zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Medicare Skilled Nursing and Home Health Services Continuity of Care Act of 2015 

This bill declares that its purpose is to ensure beneficiary access to advance wound care products while in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) or while on a home health plan of care by allowing separate payment to be made for advanced surgical dressings under part B of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act as a durable medical equipment prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies benefit.

To this end advanced surgical dressings are excluded from covered SNF services if delivered to a SNF patient for use during the SNF stay. Such dressings are included, however, as home health services.

 The Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to: (1) provide for the submission and processing of claims for advanced surgical dressings for payment under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) by the same Medicare administrative contractors that process claims for other durable medical equipment; and (2) establish an education incentive program to encourage each nursing facility, SNF, or home health agency certified under SSAct title XVIII or XIX (Medicaid) to provide their clinical staff members annually with access to wound care education.

Date: 2015-02-27
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Personal Health Investment Today Act or the PHIT Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for a joint return or a head of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses. Defines "qualified sports and fitness expenses" as amounts paid for fitness facility memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment.

Date: 2015-03-03
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Taxation
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payment at the applicable site neutral payment rate for discharges in a cost reporting period beginning before October 1, 2017, from subsection (d) hospitals and certain long-term care hospitals that involve certain severe wounds.

(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.)

The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall study the treatment needs of individuals entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance), or enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), requiring specialized wound care, and the cost, for such individual, and the Medicare program of treating severe wounds in rural and urban areas.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2015 

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services.

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

Date: 2015-03-06
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicaid Home Owner Maximum Equity Improvement Act or the Medicaid HOME Improvement Act

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the denial of an individual's eligibility for nursing facility services or other long-term care services if the individual's equity interest in his or her home exceeds $500,000.

The state option to increase such threshold amount to $750,000 is eliminated.

Date: 2015-03-13
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Veterans Access to Extended Care Act of 2015

This bill modifies the treatment of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) agreements with service providers to furnish veterans with nursing home care, adult day health care, or other extended care services.

Any such agreement shall:

 not be treated as a federal contract for the acquisition of goods or services and shall be not subject to any provision of law governing federal contracts for the acquisition of goods or services, and include specified requirements (such as for medical licensing and VA review of staff and facilities) to ensure the safety and quality of care furnished to veterans pursuant to such agreement. The failure of a provider to comply with a provision of the agreement may result in VA termination of the agreement.

Such agreements are exempted from the application of certain public contract labor laws.

Date: 2015-03-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medicare Adult Day Services Act of 2015 

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover certified adult day services furnished in a certified adult day services center and meeting specified requirements, and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by 3% the payment amount otherwise effective for such services furnished in a rural area on or after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2018.

Date: 2015-03-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, as medical and other health services, complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) items designed or individually configured for a specific qualified individual to meet that individual's unique: (1) medical, physical, or functional needs related to a medical condition; and (2) capacities for basic activities of daily living (ADLs) or instrumental ADLs.

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

Prescribes requirements for payments for CRT items.

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

Directs the Secretary to establish a formal process to allow submission of CRT code set modification requests by stakeholder groups for comprehensive coding changes related to entire policy groups.

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

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to state that, except with respect to high-risk or complex medical services requiring direct levels of supervision, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services requires supervision by a physician or non-physician practitioner for Medicare payment for therapeutic hospital outpatient services, that requirement is met if such services are furnished under the physician's or non-physician practitioner's general supervision.

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

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

Date: 2015-03-25
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the payment of income from a qualifying annuity in determining the Medicaid eligibility of an institutionalized spouse.

One-half of the income from such an annuity made either solely or partly in the name of the community spouse. shall be considered available to the institutionalized spouse.

If payment of income is made in the names of the community spouse and another person or persons, one-half of the proportion of the community spouses's interest in that income shall also be considered available to the institutionalized spouse.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to include recreational therapy services among the therapeutic modalities that constitute an intensive rehabilitation therapy program in determining whether inpatient services in an inpatient rehabilitation facility are reasonable and necessary.

Date: 2015-04-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require each Medicare participating hospital to implement a hospital-wide staffing plan for nursing services furnished in the hospital.

Requires the plan to require that an appropriate number of registered nurses provide direct patient care in each unit and on each shift of the hospital to ensure staffing levels that: (1) address the unique characteristics of the patients and hospital units; and (2) result in the delivery of safe, quality patient care consistent with specified requirements.

