lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2013-08-02 00:00:00

Prohibits the award by states of American Health Benefit Exchange grant funds under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to an entity for the operation of a Navigator program (to raise awareness of the availability of qualified health plans) or for facilitation or advocacy for enrollment in a qualified health plan, until the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) certifies to Congress that the entity has certified that it will not use such funds to: (1) provide advice concerning benefits, terms, and features of a particular qualified health plan or offer advice about which such plan is better or worse or suitable for a particular individual or employer; (2) recommend or endorse a particular qualified health plan or advise consumers about which plan to choose; (3) accept any compensation or consideration dependent, in whole or in part, on whether an individual enrolls in or purchases such a plan; or (4) violate any applicable insurance law or regulation of the applicable state or any subpoena or order of the state's insurance commissioner.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2013-10-23 00:00:00

Inspiring Scientific Research and Innovation Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2014 - Appropriates, for FY2014, an additional $3 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to remain available until expended.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the recovery period for the depreciation of an airplane: (1) used in directly carrying out activities essential to the function of a trade or business other than the commercial or contract carrying of freight or passengers; and (2) whose primary use is not for the transportation of freight or passengers, other than medical or emergency transportation. Provides a special effective date rule for property for which there is a qualified written binding contract in effect before the date of enactment of this Act.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-03-06 00:00:00

Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA Act of 2014 or the SIGMA Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Requires the Special Inspector General to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Requires the Special Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations.

Places the Special Inspector General under the supervision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), but prohibits federal agencies involved in implementing or administering the Affordable Care Act from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-06-12 00:00:00

Better Efficiency and Administrative Simplification Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow individuals the option to receive the Medicare Summary Notice (explanation of benefits) electronically.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) apply a similar option to other Medicare statements and notifications, and (2) provide such Medicare Summary Notice and any other such statements and notifications on a more frequent basis than is otherwise required under Medicare.

Extends from at least once every 5 years to at least once every 10 years the application of competitive procedures when the contract of a Medicare administrative contractor comes up for renewal.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-06-12 00:00:00

Commission for Our Veterans' Care Act - Establishes the Commission on Access to Care to undertake a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of access to health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Includes among the matters to be evaluated and assessed by the Commission:

 the appropriateness of the VA's current standards concerning access to health care, the measurement of such standards, the appropriateness of performance standards and incentives in relation to the VA's current standards for access to health care, staffing levels throughout the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and whether they are sufficient to meet current demand. Directs the President to require the VA Secretary and the heads of other relevant federal agencies to implement each recommendation that the President considers feasible and advisable and determines can be implemented without further legislative action.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-06-17 00:00:00

Equalizing Transparency for Veterans Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to biennially publish information on the VA's provision of health care on a VA Internet database that is publicly available.

Includes among that information for each VA medical facility:

 quality measures regarding inpatient and outpatient care that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to make publicly available under the Medicare program; the average length of stay, opioid prescription rate, and suicide rate for patients discharged from the facility; and the average number of days a patient waited for an appointment or procedure at such facility. Includes in such information for each VA nursing home any quality measures the Secretary of HHS makes publicly available regarding Medicare nursing homes.

Directs the Secretary to establish a process to validate the published information.

Requires the Secretary to annually submit a plan to Congress to improve each VA medical facility that ranks within the bottom quartile on each quality measure used by the Secretary to rank such facilities.

Directs the Secretary to establish a toll-free telephone number for individuals to use to notify the Secretary of low-quality care being provided at a VA medical facility.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-07-31 00:00:00

Serving America's Veterans Effectively Act of 2014 or the SAVE Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to:

 require the inclusion of a patient's status as a veteran in the patient information that the Secretary requires for meaningful use of electronic health records under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, include an inquiry into whether a patient is a veteran and any relevant circumstances relating to a veteran's service in the Armed Forces as part of the initial preventive examination of Medicare beneficiaries, and take such additional actions as may be appropriate to promote awareness among nongovernmental physicians of the special circumstances and health care needs of veterans. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to organizations to educate health care providers on appropriate health care for veterans.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Streamlining Verification for Americans Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to allow large employers to prospectively report information regarding health care coverage available to employees eligible for premium subsidies on a health care exchange.

Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), upon an individual's request, to make an advance determination of the individual's eligibility for premium subsidies based on information other than the individual's most recent taxable year income.

Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate the notification of employers by health care exchanges regarding employees determined to be eligible for premium subsidies and the appeals process for eligibility determinations.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a person reporting an individual's health coverage to the Treasury to identify the individual using their birth date in place of their taxpayer identification number (TIN) in certain circumstances.

Allows large employers or persons reporting an employee's or individual's health coverage to the Treasury to provide the required statement to the employee or individual electronically.

