zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
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.

Date: 2014-06-03
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
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.

Date: 2014-06-04
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Continuing Care for Veterans Act of 2014 - Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) from altering the health care available to a veteran who is enrolled in the VA health care system or the amount of time that veteran has to wait for an appointment for such care based solely on the length of time since he or she last received health care from the VA.

Date: 2014-06-12
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medicare Common Access Card Act of 2014 - Establishes a pilot program under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) in order to utilize smart card technology for Medicare beneficiary and provider identification cards.

Amends SSA title XI to extend through FY2029 funding for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

Date: 2014-07-10
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Stopping Illegal Obamacare Subsidies Act - Prohibits American Health Benefit Exchanges from providing for automatic enrollment in health plans until the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) verifies that each state exchange and the federal exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) have resolved the inconsistencies outlined in the June 14 IG report.

Directs the Secretary of HHS to make public the steps that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the federal exchange will take to clear any inconsistencies that arose on or before the enactment of this Act and to ensure that the systems used by the CMS to determine or assess eligibility for premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) under title XXI of the Social Security Act can resolve such inconsistencies within 30 days after enactment of this Act.

Directs the Secretary to make public the methods that the CMS use to monitor, track, and measure the progress of the federal and state exchanges in resolving inconsistencies.

Suspends for plan year 2015 the availability of premium assistance tax credits and the reduced cost-sharing program under PPACA; and allows them to resume only after the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration declares affirmatively that all inconsistencies related to invalid Social Security numbers have been resolved, and the IG determines that this is so.

Directs the Secretary to request additional information from any applicant for a qualified health plan on a state or federal exchange whose information contains inconsistencies. Requires the applicant to: (1) be withdrawn from the premium assistance credit and reduced cost-sharing programs if the additional information is not provided within 90 days, and (2) re-enroll in a qualified health plan with appropriate and accurate information during the next open enrollment period.

Date: 2014-07-30
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) create an exception to Medicare secondary payer requirements for certain workers' compensation settlement agreements, and (2) provide for the satisfaction of such requirements through use of qualified Medicare set-asides under such agreements.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Better Efficiency and Administrative Simplification Act of 2015 

 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 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.

Directs the Secretary, to the extent possible without compromising the process for entering into and renewing contracts with Medicare administrative contractors (MACs), to make available to the public the performance of each MAC with respect to requirements and measurement standards.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Health and Human Services Hiree Clarification Act

Amends the Public Health Service Act to state that provisions authorizing the appointment of special consultants or authorizing individual scientists to receive fellowships do not authorize the designation, appointment, or employment of any special consultant, fellow, or other employee by an agency outside of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Date: 2015-02-03
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Requiring Expenditures for Public Objectives to be Reflective of Total Spending Act or the Medicaid REPORTS Act 

 This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require each state to report each source of funds, each entity providing such funds, and the amount of funds from each source, used by the state to finance the non-federal share of expenditures under Medicaid.

The Secretary must make the information reported publicly available through publication on the Internet site of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicaid Services.

Date: 2015-03-13
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Tax Fairness Act of 2015

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with respect to payments to states for medical assistance programs, to reduce from 6% to 5.5% on a graduated basis for 2016-2020 and each subsequent year the indirect guarantee thresholds applied for determining permissible broad-based state or local health care-related provider taxes where a requirement is in effect to hold taxpayers harmless for any portion of the costs of the tax.

(Currently the state [or other unit of government] imposing a broad-based health care-related tax or tax on each health care class provides for a direct or indirect non-Medicaid payment to those providers or others paying the tax, which may include an offset or waiver that directly or indirectly guarantees to hold taxpayers harmless for all or any portion of the tax amount. Such taxes are permissible if they are applied at a rate that produces revenues less than or equal to 6% of the revenues received by the taxpayer.)

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and Improvement Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the major medical facility projects of the VA specified in the explanatory statement accompanying the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, including by obligating and expending the amounts specified in such statement. (Those projects include seismic corrections to the West Los Angeles Medical Center, replacement of a community living center and mental health facilities in Long Beach, and replacement of an existing spinal cord injury clinic in San Diego, California, all of which are at high risk of sustaining damage during an earthquake, and renovations to address substantial safety and compliance issues and construction of a new clinic and community living center at the VA medical center in Canandaigua, New York.)

