zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act with respect to determining entitlement to and the amount of any monthly benefit, including any lump-sum death payment, payable under OASDI on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of any individual. Deems such an individual to have been paid a wage (according to a specified formula) during each month during which the individual was engaged for at least 80 hours in providing care to a dependent relative without monetary compensation for up to five years of such service. Makes this Act inapplicable in the case of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a larger benefit or payment would be payable without its application.

Date: 2011-06-22
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Social welfare
Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act of 2011 - Permits a home health agency to determine the most appropriate skilled professional to conduct the initial assessment visit and to complete the comprehensive assessment for an individual who: (1) is eligible for home health services under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; but (2) does not require skilled nursing care as long as that skilled service is initially ordered by the physician and, in the case of a referral order that includes occupational therapy, the order also includes physical therapy or speech language pathology.

Date: 2011-07-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract or agreement with each state home to pay for nursing home care provided in the home to certain veterans with service-connected disabilities. Requires such payment to be based on a methodology, developed by the Secretary in consultation with the home state, to adequately reimburse the state home for the care provided under such contract or agreement. (Current law requires payment at the lesser of the prevailing rate in the geographic area for non-VA nursing homes or the daily cost of care, both of which are determined by the Secretary.)

Date: 2011-07-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Athletic Trainers' Equal Access to Medicare Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) access to outpatient occupational and physical therapy services provided incident to a physician's professional services if furnished by an educated or credentialed therapist who does not have a license; and (2) coverage of certified athletic trainer services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of Medicare, including those provided in rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers.

Date: 2011-08-01
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Oral Health Rehabilitative Enhancement Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit physical therapy to be furnished under the Medicare program to individuals under the care of a dentist.

Date: 2011-08-19
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Direct M.D. Care Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program of pilot projects under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act under which the Secretary reimburses a qualified direct primary care medical home practice, using a monthly fee-based payment methodology. Prohibits any pilot project from being established with respect to a medical home if the monthly fee for an enrolled individual exceeds $100.

Date: 2011-11-02
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a five-year pilot program, in five rural states, under which the Secretary trains and then assigns a specific Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) case manager to each veteran diagnosed with traumatic brain injury who is receiving care in a VA facility in that state.

Date: 2011-11-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the face-to-face encounter framework in hospice care. Allows a clinical nurse specialist, physician assistant, or other health professional (in addition to a hospice physician or a nurse practitioner, as under current law) to conduct the face-to-face encounter with an individual to determine continued eligibility for hospice care before the first 60-day (currently, 180-day) recertification period and each subsequent recertification period. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Hospice Payment Reform demonstration program to test any revisions to the methodology for determining payment rates for routine home care and other hospice care services. Sets at every three years the frequency of surveys of certified hospice program entities.

Date: 2011-11-22
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in making payment under the prospective payment system (PPS) to certain long-term care (LTC) hospitals for discharges in rate years beginning on and after October 1, 2011, to make payment adjustments for cases identified as: (1) meeting or exceeding the fixed high episode efficient case threshold, and (2) meeting or below the episode outlier case threshold. Directs the Secretary to adopt rules which identify the predicted probability of those Medicare beneficiaries admitted as inpatients to LTC hospitals from a subsection (d) hospital for whom the payment for services received during an episode of hospital care is predicted to be less than if they had remained in the subsection (d) hospital (episode efficient cases). (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient PPS when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish separate thresholds for high episode efficient cases (Medicare beneficiary discharges with the highest 10% probability of being episode efficient cases) and episode outlier cases (Medicare beneficiary discharges with the lowest 10% probability of being episode efficient cases) for LTC hospitals located in a rural area, and (2) establish separate high episode efficient case and episode outlier case thresholds for LTC hospitals located in urban areas for beneficiaries discharged from a subsection (d) hospital which accounts for more than 25% of the Medicare beneficiaries discharged from subsection (d) hospitals in a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Establishes a two-year moratorium, beginning December 29, 2012, on the establishment of new LTC hospitals and LTC satellite facilities and on the increase in beds in existing LTC hospitals or satellite facilities.

Date: 2011-11-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Senior Medicare Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for plan year 2013 and subsequent plan years with respect to payments to Medicare + Choice organizations for original fee-for-service benefits under a specialized Medicare Advantage plan for special needs individuals that: (1) offers integrated Medicare and Medicaid services under contract with the state agency under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; and (2) is offered by a Medicare Advantage organization that as of January 1, 2010, had a contract with such state Medicaid agency that participated in the "Demonstrations Serving Those Dually-Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid." Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to apply the frailty adjustment under payment rules for programs of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) rather than those which would otherwise apply for plan enrollees.

