zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Construction Reform, Authorization, and Choice Improvement Act of 2015

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) enter into an agreement with an appropriate non-VA entity to provide full project management services for a super construction project; and (2) use industry standards, standard designs, and best practices in carrying out medical facility construction.

A super construction project is one for the construction, alteration, or acquisition of a medical facility involving a total expenditure of more than $100 million (but does not include an acquisition by exchange).

The VA is prohibited from:

 obligating or expending funds for advance planning or design for any super construction project until 60 days after congressional notification, obligating funds for a major medical facility project or a super construction project by more than 10% of the amount approved by law unless certain congressional committees each approve the obligation, and using bid savings amounts or funds for other than their original purpose before 30 days after notifying such committees unless each committee approves the obligation. The VA must complete a master plan for each VA medical facility meeting specified requirements to inform investment decisions and funding requests over a 10-year period for construction projects at the facility.

The 40-mile distance requirement for a veteran to use a non-VA medical facility under the veterans choice program of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 means 40 miles calculated on the basis of distance traveled.

The VA may carry out the following major medical facility projects in FY2015 (with each project not to exceed specified amounts):

 construction of a community living center, outpatient clinic, renovated domiciliary, and renovation of existing buildings in Canandaigua, New York; seismic corrections to the mental health and community living center in Long Beach, California; seismic correction of 12 buildings in West Los Angeles, California; and construction of a spinal cord injury building and seismic corrections in San Diego, California. VA authority to make medical services and hospital care available for eligible veterans through agreements with non-VA entities shall now be permanent.

The sense of Congress regarding the Veterans Choice Fund is revised.

Date: 2015-05-15
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require states to have in place a system for the electronic verification of visits conducted as part of personal care services or else have their federal medical assistance percentage reduced by specified amounts.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House passed version is repeated here.)

Construction Authorization and Choice Improvement Act

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out the replacement of the existing VA Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, in FY2015 in an amount not to exceed $900 million.

(Sec. 3) The 40-mile distance requirement for a veteran to use a non-VA medical facility under the veterans choice program of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 shall be construed to allow a veteran to access a non-VA medical facility if:

 the veteran resides more than 40 miles driving distance from the closest VA facility; or the veteran faces an unusual or excessive burden in traveling to such VA medical facility not only because of geographical challenges (as under current law) but also because of environmental factors, such as roads that are not accessible to the general public, traffic, or hazardous weather, because of a medical condition that impacts the ability to travel, or because of other factors as the Secretary determines.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Comprehensive Care Payment Innovation Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services 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: 2015-05-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Promoting Access, Competition, and Equity Act of 2015 or the PACE Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to ease application criteria and procedures for physician-owned hospitals to expand their facilities. Under current law, expansion of physician-owned hospitals is subject to certain limitations, such as those regarding the extent and frequency of expansion and requiring community output. The bill suspends these limitations with respect to applications for expansion filed before October 1, 2019.

Following the end of this suspension period, hospitals with consistently high quality ratings are included among those hospitals that may apply to expand their facilities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not alter the methodology for computing a hospital's quality rating before October 1, 2019.

With respect to hospitals under development as of March 23, 2010, the bill extends to May 1, 2015, the date by which a hospital may qualify for an exception to the ownership or investment prohibition on physician self-referrals.

The bill also: (1) exempts physician-owned hospitals from specified documentation and coding adjustments, and (2) extends reductions in certain inflationary increases associated with Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Medicare Advantage through Innovation and Transparency for Seniors Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) with respect to criteria for qualifying as a meaningful user of electronic health records (meaningful EHR user). For any payment year after 2015 any patient encounter of an eligible professional occurring at an eligible ambulatory surgical center shall not be treated as one in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful EHR user.

(Sec. 3) HHS shall establish a three-year demonstration program to test the use of value-based insurance design methodologies under the eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) plans offered by MA organizations under Medicare part C.

"Value-based insurance design methodology" is one for identifying specific prescription medications, and clinical services payable under Medicare, for which copayments, coinsurance, or both would improve the management of specific chronic clinical conditions because of the high value and effectiveness of such medications and services for such specific chronic clinical conditions, as approved by HHS.

 HHS may expand the duration and scope of the demonstration program to an appropriate extent if specified requirements are met.

(Sec. 4) Payment amounts are prescribed for infusion drugs and biologicals furnished through durable medical equipment (DME) on or after January 1, 2017.

(Sec. 5) It is the sense of Congress that HHS:

 has incorrectly interpreted the determination of blended benchmark amounts as prohibiting the provision of any Medicare quality incentive payments with respect to MA plans that exceed the payment benchmark cap for the area served by those plans; and should immediately apply quality incentive payments with respect to such MA plans without regard to limits. (Sec. 6) $220 million shall be available to the Medicare Improvement Fund during and after FY2020.