Date: 2015-03-23
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
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.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, in order to facilitate price transparency with respect to items and services for which payment may be made to a hospital outpatient department or to an ambulatory surgery center, to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make available to the public via a searchable website: (1) the estimated payment amount for an appropriate number of items and services under the outpatient department fee schedule and the ambulatory surgical center payment system, and (2) the estimated amount of beneficiary liability applicable to such an item or service.

Date: 2015-05-13
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Sensible Oversight for Technology which Advances Regulatory Efficiency Act or the SOFTWARE Act

This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define health software as software that does not acquire, process, or analyze data from an in vitro diagnostic device or signal acquisition system, is not an accessory or part of a medical device, is not used to prevent disease in the transfusion of blood and blood components, and is for:

 administrative or operational support or the processing and maintenance of financial records; use in clinical, laboratory, or administrative workflow and recordkeeping; managing data but not for active patient monitoring or controlling the functions of a connected medical device; organizing and presenting information for health or wellness education or maintaining a healthy lifestyle; or analyzing information to provide general health information or patient-specific recommendations. The FDA must classify an accessory of a medical device independently from the medical device with which it is used.

Health software is exempted from regulation by the FDA (including as a medical device), except for software that provides patient-specific recommendations and poses a significant risk to patient safety.

The FDA must review existing regulations and guidance regarding the regulation of health software.

Date: 2015-05-18
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow a person to request that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognize all or part of a performance standard established by a nationally or internationally recognized standard organization as a standard to which a medical device may conform in order to meet an FDA requirement. When a request to recognize a standard is received, the FDA must determine whether to recognize all, part, or none of the standard and publish the rationale for that determination. (Currently, the FDA recognizes certain performance standards, but it is not required to respond to requests or publish rationales for recognizing standards.)

The FDA must: (1) publish the rationale for recognizing only part of a standard, (2) periodically train employees who review premarket submissions for medical devices on the concept and use of recognized standards for purposes of meeting requirements, and (3) publish its principles for recognizing standards.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the requirements for health care economic information that is provided to entities selecting drugs for coverage or reimbursement, such as formularies. The information must include a conspicuous and prominent statement describing the differences between the information and the labeling approved for the drug.

"Health care economic information" is an analysis that describes the economic consequences of the use of a drug. Such an analysis is no longer required to compare the use of the drug to another intervention or no intervention. An analysis that relates only to an indication for which the drug is not approved is not health care economic information.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Fair Medical Audits Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements related to the identification and recovery of overpayments under Medicare.

A contract between the the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a recovery audit contractor must require the contractor to provide a health care provider with: (1) specified identifying, legal, and logistical information; (2) an identification of any errors or underpayments discovered in the audit; and (3) a description of how any requested overpayment amount was calculated. Standards for extrapolation when used to determine overpayment amounts are established. CMS must require a contractor to give a provider at least 90 days' notice of identified code over-utilization and to reimburse a provider for the cost of producing certain documentation. The retrospective audit period is limited to two (rather than four) years.

Recovery audit contractors must have staff with knowledge and experience related to clinical licensure and medical records, claims, and codes. A contractor that has excessive overturned determinations shall be subject to administrative penalty and, under specified circumstances, liable for attorneys' fees.

In the case of a provider seeking reconsideration of an overpayment determination, CMS may not recoup the overpayment until a decision has been rendered at the third level of appeal by an Administrative Law Judge. A recoupment based on a decision that is reversed on appeal must be returned to the provider within 30 days.

Date: 2015-05-22
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Securing Care for Seniors Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (in effect, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS]) to revise for 2017, and periodically afterwards, the system for risk adjustments to payments to Medicare+Choice organizations so that an individual's risk score takes into account the number of chronic conditions with which the individual has been diagnosed.

HHS must, including an actuarial opinion of the CMS Chief Actuary, evaluate the impacts of:

 including two years of data to compare the models used to determine the risk scores for 2013 and 2014, removing the diagnosis codes related to chronic kidney disease in the 2014 risk adjustment model, and including 10% of encounter data in computing payment for 2016 and CMS readiness to incorporate encounter data in risk scores. HHS shall also analyze the best practices of MedicareAdvantage (MA) plans to slow disease progression related to chronic kidney disease.

