zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Save Social Security Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to establish a Personal Social Security Savings Fund consisting of Social Security contributions, increased by the total net earnings from investments, and reserves held in an Annuity Reserves Account. Authorizes qualifying individuals to elect to participate in a program under which personal Social Security savings accounts are established for investment pursuant to various options. Prescribes requirements for Tier I and Tier II Investment Funds for the investment of personal Social Security savings contributions calculated according to a specified formula. Specifies Tier I and Tier II investment options. Prescribes requirements for: (1) distributions from personal Social Security savings accounts for purchase of annuities from an Annuity Issuance Authority, and (2) guaranteed Social Security benefits regardless of whether such an annuity is purchased. Requires a reduction in monthly Social Security insurance benefits, according to a certain formula, for personal savings program participants. Establishes a Personal Social Security Savings Board to administer the program and establish investment policies. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject distributions from personal Social Security savings accounts to income tax. Establishes in the Treasury a Personal Social Security Savings Program Spending Reduction Account to which the Secretary of the Treasury shall credit the amount of savings for a fiscal year derived from legislation reducing or terminating federal programs. Requires the Managing Trustee of the OASDI Trust Funds, at the end of any reimbursement year for which for which there is a Savings Program excess balance in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, to transfer from them to the Spending Reduction Account sums necessary to reimburse it.

Date: 2011-09-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Eliminate Auto Test (EAT) Act of 2011 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to exclude the value of vehicles used for household transportation, or to obtain or continue employment, from the resource limitation for purposes of supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP, formerly food stamps) eligibility.

Date: 2011-10-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Standard Data and Technology Advancement Act or Standard DATA Act - Amends part A of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the head of the department or agency responsible for administering certain human services programs to designate, by rule, nonproprietary and interoperable standard data elements for any category of information required to be reported.

Date: 2011-11-03
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Social Security Earnings Test Repeal Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which a beneficiary may earn (earnings test) without incurring a reduction in benefits.

Date: 2011-11-03
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Keeping IDs Safe Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act with respect to voluntary state transmittal to the Commissioner of Social Security of information from death certificates in order to correct OASDI program information. Revises the Commissioner's authority to use or provide for the use of records corrected in reliance on such information for statistical and research activities conducted by federal and state agencies. Adds to such uses federal law enforcement and tax administration activities as well as statistical and research activities conducted by state agencies. Declares that any information related to a deceased person received by the Commissioner other than under a contract with a state shall be treated, with respect to protection from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974, in the same manner as information received from a state pursuant to a voluntary contract. Prohibits the use of such information for any purpose other than for correction of OASDI program information.

Date: 2011-11-18
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Accountability in Unemployment Act of 2011 - Amends title III (Grants to States for Unemployment Compensation) of the Social Security Act to require state laws to deny unemployment compensation to applicants unless they undergo drug testing and test negative. Requires a retest after a 30-day waiting period for applicants who test positive for any one of several specified drugs. Denies unemployment compensation for five years to any applicant who tests positive for drugs three or more times.

Date: 2011-12-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Labor and employment
Social Security Safety Dividend Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to disburse a $250 payment for a particular year to recipients of Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits (under title XVI of the Social Security Act), railroad retirement benefits, or veterans disability compensation or pension benefits if no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is payable for any month in such a year.

Date: 2011-12-20
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Retiree Health Coverage Protection Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to increase from $5 billion to $10 billion the amount appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the temporary reinsurance program to reimburse participating employment-based group health benefits plans for a portion of the cost of providing health insurance coverage to early retirees (and their eligible spouses and dependents) between establishment of the program and January 1, 2014.

