zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Improving Veterans Access to Quality Care Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to revive, for a three-year period, VA's Intermediate Care Technician Pilot Program that was carried out between January 2013 and February 2014. Requires VA to: (1) expand the pilot program to include at least 250 intermediate care technicians, and (2) give priority in assigning those technicians to VA facilities at which veterans have the longest wait times.

Requires the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to transfer credentialing data regarding DOD health care providers that are hired by VA to VA.

Authorizes VA to allow a covered nurse to practice to the full scope of the nurse's practice, as defined by the applicable national professional association, under a set of VA-approved privileges, regardless of the state in which VA employs the covered nurse. Defines a "covered nurse" as an advanced practice registered nurse who is employed by VA as: (1) a nurse midwife, (2) a clinical nurse specialist, (3) a nurse practitioner, or (4) a certified registered nurse anesthetist.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include optometry services in primary health services for purposes of the National Health Service Corps.

Optometrists are eligible for the fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Expanding Nutrition's Role in Curricula and Healthcare Act or the ENRICH Act

This bill requires the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish a program of three-year competitive grants to accredited medical schools for the development or expansion of an integrated nutrition and physical activity curriculum.

The curriculum must: (1) be designed to improve communication and provider preparedness in the prevention, management, and reversal of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer; and (2) address additional topics regarding individuals in at-risk populations, as practicable, including physical activity and training programs, food insecurity, and malnutrition.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to designate up to 20 graduate medical education residency positions for the study of optometry.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Access to Frontline Health Care Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish and carry out a Frontline Providers Loan Repayment Program under which HHS makes student loan repayments in exchange for a health professional providing frontline care services for two years in a frontline care scarcity area.

Frontline care services include surgery, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacies, public health, dietetics, occupational therapy, pediatrics, and medical technology.

Frontline care scarcity areas are federal health professional shortage areas and areas, populations, or facilities designated by a state as having a shortage of frontline care services.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include occupational therapists as behavioral and mental health professionals for purposes of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), thereby making occupational therapists eligible for the NHSC fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the NHSC Scholarship Program, and the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.

This amendment applies only in fiscal years when funding for NHSC programs is greater than FY2015 funding.

Date: 2015-04-13
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act or the MEND Act 

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services, for any reimbursements to providers under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for the costs of nursing and allied health education activities, to apply the regulation establishing the payment methodology for such reimbursements by treating a provider as meeting the requirements:

 for consideration as operating an approved nursing or allied health education program if the provider or a wholly owned subsidiary educational institution singly or collectively meets all such requirements; for payment for certain nonprovider-operated programs at wholly owned subsidiary educational institutions if the provider meets all such requirements except that the transfer of a nursing or allied health education program to that wholly owned subsidiary educational institution to meet accreditation standards occurred after October 1, 2003, and if the provider or its wholly owned subsidiary educational institution has been in continuous operation since October 1, 2003. Defines "wholly owned subsidiary educational institution" as one that: (1) is organized as a legal entity distinct from the provider, (2) has the provider as its sole owner or sole member, and (3) is organized in the same state in which the provider is organized or registered to do business.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Children’s Access to Specialty Care Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include pediatric subspecialties in primary health services for purposes of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Psychiatrists who are pediatric subspecialists are included in behavioral and mental health professionals. (These amendments make pediatric subspecialists, including psychiatrists, eligible for the NHSC fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the NHSC Scholarship Program, and the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.)

“Health professional shortage area” can mean an underserved population of children and adolescents.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Wounded Warrior Workforce Enhancement Act

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to award grants to eligible institutions to: (1) establish a master's or doctoral degree program in orthotics and prosthetics, or (2) expand upon an existing master's degree program in such area. Requires a grant priority for institutions in partnership with a medical center administered by the VA or a facility administered by the Department of Defense. Provides grant amounts of at least $1 million and up to $1.5 million. Defines as eligible institutions those either accredited by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education or demonstrating an ability to meet such accreditation requirements if receiving a grant.