HHS shall then, if appropriate, make revisions to the risk adjustment system, based on such an evaluation or analysis, to better reflect and appropriately weight for the population served.

(Sec. 3) Congress declares that the MA star rating system lacks proper accounting for the socioeconomic status of plan enrollees and the extent to which those plans serve individuals also eligible for medical assistance under SSAct title XIX (Medicaid).

Date: 2015-05-29
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Accuracy in Medicare Physician Payment Act of 2015 

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to establish and appoint an expert outside advisory panel for purposes of providing oversight to the processes relating to valuation of physicians' services.

Date: 2015-06-02
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand telehealth coverage in three phases.

Extends the term "originating site," for telehealth service payment purposes, to additional sites, including any federally qualified health center and any rural health clinic, at which the eligible telehealth individual is located at the time the service is furnished via a telecommunications system.

Prohibits application of the originating site facility fee to the additional sites.

Authorizes additional telehealth providers, including a certified diabetes educator or licensed respiratory therapist, audiologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, or speech language pathologist.

Authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop payment methods to apply in the case of anyone who would be an eligible telehealth individual except that the telehealth services are furnished at a site other than an originating site.

Extends Medicare coverage to remote patient management services for certain chronic health conditions.

Authorizes home telehealth sites as additional originating sites.

 Requires the monthly fee or other basis of payment for physicians' services to individuals with end stage renal disease (ESRD) to allow for a patient-specific waiver process to permit a physician, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant to request a waiver of face-to-face visit requirements for home dialysis of ESRD patients.

Requires all ESRD patients receiving home dialysis to receive a face-to-face examination at least once every three consecutive months and, in the intervening months, to receive a monthly clinical assessment which may be furnished, if the patient so chooses, via remote monitoring by a physician, clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant.

Directs HHS, in determining the component of a physician's fee corresponding to practice expense relative value units for diagnostic tests provided remotely, to include in direct costs of supplies and equipment the costs of the diagnostic device, clinical systems (including hardware and software), information transmission, and device delivery and installation. Directs the Government Accountability Office to study the effectiveness of using specified telehealth services between therapy providers and patients, any associated savings, and the potential for greater use of telehealth services for other forms of therapy.

Date: 2015-07-07
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
TELEmedicine for MEDicare Act of 2015 or the TELE-MED Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow a Medicare provider to provide telemedicine services to a Medicare beneficiary who is in a different state from the one in which the provider is licensed or authorized to provide health care services. The licensing or authorizing state has jurisdiction to enforce its licensure or other legal authorization requirements with regard to such a provision of service.

Date: 2015-07-15
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude from Medicare coverage advanced planning services, with the exception of certain hospice-related services that may include advising on end-of-life or advanced care planning.

Date: 2015-07-28
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Further Flexibility in HIT Reporting and Advancing Interoperability Act or the Flex-IT 2 Act

This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify Medicare and Medicaid program requirements related to electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use programs, which establish incentives to promote EHR meaningful use and the adoption of health information technology (HIT).

Specifically, the bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid to establish and apply a linear scale to determine meaningful or "partial meaningful" EHR use. In accordance with this linear scale, eligible professionals and hospitals that are partial meaningful EHR users shall: (1) receive certain incentive payments currently available only to meaningful EHR users, and (2) be partially exempt from certain negative payment adjustments.

In addition, the bill: (1) establishes three-month reporting periods for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payment programs; (2) modifies provisions regarding quality reporting on meaningful EHR use; (3) expands the hardship exception to Medicare EHR payment adjustments; and (4) limits, with respect to timing and frequency, the adoption of more stringent measures of EHR meaningful use under Medicaid and Medicare.

The bill also amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pause rulemaking related to EHR meaningful use, unless and until specified conditions are met; and (2) prohibit HHS from proposing the adoption of certain untested standards regarding HIT.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Veteran's Choice Accountability Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to:

 evaluate VA programs that furnish hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care to ensure that the most intensively used specialized care programs are maintained as centers of excellence; and submit to Congress an evaluation of the VA's implementation of the VA Budget and Choice Improvement Act.

