zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Critical Care Assessment and Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires studies on critical care health services in the United States by the Institute of Medicine and the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

Directs the HHS Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish the Critical Care Coordinating Council to coordinate the collection and analysis of information on current NIH research relating to the care of the critically ill and injured, identify gaps in such research, and make recommendations to the Director of NIH on how to improve such research.

Directs the Secretary, acting through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, to carry out a demonstration project to improve the quality and efficiency of care provided to critically ill and injured patients receiving care in acute care hospitals.

Date: 2013-07-10
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Trauma Relief Access for Universal Medical Assistance Act - Appropriates to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $100 million, for FY2014-FY2018, for the program of grants to states to promote universal access to trauma care services provided by trauma centers and trauma-related physician specialties.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Information Technology to Enhance Community Health Act of 2013 or MITECH Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to extend payments to encourage the adoption and use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to qualified safety net clinics (QSNCs).

Defines a QSNC as a clinic or network of clinics operated by a private non-profit or public entity at least 30% percent of whose patient volume is attributable to needy individuals.

Defines a "QSNC-based" individual as one who furnishes substantially all of his or her professional services in a QSNC and through use of the clinic's facilities and equipment, including qualified EHRs.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a procedure through which a QSNC may demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology in order to receive incentive payments.

Date: 2013-07-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to state that, except with respect to high-risk or complex medical services requiring direct levels of supervision, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) requires supervision by a physician or non-physician practitioner for Medicare payment for therapeutic hospital outpatient services, that requirement is met if such services are furnished under the physician's or non-physician practitioner's general supervision.

Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a process for designating therapeutic hospital outpatient services for which direct supervision may be required for the entire service or direct supervision during the initiation of the service followed by general supervision for the remainder of the service.

Declares without force or effect in law regarding Medicare requirements for direct supervision by physicians for therapeutic hospital outpatient services a specified restatement and clarification under the final rulemaking changes to the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system and calendar year 2009 payment rates, which was published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2008.

Date: 2013-07-23
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Diabetic Testing Supply Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to deny the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) authority to restrict or eliminate a Medicare beneficiary's option of electing, regardless of delivery method (except by mail), to have diabetic testing supplies delivered to him or her by retail community pharmacies, including one that contracts with a long-term care facility, assisted living facility, group home, or other type of residential setting recognized by the state.

Date: 2013-07-26
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Hospital Price Transparency and Disclosure Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a hospital or ambulatory surgical center to report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding: (1) the frequency of occurrence of certain treatment episodes for the most frequently treated conditions or diseases in each setting, (2) the total number of treatment episodes for which care was furnished by the hospital or center, and (3) the insured and uninsured average charge by the hospital or center for such treatment episode. 

Requires the Secretary to post promptly on the HHS website: (1) such information in a manner that promotes charge comparisons among hospitals and among ambulatory surgical centers, and (2) an appropriate link to other consumer quality information maintained on such site or a site maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Requires a hospital and an ambulatory surgical center to post prominently at each admission site a notice of the availability of such data.

Authorizes civil penalties for violations of this Act.

Date: 2013-07-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Nursing Home Patient Protection and Standards Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require testing programs in skilled nursing facility (SNF) survey and certification techniques to be sufficiently rigorous to ensure that surveyors are adequately prepared to survey and certify SNFs in a consistent and accurate manner.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish requirements: (1) for the qualification and compensation of members of a survey team, and (2) that a state employs an adequate number of individuals as members of survey teams to ensure adequate oversight of SNFs. Requires the Secretary, in addition to the training and testing program, to require that state and federal surveyors regularly complete an adequate number of continuing education courses meeting certain requirements for content and rigor of material.

Requires covered individuals to report to the Secretary instances where surveys fail to report or under report an issue in a facility that could impact the safety or quality of care of its residents. Adds whistleblower protections for such individuals.

Adds penalties for inappropriately influencing a surveyor.