Requires each participating hospital to establish a hospital nurse staffing committee which shall implement such plan.

Specifies civil monetary and other penalties for violation of the requirements of this Act.

Sets forth whistleblower protections against discrimination and retaliation involving patients or employees of the hospital for their grievances, complaints, or involvement in investigations relating to such plan.

Date: 2015-04-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act of 2015 

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to increase from a three-year to a five-year period the length of an agreement with an independence at home medical practice under the Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Program.

Date: 2015-05-01
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Hospice Commitment to Accurate and Relevant Encounters Act or the Hospice CARE [sic]

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the face-to-face encounter framework in hospice care. A clinical nurse specialist, physician assistant, or other health professional (in addition to a hospice physician or a nurse practitioner, as under current law) is allowed to conduct the face-to-face encounter with the individual to determine continued eligibility for hospice care before the first 60-day (currently 180-day) recertification period and each subsequent recertification.

Date: 2015-05-01
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Preserving Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2015 

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study whether there should be an increase in the prospective payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation services that would otherwise be made to a rehabilitation innovation center to cover additional costs incurred in: (1) furnishing items and services to individuals conducting research, and (2) providing medical training.

Requires the study also to specify the amount of such an increase if the Secretary determines that it is recommended.

Directs the Secretary also to study the access by individuals to rehabilitation care in rural communities in states where there is no rehabilitation innovation center.

Date: 2015-05-13
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into an agreement or a contract with each state home to pay for adult day health care for a veteran eligible for, but not receiving, nursing home care.

The veteran must need such care either specifically for a service-connected disability, or, if not specifically for one, the veteran must have a service-connected disability rated 70% or more.

Payment under each agreement or contract between the VA and a state home must equal 65% of the payment that the VA would otherwise pay to the state home if the veteran were receiving nursing home care.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Community Based Independence for Seniors Act of 2015

This bill amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration program to provide home and community-based care to eligible Medicare beneficiaries age 65 or older.

Date: 2015-06-09
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Veterans Residential Care Choice Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), at the request of an eligible veteran for whom the VA is required to provide domiciliary, nursing home, adult day health, or hospital care, or who is determined to be in need of such care, to place the veteran (at the expense of the United States) in a state licensed or certified residential care facility that meets VA standards if the cost of providing such care through the facility is less than the cost of providing the care through any other available option.

An eligible veteran is a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 70% or more disabling.

Date: 2015-07-10
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Hospice Care Access Improvement Act of 2015

This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to select one Medicare administrative contractor to conduct a one-year demonstration program during FY2016 in all hospice programs under the contractor's jurisdiction to test revisions to the methodology for determining hospice payment rates under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act contained in the "Fiscal Year 2016 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements," published on May 5, 2015, by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

No revisions to the hospice payment methodology may be made for FY2016-FY2017, except for demonstration program purposes. HHS shall implement the proposed hospice payment methodology revisions beginning with FY2018 after:

 taking into account an evaluation of the demonstration program, and making any necessary changes to the revisions. HHS shall implement a process for the medical review of hospice care furnished by a hospice program identified according to certain multiple factors, such as the percentage of patients discharged after receiving hospice care for between 120 and 180 days and who were alive upon discharge.

HHS shall also develop and publish guidance for hospice programs to develop interventions to reduce hospital admissions and visits to hospital emergency departments by hospice patients.

Medicare shall cover pre-hospice evaluation and counseling services performed by a registered nurse employed by a hospice program.

A skilled nursing facility (SNF) shall make a good faith effort to contract with more than one hospice program participating in the Medicare program that provides services in the area served by the SNF, if more than one hospice program is available to serve SNF residents.

SNF residents shall have the right to be fully informed of any financial interest the SNF has in any hospice program to which a resident is referred.

Any hospital discharge planning evaluation must evaluate, for an individual likely to need hospice care, the availability of such care through hospice programs that:

 participate in the Medicare program and serve the area in which the patient resides, and request to be listed by the hospital as available.

Date: 2015-07-13
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization Act of 2015

 Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise provisions concerning the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program to direct the Attorney General: (1) through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, to award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist in paying for the costs of planning, designing, establishing, and operating locally based, proactive programs to protect and locate missing patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; and (2) in awarding grants, to give preference to national nonprofit organizations that have experience working with patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and their families.

Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY2016-FY2020.