Date: 2012-02-02
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Senior Transportation and Mobility Improvement Act of 2012 - Amends the program providing formula grants to states for the special public transportation needs of older individuals and the disabled to allow states to use a portion of those grants to operate and maintain the capital assets acquired under that program. Sets the federal share of the costs of the mobility management activities such grants may cover at 90%. (Mobility management activities are designed to improve coordination among public and other transportation service providers.) Requires the National Transit Database to include information on the public transportation formula grant program for older individuals and the disabled, and the public transportation formula grant program for nonurban areas. Requires metropolitan planning organizations and states to involve older individuals and the disabled in metropolitan and statewide transportation planning. Directs the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Center on Senior Transportation to: (1) provide technical assistance to transit and human services organizations, (2) disseminate best practices regarding transportation for older individuals, and (3) make grants to nonprofit organizations to test innovative and replicable approaches for addressing the mobility needs of older individuals. Requires the FTA to make grants to nonprofit aging services organizations to offer mobility management services, and develop and implement enhanced technology to support those services.

Date: 2012-02-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Social Security Administration Accountability Act of 2012 - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to require the Commissioner of Social Security to submit an annual budget estimate of the Social Security Administration (SSA) (instead of a budget) directly to Congress and the President (instead of first to the President, who would submit it to Congress). Revises requirements for the general contents of the SSA budget, requiring inclusion of the number of cases pending at each hearing office and the average processing time. Prohibits the Commissioner from closing or consolidating SSA field or hearing offices, or otherwise limiting public access to one, until 180 days after submitting to specified congressional committees a detailed report outlining and justifying the process for selecting field offices to be closed, consolidated, or otherwise have limited access. Prohibits the Commissioner from closing an SSA field or hearing office, consolidating two or more such offices, or otherwise imposing any new limitation on public access to any such office unless the Commissioner follows certain administrative procedures.

Date: 2012-02-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to provide that the value of certain funeral and burial arrangements involving an irrevocable trust whose named beneficiary is the funeral provider are not to be considered, under the SSI program, as resources available to the individual.

Date: 2012-03-06
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to provide that the value of certain prepaid funeral and burial arrangements involving an irrevocable trust whose named beneficiary is the funeral provider are not to be considered, under the SSI program, as resources available to the individual. Includes among such arrangements a life insurance policy irrevocably assigning benefits covering funeral goods and services to: (1) a funeral provider, or (2) an irrevocable trust fully funding such goods and services and naming the funeral provider as the trust beneficiary.

Date: 2012-03-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Medicare Advantage Program Integrity Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the coding intensity adjustment factor in the formula for the demographic adjustment used in calculating payments to Medicare+Choice organizations for 2015 and subsequent years. Sets the timing of prepayments to Medicare+Choice organizations and to Medicare Advantage organizations for months beginning with January 2013.

Date: 2012-03-22
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Women's Option to Raise Kids Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to increase from 12 to 36 months the child's age limit for exemption by a state of single parents with children from TANF requirements.

Date: 2012-04-18
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Social Networking Online Protection Act - Prohibits employers from: (1) requiring or requesting that an employee or applicant for employment provide a user name, password, or any other means for accessing a private email account or personal account on a social networking website; or (2) discharging, disciplining, discriminating against, denying employment or promotion to, or threatening to take any such action against any employee or applicant who refuses to provide such information, files a compliant or institutes a proceeding under this Act, or testifies in any such proceeding. Sets forth, with respect to employer violations of this Act: (1) civil penalities; (2) the authority of the Secretary of Labor to bring injunctive actions; and (3) the jurisdiction of U.S. district courts to provide legal or equitable relief including employment, reinstatement, promotion, and payment of lost wages and benefits. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit certain institutions of higher education and local educational agencies from requesting such password or account information from students or potential students. Prohibits denial of admission, suspension, expulsion, and other discipline or discrimination against students who decline to provide such information, file a complaint, institute a proceeding, or testify in any related proceeding.

Date: 2012-04-27
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers' Compensation Settlement Agreements Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) create an exception to Medicare secondary payer requirements for certain workers' compensation settlement agreements, and (2) provide for the satisfaction of such requirements through use of qualified Medicare set-asides under workers' compensation settlement agreements.

Date: 2012-04-27
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to expand the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to access the National Directory of New Hires for purposes of tax administration.