Requires the Secretary to establish an advisory committee on surveys.

Requires survey team supervisors to review each conducted survey to ensure that any identified issues affecting quality of care are consistently and appropriately described and rated.

Date: 2013-07-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare VA Reimbursement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), to establish a Medicare VA reimbursement program under which the HHS Secretary shall reimburse the VA Secretary, from the Medicare trust funds, for any item or service: (1) furnished to a Medicare-eligible veteran by a VA medical facility for the treatment of a non-service-connected condition, and (2) covered by Medicare or determined to be medically necessary by the VA Secretary.

Requires the HHS Secretary to enter a memorandum of understanding with the VA Secretary concerning administration of the program. Specifies required conditions in the memorandum.

Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the program every three years.

Declares the sense of Congress that the amount of funds appropriated to the VA for medical care in any fiscal year should not be reduced as a result of the implementation of the Medicare VA reimbursement program.

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Protect Patients Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to subject to civil monetary penalties any psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric units determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to have in place a discharge planning process meeting certain requirements.

Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter into a system improvement agreement, meeting specified criteria,with a psychiatric hospital or a psychiatric unit that has been determined on multiple occasions not to have such a discharge planning process in place; and (2) appoint temporary management to oversee its operation in the event that the hospital or unit still fails to have a sufficient discharge planning process in place 45 days after entering into such an agreement.

Date: 2013-09-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Critical Access Hospital Flexibility Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to the Medicare rural hospital flexibility program and criteria for designation of critical access hospitals, specifically the requirement to provide not more than 25 acute care inpatient beds for inpatient care for up to 96 hours per patient as an annual average.

Permits a facility that was designated a critical access hospital before enactment of this Act, in the alternative, to satisfy such requirement by providing not more than 20 acute care inpatient beds.

Requires all beds to be occupied for the bed count to meet this critical access hospital criterion.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Creating Access to Rehabilitation for Every Senior (CARES) Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to coverage of extended care services without regard to the three-day prior hospitalization requirement (non-post-hospital extended care services).

Restricts such coverage to non-post-hospital extended care services in a qualified skilled nursing facility.

Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to study the cost of impact of this Act.

Date: 2013-11-19
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
VA Construction Assistance Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the management of the major medical center construction projects of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been an abysmal failure; and (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should fully implement all recommendations made by the Comptroller General in an April 2013 report to improve VA construction procedures.

(Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary, for any construction or alteration project that is a major medical facility project, to: (1) use the services of a medical equipment planner as part of the architectural and engineering firm for the project, (2) develop and use a project management plan to ensure clear and consistent communication among all parties, (3) subject the project to construction peer excellence review, (4) develop a metrics program to enable the monitoring of change-order processing time and goals for the change-order process consistent with the best practices of other federal agencies, and (5) use design-build processes to minimize multiple change orders.

(Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary to procure the services of the Army Corps of Engineers with respect to appointing not less than one special project manager who has experience in managing construction projects that exceed $60 million to oversee such covered projects until completion. Requires a special project manager to submit to specified congressional committees detailed plans of a covered project and progress reports, which shall include an analysis of all changes ordered by the VA and recommendations for improving the operation of any construction-related activity to reduce costs or complete the project in a more timely manner.

Defines "covered projects" to mean each construction project that is a major medical facility project that: (1) was the subject of a report by the Comptroller General (GAO) titled "Additional Actions Needed to Decrease Delays and Lower Costs of Major Medical-Facility Projects," published in April 2013; and (2) has not been activated to accept patients as of this Act's enactment.

(Sec. 5) Prohibits additional funds from being authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), with respect to payment to hospitals for inpatient hospital services, to revise the payment formula for certain "subsection (d) hospitals" under Medicare.

