to scheduling appointments for veterans hospital care and medical services, including pursuant to Veterans Health Administration Directive 2010-027 (regarding scheduling of outpatient clinic appointments and ensuring staff competency). The VA may not waive any applicable provision of such laws or regulations.

If unable to make such certification, a director shall provide the VA with an explanation of noncompliance and a description of compliance actions being taken.

The VA shall ensure that its directives and policies apply uniformly to each VA office or facility.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-04-29 00:00:00

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

Vet Connect Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to disclose to non-VA entities that provide hospital care or medical treatment to veterans (including private entities and other federal agencies) records of the identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment of any patient in connection with a program relating to drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, or sickle cell anemia.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-05-03 00:00:00

Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permanently extend the application by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of an instruction against the enforcement of certain physician supervision requirements with respect to outpatient therapeutic services in critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-05-13 00:00:00

Requiring Accountability and Inspections for Dining Service Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide for annual inspections to ensure that VA medical facility kitchens and food service areas meet private hospital kitchen and food service area standards.

The VA shall seek to enter into an agreement with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations to conduct such inspections. If the VA is unable to enter into an agreement with the Commission, the VA shall seek such an agreement with a non-federal, not-for-profit entity with comparable expertise and objectivity.

If a VA facility kitchen or food service area fails such inspection, the VA shall implement a remediation plan within 48 hours and conduct a second inspection within 7 days. A facility kitchen or food service area that fails the second inspection shall be closed until: (1) remediation is completed, and (2) all kitchens and food service areas at that facility meet the standards.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network of a facility in which a kitchen or food service area is closed shall enter into a food service contract with a General Services Administration-approved vendor to provide food at such facility.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-05-17 00:00:00

Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2016

This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to make the Veterans Choice Program permanent.

Program eligibility is expanded to include veterans with a 50% service-connected disability.

The VA shall contract with a national chain of walk-in clinics to provide hospital care and medical services in such clinics to veterans who are in the annual patient enrollment system.

A veteran shall not be required to: (1) obtain pre-authorization for such care, or (2) pay a copayment to the clinic or to the VA.

Such national chain shall establish an automated system to provide the VA with weekly information on veterans receiving hospital care or medical services.

A covered health care professional may practice his or her health care profession at any location in any state, regardless of where such health care professional or the patient is located, if the health care professional is using telemedicine to treat an individual.

Such treatment is permitted regardless of whether the professional or patient is located in a federally-owned facility.

"Covered health care professional" means a health care professional who is: (1) authorized by the VA to provide health care, including a private health care professional who provides such care under a VA contract or agreement; and (2) licensed, registered, or certified in a state to practice his or her health care profession.

The VA shall:

 extend the operating hours for each VA pharmacy to include weekday evenings until until 8:00 p.m., weekends, and federal holidays; and contract with qualifying physicians and nurses to work at VA medical facilities during nights and weekends. The VA may: (1) hire support staff in connection with such extended operating hours, and (2) provide for a a nongovernmental hospital organization best-practices peer review of each VA medical center.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-05-18 00:00:00

Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016

TITLE I--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART A

(Sec. 101) The bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop, with respect to claims for hospital services, codes under the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) for similar inpatient and outpatient hospital services.

(Sec. 102) The bill establishes processes for adjusting a hospital's Medicare payments based on the hospital's overall proportion of inpatients who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

(Sec. 103) The bill extends for five years the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program, through which Medicare pays certain rural hospitals on the basis of reasonable incurred costs rather than under the standard prospective payment system.

(Sec. 104) With respect to long-term care hospitals, the bill lifts a moratorium on bed increases. The bill reduces rates for high-cost outlier payments, which are additional Medicare payments made in extraordinarily high-cost cases.

(Sec. 105) The bill reduces the amount by which hospital payment rates for inpatient services increase in FY2018.

TITLE II--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART B

(Sec. 201) The bill excludes certain off-campus outpatient departments (OPDs) from specified rules that mandate lower Medicare payments. Specifically, the exclusion applies to: (1) cancer hospitals in off-campus OPDs, and (2) mid-build OPDs. A "mid-build" OPD is one for which the provider had, before a certain date, a binding written agreement with an outside party for construction.

(Sec. 203) With respect to payment reductions for failing to meet requirements for the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs), the bill exempts eligible professionals who are based in ambulatory surgical centers.

TITLE III--OTHER MEDICARE PROVISIONS

(Sec. 301) Until plan year 2019, CMS may not terminate an MA plan solely because the plan failed to achieve a specified minimum quality rating.

(Sec. 302) CMS must annually report on Medicare enrollment data, as specified by the bill.

(Sec. 303) CMS shall: (1) request information and recommendations from stakeholders on information included in the Welcome to Medicare package, and (2) update the information included in the package accordingly.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Health
Date: 2016-05-25 00:00:00

Behavioral Health Infrastructure Improvement Act

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to temporarily increase the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for behavioral health infrastructure and systems improvements under a state medical assistance program. For a period of five years, a state's FMAP for such improvements shall equal 90%. (Generally, a state's FMAP under Medicaid may range from 50% to 83%.)

The bill also establishes a grant program for states to establish or support a behavioral health assistance office or ombudsman to coordinate behavioral health and other assistance for Medicaid beneficiaries. The office or ombudsman shall: (1) track, quantify, and report on problems and inquiries encountered by Medicaid beneficiaries with respect to access to behavioral health services; (2) educate Medicaid beneficiaries on their rights and responsibilities to such access; and (3) assist Medicaid beneficiaries in the enforcement of those rights and in accessing services.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

VA Transparency Enhancement Act of 2016

This bill requires the director of each Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility to report quarterly to the VA on:

 the number of patients who contracted an infection as result of surgery at such medical facility, including a brief summary of each case; and the number of, and reasons for, scheduled surgeries that were cancelled or transferred to another facility and the subsequent number of days that each patient had to wait for surgery. The VA shall submit such reports and a summary of such reports to Congress and publish them on its website.
Topic: Health — Medical Facilities
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-09 00:00:00

Expanding Care for Female Veterans Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a three-year pilot program to award grants to health care entities to lease, purchase, or build health care facilities for female patients in order to provide hospital care and medical services to female veterans enrolled in the VA's patient enrollment system.

For purposes of providing such care and services, a facility leased, purchased, or built under the program shall be deemed to be: (1) a non-VA entity that may provide veterans hospital care and medical services as specified in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014; or (2) if the authority to carry out the program is terminated, an entity otherwise authorized to provide hospital care and medical services pursuant to an agreement entered into by the VA.