(Sec. 7) DME competitive acquisition programs shall not cover infusion drugs and biologicals.

Date: 2015-05-22
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
LTCH Technical Correction Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, as amended by other specified federal law, with respect to the five-year moratorium beginning April 1, 2014, on the establishment of long-term care (LTC) hospitals and LTC satellite facilities and on the increase of LTC hospital beds in existing LTC hospitals or satellite facilities for purposes of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct).

A technical correction is made to an exception to this moratorium for certain LTC hospitals that:

 began their qualifying period for Medicare payment on or before April 1, 2014; have a binding written agreement as of that date with an outside, unrelated party for the actual construction, renovation, lease, or demolition for an LTC hospital, and have expended, before that date, at least 10% of the project's estimated cost (or, if less, $ 2.5 million); or have obtained on or before that date an approved certificate of need in a state where one is required. This bill applies the exception to any similar moratorium.

(Sec. 3) Amends SSAct title XVIII to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the prospective payment system for inpatient hospital services furnished by an LTC hospital for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2016, to reduce the standard federal payment rate as if the estimated aggregate amount of high cost outlier payments for standard federal payment rate discharges for each fiscal year would be equal to 8% of estimated aggregate payments for standard federal payment rate discharges for that fiscal year.

Directs HHS to set the fixed loss amount for high cost outlier payments so that the estimated aggregate amount of high cost outlier payments made for standard federal payment rate discharges for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2016, shall be equal to 99.0625% of 8% of estimated aggregate payments for standard federal payment rate discharges for each such fiscal year.

Date: 2015-05-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services 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 2015.

Date: 2015-06-24
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare Patient Access to Cancer Treatment Act of 2015

 Expresses the sense of Congress that, to ensure the future of community cancer care, Medicare reimbursement should be equal for the same service provided to a cancer patient regardless of whether the service is delivered in the hospital outpatient department (OPD) or physician's office.

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the prospective payment system (PPS) for OPD services to require that the payment amount under PPS and physician fee schedules for covered OPD cancer services be a budget neutral combination of the amount otherwise payable under the PPS and the amount otherwise payable under the physician fee schedule for such services.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the prohibition against, and so permit, administrative or judicial review of any estimate used and any period selected for determining additional Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments to subsection (d) hospitals.

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

Date: 2015-07-10
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories. (A competitive bidding program has replaced the use of established fee schedule amounts to determine payments under Medicare for certain durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs.)

Date: 2015-07-27
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Strengthening DSH and Medicare Through Subsidy Recapture and Payment Reform Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to alter the method of determining disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments under the Medicare program. (DSH payments compensate hospitals for the higher operating costs they incur in treating a large share of low-income patients.) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must estimate the aggregate amount of payments to be made for each fiscal year; if the estimated amount exceeds $3.3 billion, then each DSH payment shall be made according to its ratio to that limit.

CMS must make supplementary DSH payments to certain hospitals located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.

The bill also amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify provisions related to overpayments made to taxpayers for tax credits under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Under current law, if the advance payments to a taxpayer for premium tax credits under PPACA exceed the allowable credit, the tax imposed shall be increased by the amount of such excess, subject to certain income-based limitations. The bill eliminates these income-based limitations.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare Crosswalk Hospital Code Development Act of 2015

This bill amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) to establish a crosswalk between Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes and Medicaid Severity-Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) codes for similar hospital services. (A crosswalk shows users where to put data from one scheme into a different scheme.)

Specifically, CMS must develop HCPCS versions for MS-DRGs that is similar to the Internal Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) codes for such MS-DRGs such that, to the extent possible, the MS-DRG assignment shall be similar for a claim coded with the HCPCS version as an identical claim coded with an ICD-10-PCS code.

CMS must develop and publish a freely available HCPCS/MS-DRG definitions manual and software.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Increased Authorizations for the Denver VA Medical Center Construction Project Act

This bill amends the Construction Authorization and Choice Improvement Act to increase the amount authorized for the replacement of the existing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Denver, Colorado.

In the case of any super construction project (expenditures exceeding $100 million) the VA shall enter into an agreement with an appropriate non-VA federal entity to provide full project management services for the super construction project, including management over the project design, acquisition, construction, and contract changes.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 is amended to reduce the aggregate amount of specified VA awards and bonuses for FY2016. (Existing award levels are maintained for each of FY2017-FY2024.)

The VA shall reduce the retirement annuity benefits of a senior executive employee who: (1) is convicted of a felony that influenced the individual's performance while employed in the senior executive position, and (2) is afforded notice and an opportunity for a hearing conducted by another federal department or agency.

The VA may issue an order directing a VA employee to repay in full or in part any award or bonus if: (1) the VA determines such repayment appropriate pursuant to specified regulations, and (2) the employee is afforded notice and an opportunity for a hearing conducted by another federal department or agency.