Requires the Secretary to award a grant to an institution with orthotic and prosthetic research and education experience to: (1) establish the Center of Excellence in Orthotic and Prosthetic Education; and (2) improve orthotic and prosthetic outcomes for veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and civilians by conducting orthotic and prosthetic-based research.

Date: 2015-04-21
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to distribution of additional resident positions as they affect calculation of payments for direct graduate medical education costs.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each of FY2017-FY2021 (and each succeeding fiscal year if additional residency positions are available to distribute), to increase the otherwise applicable resident limit for each qualifying hospital.

Directs the Secretary to determine the total number of additional residency positions available for distribution, in accordance with guidelines for allocating 33% to hospitals already operating over the resident limit, and generally setting the aggregate number of increases in the resident limit to 3,000 in each year.

Specifies the process for distributing positions.

Declares that, for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2017, the indirect teaching adjustment factor, with respect to additional payments for subsection (d) hospitals with indirect costs of medical education, insofar as those additional payments are attributable to resident positions distributed to a hospital according to such process, shall be computed in a specified manner with respect to those resident positions.

(Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) Directs the National Health Care Workforce Commission established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to study the physician workforce.

Directs the Comptroller General to study strategies for increasing the diversity of the health profession workforce.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Physician Ambassadors Helping Veterans Act

Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to use its authority to employ certain personnel without regard to civil service or classification laws, rules, or regulations to employ physicians on a without compensation basis in any practice area or specialty for which: (1) the average waiting time for veterans seeking an appointment with a physician exceeds the VA's waiting time goals, or (2) the VA medical facility where the physician will be employed has demonstrated staffing shortages.

Requires each VA medical facility to have a volunteer coordinator who: (1) seeks to establish relationships with medical associations serving the area, (2) recruits physicians for uncompensated employment at the facility, and (3) serves as the initial point of contact for physicians seeking uncompensated employment at the facility.

Conditions an uncompensated physician's receipt of a credential or privilege to practice medicine in a VA facility on the physician's commitment to serve at least 40 hours in the facility during the ensuing one-year period.

Requires the VA to decide whether to grant an uncompensated physician's request for a credential or privilege to practice medicine in the VA facility within 60 days.

Requires the director of a VA medical facility to approve, and accept the uncompensated services of, any physician who has made the requisite service commitment and receives a credential or privilege to practice medicine in such facility.

Requires the VA to submit annual reports on physicians employed on a without compensation basis. Prohibits any physician employed on such basis from being considered in determining whether there is a staffing shortage throughout the VA with respect to a particular occupation.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act of 2015

Amends the Public Health Service Act to include physical therapy within the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of the National Health Service Corps. Makes physical therapists eligible for repayment of their educational loans in order to ensure an adequate supply of physical therapists.

Date: 2015-05-14
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employees involved in reviewing premarket submissions of medical devices to receive training regarding the "least burdensome appropriate means" concept. (Currently, the FDA must consider evaluating medical devices by the least burdensome appropriate means that would have a reasonable likelihood of resulting in approval.) The ombudsman for the FDA unit responsible for the premarket review of devices must audit this training and include in the audit interviews with persons from industry regarding their experience in the device premarket review process.

When the FDA requests additional information about a medical device that is required to have premarket approval, it must consider the least burdensome appropriate means necessary for an applicant to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the device.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Audiology Patient Choice Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the coverage of audiology services to treat as physicians qualified audiologists authorized by the state and acting within the scope of their licenses to furnish such services.

Enables Medicare beneficiaries to choose a qualified audiologist without regard to any requirement to be under the care of (or referred by) a physician or other health care practitioner, or that services be provided under the supervision of a physician or other health care practitioner.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Marriage and Family Therapists for Veterans Act

Revises the eligibility criteria for appointment to a marriage and family therapist position with the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to require a person: (1) to hold a master's degree in marriage and family therapy, or a comparable degree in mental health, from an institution that is regionally accredited or approved by the VA Secretary (currently, approved by the Secretary); and (2) to have passed the Association of Marital and Family Therapy regulatory board examination in marital and family therapy or an examination for a marriage and family therapy license given by a state board of behavioral sciences (or its equivalent).