Date: 2015-07-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2015 or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act

This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain, and periodically update a National Family Caregiving Strategy.

 HHS shall convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise it on recognizing and supporting family caregivers.

Federal departments and agencies must share with HHS any data they maintain that HHS needs to prepare the initial and updated Strategies.

Date: 2015-07-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Safe Food for Seniors Act of 2015

This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act such that a Medicare skilled nursing facility or Medicaid nursing facility without a full-time qualified dietitian must require its director of food services to be: (1) a Certified Dietary Manager meeting the requirements of the Certifying Board for Dietary Managers; (2) a Dietetic Technician, Registered, meeting with the requirements published by the Commission on Dietetic Registration; or (3) an individual with equivalent military or academic qualifications.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicaid and CHIP Territory Fraud Prevention Act

This bill amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to exclude certain payments from ceilings on the amounts of Medicaid payments made to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Specifically, the bill excludes certain payments made to these territories for the establishment and operation of Medicaid fraud control units.

The bill also makes a technical amendment.

Date: 2015-09-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Nursing Home Accountability Act of 2015

This bill amends the National Housing Act to condition a nursing home's eligibility for a Section 232 loan upon its quality rating. (A Section 232 loan is insured by the Federal Housing Administration and may be used to finance or refinance the purchase, construction, or renovation of a nursing home or assisted living facility.)

A nursing home becomes ineligible for a Section 232 loan if, for any period of 30 or more consecutive months, the home achieves two or fewer stars under the five-star quality rating system established pursuant to the Social Security Act for purposes of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. However, a nursing home's eligibility shall be renewed if the home subsequently maintains a rating of three or more stars for a period of at least 30 consecutive months.

The bill does not affect existing mortgages.

Date: 2015-10-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act of 2015

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend lifespan respite care programs (services for family caregivers of children and adults with special needs) through FY2020.

Each state agency awarded a grant or cooperative agreement for lifespan respite care must collect, maintain, and report to the Department of Health and Human Services data and records to enable monitoring and evaluation of the lifespan programs and activities.

Date: 2015-11-03
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Community-Based Independence for Seniors Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration program through which up to five eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations shall provide home and community-based care to eligible Medicare beneficiaries. For purposes of the demonstration program, an eligible Medicare beneficiary is ineligible for Medicaid and unable to perform two or more activities of daily living.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall establish payment rates for eligible MA plans under the demonstration program. Such payment rates are capped but shall be in addition to payments otherwise made to MA organizations with respect to such plans.

CMS shall also: (1) help to educate eligible Medicare beneficiaries on the availability of the program, and (2) provide for program evaluation by an independent third party.

Date: 2015-12-10
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare and Medicaid Improvements and Adjustments Act of 2015

This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify payment rules and other provisions related to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The bill includes off-campus outpatient department (OPD) services in Medicare's prospective payment system (in which predetermined amounts form the basis of payment) with respect to departments that are under development.

The existing Medicare payment adjustment for cancer hospitals shall apply to off-campus OPDs.

The bill temporarily prohibits specified Medicare payment adjustments related to competitive acquisition programs for certain wheelchair accessories.

In addition, the bill modifies provisions related to: (1) reimbursement under Medicare for certain drugs furnished through durable medical equipment (DME), (2) Medicare payment rules for certain radiation therapy services, and (3) the treatment of Medicaid supplemental needs trusts.

The bill expands criminal penalties and civil monetary penalties for certain acts involving federal health care programs.

With respect to negative Medicare payment adjustments for physicians and hospitals that fail to comply with certain requirements related to electronic health records (EHR), the bill authorizes a temporary blanket exception.

A patient encounter occurring at an ambulatory surgical center shall not be used to determine whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful EHR user. This prohibition applies until a specified period has passed following a determination by the Department of Health and Human Services that certified EHR technology is applicable to that setting.

Current law limits state reimbursement for DME under Medicaid to Medicare payment rates beginning January 1, 2019. The bill accelerates this limitation such that it begins October 1, 2018. 