Date: 2012-05-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Medicare Payment Rate Disclosure Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make publicly available on the official Medicare Internet site during a specified initial period: (1) Medicare payment rates for frequently reimbursed hospital inpatient and outpatient procedures and services, as well as for physicians' services; and (2) the period for which payment rates are applicable. Requires posting also after the initial period of an expanded selection of such items. Directs the Secretary to select at least 30 procedures and services for the basic posting and at least 100 procedures and services for the expanded posting.

Date: 2012-05-10
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require state Medicaid plans to provide that the state will establish and maintain laws to require disclosure of information on hospital charges, to make such information available to the public, and to provide individuals with information about estimated out-of-pocket costs for health care services. Directs the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to research and report to Congress on: (1) the types of information on the charges and out-of-pocket costs for health care services that individuals find useful in making decisions about where, when, and from whom to receive care; (2) how such types of information vary by whether they have health benefits coverage, and what kinds; and (3) ways in which such information may be available on a timely basis and in easy-to-understand form to individuals facing such decisions.

Date: 2012-05-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
WIPA and PABSS Continuation of Services Act of 2012 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to repeal the expired authorization of appropriations for (and thus continue services under) the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program and the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) program.

Date: 2012-06-29
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Recidivism Reduction Act - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income for Aged, Blind, and Disabled) (SSI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the reinstatement upon release of an otherwise eligible disabled inmate for SSI benefits which were terminated because of the inmate's incarceration in a jail, prison, penal institution, or correctional facility for a period of 12 or more consecutive months. Requires the inmate to apply for reinstatement and resumption of such benefits within 36 months after release. Allows application for reinstatement even before release. Permits provisional benefits to such an individual until the application is acted upon. Requires the reinstatement of SSI benefit eligibility for such an individual's spouse if the spouse was previously an SSI-eligible spouse. Amends SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) to direct the Commissioner of Social Security to develop a system for prerelease application for resumption of suspended OASDI disability insurance benefits, or other benefits based on disability. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to require state Medicaid plans to provide that in the case of any individual enrolled for medical assistance immediately before becoming an inmate of a public institution: (1) the enrollment shall be reinstated upon the individual's release from such institution unless and until there is a determination that the individual is no longer eligible to be so enrolled, and (2) any period of continuous eligibility in effect on the date the individual became such an inmate shall be reinstated as of the release date and the duration of such period shall be determined without regard to the period in which the individual was such an inmate. Increases from 90% to 95% the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) (matching) rate for any state implementing a Medicaid reinstatement system. Authorizes case management services in order to engage in planning for services following an individual's release from a public institution.

Date: 2012-08-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Disabled Veterans Nutrition Fairness Act of 2012 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand eligibility for supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP, formerly food stamp) benefits to include certain veterans with pending service-connected disability claims.

Date: 2012-08-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals who have attained age 60 or are disabled an exemption from income and employment taxes for real property tax abatements received under a state or local program in which such individuals have provided services in exchange for such abatements.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Taxation
Care Coordination for Older Americans Act of 2012 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to make it a duty and function of the Administration on Aging (AOA) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide technical assistance to, and share best practices with, states, area agencies on aging, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, and service providers to carry out outreach and coordinate activities with health care entities in order to assure better care coordination for individuals with multiple chronic illnesses. Requires AOA also to coordinate activities with other federal agencies working to improve care coordination and developing new models and best practices. Requires the designated state agency to promote the development and implementation of a state system to: (1) address the care coordination needs of older individuals with multiple chronic illnesses; and (2) work with acute care providers, area agencies on aging, service providers, and federal agencies to ensure that the system uses best practices. Requires area and state plans to provide assurances that the area agencies on aging will facilitate the area-wide development and implementation of an area-wide system to address the care coordination needs of older individuals with multiple chronic illnesses.