Date: 2015-06-03
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend nursing programs and revise the advanced education nursing grant program.

(Sec. 2) The advanced education nursing grant program is revised to include clinical nurse leaders as advanced education nurses, thereby making clinical nurse leader education programs eligible for grants. (Clinical nurse leaders are advanced generalist clinicians who apply research and coordinate care in order to improve outcomes for patients.)

To be eligible for advanced education nursing grants, clinical nurse specialist programs must provide registered nurses with full-time clinical nurse specialist education that qualifies the nurses to provide a full range of care.

(Sec. 3) The bill extends through FY2021 nursing programs, including programs for advanced education nursing, loan repayment and scholarships for nurses, loans for nursing faculty, geriatric care education, and nurse retention.

Date: 2015-06-10
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Education and Training for Health Act of 2015 or the EAT for Health Act of 2015

 Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidelines to federal agencies for developing procedures and requirements to ensure that every primary care health professional employed full-time for such agencies have continuing education courses relating to nutrition. Requires each agency to report to Congress annually on the extent to which it has adopted and encouraged such guidelines for such primary care professionals it employed during any portion of the previous year.

Requires such courses to: (1) include content on the role of nutrition in the prevention, management, and reversal of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer; and (2) meet requirements for Continuing Medical Education or Continuing Education by medical or nurse practitioner professional organizations or certified accrediting bodies.

Date: 2015-07-14
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants or contracts for Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers. These Centers must improve the training of health professionals in palliative care and establish traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced education nursing degrees, social work degrees, or advanced degrees in physician assistant studies in palliative care.

HHS may make grants to, and enter into contracts with, schools of medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, teaching hospitals, and graduate medical education programs to support the training of physicians who plan to teach palliative medicine.

HHS must: (1) provide Palliative Medicine and Hospice Academic Career Awards to individuals to promote their career development; (2) award grants or contracts to entities that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Education Center; (3) award incentive grants or contracts to advanced practice nurses, social workers, physician assistants, pharmacists, chaplains, or students of psychology pursuing an advanced degree in palliative care or related fields; and (4) award grants to schools of nursing, health care facilities, or programs leading to certification as a nurse assistant to train individuals in providing palliative care.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must provide for a national education and awareness campaign to inform patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care.

The National Institutes of Health must expand national research programs in palliative care.

Date: 2015-07-21
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Medicare IME Pool Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise Medicare payment for indirect medical education (IME) costs in teaching hospitals. (Teaching hospitals receive IME payments to account for various factors that increase costs in such hospitals.)

Under current law, the IME adjustment is calculated based on the ratio of the hospital's full-time equivalent (FTE) interns and residents to beds. The bill alters the calculation of IME payments such that they are equal to the product of a base amount (adjusted, after FY2019, by the market basket percentage increase applicable to discharges and to account for new teaching programs) and an allotment factor based on FTE resident count.

The bill also makes a technical amendment.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill 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: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a continuing medical education program for non-VA medical professionals, with the goal of: (1) increasing knowledge and recognition of medical conditions common to veterans and family members, and (2) improving outreach to veterans and family members.

The program must include education on: (1) dealing with patients who are veterans or family members; (2) identifying and treating common mental and physical conditions of veterans and family members; (3) programs and benefits available to veterans and family members through the VA, the Department of Labor, and other federal agencies and non-federal organizations; and (4) the VA health care system.

The VA shall: (1) carry out such program for five years on a VA website at no cost to participating non-VA medical professionals, and (2) ensure that the program is accredited in as many states as practicable.

Date: 2015-09-18
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Access to Care Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to automatically designate medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as health professional shortage areas.

 Individuals may not participate in both the VA's Health Professionals Education Assistance Program and the National Health Service Corps scholarship or loan repayment programs.

The Department of Health and Human Services, in carrying out the National Health Service Corps Program, must consult with the VA regarding health professional shortage areas that are VA medical facilities.

Date: 2015-09-29
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Keep Your Chiropractor Act

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to specify that, with respect to the use of private contracts between Medicare beneficiaries and physicians, a "physician" includes a licensed chiropractor.

