zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and Internal Revenue Code to direct the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury to require group health plans and health insurers to disclose the analyses performed to ensure compliance of plans or coverage with the law and regulations. Disclosures must include findings and conclusions regarding whether nonquantitative treatment limitations (e.g., tiered benefits, step therapy, or preauthorization) applied to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are comparable to, and applied no more stringently than, such limitations on medical and surgical benefits.

HHS, Labor, and Treasury must: (1) issue guidance on the process for current and potential participants and beneficiaries to file formal complaints of plans or insurers being in violation of the requirement for parity between mental health and substance use disorder benefits and medical and surgical benefits, (2) conduct audits of plans and insurers to determine compliance with parity requirements and publish information from those audits, and (3) publish information on denials of claims by plans and insurers for mental health and substance use disorder services compared to denials of claims for medical and surgical services.

HHS must establish a consumer parity portal website that allows for submission of complaints and provides information to consumers on parity.

The Government Accountability Office must report on HHS, Labor, and Treasury efforts to enforce parity.

Date: 2015-12-16
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Coordinating Crisis Care Act

This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to award grants to states for real-time, Internet-based bed registries that provide information about beds in inpatient psychiatric facilities, crisis stabilization units, residential community mental health treatment facilities, and residential substance abuse treatment facilities to facilitate the identification of space for the temporary treatment of an individual in psychiatric or substance abuse crisis.

A bed registry must: (1) describe and provide contact information for every relevant facility in the state; (2) provide real-time information about the number of beds available at each facility and, for each available bed, provide the type of patient that may be admitted, the level of security provided, and any other information that may be necessary to identify an appropriate facility for an individual in crisis; and (3) allow specified users to search the registry for an appropriate and available bed for an individual in crisis.

Date: 2016-01-07
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to award grants to institutions of higher education to provide and improve mental and behavioral health services, conduct research regarding improving the mental health of students, and expand outreach and training on college and university campuses.

SAMHSA must give special consideration to programs that: (1) demonstrate the greatest need, (2) propose effective approaches for initiating or expanding campus services, (3) target underserved and at-risk populations, (4) coordinate with a community mental health center or other community mental health resources, (5) identify how the college or university will address psychiatric emergencies, (6) propose innovative practices to improve care or prevention programs, and (7) demonstrate the greatest potential for replication and dissemination.

SAMHSA must convene an interagency, public-private sector working group to plan, establish, and begin coordinating and evaluating a targeted public education campaign that is designed to focus on mental and behavioral health on college and university campuses.

The Department of Health and Human Services must establish the College Campus Task Force to discuss mental and behavioral health concerns on college and university campuses.

Date: 2016-01-12
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support program to make grants to eligible entities for peer-to-peer mental health programs for veterans.

"Eligible entity" means: (1) a nonprofit organization having historically served the mental health needs of veterans; (2) a congressionally chartered veteran service organization; or (3) a state, local, or tribal veteran service agency, director, or commissioner.

The VA shall establish an advisory committee to create appropriate program standards.

Date: 2016-02-09
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act of 2016

This bill amends the Promoting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 to increase, from 8 to 24, the number of states that may be selected to participate in Medicaid demonstration programs to improve community mental health services.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Extend Excellence in Mental Health Act of 2016

This bill amends the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 to extend and expand the Medicaid community mental health services demonstration program. Under current law, the program is limited to no more than eight states.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall extend an existing program and may expand the number of programs if, with respect to the requesting state, CMS determines that: (1) the state's participation in the program will measurably improve access to, and participation in, specified behavioral health services; and (2) the state is in full compliance with specified reporting requirements.

The bill also specifies that, for purposes of implementing specified CMS guidance on demonstration program testing, a "clinical visit" includes on-site behavioral health services, certain community services, and telehealth services.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Veteran Urgent Access to Mental Healthcare Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a program to provide former members of the Armed Forces with: (1) an initial mental health assessment; and (2) health care services required to treat the former member's urgent mental health care needs, including risk of suicide or harming others.