Date: 2015-12-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Return to Work Awareness Act of 2016

 This bill authorizes the Department of Labor, acting through the Job Accommodation Network, to disseminate information and promote awareness among survivors of stroke and other debilitating health occurrences, such as traumatic brain injury and heart attack, and survivors' families, as well as among employers, government agencies, employee representatives, and service providers in order to: (1) assist survivors of stroke and such other debilitating health occurrences in returning to work, (2) improve a survivor's employability and demonstrate to employers ways to capitalize on the value and talent that survivors add to the workplace, and (3) enhance self-employment and entrepreneurship options for survivors.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Labor and employment
Preserving Patient Access to Post-Acute Hospital Care Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to delay by two additional years the application of negative payment adjustments under the "25-percent rule" to certain long-term care hospitals and satellite facilities. This rule reduces payments to a long-term care facility that admits proportionately more patients from any single hospital.

Date: 2016-02-29
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Modernization Act of 2016

This bill amends the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act to revise the formula and requirements for distributing funds under the Housing Opportunities for Persons With Aids (HOPWA) Program.

 A grantee that received an allocation in FY2016 shall continue to be eligible for such allocations in subsequent fiscal years, subject to approval by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the amounts available from appropriations Acts.

HUD shall:

 redetermine a grantee's eligibility at least once every 10 years, and ensure that a grantee that received an allocation in the prior fiscal year does not receive an allocation 5% less than or 10% greater than the share of total available formula funds allocated to that grantee in the preceding fiscal year. HUD may also award such funds to an alternative grantee if the original grantee agrees in a written document meeting HUD approval.

References to "cases of AIDS" and "AIDS cases" shall be replaced by "individuals living with HIV or AIDS," which means, with respect to the counting of cases in a geographic area during a period of time, the sum of:

 the number of living non-AIDS cases of HIV in the area, and the number of living cases of AIDS in the area.

Date: 2016-03-03
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Housing and community development
Protecting Families with Disabilities Act of 2016

This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with respect to how a state that had an approved home- and community-based Medicaid waiver as of January 1, 2014, may treat spousal income and assets for purposes of determining an individual's financial eligibility for services under the waiver.

With respect to such a state that disregarded an individual's spousal income and assets for those purposes, specified provisions of current law shall not prohibit the state from continuing to do so.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Personalize Your Care Act 2.0

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish several new programs and requirements related to end-of-life care and advance care planning.

The bill establishes a demonstration program to test the use of advanced illness management and early use of palliative care under Medicare.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must make grants to eligible entities for the purpose of developing, expanding, and enhancing programs for orders for life-sustaining treatment.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall adopt standards for electronic health records with respect to providing one-click access to specified advance care planning documentation.

Under Medicare, an advance directive shall be portable across state lines and may be presumed valid regardless of where it was executed. In the absence of a validly executed advance directive, any authentic expression of a person's wishes with regard to health care shall be honored.

The Government Accountability Office must study and report on the portability, electronic storage, use, and barriers to use of advance directives.

The bill applies specified quality measures to end-of-life care under Medicare.

CMS must report annually on specified information related to Medicare decedents.

HHS shall award grants to increase public awareness of advance care planning. In addition, HHS shall award grants to eligible entities for the development and implementation of training and education programs related to advance care planning, hospice care, and palliative care.

HHS must establish an advisory committee on advance care planning.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Alzheimer's Beneficiary and Caregiver Support Act

This bill amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test the efficacy of coverage and payment for Alzheimer's Disease caregiver support services in delaying or reducing the use of institutionalized care for Medicare beneficiaries.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall establish payment amounts for such services.

Date: 2016-07-07
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish, with respect to certain spinal cord specialty hospitals, a temporary exemption from specified Medicare payment limits applicable to long-term care hospital (LTCH) inpatient services. Current law generally applies payment limits to inpatient services for LTCHs that do not meet certain discharge requirements.

Date: 2016-07-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to, with respect to certain discharges involving severe wounds, extend and expand a temporary exception from certain Medicare payment limits for long-term care hospital (LTCH) inpatient services. Current law generally applies payment limits to inpatient services for LTCHs that do not meet specified discharge requirements.

Date: 2016-07-11
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow payment under Medicare for certain services furnished to hospice patients by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).

With respect to a patient who elects to receive hospice care under Medicare, current law generally limits payment for services that are either duplicative of such care or related to the treatment of the individual's terminal illness. However, current law exempts from this limitation: (1) physicians' services furnished by the individual's attending physician, if not an employee of the hospice program; and (2) services provided or arranged by the hospice program.