Prohibits provision of premium subsidies and assessment of the penalty for not maintaining minimum essential coverage between December 31, 2014, and the date a process is established to verify eligibility for premium subsidies.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-12-04 00:00:00

Public Health Emergency Preparedness Act - Makes a $5 billion supplemental appropriation to the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Public Health Emergency Fund.

Designates the funding as an emergency requirement exempt from budget enforcement limits. Makes the funding available, however, only if the President subsequently designates the amount as an emergency requirement.

Permits the activities funded under this Act to include acquisition of products such as drugs, vaccines and other biological products, and medical devices for deposit into the Strategic National Stockpile.

Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to add the Public Health Emergency Fund to the list of programs and activities exempt from a sequestration. (A sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.)
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-12-09 00:00:00

Incentivizing Healthcare Quality Outcomes Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. in order to incentivize healthcare quality outcomes, to prescribe specific adjustment factors for incentive payments to: (1) healthcare delivery organizations, and (2) healthcare professionals (who are not part of an applicable healthcare delivery organization) in a geographic region to coordinate care and reduce potentially preventable outcomes.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish geographic regions to which health professionals shall be assigned.

Requires the Secretary to select a methodology of identifying potentially preventable: (1) inpatient hospital complications, (2) admissions and readmissions, (3) emergency room visits, (4) outpatient procedures and tests, as well as (5) outcomes. Requires selection of a methodology also for risk adjusting the rate of each potentially preventable outcome.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) give confidential reports to healthcare delivery organizations with respect to potentially preventable outcomes, (2) make information available to the public regarding potentially preventable outcomes of each applicable healthcare delivery organization, (3) apply to state plans (or waivers) under SSA title XIX (Medicaid) regulations that will relate to payment adjustments for potentially preventable outcomes, and (4) award quality improvement grants to eligible healthcare delivery organizations with an organization-specific adjustment factor lower than the factor for 75% of all other such organizations.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the impact of this Act on Medicare beneficiaries' care, Medicare expenditures, and Medicare providers.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-16 00:00:00

Fit to Serve Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to provide for the dissemination to potential military recruits of information on healthy body weight. Includes in the information that may be provided healthy weight according to age, height, and gender, the risks of obesity, and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Authorizes the dissemination of such information both electronically and in writing.

Authorizes each military department Secretary to enter into joint use agreements with local governments in the vicinity of military installations in order to permit the use of athletic facilities at such installations by local civilians.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-07-15 00:00:00

Servicemember's Electronic Health Records Act of 2013 - Amends the Wounded Warrior Act to require the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, in implementing electronic health record systems that provide for the full interoperability of personal health care information between the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to ensure that: (1) a health data authoritative source that can be accessed by multiple providers and that standardizes the input of new medical information is created by the Departments within 180 days, (2) the ability of patients of both Departments to download their medical records is achieved within 180 days, (3) full interoperability of personal health care information between the Departments is achieved within one year, (4) acceleration of the exchange of real-time data between the Departments is achieved within one year, (5) the upgrade of the graphical user interface to display a joint common graphical user interface is achieved within one year, and (6) current members of the Armed Forces and their dependents may elect to receive an electronic copy of their health care records beginning not later than June 30, 2015.

Requires the Secretaries to assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing a secure, remote, network-accessible computer storage system (commonly referred to as cloud storage) to: (1) provide members of the Armed Forces and veterans the ability to upload their health care records, and (2) allow DOD and VA medical providers of the Departments to access such records.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Improving Quality of Care Within the Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has in effect an up-to-date policy on reporting a notifiable infectious disease diagnosed at a VA facility in accordance with applicable state and local law, and (2) develop performance measures to assess whether and to what degree the directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) and VA medical centers are complying with such policy.

Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with an independent third-party to: (1) assess the organizational structures of VA medical centers, and (2) improve succession planning among key leadership roles at VISN and VA medical centers.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-02-10 00:00:00

Rural Veterans Improvement Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide mental health care to veterans who have a mental health issue resulting from a health condition incurred or aggravated in the line of duty and who live in a rural area or highly rural area through shared health facilities or by contracting with or providing payments to mental health care providers that are not otherwise affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) if the Secretary makes specified determinations related to the lack of accessibility to or availability of recommended or requested care from the VA.

Requires the Secretary to report on the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine used by the VA in treating veterans with mental health conditions resulting from a health condition that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) award grants of up to $100,000 to state veterans agencies, veterans service organizations, and/or tribal organizations to provide transportation to and from medical centers to veterans in rural and highly rural areas who would otherwise be eligible for reimbursement for or payment of travel expenses by the VA; and (2) carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing a housing allowance to health care providers of the VA who accept assignment at rural or highly rural community-based outpatient clinics.