 A former member of the Armed Forces is an individual who meets either of the following criteria:

 the individual is a former member of the Armed Forces, including the reserve components, who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and was discharged or released under a condition less than honorable (except a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge by reason of a general court martial), has applied for a character of service determination that has not yet been made, and is not otherwise eligible to enroll in the VA health care system by reason of such discharge or release; or the individual is a veteran not otherwise eligible for VA health care. The VA may provide such mental health care services pursuant to a contract with a qualified mental health professional if: (1) the receipt of mental health care services by an individual in VA facilities would be clinically inadvisable, or (2) VA facilities are not capable of furnishing such mental health care services to that individual economically because of geographical inaccessibility.

The VA shall seek to enter into a contract with an independent nongovernmental entity to study the effect combat service has had on suicide rates and serious mental health issues among veterans.

Date: 2016-03-03
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Protection and Advocacy for Veterans Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a five-year grant program to improve the monitoring of VA mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

The VA shall award a grant to four protection and advocacy systems under which each recipient shall investigate and monitor VA facilities care and treatment of veterans with mental illness or substance abuse issues. Criteria for selecting recipients shall include whether the state in which the protection and advocacy system operates has low mental health, performance, and access scores.

During each year in which a protection and advocacy system carries out a demonstration project, the VA shall award a joint grant to a national organization with extensive knowledge of the protection and advocacy system and a veterans service organization to: (1) coordinate training and technical assistance, and (2) provide for related data collection, reporting, and analysis.

 "Protection and advocacy system" means the state-established system to protect and advocate the rights of persons with developmental disabilities.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
This bill provides that persons with a degree that is equivalent to a master's degree in mental health counseling shall be eligible for appointment to a Department of Veterans Affairs licensed professional mental health counselor position.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop and implement an outreach and education strategy to promote behavioral and mental health and reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance abuse among the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations.

Date: 2016-05-13
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to expand the focus of a youth interagency research, training, and technical assistance resource center from youth suicides to suicide at any age, particularly among groups at high risk for suicide. The center is reauthorized through FY2020.

This bill revises and extends through FY2020 grant programs for: (1) the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies, (2) enhancement of services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education, and (3) training school personnel to recognize symptoms of childhood and adolescent mental disorders and safely de-escalate crisis situations involving individuals with a mental illness.

The grant program to address violence-related stress must support the continued operation of the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI). The NCTSI coordinating center must report on child treatment and outcomes and facilitate training in evidence-based and trauma-informed treatments, interventions, and practices.

The Government Accountability Office must report on access to treatment of mental health and substance use disorders, prescription of psychotropic medications to children, and the implementation of recommendations made in "On Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy."

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) may advance awareness of products approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorders. (Opioids are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as certain pain medications.)

SAMHSA must provide technical assistance to grantees regarding evidence-based practices for the prevention and treatment of geriatric mental health disorders and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, as well as disseminate information about such practices.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraged to improve the National Violent Death Reporting System.

Date: 2016-05-25
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Fair Care for Kids Act

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for medical assistance under a state Medicaid program with respect to the full-range of early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services for children in inpatient psychiatric hospitals, whether or not such services are furnished by the child's inpatient psychiatric provider.

Date: 2016-06-08
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health Care Provider Retention Act of 2016

This bill allows an individual who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition and who is transitioning from receiving treatment from the Department of Defense to receiving treatment from in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to elect to continue receiving treatment from such individual's DOD mental health provider.

Such individual shall receive the same level of priority as members of the Armed Forces at the facility at which the individual has elected to continue treatment. The VA shall reimburse DOD for rendered services that otherwise would have been furnished by the VA.

If the DOD mental health care provider departs the facility at which the covered individual is receiving treatment, such individual may elect to obtain the services of: (1) a different mental health care provider at the same facility, or (2) a VA mental health care provider.

Date: 2016-07-06
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow medical assistance under the Medicaid program to include payment for inpatient, nonhospital, residential substance use disorder treatment for individuals over age 21.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Never Again Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upon the request of a veteran who is enrolled in the VA health care system and entitled to in-patient psychiatric care, to furnish such veteran with in-patient psychiatric care at: (1) the VA facility that is closest to where the veteran resides and that has the capacity and capability to provide such care, or (2) at a non-VA facility if the VA facility lacks such capacity or capability.