Date: 2012-09-21
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide that wages earned, and self-employment income derived by, individuals while they were not U.S. citizens or nationals, and were in the United States illegally, shall not be credited for coverage under the OASDI program.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Public Servant Retirement Protection Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to repeal the current windfall elimination provision (WEP) (that reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who also have pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security) for individuals first performing non-covered service beginning one year after enactment of this Act. Establishes a new formula for the treatment of non-covered earnings in determining Social Security benefits. Applies such formula to individuals subject to the current WEP if the benefit under the new formula would be higher.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Notch Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise the formula for the computation of minimum Old Age Insurance benefits for individuals who reached age 65 in or after 1979, and to whom applies the 15-year transition period for the changes in benefit computation rules enacted in the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Sets forth a schedule of additional benefit increases for such beneficiaries (and related beneficiaries), with percentages declining from 55% to 5% and keyed to the year an individual became eligible for such benefits between 1979 and 1988. Allows such beneficiaries, in the alternative, to receive lump sum payments over four years totaling $5,000.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Social Security Lock-Box Act of 2011 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide a point of order against consideration of any: (1) budget resolution that sets forth totals for any fiscal year with respect to the Social Security Trust Funds that are less than the totals of the Social Security Trust Funds for that fiscal year as calculated in accordance with a current services baseline; or (2) spending or tax legislation that would cause any totals to be less than the Funds totals for the covered fiscal year. Makes the point of order described in (2) above inapplicable to Social Security reform legislation. Requires any federal budget submitted by the President that recommends totals for any fiscal year with respect to the Funds that are less than the totals of the Funds for that fiscal year to include a detailed proposal for Social Security reform legislation. Makes this Act inapplicable upon the enactment of such legislation. Defines "Social Security reform legislation" as a bill or joint resolution to save Social Security that specifies that it constitutes reform legislation.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Social Security Totalization Agreement Reform Act of 2011 or STAR Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide that any agreement to establish a totalization arrangement which is entered into with another country shall enter into force with respect to the United States if (and only if): (1) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the date on which he enters into the agreement, notifies each House of Congress of his intention to enter into it, and promply thereafter publishes notice of such intention in the Federal Register; (2) he transmits the text of such agreement to each House of the Congress; and (3) a joint resolution regarding such agreement has passed both Houses of Congress and been enacted into federal law. Sets forth procedures for the consideration of such a joint resolution.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Declares that, in the event the debt of the federal government reaches the statutory limit, the authority of the Department of the Treasury to pay with legal tender the principal and interest on debt held by the public, and the authority of the Commissioner of Social Security to pay monthly old-age, survivors', and disability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act, shall take priority over all other obligations incurred by the government.

Date: 2011-02-02
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act of 2011 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the abstinence-only education program, (2) rescind unobligated FY2010 and 2011 program appropriations, and (3) reprogram such rescinded appropriations for the personal responsibility education program (PREP) for FY2012-FY2014.

Date: 2011-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Families
Social Security Protection Act of 2011 - Makes it out of order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any legislation that: (1) increases the retirement age or the early retirement age for individuals receiving benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act on or after the enactment of this Act; (2) reduces cost-of-living increases for them; (3) reduces benefit payment amounts for them; or (4) creates private retirement accounts for any of the OSADI benefits they receive.

Date: 2011-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Congress
Social Security Solvency and Sustainability Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) to increase the normal retirement age by specified graduated stages to age 70. Raises the early retirement age by specified graduated stages to 64 for an individual who attains age 62 after December 31, 2027. Revises requirements for computation of the age increase factor. Revises the formula for the maximum age for delayed retirement credit. Prescribes a formula for progressive indexing of an individual's primary insurance amount.

Date: 2011-04-13
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to provide that the value of certain funeral and burial arrangements involving an irrevocable trust whose named beneficiary is the funeral provider are not to be considered, under the SSI program, as resources available to the individual.

Date: 2011-04-14
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Healthy Families Act - Requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to permit each employee to earn at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Declares that an employer shall not be required to permit an employee to earn more than 56 hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, unless the employer chooses to set a higher limit. Allows employees to use such time to: (1) meet their own medical needs; (2) care for the medical needs of certain family members; or (3) seek medical attention, assist a related person, take legal action, or engage in other specified activities relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Prohibits an employer from interfering with an employee's exercise of such rights. Directs the Secretary of Labor to exercise certain investigative and enforcement authority for employees covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 or the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. Grants the same authority, for employees under their jurisdiction, to the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General, the Board of Directors of the congressional Office of Compliance, and the Merit Systems Protection Board. Authorizes civil actions by employees, individuals, or their representatives for damages or equitable relief against employers who violate this Act. Waives a state's sovereign immunity with respect to a suit brought by an employee of a federally-assisted state program or activity for relief authorized under this Act. Requires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics annually to compile information annually on paid sick time, and the Comptroller General to study related matters. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining more generous leave policies.