The bill expands this exemption with regard to rural health clinic and FQHC services. Specifically, the Medicare payment limitation shall not apply to such services that: (1) would otherwise be physicians' services if furnished by an individual unaffiliated with a rural health clinic or FQHC; and (2) are either arranged by the hospice program or furnished by the individual's attending physician, if not an employee of the hospice program.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Community Integration Act of 2016

This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require a state Medicaid program to, with respect to an individual who requires a level of care provided in a nursing facility, intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled, institution for mental disease, or other similar setting: (1) provide the individual with the choice and equal opportunity to receive such care in a home- and community-based setting; and (2) meet specified requirements relating to the provision and availability of care in such a setting, including a requirement to develop a statewide plan to increase affordable and accessible housing for individuals with disabilities.

Date: 2016-09-15
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Pre-Claims Undermine Seniors' Health Act of 2016 or the PUSH Act of 2016

This bill delays the Medicare demonstration for pre-claim review of home health services and requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to report on such pre-claim review. Specifically, CMS shall delay or suspend the demonstration by the later of: (1) one year after either the bill's enactment or the demonstration's scheduled start-date, as applicable; or (2) six months after CMS submits its report. 

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act of 2016

This bill establishes circumstances under which an occupational therapist may conduct the initial assessment visit for an individual who is eligible for home health services under Medicare. Specifically, an occupational therapist may conduct the assessment if the physician's referral order does not include skilled nursing care but does include: (1) occupational therapy, and (2) physical therapy or speech language pathology.

Date: 2016-11-30
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Improving Care for Vulnerable Older Citizens through Workforce Advancement Act of 2016 

 This bill amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Administration on Aging to carry out a program awarding grants to eligible entities to carry out six separate demonstration projects that focus on care coordination and service delivery for older individuals with chronic illness or at risk of institutional placement by: (1) designing and testing new models of care coordination and service delivery that thoughtfully and effectively deploy advanced aides to improve efficiency and quality of care for frail older individuals; and (2) giving direct-care workers opportunities for career advancement through additional training, an expanded role, and increased compensation.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Social welfare
Younger-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Parity Act of 2016

This bill amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize services to be provided to individuals with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder with neurological and organic brain dysfunction who have not attained 60 years of age.

Date: 2016-12-08
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Families
Authorizes payment under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) beneficiary travel program of travel expenses in connection with the medical examination, treatment, or care of a veteran with vision impairment, a spinal cord injury or disorder, or double or multiple amputations whose travel is in connection with care provided through a VA special disabilities rehabilitation program, if such care is provided: (1) on an inpatient basis, or (2) while a veteran is provided temporary lodging at a VA facility in order to make such care more accessible.

Requires a report from the Secretary to the congressional veterans committees on the travel program.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to state that, except with respect to high-risk or complex medical services requiring direct levels of supervision, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services requires supervision by a physician or non-physician practitioner for Medicare payment for therapeutic hospital outpatient services, that requirement is met if such services are furnished under the physician's or non-physician practitioner's general supervision.

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

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

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Home Infusion Site of Care Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize Medicare coverage of home infusion therapy and home infusion drugs.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement the Medicare home infusion therapy benefit in a manner that ensures that: (1) Medicare beneficiaries have timely and appropriate access to infusion therapy in their homes, and (2) there is rapid and seamless coordination between drug coverage under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) and home infusion therapy services coverage under Medicare part B (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to avoid the filing of duplicative or otherwise improper claims.

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the existing caps on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services.

Date: 2015-02-24
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2015

 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services.

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

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Rural Veterans Travel Enhancement Act of 2015

Makes permanent the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transport individuals to and from VA facilities in connection with vocational rehabilitation, counseling, examination, treatment, or care.

Treats Vet Centers (centers for readjustment counseling and related mental health services for veterans) as VA facilities for purposes of providing payment of actual expenses of travel or allowance for travel to or from a VA facility.

Amends the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to reauthorize through FY2020 a grant program to provide innovative transportation options to veterans in highly rural areas.

Date: 2015-02-26
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Caregivers Expansion and Improvement Act of 2015

Extends to all veterans with a serious service-connected injury the eligibility to participate in the Department of Veterans Affairs program of comprehensive assistance to family caregivers of such veterans. (Under current law, such eligibility is limited to those veterans who incurred such an injury on or after September 11, 2001.)

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Community Based Independence for Seniors Act 

(Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a five-year Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan demonstration program to prevent and delay institutionalization under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) among eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries age 65 or older.