(Generally, a subsection (d) hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS], when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)

Specifies as the kind of subsection (d) hospital to which this payment formula applies any hospital that: (1) first received a payment in 1986 which has an average inpatient length of stay of more than 20 days, and (2) has 80% or more of its annual Medicare inpatient discharges with a principal diagnosis that reflects a finding of neoplastic disease in the 12-month cost reporting period ending in FY1997.

Requires payments for inpatient operating costs, in the case of such hospitals, for cost reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2014, to be based upon the established target amount per discharge, increased for each succeeding cost reporting period by the market basket percentage increase.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Two-Midnight Rule Delay Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing the two-midnight rule to a hospital for which payment is made under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for admissions occurring before October 1, 2014.

(The two-midnight rule allows Medicare coverage of only hospital stays for which a physician admits to a hospital a beneficiary expected to require care that crosses two midnights, but generally denies coverage of care expected to require less than a two-midnight stay.)

Applies such prohibition to Medicare review contracts.

Prohibits Medicare review contractors from denying a claim for inpartient hospital services furnished by a hospital, or inpatient critical access hospital services furnished by a critical access hospital, for discharges occurring before October 1, 2014: (1) for medical necessity due to the length of an inpatient stay in such hospital or due to a determination that the services could have been provided on an outpatient basis; or (2) for requirements for orders, certifications, or recertifications, and associated documentation relating to such matters.

Prohibits the Secretary from increasing the sample of claims selected for prepayment review under the Medicare Probe and Educate program above the number and type established by the Secretary as of November 4, 2013.

Directs the Secretary to develop: (1) a Medicare hospital payment methodology for short inpatient hospital stays; (2) general equivalency maps to link the relevant International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)-10 codes (used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures) to relevant Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, and the relevant CPT codes to relevant ICD-10 codes, in order to permit comparison of inpatient hospital services and hospital outpatient department servives; and (3) a second crosswalk between Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) codes for inpatient hospital services and Ambulatory Payment Class codes for outpatient hospital services.

Date: 2013-12-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare CGM Coverage Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to cover continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) (including a transmitter, receiver, sensors, and test strips required for use) as durable medical equipment (DME).

Date: 2013-12-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), during a specified extension period, to extend the therapy supervision nonenforcement instruction (the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals, as extended for calendar year 2013 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services).

Directs the Secretary to study the impact (including the economic impact and the impact upon hospital staffing needs, if any) on critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals of not extending the therapy supervision nonenforcement instruction.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Stark Administrative Simplification Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to prescribe a single civil monetary penalty as an alternative sanction to those already established for compensation arrangements between a physician (or an immediate family member) and a person or entity that is in violation of the limitation on certain physician referrals (Stark Law) solely due to technical noncompliance.

(The Stark law, or Stark Rule, prohibits physician referrals of certain health services for Medicare and Medicaid patients to a specified entity if the physician, or an immediate family member, has a financial relationship with that entity.)

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to accept the voluntary disclosure of a technically noncomplaint compensation arrangement by a person or entity in violation of the Stark Law under certain circumstances.

Date: 2013-12-16
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Comprehensive Care Payment Innovation Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for bundled payments for integrated care furnished by a qualified entity, during an episode of care for applicable conditions involving a hospitalization, to an individual entitled to, or enrolled for, benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled for benefits under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), but not enrolled under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice Program) or in a PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) program.

Date: 2013-12-19
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Lymphedema Treatment Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to cover certain lymphedema compression treatment items as durable medical equipment.

Date: 2014-01-15
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
VA Timely Mammogram Results Act of 2013 [sic] - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) to establish standards with respect to the timeliness of reporting and providing to patients the results of mammograms performed at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility; and (2) in establishing such standards, to take into consideration the best practices of the private sector.

Date: 2014-02-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to continue to instruct Medicare contractors not to enforce requirements for direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2014.

Date: 2014-02-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on May 20, 2014. 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.

Date: 2014-02-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to the hospital readmission reduction program to exclude from the program admissions related to transplants, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), burns, trauma, psychosis, or substance abuse.

 Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in applying requirements for the excess readmission ratio, to provide for a risk adjustment that will take into account a hospital's proportion of inpatients who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid under SSA title XIX) in order to ensure that hospitals that treat the most vulnerable populations are not unfairly penalized.

Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to study the appropriateness of using a threshold of 30 days for readmissions under the program.

Directs the Secretary, in promulgating regulations for the hospital readmission reduction program, to consider the use of V codes for potential exclusions of cases involving noncompliant patients in promulgating applicable regulations.

Date: 2014-03-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Bundling and Coordinating Post-Acute Care Act of 2014 or the BACPAC Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a single bundled payment for post-acute care services under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).

Defines "PAC physician" as the physician with primary responsibility for supervising delivery to an individual of a post-acute care (PAC) bundle of services between a qualifying discharge and the earlier of: (1) 90 days later, or (2) the date on which the individual is admitted to a hospital to receive services for a condition unrelated to the one for which he or she received the acute care inpatient hospital services.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish a new Transitional Care Management (TCM) code, with respect to geographic adjustments to the physicians' fee schedule, to pay for care management by a PAC physician; or (2) revise and expand the use of existing TCM codes 99495 and 99494.

Date: 2014-05-19
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a two-year pilot program under which: (1) eligible veterans may elect to receive hospital care and services at non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, and (2) the Secretary shall reimburse such facilities for the cost of such care and services.

Defines an "eligible veteran" as a veteran who: (1) is enrolled in the VA's patient enrollment system, and (2) resides in a geographic area selected by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to select: (1) one geographic area within each Veterans Integrated Service Network, and (2) NJ-2 as the geographic area for participation in the pilot program for Veterans Integrated Service Network 4.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) issue a unique identification card to each eligible veteran who elects to receive hospital care and medical services at non-VA facilities under the pilot program, and (2) take steps to ensure that such veterans receive such care and services at such non-VA facilities.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans' Health Care Flexibility Act - Allows veterans who are eligible to receive hospital care and medical services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to elect to receive such care and services at non-VA facilities.

Directs the VA Secretary to contract with non-VA facilities to furnish hospital care and medical services to such veterans.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medicare Transitional Care Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover transitional care services for qualified individuals provided by a transitional care clinician acting as an employee of a qualified transitional care entity, such as a hospital (or a critical care hospital), a home health agency, a primary care practice, a federally qualified health center or rural health clinic, a long-term care facility, a medical home, an appropriate community-based organization, an assisted living center, or an accountable care organization.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Veterans Need Timely Access to Care Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into contracts with such non-VA facilities as may be necessary to furnish hospital care or medical services to any veteran enrolled in the VA's patient enrollment system who: (1) has waited 7 days or longer for an appointment for primary care, or 14 days or longer for an appointment for speciality care, in a VA facility; and (2) elects to receive such care in a non-VA facility.

Date: 2014-05-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2014 - Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to extend the rural community hospital demonstration program from five through 10 years.

Date: 2014-05-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) on a reasonable cost basis for anesthesia services furnished by a physician who is an anesthesiologist in certain rural hospitals in the same manner as payment is made for anesthesia services furnished by a certified registered nurse anesthetist in such hospitals.

Date: 2014-05-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Equal Access to Treatments Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create certain additional groups of covered OPD services that classify separately, from those that do not utilize such a drug, procedures that utilize a drug (other than contrast agents and diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals) that both has a cost above the drug packaging threshold and functions as a supply when used in a diagnostic test or procedure.

Date: 2014-06-12
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Ask Veterans Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with an experienced non-government entity to conduct an annual survey, over a five-year period, of a statistically significant sample of veterans who reside in the geographic area served by each VA medical facility to determine the experiences of such veterans in obtaining hospital care and medical services at such facility.