Date: 2011-05-12
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Labor and employment
Retiree Health Coverage Protection Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to increase from $5 billion to $10 billion the amount appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the temporary reinsurance program to reimburse participating employment-based group health benefits plans for a portion of the cost of providing health insurance coverage to early retirees (and their eligible spouses and dependents) between establishment of the program and January 1, 2014.

Date: 2011-05-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Protecting the Privacy of Social Security Numbers Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the display, sale, or purchase of Social Security numbers without the affirmatively expressed consent of the individual, except in specified circumstances. Directs the Attorney General to study all the uses of Social Security numbers permitted, required, authorized, or excepted under any federal law, including the impact of such uses on privacy and data security. Establishes a public records exception to the prohibition. Directs the Comptroller General to study Social Security numbers in public records. Grants the Attorney General rulemaking authority to enforce this Act's prohibition and to implement and clarify the permitted uses occurring as a result of an interaction between businesses, governments, or business and government. Prohibits a commercial entity from requiring an individual to provide a Social Security number when purchasing a commercial good or service or denying an individual the good or service for refusing to provide that number, with exceptions. Establishes civil and criminal penalties. Extends civil monetary penalties for misuse of a Social Security number. Authorizes: (1) criminal penalties under SSA title II for the misuse of a Social Security number, (2) civil actions and civil penalties against persons who violate this Act, and (3) federal injunctive authority with respect to any violation by a public entity.

Date: 2011-06-15
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Defend and Save Social Security Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to: (1) increase the normal retirement age by specified graduated stages to 67 by 2019 and to 69 after December 31, 2026, and the early retirement age to 63 by 2019 and to 64 after December 31, 2022; (2) revise requirements for computation of the age increase factor; and (3) modify the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to 1% below the general COLA.

Date: 2011-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
National Silver Alert Act of 2011 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a national Silver Alert communications network within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist regional and local search efforts for missing seniors; (2) ensure that, when feasible, the network is able to operate in coordination with the AMBER Alert communications network; and (3) designate an individual of DOJ to serve as the Silver Alert Coordinator to coordinate the network with states. Defines "missing senior" as any individual who is reported as missing to or by a law enforcement agency and who meets state requirements for designation as a missing senior. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) establish minimum standards for the issuance and dissemination of alerts issued through the network; and (2) make available to states, local governments, law enforcement agencies, and other concerned entities network training and information.

Date: 2011-06-23
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Social Security Benefit Protection Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue U.S. obligations in an amount equal to the monthly insurance benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors', and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act in August 2011. Exempts such obligations from the public debt limit.

Date: 2011-07-13
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to accept as proof of service-connection of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) alleged to have been incurred in or aggravated by active military service a diagnosis of PTSD by a mental health professional, together with written testimony by the veteran and a written determination by the professional that such disorder is related to the veteran's service, notwithstanding the fact that there is no official record of such incurrence or aggravation in such service, and to resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran. Allows such service-connection to be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. Provides the same conditions (with the same authorized rebuttal) with respect to acceptance of proof of service-connection of certain mental health conditions alleged to have been incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma experienced during active military service.

Date: 2011-07-20
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Medigap Medical Loss Ratio Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to Medicare supplemental (Medigap) policies to increase the minimum loss ratio required of such policies. (A loss ratio is the ratio of total losses paid out in insurance claims, plus adjustment expenses, divided by the total earned insurance premiums.) Prohibits the issuance or renewal of a Medigap policy in any state unless the policy can be expected to return to policyholders in the form of aggregate benefits: (1) at least 85% (currently 75%) of the aggregate amount of premiums collected in the case of group policies, and (2) at least 80% (currently 65%) in the case of individual policies.