Date: 2016-09-21
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veteran Mental Health Care Expansion Act of 2016

This bill provides that a bar on veterans benefits shall not apply to counseling and related mental health services for an individual if the Department of Veterans Affairs determines that, at the time of the commission of an offense leading to such individual's court-martial, discharge, or resignation, such individual had a service-connected disability related to mental health.

Date: 2016-11-15
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Accessibility Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the Department of Health and Human Services to make loans and loan guarantees for construction or renovation of psychiatric or substance abuse treatment facilities. The bill establishes terms and conditions for these loans and loan guarantees.

The bill establishes the Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment Trust Fund. Revenues from the loans and loan guarantees that exceed the cost of carrying out the program may be appropriated to the fund. Amounts in the fund are available for block grants for community mental health services.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on November 16, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to revise the length of the emergency psychiatric demonstration project under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act that is currently limited to three years.

Participation in the demonstration project shall be extended through FY2016 for any requesting states selected for eligibility to participate on or before March 13, 2012, if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) certify, that a state's participation is projected not to increase net Medicaid program spending.

An additional extension through December 31, 2019, may be granted to a state, and the number of states eligible to participate may be expanded through December 31, 2019, if the same fiscal criteria are met.

HHS shall review annually each participating state's demonstration project expenditures to ensure budget neutrality. If a state's net programming spending has increased as a result of its participation in the project, HHS shall treat the excess expenditures as an overpayment under Medicaid.

This bill also revises certain limitations on federal funding.

HHS must submit recommendations to Congress: (1) first on whether the demonstration project should be continued after September 30, 2016, (2) whether it should be expanded to additional states, (3) subsequently on whether it should be permanently continued after December 31, 2019, in one or more states, and (4) finally on whether the demonstration project should be expanded (including on a nationwide basis).

$100,000 shall be available for the project from unobligated balances of amounts available in the CMS Program Management account.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health First Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to award grants to initiate and sustain mental health first aid training programs. Requires such a program to include training on: (1) the skills, resources, and knowledge necessary to assist individuals in crisis to connect with appropriate local mental health care services; (2) mental health resources, including the location of community mental health centers; and (3) protocols for referral to mental health resources.

Sets forth the categories of individuals to be trained under the program, including first responders, law enforcement personnel, teachers and school administrators, human resources professionals, nurses and other primary care personnel, students enrolled in school, parents of students, and veterans and veteran stakeholders.

Requires such programs to train individuals to accomplish safe de-escalation of crisis situations, recognition of the signs and symptoms of mental illness, and timely referral to mental health services in the early stages of developing mental disorders.

Requires SAMHSA to ensure that grants are equitably distributed geographically, and to pay particular attention to the mental health training needs of rural areas.

Date: 2015-03-11
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Military and Veterans Mental Health Provider Assessment Act of 2015

Directs the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that all health care providers under their respective jurisdictions receive, at least once every three years, empirically supported training on the recognition and assessment of individuals at risk for suicide and the management of such risk.

Requires such Departments to: (1) conduct annual evaluations of the implementation by mental health care providers under their jurisdictions of Department-recommended clinical practice guidelines and other evidence-based treatments and approaches, and (2) incorporate such evaluations into the employee evaluation process of such providers.

Directs such Departments to jointly submit: (1) a report assessing their mental health work forces and the long-term mental health care needs of members of the Armed Forces and veterans for purposes of determining long-term needs of such Departments for mental health care providers; and (2) a plan to jointly develop procedures to compile and assess data relating to outcomes for mental health care provided by the Departments, variations in such outcomes among different Department medical facilities, and barriers to the implementation by Department mental health care providers of recommended clinical practice guidelines and other evidence-based treatments and approaches.

Date: 2015-03-11
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Prioritizing Veterans Access to Mental Health Care Act of 2015

This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to make a veteran seeking mental health care in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) entity eligible for such care if the veteran provides a written statement (which may be sent electronically or made in person or by fax) that the veteran seeks mental health care from the VA and has not received timely and adequate mental health care through a VA facility or health care provider.