Directs the Secretary to establish a program to train health care professionals for assignment at community-based outpatient clinics that predominantly serve veterans who live in rural and highly rural areas.

Requires the VA Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to jointly establish a program to encourage an individual who serves in the Armed Forces with a military occupational specialty relating to the provision of health care to seek employment with the Veterans Health Administration when the individual is discharged or released from service or is contemplating separating from such service.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a periodic assessment of community-based outpatient clinics in rural and highly rural areas to determine whether expansion and improvement of such clinics is feasible or advisable, and (2) report on the feasibility and advisability of establishing a Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site in each area in which the nearest such center or site is more than 300 miles away.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-03-27 00:00:00

Enhancing Access for Agents and Brokers Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a toll-free customer service support help line to enable certified health insurance agents and brokers to seek assistance regarding qualified health plans offered in the federal health insurance marketplace.

Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary to establish procedures to permit a broker name and National Producer Number to be added to an application for enrollment in a health plan offered through a health care exchange at any time during the application process and for any enrollment period.

 Requires such procedures to ensure that the National Producer Number is designed to assist consumers in obtaining needed assistance to complete enrollment, ensure that brokers are adequately compensated, and provide consumer protections by identifying each agent or broker that has worked on an enrollment case.

Directs the Secretary to:

 make available on the federal government website for health insurance coverage a list of all certified agents and brokers; contract with the National Insurance Producers Registry to regularly verify the licensure status of all such agents and brokers and develop a mechanism to enable submission of changes to contact and licensure information; and provide trained navigators, agents, and brokers, no later than five business days after promulgation or issuance of any new cost- or enrollment-related policies, with a clear description of such policy changes.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-05-22 00:00:00

Increasing Medical Oversight in the Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of the Medical Inspector of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) within the Office of the Under Secretary for Health. Includes among the functions of the Office to:

 review the quality of health care provided to veterans by the VA generally and by the VA through contracts with non-VA health care providers; review offices of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that have an impact on the quality of health care provided to veterans by the VA and the performance of the VA in providing such care; review VHA offices and facilities to ensure that VA and VHA policies and procedures are applied consistently; investigate any systemic issues that arise within VHA, including improper issuance of credentials and privileges to health care providers, impediments to access to VA health care, wait times for appointments at VA medical facilities in excess of VA goals, and intentional falsification by VA employees of information regarding wait times; establish temporary investigative teams to carry out reviews in response to specific incidents or inquiries, including veterans' complaints and potential systemic issues within VHA that may require the conduct of surveys, the collection of data, and the analysis of VA databases; recommend policies to promote economy and efficiency in the administration of, and to prevent and detect criminal activity, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in, VHA programs and operations; and report on problems or deficiencies encountered in VHA programs and operations and recommend corrective actions.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-05-22 00:00:00

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

Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for trauma care programs through FY2019. Requires that not more than 50% of amounts remaining for a fiscal year after FY2014 (after allocation for administrative purposes or for improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas) be allocated for competitive grants to support pilot projects for emergency care and trauma systems.

Requires the inclusion of standards and requirements of the American Burn Association in trauma care modifications of a state plan for providing emergency medical services.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Health
Date: 2014-05-22 00:00:00

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

Improving Trauma Care Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, with respect to trauma care and research programs, to include in the definition of "trauma" an injury resulting from extrinsic agents other than mechanical force, including those that are thermal, electrical, chemical, or radioactive.
Topic: Health — General
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-06-03 00:00:00

Veterans Access to Care Accountability Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct random, periodic audits of the medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Veterans Integrated Service Networks to determine if they are in compliance with legal and administrative standards requiring that veterans be provided timely access to health care from the VA.

Requires the VA Secretary, upon the receipt of a specified report finding that a veteran has been subjected to a wait time of more than 30 days for health care from the VA, to: (1) notify the veteran, within 48 hours of receiving such report, of the status of the veteran's appointment; and (2) make every possible effort to schedule the veteran's appointment at a VA facility or through a non-VA health care provider on a date not later than 7 days after receiving such report.

Requires the VA Inspector General to provide the Secretary with a list of the names of each director or other VA official responsible for activities at a VA medical facility who is found to have purposefully misrepresented patient records or other data in order to: (1) conceal a failure of the facility to comply with VA patient access or care standards, or (2) qualify for a performance award or any other compensation that is in addition to basic pay. Prohibits the Secretary from paying a bonus or award to any director or official on such list until the Secretary determines that all issues relating to the reasons why such director or official was included on such list have been resolved.

Directs the Secretary to ensure that any performance review or consideration for promotion of a director or other VA official responsible for activities at a VA medical facility where such misrepresentation has occurred includes an evaluation of whether the director or other official knew or should have known about such misrepresentation.

Prohibits the Inspector General from making the names of the individuals on the list public.