Date: 2011-12-15
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Comprehensive Cancer Care Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of comprehensive cancer care planning services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible entities to improve the quality of: (1) graduate and postgraduate training of physicians, nurses, and other health care providers in developing cancer care plans for, and communicating such plans to, patients; and (2) continuing professional education regarding the development and communication of written cancer care plans that outline a system of care that coordinates active treatment and palliative care. Requires the Secretary to provide investment, through existing programs, for research on topics related to cancer care planning and coordination, symptom management, palliative care, and comprehensive survivorship care.

Date: 2011-12-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Hospice Care Access Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to recognize attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients.

Date: 2012-01-25
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, as medical and other health services, complex rehabilitation technology items designed and configured for a specific qualified individual to meet that individual's unique: (1) medical, physical, and functional needs related to a medical condition; and (2) capacities for basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) designate complex rehabilitation technology items (excluding adaptive equipment to operate motor vehicles or certain prosthetic devices and orthotics); and (2) establish eligibility criteria for them. Prescribes requirements for payments for CRT items. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for clinical conditions for CRT item payment as well as quality standards for suppliers of such items. Directs the Secretary to establish a Healthcare Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding subset that uses specified HCPCS codes for CRT items. Requires payment for replacement of a CRT item (or any part of one), without regard to certain continuous use or useful lifetime restrictions established for items of durable medical equipment (DME), if a qualified ordering practitioner determines that a replacement item (or part) is necessary.

Date: 2012-04-18
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a tax deduction from gross income for long-term care insurance premiums, (2) include long-term care insurance in employee benefit cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements, (3) allow a tax credit for certain long-term care costs, and (4) set forth certain consumer protections for long-term care insurance contracts.

Date: 2012-06-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Taxation
Home Health Care Access Protection Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services and adjustments to it for case mix changes. Requires for 2013 and each subsequent year that any evaluation of case mix changes and any such adjustment be made using standards developed consistent with specified processes, taking certain criteria into account. Directs the Secretary to convene a Technical Advisory Group to advise on the development of such standards.

Date: 2012-06-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to declare that nothing in it or in the Public Health Service Act shall prevent or restrict, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall not implement or enforce any law to prevent or restrict, the importation, distribution, or sale of investigational drugs or devices for terminally ill patients. Prohibits the FDA Commissioner from requiring the disclosure, collection, or reporting of certain information concerning such drugs or devices, except that the sponsor of a clinical trial may voluntarily disclose, collect, or report such information to the FDA.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Transitional Care Act of 2012 - 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, a long-term care facility, a medical home, an appropriate community-based organization, an assisted living center, or an accountable care organization.

Date: 2012-09-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt from the cap on payments for hospice care any care furnished on or after November 1, 2004, under the Medicare program by a qualified hospice program. Qualifies a hospice program under this Act if: (1) at least 50% of the shares of its common stock are owned by a minority individual or group of minority individuals (African-Americans, American Indians, Asian-Americans, or Latin-Americans), and (2) at least 75% of the individuals electing to participate in the program reside in a county or parish half of whose population consists of minority individuals or for which the average per capita income is the lowest quantile of counties in the state in which the hospice program is located. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to recalculate and reconcile payments under part A (Hospital Insurance) of the Medicare program for qualified hospice care furnished between November 1, 2004, and the date of enactment of this Act if the current cap was applied.

Date: 2012-09-20
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Adult Day Services Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover certified adult day services furnished in a certified adult day services center and meeting specified requirements; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase by 3% the payment amount otherwise effective for such services furnished in a rural area on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2016.

Date: 2012-09-20
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Caring for an Aging America Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include geriatrics and gerontology within the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of the National Health Service Corps.

Date: 2012-12-27
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services. Allows payment for home health services to Medicare beneficiaries by: (1) a nurse practitioner, (2) a clinical nurse specialist working in collaboration with a physician in accordance with state law, (3) a certified nurse-midwife, or (4) a physician assistant under a physician's supervision.