The VA shall give health professional hiring priority to those health professionals for which there is the greatest need, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health care providers.

Date: 2015-03-23
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Ruth Moore Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in any case in which a veteran claims that a covered mental health condition was incurred in or aggravated by military sexual trauma during active duty, to: (1) accept as sufficient proof of service-connection a diagnosis by a mental health professional together with satisfactory lay or other evidence of such trauma and an opinion by the mental health professional that such condition is related to such trauma if consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service, notwithstanding the fact that there is no official record of such incurrence or aggravation in such service; and (2) resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran. Allows such service-connection to be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.

Includes as a "covered mental health condition" post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health diagnosis that the Secretary determines to be related to military sexual trauma.

Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress in each of 2016 through 2020 on covered claims submitted.

Date: 2015-03-25
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, (2) exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and (3) authorize marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.

Date: 2015-07-22
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to expand the focus of a youth interagency research, training, and technical assistance resource center from youth suicides to suicide at any age, particularly among groups at high risk for suicide. The center is reauthorized through FY2020.

This bill revises and extends through FY2020 grant programs for: (1) the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies, (2) enhancement of services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education, and (3) training school personnel to recognize symptoms of childhood and adolescent mental disorders and safely de-escalate crisis situations involving individuals with a mental illness.

(Sec. 4) The grant program to address violence-related stress must support the continued operation of the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI). The NCTSI coordinating center must report on child treatment and outcomes and facilitate training in evidence-based and trauma-informed treatments, interventions, and practices.

(Sec. 5) The Government Accountability Office (GAO) must report on federal requirements that impact access to treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.

(Sec. 6) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) may advance awareness of products approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorders. (Opioids are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as certain pain medications.)

(Sec. 7) The GAO must report on children's access to mental health services and prescription of psychotropic medications to children.

(Sec. 8) SAMHSA must provide technical assistance to grantees regarding evidence-based practices for the prevention and treatment of geriatric mental health disorders and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, as well as disseminate information about such practices.

(Sec. 9) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraged to improve the National Violent Death Reporting System.

(Sec. 10) The GAO must evaluate the utilization of mental health services for children and the implementation of recommendations made in "On Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy."

(Sec. 11) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation must evaluate the impact of SAMHSA activities and recommend performance metrics for SAMHSA programs. SAMHSA must advance the use of performance metrics to improve programs.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health Reform Act of 2015

This bill creates the position of Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders to oversee the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Mental health programs are extended and training regarding mental health is expanded.

SAMHSA must establish the National Mental Health Policy Laboratory and the Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee.

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institute of Mental Health to translate evidence-based interventions and the best available science into systems of care.

The Health Resources and Services Administration must support the creation and expansion of child psychiatry access programs.

Certain mental health care professional volunteers are provided liability protection.

Pediatric mental health subspecialists are eligible for National Health Service Corps programs.

An underserved population of children or a site for training in child psychiatry can be designated as a health professional shortage area.

SAMHSA must award primary care and behavioral health care integration grants to state entities to fund improvements in settings with integrated care.

The Department of Health and Human Services must develop a model program and materials for training health care providers regarding the disclosure of the protected health information of patients with a mental illness.

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to conditionally expand coverage of mental health services.

Date: 2015-08-05
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Improving Access to Mental Health Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) increase the Medicare reimbursement rate for clinical social worker services, (2) exclude clinical social worker services from the prospective payment system in which predetermined amounts form the basis for payment under Medicare, and (3) alter the definition of "clinical social worker services" as it relates to Medicare.

Under current law, "clinical social worker services": (1) include services performed for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, and (2) exclude services furnished to an inpatient of a skilled nursing facility as a condition of the facility's participation in the Medicare program. The bill repeals these provisions and instead specifies that such services include certain types of health behavior assessment and intervention.

Date: 2015-10-08
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate passed version is repeated here.)

Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act

(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to identify: (1) VA mental health care and suicide prevention programs that are most effective for women veterans, and (2) such programs with the highest satisfaction rates among women veterans.