A VA decision regarding a repayment is final and not subject to review by other federal agencies or courts.

Date: 2015-09-24
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements for payment under the Medicare program for ambulance services furnished by critical access hospitals (CAHs), which are rural community hospitals that meet specified criteria and receive special payment.

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

Date: 2015-09-24
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Putting Patients and Providers Ahead of Compressed Regulatory Timelines Act of 2015

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

Under current law, certain hospitals, Medicare Advantage organizations, and professionals participating in Medicare are subject to negative payment adjustments if they fail to comply with established requirements for EHR use. The bill eliminates these penalties and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse such providers for payments that they would have received within a specified timeframe had such penalties not been applied.

Date: 2015-10-21
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
VA Health Center Management Stability and Improvement Act

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

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

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

(Sec. 5) The VA shall ensure that its directives and policies apply uniformly to each VA office or facility.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to include skilled nursing facilities among the types of health care providers who may request from a telecommunications carrier under the Universal Service Fund the necessary telecommunications and information services to serve persons who reside in rural areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to rates charged for similar services in urban areas.

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs Seismic Safety and Construction Authorization Act

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

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

Such projects may only be carried out using specified funds.

Date: 2016-01-06
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on December 6, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Faster Care for Veterans Act of 2016

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

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

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

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

Date: 2016-01-08
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish, with respect to hospitals not located in a frontier state, a floor on the area wage adjustment factor for hospital inpatient and outpatient services covered under Medicare. (Such a floor already applies with respect to hospitals located in frontier states.)

Date: 2016-02-02
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act of 2016 or the PROP Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude certain pain-related measures for purposes of calculating incentive payments under the value-based purchasing program (VBP). (VBP is a program that links hospital payments to the quality of care provided.)

Specifically, VPB measures shall not include measures based on a patient's assessment of: (1) the patient's need for pain medicine during a hospital stay; (2) how often, during the stay, the patient's pain was well controlled; or (3) how often, during the stay, hospital staff did everything they could to help manage the patient's pain.

Date: 2016-02-09
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Critical Access and Rural Equity Act of 2016 or the CARE Act of 2016

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

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

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

Current law further requires a facility to provide certain 24-hour emergency care services as a condition of designation as a CAH. The bill allows CMS to waive this requirement with respect to a facility that coordinates with a nearby facility or hospital that provides such services.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs Seismic Safety and Constructions Authorization Act 

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

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

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

 a line item accounting of construction management expenditures, future amounts budgeted for construction management, a justification for expenditures and future amounts, and any agreement entered into by the VA regarding the Army Corps of Engineers providing project services.

Date: 2016-02-23
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Access to Substance Abuse Treatment Act of 2016

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

Priority for grants must be given to centers and programs: (1) serving communities with a greater incidence of substance abuse; or (2) providing, or proposing to incorporate, medication-assisted treatment. Services must be delivered in a manner reflecting person-centered care.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
VA Scheduling Accountability Act

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

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

The VA shall ensure that its directives and policies apply uniformly to each VA office or facility.

Date: 2016-04-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Vet Connect Act of 2016

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

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Hospital Regulatory Relief Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permanently extend the application by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of an instruction against the enforcement of certain physician supervision requirements with respect to outpatient therapeutic services in critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals.

Date: 2016-05-03
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Requiring Accountability and Inspections for Dining Service Act

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

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

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

The Veterans Integrated Service Network of a facility in which a kitchen or food service area is closed shall enter into a food service contract with a General Services Administration-approved vendor to provide food at such facility.

Date: 2016-05-13
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The VA shall:

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

Date: 2016-05-17
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016

TITLE I--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART A

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

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

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

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

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

TITLE II--PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEDICARE PART B

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

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

TITLE III--OTHER MEDICARE PROVISIONS

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

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

(Sec. 303) CMS shall: (1) request information and recommendations from stakeholders on information included in the Welcome to Medicare package, and (2) update the information included in the package accordingly.

Date: 2016-05-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Behavioral Health Infrastructure Improvement Act

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

The bill also establishes a grant program for states to establish or support a behavioral health assistance office or ombudsman to coordinate behavioral health and other assistance for Medicaid beneficiaries. The office or ombudsman shall: (1) track, quantify, and report on problems and inquiries encountered by Medicaid beneficiaries with respect to access to behavioral health services; (2) educate Medicaid beneficiaries on their rights and responsibilities to such access; and (3) assist Medicaid beneficiaries in the enforcement of those rights and in accessing services.