Date: 2011-01-31
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2011 - Provides hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for any illness acquired by veterans and family members who were stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, while the water there was contaminated by volatile organic compounds, including known human carcinogens and probable human carcinogens. Makes the provision of such care and services for family members dependent on appropriations for such purpose. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to reimburse the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the cost of such care and services. Requires the DOD Secretary to merge and consolidate all commissary and exchange stores into a single system that, by no later than the end of FY2015, operates on a self-sufficient basis without the need for financial support through appropriated funds. Prohibits any DOD funds from being obligated or expended after FY2015 for commissary and exchange stores.

Date: 2011-02-03
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fostering Independence Through Technology Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct pilot projects under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for the purpose of providing incentives to home health agencies to utilize home monitoring and communications technology.

Date: 2011-03-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Health Care Access Protection Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services and adjustments to it for case mix changes. Requires for 2012 and each subsequent year that any evaluation of case mix changes and any such adjustment be made using standards developed consistent with specified processes, taking certain criteria into account. Directs the Secretary to convene a Technical Advisory Group to advise on the development of such standards.

Date: 2011-03-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board charged with developing and submitting to the President, for Congress to consider, detailed proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.

Date: 2011-03-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the face-to-face encounter framework in hospice care. Allows a clinical nurse specialist, physician assistant, or other health professional (in addition to a hospice physician or a nurse practitioner, as under current law) to conduct the face-to-face encounter with an individual to determine continued eligibility for hospice care before the first 60-day (currently, 180-day) recertification period and each subsequent recertification period. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Hospice Payment Reform demonstration program to test any revisions to the methodology for determining payment rates for routine home care and other hospice care services. Sets at every three years the frequency of surveys of certified hospice program entities.

Date: 2011-04-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
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: 2011-04-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the cap on outpatient physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services of the type furnished by a physician or as an incident to physicians' services.

Date: 2011-04-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Hospice Care Access Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to recognize attending physician assistants as attending physicians to serve hospice patients.

Date: 2011-05-05
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
National Childhood Brain Tumor Prevention Network Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish, administer, and coordinate within the National Center for Environmental Health a National Childhood Brain Tumor Prevention Network to: (1) provide grants for research on the causes of and risk factors associated with childhood brain tumors; (2) assemble a panel of experts to provide ongoing guidance and recommendations on research funded by the Network, including on a common study design and standard protocols; and (3) designate a central laboratory to collect, analyze, and aggregate data with respect to research funded by the Network and to make such data and analysis available to researchers.

Date: 2011-05-24
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to long-term care hospitals to specify: (1) the criteria for preadmission patient screening and for admission following a face-to-face evaluation by a physician, (2) core services and patient care requirements, and (3) discharge criteria. Reduces from 48 hours to 24 hours of admission the deadline by which long-term care hospitals must validate that patients meet admission criteria.

Date: 2011-08-02
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to make it the duty of the Assistant Secretary of Aging, acting through the designee responsible for elder abuse prevention and services, to: (1) establish best practices for state-based enforcement of a Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights through a Plan for Enforcement, (2) assist states with the development of such Bills of Rights and Plans for Enforcement to support the shift from institutional care to home and community-based long-term care (LTC) services, and (3) develop and use a process for review and approval of state Home Care Consumer Bills of Rights and Plans for Enforcement. Establishes additional state plan requirements,	including that a state have a Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights and a Plan for Enforcement. Requires the Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights to address a home care consumer's right to: (1) basic safety; (2) information access; (3) choice, participation, and self-determination; (4) care and services provided in a way that promotes each consumer's dignity and individuality; and (5) redress of grievances. Requires the Bill of Rights also to address the role and responsibilities that fiduciaries may have in securing these rights of home care consumers. Requires that any allotment for vulnerable elder rights protection activities be used to develop a State Home Care Consumer Bill of Rights and Plan for Enforcement. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a National Adult Protective Services Resources Center to: (1) improve the capacity of state and local adult protective services programs, and (2) coordinate with the Home Care Ombudsman Program and Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program to protect home care consumers and residents of LTC facilities most effectively. Authorizes appropriations for State Home Care Ombudsman Programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary of Aging to award competitive grants to states for such Programs. Requires the Assistant Secretary of Aging, in implementing Aging and Disability Resource Centers in all states, to: (1) provide quality assurance information about home and community-based LTC programs, service providers, and resources when referring consumers to them; and (2) identify quality assurance standards for such programs, providers, and resources. Requires the designated state agency, in promoting a comprehensive, coordinated state system enabling older individuals to receive LTC in home and community-based settings, to provide for distribution of quality assurance information about home and community-based LTC programs, service providers, and resources.