Date: 2016-02-03
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act

This bill amends the Promoting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 to increase, from 8 to 24, the number of states that may be selected to participate in Medicaid demonstration programs to improve community mental health services.

Date: 2016-02-09
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act

 This bill expresses the sense of Congress that veterans who experience combat-related mental health wounds should have immediate and consistent access to comprehensive mental health care.

 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall:

 establish standards and procedures to ensure that a veteran who participated in a classified mission or served in a sensitive unit while in the Armed Forces may access VA mental health care in a manner that fully accommodates the veteran's obligation to not improperly disclose classified information; disseminate guidance to employees of the Veterans Health Administration, including mental health professionals, on such standards and procedures and on how to best engage such veterans during the course of mental health treatment with respect to classified information; and ensure that an individual may elect to identify as such a veteran on an appropriate form.

Date: 2016-02-10
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medicare Mental Health Access Act

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand the definition of "physician," for purposes of the Medicare program, to include a clinical psychologist with respect to the furnishing of qualified psychologist services.

The bill excludes a clinical psychologist, in 2017 and 2018, from certain negative payment adjustments for failing to be a meaningful electronic health records user.

Date: 2016-02-25
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to award grants to institutions of higher education to provide and improve mental and behavioral health services, conduct research regarding improving the mental health of students, and expand outreach and training at institutions of higher education.

SAMHSA must give special consideration to programs that: (1) demonstrate the greatest need, (2) propose effective approaches for initiating or expanding campus services, (3) target underserved and at-risk populations, (4) coordinate with a community mental health center or other community mental health resources, (5) identify how the institution of higher education will address psychiatric emergencies, (6) propose innovative practices to improve care or prevention programs, and (7) demonstrate the greatest potential for replication and dissemination.

SAMHSA must convene an interagency, public-private sector working group to plan, establish, and begin coordinating and evaluating a targeted public education campaign that is designed to focus on mental and behavioral health at institutions of higher education.

The Department of Health and Human Services must establish the College Campus Task Force to discuss mental and behavioral health concerns at institutions of higher education.

Date: 2016-03-15
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Medication Prescribing Improvement Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Defense to: (1) review the prescribing practices at military treatment facilities of pharmaceutical agents for post-traumatic stress treatment, (2) implement a process or processes to monitor the prescribing practices at military treatment facilities of pharmaceutical agents that are discouraged from use under the VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Post-Traumatic Stress, and (3) implement a plan to address deviations from such guideline.

Date: 2016-04-27
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, to carry out a five-year pilot program under which the VA shall provide a service dog and veterinary health insurance to a veteran who:

 is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder rated at a severity level of 3 or 4 on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), has completed an evidence-based treatment and remains significantly symptomatic, served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, has not experienced satisfactory improvement in symptoms after being treated with evidence-based therapies. The VA shall enter into contracts with appropriate providers that are certified by Assistance Dogs International or a similar organization for the procurement of service dogs and training of such dogs and their recipients.

The provision of a service dog shall be done in addition to other types of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and shall not replace established treatment modalities.

Date: 2016-06-13
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, to carry out a five-year pilot program under which the VA shall provide a service dog and veterinary health insurance to a veteran who:

 is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder rated at a severity level of 3 or 4 on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), has completed an evidence-based treatment and remains significantly symptomatic, served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, has not experienced satisfactory improvement in symptoms after being treated with evidence-based therapies. The VA shall enter into contracts with appropriate providers that are certified by Assistance Dogs International or a similar organization for the procurement of service dogs and training of such dogs and their recipients.

The provision of a service dog shall be done in addition to other types of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and shall not replace established treatment modalities.

Date: 2016-07-06
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Protection and Advocacy for Veterans Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a five-year grant program to improve the monitoring of VA mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

The VA shall award grants to four protection and advocacy systems under which each recipient shall investigate and monitor VA facilities care and treatment of veterans with mental illness or substance abuse issues. Criteria for selecting recipients shall include whether the state in which the protection and advocacy system operates has low mental health, performance, and access scores.

During each year in which a protection and advocacy system carries out a demonstration project, the VA shall award a joint grant to a national organization with extensive knowledge of the protection and advocacy system and a veterans service organization to: (1) coordinate training and technical assistance, and (2) provide for related data collection, reporting, and analysis.