Requires those surveys to include questions relating to:

 the veteran's ability to obtain hospital care and medical services at the facility in a timely manner, the time that expires between the date the veteran requests an appointment and the date on which the appointment is scheduled, the frequency with which scheduled appointments are cancelled, and the quality of hospital care or medical services the veteran receives. Requires the non-government entity to consult with veterans service organizations in designing and conducting the surveys.

Prohibits the non-government entity from conducting a survey before the Comptroller General (GAO) certifies the survey as scientifically valid and the proposed sample size of veterans as statistically significant.

Directs the Secretary to make the results of the surveys publicly available on the VA's Internet website.

Date: 2014-06-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Restoring Accountability in Veterans Access to Health Care Act - Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to annually determine, and publish in the Federal Register, the five occupations of health care providers for which there is the largest staffing shortage throughout the VA. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, based upon such determination, to recruit and appoint highly qualified health care providers to positions in those occupations.

Requires the Secretary to submit biennial reports assessing the staffing of each VA medical facility, including: (1) information on wait times and workload levels, (2) a plan to fill staffing shortages, and (3) an analysis of succession planning.

Directs the Secretary to implement a clinic management training program to provide in-person, standardized education on health care management to all managers of, and health care providers at, VA medical facilities, including training on how to: (1) manage the schedules of health care providers, (2) optimize the use of technology, (3) use data to meet the demand for health care, (4) use the VA appointment scheduling system, and (5) use physical plant space at VA facilities to ensure efficient flow and privacy for patients and staff.

Date: 2014-06-26
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Jumpstart VA Construction Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a 10-year pilot program of entering into partnership agreements on a competitive basis with appropriate non-federal entities for major authorized construction projects. Directs the Secretary to select 10 major medical facility projects authorized for the construction of a new facility for which: (1) Congress has appropriated funds, (2) the design and development phase is complete, and (3) construction has not begun as of the date of enactment of this Act. Requires four of such projects to be seismic-related projects and four to be community based outpatient clinic-related projects.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) appoint a non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) entity as the project manager of each project; (2) ensure that the project manager implements a project management plan to ensure concise and consistent communication of all parties involved; (3) work in cooperation with each participating non-federal entity to minimize multiple change orders; (4) develop metrics to monitor change order process times, with the intent of expediting any change order; and (5) monitor construction to ensure that it is in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations and VA acquisition regulations and that the costs are reasonable.

Date: 2014-07-09
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act or the NOTICE Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require a hospital with an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to give each individual entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance), whom the hospital classifies for more than 24 hours as an outpatient under observation status or any other similar status, an adequate oral and written notification within 36 hours of that classification which:

 explains the individual's status as an outpatient under observation (or any similar status) and not as an inpatient; explains the reason for that classification; explains the implications of that outpatient status on eligibility for Medicare coverage of items and services as well as cost-sharing requirements; includes the name and title of the hospital staff who gave an oral notification and its date and time; and is signed by individual, if the notification is written, to acknowledge its receipt.

Date: 2014-07-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Expanding Access for Veterans' Service Animals Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) certified therapeutic animals should be provided the same access to facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as service animals, and (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should implement a certification process for therapeutic animals that mitigate the effects of a medically diagnosed mental health condition.

Bars the Secretary from prohibiting any service animal that is allowed to access VA medical facilities from accessing the room of a patient who is receiving inpatient care at such a facility, including with respect to staying overnight. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations to ensure the safety and health of VA employees, patients, and the public, including by requiring that a patient maintain responsibility for such animal.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
VA Credentialing and Privileging Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), within 30 days after a military health care provider requests privileges to provide hospital care or medical services in a VA medical facility, to approve such provider's credentials and grant such privileges, unless the Secretary can show cause for denying such privileges.

Defines "military health care provider" as a member of the Armed Forces who is: (1) a health care provider; (2) serving on active duty in, or in the process of being separated from, the Armed Forces; and (3) privileged to work in a military treatment facility.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit any subsection (d) hospital located in an area which after September 30, 2014, is reclassified from a rural to an urban area from being required to waive the application of a wage index increase in order to be eligible for such reclassification for the first two fiscal years for which the reclassification from rural to urban is effective.

(Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to study and report on the interoperability of computer systems used by hospitals to store and access electronic health records.

Requires the study to explore the ability of hospital computer systems to allow more than one hospital to access and update the electronic health records of the same patient, including: (1) the identity of hospitals that use computer systems with this ability, (2) reasons hospitals do not have computer systems with this ability, and (3) whether this ability allows hospitals to more effectively coordinate patient care.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit any patient encounter of an eligible professional occurring at an ambulatory surgical center from being treated as such an encounter in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful electronic health record (EHR) user.

Terminates this prohibition three years after the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) certifies EHR technology for the ambulatory surgical center setting.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
ACO Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the shared savings program under which groups of service providers and suppliers meeting specified criteria may work together to manage and coordinate care for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries through an accountable care organization (ACO).

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to permit an ACO that has elected a two-sided risk model to: (1) reduce or eliminate cost-sharing under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for some or all primary care services furnished by health care professionals within the ACO network; and (2) develop additional incentive programs to encourage patient engagement and participation in their own wellness.

Prescribes requirements for fostering stronger patient-provider ties.  Directs the Secretary to require a primary care ACO professional to provide the beneficiary with information concerning the ACO program as part of the initial preventive physical examination of the beneficiary.

Directs the Secretary to form a stakeholder group including representatives of ACOs, health care providers, Medicare beneficiaries, and ACO experts.  Requires such parties to advise the Secretary with recommendations to improve the process of ACO-to-beneficiary communication.

Prescribes requirements for regulatory relief for an ACO that has elected a two-sided risk model and for improving care coordinatiion through access to telehealth.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a demonstration project to test the use of payment benchmarks that take into account geographic area differences, (2) study the feasibility of establishing a system of electronic access of service providers and suppliers to in-process and complete patient claims data, (3) establish one or more demonstration programs to test the global capitation payment model, and (4) develop a mechanism to make permanent those ACO-related pilot programs that have been successful.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Hospital Payment Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to sunset on October 1, 2013, the application of budget neutrality on a national basis in the calculation of the Medicare hospital wage index floor.

(PPACA requires application of the budget neutrality requirement associated with the effect of the imputed rural floor on the area wage index under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 through a uniform national, instead of state-by-state, adjustment to the area hospital wage index floor.)

Date: 2013-01-30
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to extend from three to six years the frontier extended stay clinic demonstration project.

Sets April 15, 2014, as the deadline for the report to Congress on the project.

Makes appropriations for FY2013-FY2015 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Rural Health Research/Policy Development within the Office of Rural Health Policy to support frontier extended stay clinics.

Date: 2013-02-07
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Rural Access to Emergency Services Act - Amends title XVI of the Social Security Act to allow certain critical access hospitals and sole community hospitals to use interactive telecommunications systems to satisfy requirements for having a physician available to stabilize an individual with an emergency medical condition.

Limits this allowance to circumstances where: (1) the physician available by such interactive telecommunications system is board certified in emergency medicine or pediatric emergency medicine, and (2) a nurse practitioner or physician assistant is onsite in the emergency department.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward the three-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require hospitals to implement a staffing plan that includes a minimum direct care registered nurse-to-patient ratio by unit, adjustments above the minimum ratio under appropriate circumstances, and compliance with minimum licensed practical nurse staffing requirements. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a national acuity tool to establish nurse staffing requirements above minimum ratios.

Directs the Secretary to adjust Medicare payments to hospitals (including hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] and long-term care hospitals) to cover additional costs incurred in providing services to Medicare beneficiaries that are attributable to compliance with such ratios.