Date: 2015-10-09
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions related to graduate medical education (GME) residency positions and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Under current law, for purposes of calculating Medicare payments for hospitals, certain limitations apply regarding the total number of GME residency positions in a hospital's training program. The bill specifies that these limitations shall not apply to any residency position that counts towards meeting the VA's obligation under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to increase by 1,500 the number of GME residency positions at VA medical facilities.

The bill also extends by five years the period over which the VA must increase the number of GME residency positions at its medical facilities.

Date: 2015-10-09
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Acupuncture for Heroes and Seniors Act of 2015

This bill provides access to qualified acupuncturist services for: (1) military members and their dependents under the TRICARE program, and (2) veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system.

The VA shall carry out such program at in at least one VA facility in each Veterans Integrated Service Network in both urban and rural areas.

Qualifying acupuncturists may be appointed as commissioned officers in the: (1) Acupuncture Section of the Medical Service Corps of the Army, (2) Medical Service Corps of the Navy, and (3) Air Force (designated as biomedical science officers).

The VA shall establish the Advisory Committee on Acupuncturist Services.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act is amended to provide Medicare coverage for acupuncturist services.

The Public Health Service Act is amended to make acupuncturists eligible for appointment as officers in the commissioned Regular Corps and the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service.

Date: 2015-10-28
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Chiropractic Membership in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to make chiropractic personnel eligible for appointment to the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Surgeon General must ensure that doctors of chiropractic (chiropractors) are trained, equipped, and otherwise prepared to fulfill public health and emergency response service responsibilities in the Commissioned Corps.

The President must appoint at least six chiropractors into the commissioned Regular Corps and the Ready Reserve Corps.

The Surgeon General must submit a quarterly report to the relevant congressional committees on measures taken by the President, Surgeon General, and HHS to carry out this Act.

Date: 2015-10-28
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Physician Assistant Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into contracts to repay the student loans of physician assistants who agree to serve as: (1) faculty members for physician assistant education programs; or (2) physician assistants in health professional shortage areas, in medically underserved areas, or at health centers serving medically underserved populations.

The bill extends through FY2021 programs that: (1) award grants to health professional schools to provide need-based scholarships, (2) repay the student loans of health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds who agree to serve as faculty members at health professional schools, (3) support fellowships to increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty members at health professional schools, and (4) award grants to health professional schools to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Support provided by HHS for the development, operation, expansion, and improvement of primary care training programs is revised and extended through FY2021.

HHS must award grants to nonprofit organizations to increase research on physician assistant education.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Physician Assistant Higher Education Modernization Act of 2015

This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to assist qualified individuals in receiving the education and training needed to become a physician assistant.

Students enrolled in physician assistant education programs are eligible for increased scholarship opportunities, increased unsubsidized loan limits, and loan forgiveness programs for those who serve in areas of national need upon graduation.

The bill provides educational institutions with the resources to keep up with the demand for new physician assistants. The Department of Education (ED) must:

 provide Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions with grants to fund physician assistant studies, prioritize the awarding of grants for physician assistant education programs that will benefit Hispanics and low-income students, and provide grants to prepare certified physician assistants to become faculty members in physician assistant education programs. In addition, ED is authorized to award grants for the improvement of technology in physician assistant education programs. ED may also create and expand physician assistant education programs at institutions in rural areas.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Education
Grow Our Own Directive: Physician Assistant Employment and Education Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a five-year Grow Our Own Directive or G.O.O.D. pilot program to provide educational assistance to certain former members of the Armed Forces for education and training as VA physician assistants.

 The VA shall provide eligible individuals with program information about application requirements and partner entities.