 "Protection and advocacy system" means the state-established system to protect and advocate the rights of persons with developmental disabilities.

Date: 2016-07-07
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop:

 a quality assurance document for carrying out the toll-free Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), including at backup call centers; and a plan to ensure that each telephone call, text message, and other communication received by the VCL, including at backup call centers, is answered in a timely manner by a person, consistent with the guidance established by the American Association of Suicidology.

Date: 2016-09-08
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, and other laws to: 

 establish the Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care; support the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative; establish the National Law Enforcement Child and Youth Trauma Coordinating Center; authorize the Department of Education to award grants for the improvement of trauma support services and mental health care for children in educational settings; establish Medicaid demonstration projects to test innovative, trauma-informed approaches for delivering early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services to eligible children; modify and extend the Performance Partnership Pilots; and revise or establish provisions related to best practices, data collection, health professional shortage areas, licensing guidelines for certain community figures, health care workforce training, trauma-related coordinating bodies, and trauma-informed teaching.

Date: 2016-12-07
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
This bill: (1) continues the Medicaid emergency psychiatric demonstration project; (2) authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to replace with another state, on a competitive basis, any originally selected state that elects not to resume its participation in the project; and (3) modifies other requirements related to the project.

Date: 2016-12-10
Topic: Health (Mental)
Subject: Health
Oceans Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act - Establishes a national policy to protect, maintain, and restore the health of marine ecosystems and requires that federal agencies administer U.S. policies and laws accordingly. Allows more stringent federal and state requirements. States that there shall be an agency known as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), declares that Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 (concerning NOAA) shall have no further force or effect, and sets forth NOAA's mission and functions. (Reestablishes NOAA and requires a reorganization plan.) Creates an Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and makes that person the Administrator of NOAA. Requires maintenance within NOAA of: (1) the National Weather Service; (2) programs to protect, maintain, and restore the health and sustainability of coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes resources; (3) the Office of Education; and (4) a Science Advisory Board. Establishes: (1) a National Oceans Advisor; (2) a Committee on Ocean Policy; and (3) the Council of Advisors on Oceans Policy. Designates certain ocean regions for ecosystem-based management and establishes a Regional Ocean Partnership for each region. Requires the Administrator to establish a network of regional ocean ecosystem resource information systems for each ocean region and other specified bodies of water. Authorizes related contracts. Establishes in the Treasury the Ocean and Great Lakes Conservation Trust Fund. Requires payments to coastal states for development and implementation of Regional Ocean Strategic Plans. Requires the U.S. Postal Service to provide for a special postage stamp to afford the public a convenient way to support efforts to protect, maintain, and restore marine ecosystems.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act - Reestablishes in the Department of Commerce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), headed by an Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, who shall serve as the Administrator of NOAA. Maintains within NOAA: (1) the National Weather Service; (2) programs to support efforts, on a continuing basis, to collect data and provide information and products regarding satellites, observations, and coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes information; and (3) programs to conduct and support research and education and the development of technologies relating to weather, climate, and the coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes. Establishes a Science Advisory Board within NOAA. Terminates the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 (the executive order that established NOAA). Requires the Administrator to develop and submit to Congress a NOAA reorganization plan. Prohibits the Administrator from closing, consolidating, relocating, subdividing, or establishing a facility of NOAA unless there has been specified prior public and congressional notification, and an assessment, of any proposed changes. Prohibits, except as provided, a NOAA activity or function that is converted to contractor performance under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 from being performed by the contractor or any subcontractor at a location outside of the United States.