Date: 2015-11-03
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Ensuring Fair Access to Veterans Healthcare Act

This bill establishes in the Veterans Health Administration an Office of the Ombudsman, which shall:

 investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of patients receiving medical care or hospital services at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility (covered patients) that relate to action, inaction, or decisions made by VA employees that may adversely affect such patients; assist covered patients in finding patient advocates, veterans service organizations, or other similar entities to advocate for their health, safety, welfare, and rights; ensure that covered patients have regular and timely access to Office services; administer the reporting system provided for by this Act; and provide training to local ombudsmen and volunteers. The Office shall establish a reporting system to collect and analyze complaint data in order to determine how to resolve significant VA medical facility problems.

Each VA medical facility shall have a local ombudsman responsible for carrying out the duties of the Office at such location.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medicare Choices Empowerment and Protection Act

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish an Advance Directive Certification Program. Under the program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall grant accreditation to advance directive vendors that meet specified accreditation criteria.

CMS shall establish procedures for an eligible beneficiary to register the adoption of a certified advance directive under the program. Beneficiary registration in the program shall be optional, but each eligible beneficiary who adopts and registers a certified advance directive shall receive a one-time incentive payment.

CMS shall provide for related education and outreach.

Date: 2015-11-18
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House passed version is repeated here.)

(Sec. 1) This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to extend the deadline for the Commission on Care's final report to June 30, 2016. (The Commission is charged with examining veterans' access to Department of Veterans Affairs health care and to examine how best to organize the Veterans Health Administration, locate health resources, and deliver health care to veterans during the next 20 years.)

Date: 2016-02-02
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act

This bill provides FY2016 supplemental appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address heroin and opioid drug abuse. The funds are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules.

For DOJ, the bill provides funds for State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) programs.

For HHS, the bill provides funds for:

 the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.

Date: 2016-02-03
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Department of Veterans Affairs Purchased Health Care Streamlining and Modernization Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in addition to furnishing hospital care, medical services, or extended care at VA facilities or under contracts or sharing agreements, to furnish such care and services to eligible veterans through the use of Veterans Care Agreements with eligible providers.

An eligible provider is:

 a provider whose income in the year preceding the year of entering into an agreement did not exceed $11 million; a provider who does not otherwise provide such care or services pursuant to a federal contract; and a physician or provider of Medicaid or Medicare services, an Aging and Disability Resource Center, an area agency on aging, or a center for independent living. The VA shall: (1) establish a certifying process for providers, (2) review agreements at least once every two years, and (3) use the quality of care standards set forth or used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The VA may enter into an agreement using non-competitive procedures.

Date: 2016-02-23
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Better Accounting for Medicaid Costs Act of 2016

This bill amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to follow rulemaking procedures with respect to certain Medicaid subregulatory policies.

Before issuing a Medicaid subregulatory policy, CMS must determine the extent to which the policy is projected, with respect to each year in a 10-year period, to increase state or federal expenditures under the Medicaid program. If the policy is projected to increase expenditures by an amount exceeding a specified threshold, CMS may implement the policy only through notice and comment rulemaking.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill provides FY2016 emergency supplemental appropriations to the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (HHS) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases.

The bill specifies permissible uses for the funds and designates the funds as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits.

The bill provides appropriations to HHS for:

 the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit Project BioShield to be used to support the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any infectious disease that may pose a threat to the public health. (Under current law, Project BioShield supports only countermeasures against specific chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorist threats.)

The bill temporarily increases from 55% to 65% the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage in the territories (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands).

The bill provides appropriations to the Department of State for:

 the Administration of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bilateral Economic Assistance, International Security Assistance, and Multilateral Assistance. Unobligated balances of specified funds provided for the Ebola virus may be used to respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases.

Date: 2016-04-25
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements related to the appointment of, and application of ethics rules to, members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
This bill provides FY2016 supplemental appropriations to the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and State to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Zika virus.

The bill specifies permissible uses for the funds and designates the funds as an emergency requirement. The emergency funding is exempt from discretionary spending limits and is only available if the President subsequently designates the funds as an emergency requirement.

The bill provides appropriations to HHS for:

 the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund within the Office of the Secretary. For the State Department, the bill provides appropriations for:

 the Administration of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bilateral Economic Assistance, International Security Assistance, and Multilateral Assistance. The bill sets forth congressional notification and reporting requirements that apply to the funds. It also provides funds to the Government Accountability Office for the oversight of activities funded by this bill.