Date: 2011-10-20
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Improving Care for Vulnerable Older Citizens through Workforce Advancement Act of 2011 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to carry out a demonstration program awarding grants to eligible entities to carry out demonstration projects that focus on care coordination and service delivery redesign for older individuals with chronic illness or at risk of institutional placement.

Date: 2011-12-13
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.

Date: 2012-02-01
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Long-Term Care Insurance Consumer Right-to-Know Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to review and describe, and report to Congress on: (1) disclosure requirements for long-term care insurance policies under the long-term care insurance model regulation and Act promulgated by NAIC (as adopted as of October 2000 and December 2006); (2) disclosure requirements for long-term care insurance policies under state laws; (3) differences in long-term care services, providers, and settings among states; and (4) key issues to consider in the development of a proposed model form for marketing long-term care insurance policies. Directs the Secretary to request NAIC to: (1) establish a Working Group to develop and issue a model disclosure form for marketing long-term care insurance policies, and (2) amend the model regulation and Act to require the use of such form. Requires: (1) the Secretaries of the Treasury and HHS to promulgate regulations requiring issuers of a qualified long-term care insurance contract under certain tax-qualified or Medicaid Partnership policies to use such form for marketing such contracts, and (2) each state to require any issuer of a long-term care insurance policy to use such form when marketing such a policy in the state.

Date: 2012-05-23
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Long Term Care Insurance Integrity Act of 2012 - Requires an insurance issuer that offers a long-term care insurance plan to implement claims dispute resolution procedures that: (1) are designed to expeditiously resolve disputes; (2) provide for alternative means of dispute resolution involving independent third-party review by entities that are mutually acceptable to the issuer and the enrollee, with the reviewer's decision being binding on the issuer; and (3) ensure that an enrollee is eligible to obtain claims review only to the extent and in the manner provided for in the applicable insurance contract. Allows an enrollee to appeal the decision of an independent reviewer to an appropriate state court as provided for under state law.

Date: 2012-05-23
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the caps on Medicare outpatient rehabilitation physical therapy services and speech-language pathology services.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, as medical and other health services, complex rehabilitation technology items designed and configured for a specific qualified individual to meet that individual's unique: (1) medical, physical, and functional needs related to a medical condition; and (2) capacities for basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) designate complex rehabilitation technology items (excluding adaptive equipment to operate motor vehicles or certain prosthetic devices and orthotics); and (2) establish eligibility criteria for them.

Prescribes requirements for payments for CRT items.

Directs the Secretary to establish standards for clinical conditions for CRT item payment as well as quality standards for suppliers of such items.

Directs the Secretary to establish a Healthcare Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding subset that uses specified HCPCS codes for CRT items.

Requires payment for replacement of a CRT item (or any part of one), without regard to certain continuous use or useful lifetime restrictions established for items of durable medical equipment (DME), if a qualified ordering practitioner determines that a replacement item (or part) is necessary.

Date: 2013-03-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2013 or the PHIT Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly or heads of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses. Defines "qualified sports and fitness expenses" as amounts paid for fitness facility memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment.

Date: 2013-03-05
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Taxation
Huntington's Disease Parity Act of 2013 - Directs the Commissioner of Social Security, for purposes of determining cognitive, behavioral, and physical disability under titles II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act (SSA), to amend specified Listings of Impairments by providing medical and evaluation criteria for Huntington's Disease.

Amends SSA title II to waive the 24-month waiting period for coverage under the Medicare program for individuals diagnosed with Huntington's Disease.

Date: 2013-03-06
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Personalize Your Care Act of 2013 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to cover a Voluntary Advance Care Planning Consultation.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible entities to: (1) establish statewide programs for physician orders for life-sustaining treatment, or (2) expand or enhance existing programs for physician orders for life-sustaining treatment.

Directs the Secretary to adopt, by rule, standards for a qualified electronic health record, with respect to patient communications with a health care provider about values and goals of care, to adequately display the patient's current: (1) advance directive, and/or (2) physician order for life-sustaining treatment.