An individual is eligible to participate in the pilot program who:

 has medical or military health experience; has received a certificate, associate degree, baccalaureate degree, master's degree, or postbaccalaureate training in a science relating to health care; has participated in the delivery of health care services or related medical services, including military training regarding identification, treatment, and prevention of diseases and disorders; and does not have a degree of doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry. The VA shall select at least 250 pilot program participants and give priority to persons who:

 participated in the Intermediate Care Technician Pilot Program between January 2011 and February 2015, and agree to be employed as a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) physician assistant in a community designated as a medically underserved population located in a state with a per capita veterans population of more than 9%. The VA shall:

 provide educational assistance to pilot program participants for the costs of obtaining a master's degree in physician assistant studies or a similar master's degree, use VA educational assistance programs to provide such assistance, and provide at least 35 scholarships to pilot program participants each year. The VA shall enter into an agreement with each pilot program participant to serve a period of obligated service as a VHA physician assistant. An individual who breaches such agreement shall be liable to the United States for a prorated portion of the amount paid to such individual under the program.

 The VA shall ensure that a physician assistant mentor is available at each VHA facility that employs a pilot program participant.

 The VA shall seek to partner with:

 at least 15 institutions of higher education that offer an accredited master's degree program in physician assistant studies or a similar area of study and agree to guarantee places for qualifying pilot program participants, other accredited institutions of higher education that offer similar programs, the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense, the Veterans' Employment and Training Service of the Department of Labor, and pilot program marketing and advertising programs. For purposes of carrying out the pilot program, the VA shall appoint or select within the VHA's Office of Physician Assistant Services: (1) a Deputy Director for Education and Career Development of Physician Assistants, (2) a Deputy Director of Recruitment and Retention, (3) a recruiter, and (4) an administrative assistant.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Support Our Military Caregivers Act

(Sec. 2) This bill permits an individual to elect to have an independent contractor perform an external clinical review of any of the following:

 a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) denial of an individual's application to be a caregiver or family caregiver eligible for VA benefits; with respect to an approved application, a VA determination of the level or amount of personal care services that a veteran requires; a request by a caregiver or family caregiver for a reconsideration of the level or amount of personal care services that a veteran requires based on post-application changes; and a revocation of benefits by the VA. The VA shall ensure that each external clinical review is completed and the individual is notified in writing of the results within 120 days of the election.

(Sec. 3) The VA shall issue policy, procedural, and operational directives for the program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers and the program of general caregiver support services, including with respect to eligibility. The Government Accountability Office must report on VA processes for making and adjudicating eligibility determinations.

(Sec. 4) The bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to revise the limits on the aggregate amount of awards and bonuses payable to VA employees in each of FY2017-FY2021.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Delivering Opportunities for Care and Services for Veterans Act of 2015 or the DOCs for Veterans Act of 2015

This bill amends the Social Security Act with respect to determining the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) residents for payments to hospitals for direct graduate medical education (GME) costs, in particular the limitation on the total number of FTE residents in the field of allopathic or osteopathic medicine in a hospital's approved medical residency training program. In applying this limitation, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall not take into account any such resident that is filling a GME residency position that counts towards meeting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) obligation under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to increase the number of GME residency positions at VA medical facilities by up to 1,500 positions.

The period for increasing GME residency positions at VA medical facilities is extended to 10 years.

 The VA and HHS shall jointly conduct a six-year pilot program to establish at least three graduate behavioral medicine residency programs in underserved areas in the United States.

Education and training of marriage and family therapists and licensed professional mental health counselors shall be included in VA health personnel education and training programs.

Persons with a doctoral degree in mental health counseling are eligible for appointment to a VA mental health counselor position.

Physician assistants in VA facilities must receive pay competitive with pay for similar positions in non-VA facilities in the same labor market.

Not less than 30% of debt reduction payments paid under the education debt reduction program each year shall be paid to individuals who practice medicine in a rural or highly rural area.

The positions (and pay) of Directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks are established.

 The VA shall conduct a two-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of implementing in rural and highly rural areas with a large percentage of veterans a nurse advice line to provide veterans with medical advice, appointment and cancellation services, and information on the availability of VA benefits.

Date: 2015-11-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Health Care Staffing Improvement Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a Docs-to-Doctors Program to recruit individuals separating from the Armed Forces who served in a health care capacity in the Armed Forces.

The VA shall: (1) implement a uniform credentialing process for certain health care employees of the Veterans Health Administration; and (2) provide full practice authority to advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and such other licensed VA health care professionals as consistent with their education, training, and certification.