 The bill also rescinds specified unobligated balances of funds that were previously provided to USAID to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Ebola virus.

Date: 2016-09-08
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Prioritizing the Most Vulnerable Medicaid Patients

This bill amend title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in approving Medicaid demonstration projects, to:

 prioritize projects that have been proven effective in improving care and outcomes with respect to uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, or low-income individuals; require participating states to make publicly available data regarding the health outcomes for individuals to be served; ensure that projects are not duplicative of any federal program or funding opportunity; and require participating states to make publicly available an analysis of the degree to which such projects preclude private and charitable sector efforts to improve care and outcomes with respect to uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, or low-income individuals. 

Date: 2016-12-07
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Stopping Illegal Obamacare Subsidies Act 

 Prohibits American Health Benefit Exchanges from providing for automatic enrollment in health plans until the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) verifies that each state exchange and the federal exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) have resolved the inconsistencies outlined in the June 14 IG report.

Directs the Secretary of HHS to make public the steps that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the federal exchange will take to clear any inconsistencies that arose on or before the enactment of this Act and to ensure that the systems used by the CMS to determine or assess eligibility for premium tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, Medicaid under title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSAct), and the State Children's Health Insurance Program under SSAct title XXI can resolve such inconsistencies within 30 days after enactment of this Act.

Directs the Secretary to make public the methods that the CMS use to monitor, track, and measure the progress of the federal and state exchanges in resolving inconsistencies.

Suspends for plan year 2015 the availability of premium assistance tax credits and the reduced cost-sharing program under PPACA; and allows them to resume only after the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration declares affirmatively that all inconsistencies related to invalid Social Security numbers have been resolved, and the IG determines that this is so.

Directs the Secretary to request additional information from any applicant for a qualified health plan on a state or federal exchange whose information contains inconsistencies. Requires the applicant to: (1) be withdrawn from the premium assistance credit and reduced cost-sharing programs if the additional information is not provided within 90 days, and (2) re-enroll in a qualified health plan with appropriate and accurate information during the next open enrollment period.

Date: 2015-01-07
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Better Efficiency and Administrative Simplification Act of 2015 

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 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.

Directs the Secretary, to the extent possible without compromising the process for entering into and renewing contracts with Medicare administrative contractors (MACs), to make available to the public the performance of each MAC with respect to requirements and measurement standards.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize trauma care programs through FY2020.

Grants for pilot projects of innovative models of emergency care and trauma systems can be allocated up to half of the remaining funds for trauma care after allocations for improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas and administrative purposes.

State plans for emergency medical services are required to include the national standards and requirements of the American Burn Association for verified burn centers.

The Department of Health and Human Services must update the model plan for designation of trauma centers and for triage, transfer, and transportation policies, taking into account standards from the American Burn Association.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Earthquake Protection and Improvement Act

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the following major medical facility projects (in an amount for each project not to exceed specified limits):

 construction of a community living center, outpatient clinic, and renovated domiciliary facility, and the renovation of existing buildings in Canandaigua, New York; seismic corrections to the mental health and community living center in Long Beach, California; seismic corrections to 12 buildings in West Los Angeles, California; and construction of a spinal cord injury building and seismic corrections in San Diego, California. The VA shall report to Congress on efforts, including those relating to building standards and disaster preparedness plans, to protect VA facilities in areas that are at a high-risk for tsunamis and volcanic activity, including areas in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and American Samoa.

Date: 2015-03-23
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Quality Measure Alignment Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to a contract with a consensus-based entity regarding performance measurement, to require the entity to facilitate increased coordination and alignment between the public and private sector with respect to quality and efficiency measures.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medicare Secondary Payer and Worker's Compensation Settlement Agreements Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) create an exception to Medicare secondary payer requirements for certain workers' compensation settlement agreements, and (2) provide for the satisfaction of such requirements through use of qualified Medicare set-asides under such agreements.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medical Countermeasure Innovation Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure the issuance of timely and accurate guidelines regarding the use of medical products for countering public health emergencies or material threats. HHS must report on funding for procurement of medical countermeasures when available funds are below a specified amount.

(Sec. 3) The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority's (BARDA's) contracting authority for procurement of medical countermeasures under Project BioShield is codified.

(Sec. 4) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response must annually publish its budget plan for medical countermeasures.