Requires under Medicare and Medicaid that an advance directive validly executed outside the state in which the directive is presented must be given effect by a service provider or an organization to the same extent as an advance directive validly executed under the law of the state in which it is presented. Requires that, in the absence of a validly executed advance directive, any authentic expression of a person's wishes with respect to health care be honored.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Patient Centered Quality Care for Life Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Patient-Centered Health Care and Quality of Life Stakeholder Strategic Summit to: (1) analyze key health system barriers to providing patient-centered health care that integrates symptom management and other aspects of coordinated or palliative care; and (2) identify strategic solutions for collectively addressing quality of life concerns for the rapidly expanding population of patients and survivors facing serious, complex, and chronic illness in the United States and for the families of such patients and survivors. Requires the Secretary to establish a Summit Steering Committee, which shall draft a summary report detailing Summit recommendations for a national strategic action agenda to improve patient-centered care and quality of life.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a national quality of life education and awareness grants program initiative for seriously ill patients, their families, and health professionals who treat them for the purposes of encouraging an increased demand for and delivery of integrated and patient-centered care for managing their pain and symptoms and improving their quality of life. Requires the Director to award competitive grants to develop new and expand existing information, resources, and communication materials about symptom management and other aspects of patient-centered care as an integral part of quality care for serious illnesses.

Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to establish a health care professional workforce training grants program initiative for purposes of promoting and enhancing symptom assessment and management, communications skills, coordinated patient-centered care, and other quality of life focused clinical core competencies across all clinical specialties that serve seriously ill patients and patients with multiple or complex chronic diseases.

Requires the Secretary: (1) to update and expand the September 2002 HRSA report, titled "The Supply, Demand and Use of Palliative Care Physicians in the United States"; (2) to establish a Quality of Life Cross-Agency Advisory Committee to assist the CDC and HRSA in conducting the national quality of life education and awareness initiative and the health care professional workforce training initiative and to disseminate initiative findings for cross agency implementation of best practices; and (3) acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop and implement a strategy to be applied across NIH institutes and centers that is in accordance with the Advisory Committee's recommendations to expand national research programs in symptom management, palliative, psychosocial, and survivorship care.

Date: 2013-04-23
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Program Integrity Act of 2013 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the option a state has, when determining an individual's Medicaid eligibility for long-term care assistance, to change the $500,000 maximum allowable equity interest of the individual in his or her home. Gives states the further option to reduce the maximum allowable home equity interest below $500,000 but not below $50,000. Requires indexed inflation adjustments to the state-selected alternative maximum beginning in 2014.

Revises the general maintenance of effort requirement that a state maintain Medicaid eligibility standards no stricter than those in effect when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted until the state health insurance exchange required by such Act is operational. Declares that such maintenance of effort requirement shall not apply to changes in eligibility standards for medical assistance for long-term care services, so long as such changes would have been permitted under the law as in effect before the enactment of PPACA.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Wounded Veteran Job Security Act - Expands the definition of "service in the uniformed services" for the purposes of uniformed servicemembers' employment and reemployment rights to include a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment to obtain medical treatment for an injury or illness recognized as service connected by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), or for which a line-of-duty document has been granted by the Secretary of Defense (DOD).

Directs such a person intending to return to a position of employment to notify the employer within a specified time period.

Requires a person submitting an application for reemployment due to such an absence for medical treatment to provide the employer, upon request, with documentation to establish eligibility for reemployment, including a link between the injury or illness and the medical treatment obtained.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Responding to Urgent Needs of Survivors of the Holocaust Act or RUSH Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include specifically within its purview older Americans who are Holocaust survivors.

Authorizes the Administrator for Community Living to designate, within the Administration for Community Living of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a person with specialized training, background, or experience with issues of Holocaust survivors to implement services for them.

Requires a state nutrition project to: (1) ensure that project meals meet the dietary needs of program participants based on religious, cultural, or ethnic requirements; and (2) encourage individuals who distribute nutrition services to engage in conversation with homebound older individuals and to be aware of the warning signs of medical emergencies, injury, or abuse in order to reduce isolation and promote wellbeing.

Amends the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 to require the study of nutrition projects to analyze the abilities of service providers to obtain viable contracts for special foods necessary to meet a religious requirement, required dietary need, or ethnic consideration.

Authorizes the HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging to make grants to or contract with states, public agencies, private nonprofit agencies, institutions of higher education, and organizations, including tribal organizations, to support programs that provide transportation services and resources to older individuals with the greatest economic or social need.

Date: 2013-05-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Social welfare
Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the face-to-face encounter framework in hospice care. Allows a clinical nurse specialist, physician assistant, or other health professional (in addition to a hospice physician or a nurse practitioner, as under current law) to conduct the face-to-face encounter with the individual to determine continued eligibility for hospice care before the first 60-day (currently 180-day) recertification period and each subsequent recertification.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Hospital Payment Reform demonstration program to test any revisions to the methodology for determining payment rates for routine home care and other hospice care services.