Date: 2011-07-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Medicare Information Act of 2011 - Amends part A of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide to each eligible individual annually a statement of Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) contributions and benefits in coordination with the annual mailing of Social Security account statements.

Date: 2011-10-05
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Services for America's Seniors Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize the Assistant Secretary for Aging in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to states to establish a program to assess the needs of family caregivers for targeted support services. Allows Aging and Disability Resource Centers to carry out an assessment program with respect to informal caregivers and care recipients. Establishes an Advisory Committee to Assess, Coordinate, and Improve Legal Assistance Activities for older Americans. Makes it a duty of the Administration on Aging to reserve and provide specified amounts for FY2012 and subsequent fiscal years for the funding of the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC). Authorizes the use of such amounts to enable NORC to: (1) collaborate and participate with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in providing training for state survey agencies with an agreement in effect under the Medicare program; or (2) work with the CMS Administrator, in the case of states without such an agency, to improve the investigative processes used by the center to address complaints by residents of long-term care facilities. Requires the state to ensure that representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman shall have access to review all records concerning a resident. Declares a State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and any representative of the Office, a "health oversight agency," so that release of residents' individually identified health information to the Ombudsman or a representative is not precluded (by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 [HIPAA]) in certain cases. Imposes confidentiality requirements upon the Ombudsman and each representative of the Office with respect to communications with individuals seeking assistance under this Act.

Date: 2011-11-08
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act - Directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor to prepare and publish a monthly Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI) that indicates changes over time in expenditures for consumption which are typical for individuals who have attained early retirement. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) to provide for the use of such new CPI in the computation of cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits.

Date: 2011-11-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Welfare Reform Act of 2011 - Welfare Reform Restoration Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the TANF program by: (1) eliminating the temporary modification of the caseload reduction credit, and (2) reducing funding of state family assistance grants. Restores the former name of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and restores its text as if the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 had not been enacted; and (2) renames the supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits as the food stamp program. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to revise work requirements for the food stamp program and require able-bodied work eligible adult members of a family unit to participate in a work activation program during a full month of participation in the food stamp program, fulfilling specified levels of work activity during that month. (Work activation means, not employment, but supervised job search, community service activities, education and job training, workfare, or drug and alcohol treatment.) Specifies a financial reward for any state that reduces its food stamp caseload below calendar 2006 levels. Declares that a food, food product, meal, or other specified item shall be considered a food under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 only if it is a bare essential. Requires the President to include means-tested welfare spending in every budget submission. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to define and establish an aggregate cap for means-tested welfare spending. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to states to reward reductions in poverty and government dependence and increases in self-sufficiency. Prohibits the expenditure for abortions, with certain exceptions, of any funds authorized or appropriated by federal law, and funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law. Prohibits funding for health benefits plans that cover abortion. Prohibits the allowance of any tax credit with respect to amounts paid or incurred for an abortion or with respect to amounts paid or incurred for a health benefits plan (including premium assistance) that includes coverage of abortion.

Date: 2011-11-17
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Social Security Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) government pension offset requirements applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to OASDI payments; and (2) windfall elimination requirements with respect to computation of an individual's primary insurance amount.

Date: 2011-12-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Allowing Social Security to Electronically Screen for Suitability Act of 2011 or ASSESS Act - Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI), VIII (Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans), and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to subject representative payees to criminal background checks by the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Date: 2011-12-16
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Older Americans Act Amendments of 2012 - Revises the Older Americans Act of 1965 with respect to functions and duties of the Administration on Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), particularly with respect to those with the greatest social need caused by specified noneconomic factors. Reauthorizes the Act through FY2017. Requires the Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs to recommend to the Assistant Secretary for Aging resources (including including hardware and software) needed by state Long-Term Care Ombudsmen (LTCOs) to collect and report program data through the National Ombudsman Reporting System. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award livable communities grants to eligible entities for the federal share of the cost of assisting communities in preparing for the aging of the population through specified activities. Grants states the option to use certain grant funds to provide disease prevention and health promotion services directly, including clinical preventive services. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award grants: (1) to a national organization to establish a National Resource Center on Livable Communities for All Ages; and (2) to carry out projects to support and promote modern multipurpose senior center models which yield multiservice, multigenerational centers for older individuals, their families, and others to gain needed skills, resources, and connections for continuum of care and quality of life. Requires each grantee under the Older American community service employment program to place at least 50% of its project participants in positions with organizations that assist older adults or with duties that positively impact their lives. Revises the prohibition against contracting by state LTCO programs with public agencies or nonprofit private organizations to carry out LTCO programs in any case in which there is an organizational conflict of interest unless such conflict has been identified, disclosed, and remedied by certain actions. Requires a state agency to provide the services of a state legal services developer, who shall promote the development and operation of an integrated legal assistance delivery system.