(Sec. 5) BARDA may enter an agreement with an independent, nongovernmental nonprofit to foster and accelerate the development and innovation of medical countermeasures and related technologies. BARDA must direct and oversee the nonprofit's work and ensure transparency and accountability.

(Sec. 6) BARDA's procurement of medical countermeasures no longer requires Presidential approval or an agreement between HHS and the Department of Homeland Security.

(Sec. 7) This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to award, upon approval, a priority review voucher to the sponsor of a drug or biological product that: (1) is a significant improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a serious condition; and (2) can be used as a medical countermeasure to a material threat. The transferable voucher entitles the holder to have an application for a new medication acted upon by the FDA within six months.

The sponsor of a medication that is subject to a voucher must pay a user fee based on the FDA's cost for the priority review process.

The FDA must publish a notice each time it issues a voucher or a voucher is used.

(Sec. 8) The Government Accountability Office must report on the effectiveness of this priority review voucher program in providing incentives for the development of material threat medical countermeasures.

Date: 2015-09-17
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Obamacare Tax Transparency Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require health insurers to disclose to individuals and employers who pay health insurance premiums the portion of premiums attributable to the annual fee imposed on health insurers.

Date: 2015-12-18
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Directory of Caregivers Act or the Medicaid DOC Act

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require a state to publish and annually update a directory of providers that participate in the state plan for medical assistance on a fee-for-service basis or through a primary care case-management system. The directory must include each provider's name, specialty, address, and telephone number. In addition, with respect to a provider that participates in a primary care case-management system, the directory must specify: (1) the provider's language capabilities, and (2) whether the provider is accepting new Medicaid patients.

Date: 2016-03-02
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
One Health Act of 2016

This bill requires the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to coordinate and support a One Health Program to: (1) address infectious diseases in animals and the environment, and (2) help prevent the transmission of infectious diseases between animal populations and human populations.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in cooperation with the NSTC, must develop a framework for federal activities under the program. The framework must:

 describe the activities of federal agencies and departments under the program, establish goals and priorities for advancing scientific understanding and for workforce development and describe activities to achieve these goals and priorities, identify and expand partnerships among federal agencies and others to develop new approaches for reducing hazards to human health from animal and environmental sources and to promote an integrated approach to addressing public health threats in a manner that prevents duplication, and provide recommendations for additional action or legislation to assist in establishing the program. The program must establish an initiative to coordinate and implement federal research and field activities. Program members must support activities described in the framework, including by awarding grants to establish national centers of excellence to carry out those activities.

The President must direct representatives of the United States to advocate that international bodies adopt approaches consistent with the initiative, provide technical assistance to governments to remove unnecessary barriers to investment in similar programs, and use certain targets to measure the effectiveness of such initiatives.

Date: 2016-03-03
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Veterans Health Administration Spending Transparency and Oversight Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to make an ongoing evaluation, including under contract with a federally funded research and development center, of the costs of VA hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care as compared to the costs of the same care or services furnished in the private sector.

Date: 2016-03-10
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Integrating Behavioral Health Through Technology Act of 2016

This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)to establish a pilot program in up to five states under which incentive payments may be provided to clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and behavioral health facilities for the adoption and use of certified electronic health records technology.

SAMHSA must give priority to states that have implemented a health information exchange that includes behavioral health data.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Health
Veterans Acquiring Community Care Expect Safe Services Act of 2016 or the Veterans ACCESS Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deny or revoke a health care provider's eligibility to provide non-VA health care services to veterans if such provider: (1) was removed from VA employment for violating VA policy, (2) violated medical license requirements, (3) had a VA certification revoked, or (4) violated a law for which a prison term of more than one year may be imposed.

The VA may deny, revoke, or suspend a health care provider's eligibility to provide non-VA health care services if the VA has reasonable belief that such action is necessary to protect the health or safety of veterans and: (1) the provider is under investigation by the medical board of a state in which the provider is licensed or practices, (2) the provider has entered into a settlement agreement for a medical-related disciplinary charge, or (3) the VA otherwise determines that such action is appropriate.

The VA shall suspend a health care provider's eligibility to provide non-VA health care services to veterans if such provider is suspended from VA service.

Date: 2016-05-16
Topic: Health (General)
Subject: Armed forces and national security