HHS shall enter into agreements with up to five eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) plans under part C (Medicare+Choice) of SSAct title XVIII (Medicare) to conduct the demonstration program. Each eligible MA plan may enroll up to 1,000 eligible low-income Medicare beneficiaries in such program.

A participating MA plan shall use the rebate the plan must provide to eligible low-income Medicare enrollees to furnish certain benefits, including homemaker services, home delivered meals, transportation services, respite care, adult day care services, and non-Medicare-covered safety and other equipment.

HHS shall help to educate eligible Medicare beneficiaries about the availability of the demonstration program through State Health Insurance Assistance Programs and other organizations dedicated to assisting seniors with Medicare benefits and enrollment.

The demonstration program shall be implemented by January 1, 2018.

HHS shall arrange for an independent third party evaluation of the demonstration program, on the basis of which its duration and scope may be expanded.

Funding for the demonstration program shall come out of the Medicare trust funds.

Date: 2015-03-11
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Preserve Access to Medicare Rural Home Health Services Act of 2015

This bill amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to extend through calendar 2020 the payment increase (add-on) for Medicare home health services in rural areas.

 The ceiling on the total amount of the additional payments or payment adjustments otherwise made in the case of home health outliers with respect to a fiscal year or year is lowered, in the case of each of 2016 through 2020, from 2.5% to 2.25% of the total payments projected or estimated to be made under the prospective payment system for home health services.

Date: 2015-03-23
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to deem an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital to be an inpatient with respect to satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital requirement in order to entitle the individual to Medicare coverage of any post-hospital extended care services in a skilled nursing facility.

Date: 2015-03-24
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer's Act of 2015

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover comprehensive Alzheimer's disease care planning services.

Date: 2015-03-25
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it passed the Senate on April 22, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act of 2015 

(Sec. 2) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to increase from a three-year to a five-year period the length of an agreement with an independence at home medical practice under the Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Program.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2015

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover, as medical and other health services, complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) items designed or individually configured for a specific qualified individual to meet that individual's unique: (1) medical, physical, or functional needs related to a medical condition; and (2) capacities for basic activities of daily living (ADLs) or instrumental ADLs.

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

Prescribes requirements for payments for CRT items.

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

Directs the Secretary to establish a formal process to allow submission of CRT code set modification requests by stakeholder groups for comprehensive coding changes related to entire policy groups.

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

Date: 2015-04-20
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Preserving Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2016

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a study to assess the costs incurred by rehabilitation innovation centers that are beyond the prospective rates for each of the following activities: (1) furnishing items and services to individuals under Medicare; (2) conducting research; and (3) providing medical training.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payment at the applicable site neutral payment rate for discharges in a cost reporting period beginning before October 1, 2017, from subsection (d) hospitals and certain long-term care hospitals that involve certain severe wounds.

(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.)

The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall study the treatment needs of individuals entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance), or enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), requiring specialized wound care, and the cost, for such individual, and the Medicare program of treating severe wounds in rural and urban areas.

Date: 2015-05-06
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on July 30, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

This bill amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive applicable general and Medicaid requirements of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in order to conduct demonstration projects through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) that involve PACE.

 HHS may not, as part of a CMS Innovation Center demonstration, waive: (1) the requirement to offer items and services under Medicare and Medicaid without limitation to PACE program enrollees, and (2) certain requirements regarding enrollment in and disenrollment from PACE programs.

Date: 2015-05-18
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Health
Older Americans Community Access Revitalization and Education Act or the CARE Act

Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Administration on Aging (AoA) of the Administration for Community Living of the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a community care wrap-around support demonstration program of grants to enable eligible entities to: (1) establish community care wrap-around support partnerships; and (2) carry out specified activities, including longitudinal care plans for each eligible older individual as well as medication management and medical nutrition therapy.

Directs the AoA to provide funding through area agencies on aging, and other approved entities, to not-for-profit owners or managers of housing for a pilot project service packaged and targeted for residents of federally assisted housing.

Directs the AoA, through a coordinated public education and outreach campaign carried out by the National Eldercare Locator Service, and in coordination with other appropriate federal agencies, to promote: (1) enhanced public awareness of the importance of advance planning for integrated long-term care; and (2) the availability of national, state, and local information and resources to assist in such planning, as well as the existence of area agencies and aging service providers to give direct assistance with it.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Social welfare