Date: 2016-05-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
VA Transparency Enhancement Act of 2016

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

 the number of patients who contracted an infection as result of surgery at such medical facility, including a brief summary of each case; and the number of, and reasons for, scheduled surgeries that were cancelled or transferred to another facility and the subsequent number of days that each patient had to wait for surgery. The VA shall submit such reports and a summary of such reports to Congress and publish them on its website.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Expanding Care for Female Veterans Act

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

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

Date: 2016-06-09
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
This bill amends the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013 to specify that certain provisions of current law regarding the calculation of hospital length of stay apply to certain long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) that are permitted, under Medicare, to establish new LTCHs or increase LTCH beds. Specifically, with respect to such LTCHs, two types of patients shall be excluded from the calculation of LTCH length of stay under Medicare: (1) those for whom payment is made under a Medicare Advantage plan, and (2) those for whom payment is made at the site-neutral payment rate.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Continuing Access to Hospitals Act of 2016 or the CAH Act of 2016

This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 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 2016.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission must report on the effect of extending this instruction on: (1) Medicare beneficiaries, and (2) hospital staffing needs.

Date: 2016-07-01
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to remove certain hospitals specializing in neoplastic disease from their classification as long-term care hospitals for purposes of Medicare payment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall make payments to these hospitals under reasonable cost-based reimbursement rules rather than under the prospective payment system.

Date: 2016-07-01
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Sustaining Healthcare Integrity and Fair Treatment Act of 2016

This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, among other Acts, to modify provisions related to long-term care hospital (LTCH) payments under Medicare.

(Sec. 101) The bill amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to revise the applicability of certain Medicare payment rules exempting LTCHs from negative payment adjustments for admissions from certain co-located hospitals beyond specified thresholds. These rules shall apply for an additional period beginning on October 1, 2016.

(Sec. 102) In addition, the bill amends the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013 to expand to all LTCHs the application of a payment rule that requires the exclusion of certain patients for purposes of calculating length of stay. Under current law, the payment rule applies only to a hospital that was classified as an LTCH as of a specified date.

(Sec. 103) The bill removes certain hospitals specializing in neoplastic disease from their classification as LTCHs for purposes of Medicare payment.

(Sec. 104) With specified exceptions, current law applies certain payment limits to inpatient services for LTCHs that do not meet specified discharge requirements. The bill: (1) establishes a new temporary exception to these limits for certain spinal cord specialty hospitals, and (2) expands an existing temporary exception with respect to certain discharges involving severe wounds.

(Sec. 201) Current law allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to impose a temporary moratorium on the enrollment of new providers under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) if necessary to combat fraud, waste, or abuse. With specified exceptions, the bill prohibits payment under these programs to new providers in areas subject to such temporary moratorium.

Date: 2016-07-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Better Informing Veterans' Healthcare Decisions Act

This bill urges the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that preventing veteran suicide and providing veterans access to mental health care is its top reform priority.

The VA shall, every 30 days, determine and provide to the Department of Defense, with respect to the previous year:

 the average national wait times (in days) for veterans enrolled in the VA health care system to receive appointments for mental health care and primary health care at VA medical facilities, the average time for the VA to process a claim for disability compensation, and the average time for the VA to decide an appeal of such a claim. The VA shall place a sign displaying the most current such times in a conspicuous location at each career counselor or career assistance advisor office.

Date: 2016-07-11
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fairness for Our Hospitals Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow a hospital that meets specified criteria and is located in a state with no rural areas to be considered a Medicare-dependent hospital. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall establish and implement a process for reimbursing impacted hospitals for any underpayments resulting from this bill's implementation.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Improving Standards in VA Contracting Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop uniform policy guidelines for officials, including contracting officers, of the VA's Real Property Service of the Office of Construction and Facilities Management for evaluating potential lessors of property on which to build medical facilities.

Such guidelines shall include evaluating the potential lessor's: (1) past performance on federal contracts, (2) ability to control the property, and (3) conduct of proper due diligence prior to submitting an offer to enter a lease with the VA.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016

This bill delays the date upon which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may make Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for hospitals publicly available.

With respect to such ratings, HHS shall: (1) make publicly available detailed information on the methodology used, (2) have the validity and accuracy of such methodology independently confirmed, and (3) provide a public comment period of specified duration.

HHS may not make the ratings publicly available until the later of July 31, 2017, or the date upon which the bill's requirements are satisfied.

In the event that such ratings have already been published on a specified website, HHS shall remove them and not republish them until the bill's requirements have been satisfied.

Date: 2016-07-25
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016

This bill delays the date upon which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may make Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for hospitals publicly available.

With respect to such ratings, HHS shall: (1) make publicly available detailed information on the methodology used, (2) have the validity and accuracy of such methodology independently confirmed, and (3) provide a public comment period of specified duration.

HHS may not make the ratings publicly available until the later of July 31, 2017, or the date upon which the bill's requirements are satisfied.

In the event that such ratings have already been published on a specified website, HHS shall remove them and not republish them until the bill's requirements have been satisfied.

Date: 2016-09-20
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health