Gives a nurse the right to act as the patient's advocate, including by: (1) initiating action to improve health care or to change decisions or activities that are against the interests and wishes of the patient, and (2) giving the patient an opportunity to make an informed decision about health care before it is provided.

Authorizes a nurse to refuse to accept an assignment if it would violate minimum ratios under this Act or if the nurse is not prepared by education, training, or experience to fulfill the assignment without compromising the safety of any patient or jeopardizing the nurse's license. Prohibits a hospital from: (1) taking specified actions against a nurse based on the nurse's refusal to accept an assignment for such a reason; or (2) discriminating against any patient, employee, or any other individual for good faith complaints or grievances relating to the care, services, or conditions of the hospital or of any affiliated or related facilities. Prohibits actions by hospitals to restrain such rights.

Makes conforming amendments to titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act as well as to requirements for the VA health benefits program.

Includes stipends in the nurse workforce loan repayment and scholarship program. Expands the nurse retention grant program to authorize programs to implement nurse preceptorship and mentorship projects.

Date: 2013-04-16
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Treto Garza Far South Texas Veterans Inpatient Care Act of 2013 - Redesignates the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center in Harlingen, Texas, as the "Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center."

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) ensure that such Center includes a full-service inpatient health care facility, (2) modify the existing facility to meet such requirement, and (3) include in the annual VA strategic capital investment plan a project to expand the Center's capabilities to provide increased inpatient capacity, an urgent care center, and a full range of services for women veterans.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Hospital Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend through FY2014: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital program, and (2) increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Department of Veterans Affairs Disease Reporting and Oversight Act of 2013 - Requires the director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network, within 24 hours after confirming the presence of a notifiable infectious disease (any infectious disease that is either on a specified published list of nationally notifiable diseases or that is covered by a provision of law of a state that requires the reporting of infectious diseases) at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility under that director's jurisdiction, to notify: (1) the Central Office of the VA; (2) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (3) the state and county in which the facility is located; (4) each individual at the facility who has contracted the disease or is at risk of doing so, as well as the individual's next of kin, the individual's primary health care provider, and the county in which the individual resides; and (5) each VA employee of such facility. Requires such director to comply with any earlier notification required by the state concerned.

Requires such director to: (1) confirm receipt of such notification, (2) develop and implement an action plan to manage and control the potential spread of the disease, and (3) keep records of any such notifications for at least 10 years. Requires an annual report from the VA Inspector General to Congress on directors' compliance with the requirements of this Act. Provides for Inspector General enforcement and appropriate director disciplinary action with respect to such requirements.

Directs the Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to issue a directive to the VHA's pathology team, infection prevention team, facilities management team, and other appropriate VHA groups on the actions to be taken when a notifiable infectious disease is discovered in a VHA facility.

Date: 2013-05-07
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of such hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency and post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2014.

Date: 2013-05-15
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require alignment of updates for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services under a revised prospective payment system (PPS) with updates for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services.

Revises requirements for the reporting and applying of quality measure data by ASCs and hospital OPDs.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an ASC value-based purchasing program under which each ASC that the Secretary determines meets (or exceeds) performance standards established, with respect to selected quality measures, for the performance period for a calendar year is eligible for shared savings in the form of a payment increase determined according to a specified formula.

Revises requirements for the composition of the expert outside advisory panel the Secretary is required to consult during the annual review of the clinical integrity of the groups and payment weights in the PPS for hospital OPD services. Requires the panel to include suppliers subject to the PPS as well as at least one ASC representative.

Requires the Secretary, when excluding from a final rule updating ASC lists a procedure whose inclusion was requested during the public comment period, to cite in the final rule specific criteria based on which the procedure was excluded. Requires the Secretary also to identify the peer reviewed research or the evidence upon which the exclusion is based if certain of those criteria are cited for it. Prohibits the Secretary from using or citing as a criterion or a basis for an exclusion that the procedure can only be reported using a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) unlisted surgical procedure code.

Date: 2013-06-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health