Date: 2015-11-30
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Medical Staffing Recruitment and Retention Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upon the advanced written request of a covered physician, to modify the hours of employment for a full-time VA physician to be more than or less than 80 hours in a biweekly pay period.

For purpose of determining pay, such a physician shall be deemed to have a biweekly employment schedule of 80 hours.

A physician with an irregular work schedule must account for at least 2,080 employment hours (through work or use of leave or paid time off) in a calendar year.

Date: 2015-12-01
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Primary Care Physician Reentry Act of 2015

 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration program to facilitate physician reentry into primary care clinical practice. To be eligible to participate, a physician must agree to provide primary care at a health center for at least two years.

Grantees must assist reentering physicians by providing training, paying credentialing and other necessary fees, paying salaries, and providing loan repayment and other financial assistance.

HHS must: (1) assess the need for additional primary care physicians, (2) develop a directory of programs that help physicians reenter clinical practice, (3) disseminate evaluation tools to measure the core competencies of physicians reentering clinical practice, and (4) assist regulatory and credentialing authorities to structure requirements for reentering physicians that ensure patient safety while addressing the burdens on those physicians.

 This bill limits civil liability for physicians participating in a reentry project.

Date: 2015-12-10
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
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: 2015-12-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Veterans Administration Bonus Elimination Act of 2016

This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to deny certain awards or bonuses to senior executive employees of the Veterans Health Administration who fail to satisfy requests for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital or medical services within the VA's wait-time goals or within the time line specified by the requesting individual, whichever is later.

Date: 2016-01-13
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Expedited Hiring for VA Trained Psychiatrists Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to appoint a psychiatrist who completes a residency at a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility to a VHA health care position immediately after such residency, without regard to civil service or classification laws, if: (1) the psychiatrist meets the qualifications established in regulations prescribed for the position, and (2) the position has been unfilled for at least 35 days.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise payment rules for graduate medical education (GME) costs with respect to a hospital that establishes a new medical residency training program.

With respect to a hospital that has not entered into a GME affiliation agreement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall establish the hospital's full-time equivalent (FTE) resident amount only after determining that the hospital's medical residency training program trains more than 1.0 FTE resident in a cost reporting period. In the case of a hospital with an approved FTE resident amount based on the training of no more than 1.0 FTE resident in a cost reporting period before October 1, 1997, or 3.0 FTE residents in a cost reporting period after that date, CMS shall provide the hospital an opportunity to have its FTE resident amount reestablished when the hospital begins training FTE residents in excess of the applicable threshold.

Current law limits the number, subject to the application of certain adjustments, of FTE residents a hospital may have in allopathic and osteopathic medicine for purposes of Medicare payment. The bill specifies that CMS shall determine a hospital's limitation adjustment only after determining that the hospital's medical residency training program trains more than 1.0 FTE residents in a cost reporting period. In the case of a hospital with a limitation adjustment based on the training of no more than 1.0 FTE resident in a cost reporting period before October 1, 1997, or 3.0 FTE residents in a cost reporting period after that date, CMS shall provide the hospital an opportunity to have its adjustment re-determined when the hospital begins training FTE residents in excess of the applicable threshold.

Date: 2016-03-14
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow a nurse practitioner to fulfill documentation requirements for coverage, under Medicare, of special shoes for diabetic individuals. Under current law, such requirements may be satisfied only by a physician.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Training Tomorrow's Doctors Today Act

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase, for purposes of Medicare payment, the otherwise applicable resident limit for qualifying hospitals. The bill establishes a process for distributing the new residency positions.

The bill eliminates the use of three-year rolling averages with respect to calculating, for purposes of Medicare payment, specified limits on certain new or redistributed residency positions.

With respect to specified hospitals, all of the time spent by an intern or resident in an approved medical residency training program, regardless of setting, shall be counted for purposes of determining a hospital's number of residents.