Date: 2007-01-05
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Title I: National Ocean Exploration Program - National Ocean Exploration Program Act - (Sec. 102) Requires the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct a coordinated national ocean exploration program in NOAA that promotes collaboration with other federal ocean and undersea research and exploration programs. (Sec. 103) Sets forth program authorities, including authorizing the Administrator to accept donations of property, data, and equipment to be applied for exploring the oceans or increasing knowledge of the oceans. (Sec. 104) Requires the NOAA Administrator to appoint an Ocean Exploration Advisory Board. (Sec. 105) Declares that nothing in this Act supersedes or limits the authority of the Secretary of the Interior under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. (Sec. 106) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Undersea Research Program - National Undersea Research Program Act of 2007 - (Sec. 202) Requires the Administrator to conduct an undersea research, exploration, education, and technology development program to increase scientific knowledge regarding management, use, and preservation of oceanic, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. Requires the program's director to cooperate with institutions of higher education and other educational marine and ocean science organizations and to make available undersea research facilities, equipment, technologies, information, and expertise to support those organizations' undersea research. Authorizes the director to enter into partnerships with the private sector to achieve program goals and to promote marine industry technological advancement. (Sec. 204) Requires that the program be conducted through a national headquarters, a network of extramural regional undersea research centers representing all NOAA regions, and the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology. (Sec. 205) Specifies the research, exploration, education, and technology programs to be conducted through the network of extramural regional centers and the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology. (Sec. 206) Allows not more than ten percent of the program's budget to be used for administration and for priority undersea research projects not covered by funding available from centers. Requires a competition every five years to select the regional centers that will participate in the program. Requires projects supported by the regional centers to be awarded using an open and competitive process. (Sec. 207) Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Interagency Planning and Coordination - (Sec. 301) Requires the NOAA Administrator, and relevant governmental, non-governmental, academic, industry, and other experts, to convene an ocean exploration and undersea research technology and infrastructure task force. Requires that the task force coordinate the development of agency budgets.

Date: 2007-03-29
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Improved Hurricane Tracking and Forecasting Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to carry out a program for an improved ocean surface winds vector satellite for purposes including: (1) to address science and application questions related to air-sea interaction and coastal circulation; (2) to improve forecasting for hurricanes, coastal winds and storm surge, and other weather-related disasters; (3) to ensure continuity of quality for satellite ocean surface vector wind measurements so that existing weather forecasting and warning capabilities are not degraded; and (4) to advance satellite ocean surface vector wind data capabilities.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Weather Mitigation Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2007 - Establishes in the Department of Commerce the Weather Mitigation Advisory and Research Board to promote and fund research and development (R&D), studies, and investigations with respect to: (1) improved forecast and decisionmaking technologies for weather mitigation operations, including tailored computer workstations and software and new observation systems with remote sensors; and (2) assessments and evaluations of the efficacy of weather mitigation, both purposeful (including cloud-seeding operations) and inadvertent (including downwind effects and anthropogenic effects). Establishes within the U.S. Treasury the Weather Mitigation Research and Development Fund. Directs the Board, unless the use of the money is restricted or subject to any limitations provided by law, to use amounts in the Fund to: (1) pay its expenses in the administration of this Act; and (2) provide for R&D with respect to weather mitigations by grants to, or contracts or cooperative arrangements with, public or private agencies.

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
AmericaView Authorization Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), to: (1) maintain a nationwide AmericaView Program to advance the availability, distribution, and use of remote sensing data (information acquired from above the surface of the Earth by satellite or airplane) and technology in each state; (2) maintain AmericaView (the national nonprofit collaboration of StateView participants cooperating with the EROS Data Center to achieve the purposes of the AmericaView Program) in each state to develop publicly accessible remote sensing data archive and distribution infrastructure and expand remote sensing education, research, and knowledge; (3) award annual grants to sustain and develop StateView programs (the AmericaView programs of an individual states, comprised of educational institutions and state and local governments); and (4) maintain an advisory committee to advise the USGS Director about the AmericaView Program.

Date: 2008-09-18
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Hurricane Satellite Modernization Act - Authorizes the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to procure and launch the next-generation Extended Ocean Vector Winds Mission, or XOVWM, constellation of satellites. Requires the Administrator to coordinate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ensure that the capabilities of the XOVWM constellation of satellites will meet the operational data needs of NOAA. Requires development of a plan and schedule for the procurement and launch of the XOVWM constellation of satellites. Authorizes the Administrator of NOAA to operate the constellation of satellites procured and developed under this Act.

Date: 2008-09-22
Topic: Technology (Weather Forecasting)