Sets at every three years the frequency of surveys of certified hospice programs.

Date: 2013-06-06
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Audiology Services Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) limit covered auditory services to only auditory treatment, vestibular treatment, and intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring services in addition to currently covered hearing and balance assessment services; (2) exclude inter-operative neurophysiological monitoring provided by a physician or qualified audiologist in hospitals from covered inpatient hospital services; (3) revise the requirements and procedure for payment of outpatient auditory services claims of service providers; (4) include audiology services under the limitation on certain physician referrals for designated health services; and (5) declare that nothing in such Act shall be construed to require a qualified audiologist to participate in Medicare.

Date: 2013-06-12
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services.

Allows payment for home health services to Medicare beneficiaries by: (1) a nurse practitioner, (2) a clinical nurse specialist working in collaboration with a physician in accordance with state law, (3) a certified nurse-midwife, or (4) a physician assistant under a physician's supervision.

Date: 2013-06-26
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transfer a veteran for whom the Secretary is required to provide nursing home care to a medical foster home that meets VA standards pursuant to a contract or agreement with the VA, at such veteran's request. Requires such veteran to agree, as a transfer condition, to accept VA home health services.

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fairness for Beneficiaries Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for Medicare coverage for extended care services which are not post-hospital extended care services (that is, without regard to the requirement for a 3-day prior hospitalization).

Limits such coverage to extended care services in a skilled nursing facility (SNF), but only if, before the individual is admitted to the SNF, a physician or other qualified health care practitioner determines and certifies that extended care services for the individual are medically necessary.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Adult Day Center Enhancement Act - Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to initiate a comprehensive survey of current adult day programs that provide care and support to individuals, including young adults, living with neurological diseases or conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or traumatic brain injury. Requires the Assistant Secretary to identify ongoing successful adult day programs and which of these serve young adults with neurological diseases and conditions and develop a set of best practices to help guide the establishment and replication of additional successful adult day programs.

Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a competitive grant program for awarding grants annually to fund adult day programs serving younger people with neurological diseases or conditions. Defines an "adult day program" as a program that provides comprehensive and effective care and support services to individuals living with neurological diseases or conditions and to their family caregivers and that may assist participants in ways that: (1) maintain or improve their functional abilities or otherwise help them adjust to their changing functional abilities; (2) prevent the onset of complications associated with severe forms of the disease or condition; (3) promote alternatives to placement in nursing homes; (4) reduce the strain on family caregivers taking care of a family member living with such diseases or conditions; (5) focus on supporting the emotional, social, and intellectual needs of a younger adult population; or (6) address the needs of veterans living with such diseases or conditions.

Date: 2013-09-30
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Families
Medicare Home Health Fraud Reduction Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payments to a skilled home health agency under the prospective payment system for any episode of care to the extent that it exceeds the applicable episode utilization limit established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Specifies the formula for establishing an episode utilization limit for a skilled home health agency.

Date: 2013-10-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Adult Day Services Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover certified adult day services furnished in a certified adult day services center and meeting specified requirements; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase by 3% the payment amount otherwise effective for such services furnished in a rural area on or after January 1, 2014, and before January 1, 2016.

Date: 2013-10-23
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Return to Work Awareness Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Job Accommodation Network, to disseminate information and promote awareness among survivors of stroke and other debilitating health occurrences, such as traumatic brain injury and heart attack, and survivors' families, as well as among employers, government agencies, employee representatives, and service providers in order to: (1) assist survivors of stroke and such other debilitating health occurrences in returning to work, (2) improve a survivor's employability and demonstrate to employers ways to capitalize on the value and talent that survivors add to the workplace, and (3) enhance self-employment and entrepreneurship options for survivors.

Date: 2013-10-28
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Labor and employment
Defending Rural Access to Long Term Acute Care Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from applying to certain long-term care (LTC) hospitals operating in a single-hospital metropolitan statistical area (MSA) special (Medicare threshold) payment (adjustment) policies and regulations for: (1) LTC hospitals within hospitals and satellites of LTC hospitals, or (2) any such LTC hospitals and satellites that discharged patients under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act who were admitted from a hospital not located in the same building or on the same campus as the LTC hospital or satellite.

Date: 2013-10-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to consider catastrophic health plans to be providing essential health benefits by removing certain enrollment eligibility restrictions (concerning age, certification of exemption from the Internal Revenue Code requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage, and offering of the plan only in the individual market).

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health