The bill revises payment rules for graduate medical education (GME) costs with respect to a hospital that establishes a new medical residency training program. With respect to a hospital that has not entered into a GME affiliation agreement, CMS shall establish the hospital's resident amount only after determining that the hospital trains more a specified number of residents. Similarly, CMS shall adjust a hospital's limitation on allopathic and osteopathic residents only after determining that the hospital trains more than a specified number of residents. In specified cases, CMS shall provide a hospital an opportunity to have its resident amount reestablished and its limitation adjustment re-determined.

The bill also revises provisions regarding: (1) aggregation rules relating to resident limits, and (2) the period of board eligibility for residents who change specialties.

CMS shall establish and implement procedures for adjusting a hospital's indirect medical education payments based on specified performance measures.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Health for Each American Less fortunate Through Help from medical professionals In Every Rural and impoverished area Act of 2016 or the HEALTHIER Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to states with a volunteer health care provider law that permits a volunteer to provide health care services without being licensed in the state if the volunteer is licensed in another state.

The law must: (1) require the services to be provided in a rural or impoverished area and to be within the scope of practice of the provider in the state, and (2) prohibit the services from being provided for more than seven consecutive days.

Date: 2016-03-21
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Co-Prescribing Saves Lives Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1) establish training guidelines for federal health care facilities and federally qualified health centers; and (2) train certain health care providers at federal health care facilities on best practices for prescribing pain medications, principles of pain management, the misuse potential of controlled substances, identification of potential substance use disorders and referral to further evaluation and treatment, and disposal of controlled substances.

HHS, the VA, and DOD must establish, for certain health care facilities, guidelines for the prescription of naloxone to individuals at an elevated risk of overdose. (Naloxone is a prescription drug used to rapidly reverse an overdose of opioids, which are drugs with effects similar to opium, such as heroin and certain pain medications.)

HHS must award grants to state departments of health for the development and application of guidelines for the prescription of opioid overdose reversal drugs and to increase access to naloxone. Grants may be used to:

 establish a program for purchasing, prescribing, and distributing opioid overdose reversal drugs; expand innovative models of naloxone distribution; train and provide resources to health care providers and pharmacists on prescribing opioid overdose reversal drugs; offset individuals' cost-sharing for opioid overdose reversal drugs; conduct community outreach to raise awareness of the availability of opioid overdose reversal drugs; and establish protocols to connect patients who have experienced a drug overdose with treatment.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Accreditation For Everyone Act of 2016 or the SAFE Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the factors that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must consider with respect to determining whether certain national accreditation demonstrates a provider's compliance with applicable requirements of the Medicare program.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study access by underserved populations to general surgeons, including whether the health professional shortage area designation under the National Health Service Corps program accurately assesses adequacy of access or whether another measure or designation would be more appropriate.

HHS must consider potential methodologies for designating surgical health professional shortage areas.

Date: 2016-04-15
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Enhancing Opportunities for Medical Doctors Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to redistribute unused residency positions for which graduate medical education costs are paid under Medicare. Specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must: (1) reduce a hospital's resident limit by a specified amount if the hospital has unused residency positions and is not a rural hospital with fewer than 250 acute care inpatient beds, and (2) increase the resident limit for each qualifying hospital that applies for an increase. In aggregate, the number of increased positions shall equal the number of reduced positions. The bill establishes specified priorities, limitations, and capacity considerations with respect to redistribution.

Date: 2016-05-11
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Peer-Support Specialist Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report on and publish best practices and professional standards in states for: (1) establishing and operating health care programs using peer-support specialists, and (2) training and certifying peer-support specialists.

HHS must award grants to develop and sustain behavioral health paraprofessional training and education programs, including through tuition support.

Date: 2016-05-25
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Get Veterans a Doctor Now Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer a contingent physician's appointment to a person who, upon completion of a post-graduate training program, completes a residency program within two years after the VA offer.

Eligibility requirements for a VA physician's appointment, including a contingency appointment, are revised to require completion of a residency program rather than an internship.

 The VA shall ensure that a recruiter or other similar official of each Veterans Integrated Service Network visits, at least annually, each allopathic and osteopathic teaching institution with a graduate medical education program within the Network to recruit individuals for the Veterans Health Administration.

Date: 2016-06-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Armed forces and national security