Date: 2012-01-26
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging to: (1) ensure that all programs funded under such Act include appropriate training in elder abuse prevention and the provision of services that address elder justice and exploitation, and (2) update periodically the need for and benefit of such training related to prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation (including financial exploitation) of older adults. Makes it a duty and function of the Administration on Aging to: (1) establish priority information and assistance services for older individuals; (2) ensure full collaboration between all governmental information and assistance systems that serve older individuals; and (3) develop a National Eldercare Locator Service, with a nationwide toll free number. Directs the Assistant Secretary, by grant or contract with a national nonprofit entity, to establish a National Adult Protective Services Resources Center to improve the capacity of state and local adult protective services programs to: (1) respond effectively to abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care consumers and residents of long-term care facilities; and (2) coordinate with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Requires each area plan to provide that the area agency on aging: (1) increases public awareness of elder abuse and financial exploitation, and removes barriers to elder abuse education, prevention, investigation, and treatment; (2) coordinates elder justice activities of the area agency on aging, community health centers, other public agencies, and nonprofit private organizations; (3) develops standardized, coordinated, and reporting protocols with respect to elder abuse; and (4) reports instances of elder abuse. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make grants to states under approved state plans for elder abuse and neglect screening. Requires a state operating a nutrition project to encourage individuals who distribute nutrition services to distribute information on diabetes, elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and the annual Medicare wellness exam. Requires a state, an area agency on aging, a nonprofit organization, or a tribal organization that receives a grant for an older individuals' protection from violence project to use it to research and replicate successful models of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention and training. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award grants and enter into contracts with eligible organizations to carry out projects to engage volunteers over 50 years of age in providing support and information to older adults (and their families or caretakers) who have experienced or are at risk of elder abuse. Allows a state to use funds under the National Family Caregiver Support Program to support the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

Date: 2012-02-07
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to provide that the value of certain prepaid funeral and burial arrangements involving an irrevocable trust whose named beneficiary is the funeral provider are not to be considered, under the SSI program, as resources available to the individual. Includes among such arrangements a life insurance policy irrevocably assigning benefits covering funeral goods and services to: (1) a funeral provider, or (2) an irrevocable trust fully funding such goods and services and naming the funeral provider as the trust beneficiary.

Date: 2012-03-01
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare
Responding to Urgent Needs of Survivors of the Holocaust Act or RUSH Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to: (1) include specifically within its purview older Americans who are Holocaust survivors; (2) direct the Assistant Secretary of Aging to award grants or contracts to nonprofit organizations to increase and improve transportation services to enable older individuals to remain in the community, with preference for Holocaust survivors; (3) authorizes its Administrator to designate within the Administration for Community Living a person with specialized training, background, or experience with issues of Holocaust survivors to implement services for them; (3) require state nutrition projects to ensure that project meals meet the dietary needs of program participants based on religious, cultural, or ethnic requirements; and (4) require a state nutrition project to encourage individuals who distribute nutrition services to engage in conversation with homebound older individuals and to be aware of the warning signs of medical emergencies, injury, or abuse in order to reduce isolation and promote wellbeing. Amends the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 to require the study of nutrition projects to analyze the abilities of service providers to obtain viable contracts for special foods necessary to meet a religious requirement, required dietary need, or ethnic consideration.

Date: 2012-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare (Elderly Assistance)
Subject: Social welfare