zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in order to provide a positive incentive for certain hospitals to lower their excess readmission ratios for inpatient services, to make an additional payment to a hospital in such proportion that provides for a sharing of the savings from better-than-expected performance between the hospital and the Medicare program.

Authorizes the Secretary, in the case of a state that has amended its Medicaid plan to provide coordinated care through a health home for individuals with chronic conditions, to contract with the state medical assistance agency to serve eligible individuals with chronic conditions who select a designated provider, a team of health care professionals operating with such a provider, or a health team as the individual's health home.

Authorizes the Secretary to contract with a national or multi-state regional center of excellence with a network of affiliated local providers to provide through one or more medical homes for targeted, accessible, continuous, and coordinated care to individuals under Medicare and Medicaid with a long-term illness or medical condition that requires regular medical treatment, advising, and monitoring.

Authorizes an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) to include coverage of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services as supplemental health care benefits to the same extent as a Medicare Advantage plan is permitted to provide such coverage of such services as supplemental health care.

Recognizes telehealth services and remote patient monitoring in the national pilot program on payment bundling.

Includes among originating sites (at which an eligible telehealth individual is located at the time a service is furnished via a telecommunications system), but without receiving payment of a facility fee, any critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, home telehealth sites, as well as specified others.

Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to give states the option to provide coordinated care for enrollees with high-risk pregnancies and births.

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify additional health care providers to which universal telecommunications service support must be provided.

Requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for enhancing health care provider access to advanced telecommunications and information services to disregard provider location.

Date: 2013-10-22
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Equal Healthcare Access Act - Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to administer a health insurance program for non-federal employees under the existing Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. Extends eligibility for such program to any qualified individual (i.e., any individual other than an individual who is enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in FEHB, including as a family member).

Authorizes employers, under arrangements satisfactory to OPM, to: (1) offer their employees coverage under such program, and (2) make a contribution toward the cost of such coverage.

Deems a health care plan under such program to be a plan offered through an Exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for purposes of complying with the individual mandate to purchase health insurance.

Date: 2013-10-23
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Medicare Ventricular Assist Device Access Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to revise the Medicare national coverage determination relating to coverage of ventricular assist devices to extend the coverage of such devices under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for individuals approved for heart transplantation to apply also to: (1) individuals undergoing an evaluation to determine candidacy for heart transplantation; and (2) individuals who would be heart transplant candidates, but are not so eligible because of a contraindication that may be favorably modified by the use of a ventricular assist device.

Directs the Secretary to use specified processes to revise its national coverage determination relating to ventricular assist devices to incorporate the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2013-10-23
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Obamacare Choice Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to delay until 2015 the requirement that individuals maintain minimal essential health care coverage.

Date: 2013-10-28
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013 - Permits a health insurance issuer that has in effect health insurance coverage in the individual market as of January 1, 2013, to continue offering such coverage for sale during 2014 outside of a health care exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Treats such coverage as a grandfathered health plan for purposes of an individual meeting the requirement to maintain minimum essential health coverage.

Date: 2013-10-28
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Exchange Information Disclosure Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to expand reporting requirements related to health care exchanges. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish reports weekly through March 30, 2015, on: (1) consumer interactions with healthcare.gov or subsequent sites and any efforts undertaken to remedy problems that impact taxpayers and consumers; (2) calls to the federal customer service call center, including the number of calls received by the call center, problems identified by users, and referrals of those calls; (3) all navigators and certified application counselors that have been trained and certified by health care exchanges; and (4) all agents and brokers who have been trained and certified by the federal health care exchange.

Date: 2013-10-29
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Fairness for Lost Coverage Act of 2013 - Prohibits any of the 12 months beginning with the first month of an applicable individual's loss of health insurance coverage from being taken into account in applying the Internal Revenue Code requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.

Defines "applicable individual" as an individual who: (1) has coverage (whether as a principal or a dependent of another individual) under an employer-sponsored health plan or individual health insurance coverage for the last month of a plan year beginning during 2013, and (2) loses such coverage beginning with the first month of the subsequent plan year because of the plan's or coverage's termination and not because of any termination or change of the individual's employment, the individual's failure to pay premiums, or any other reasons within the individual's control.

Date: 2013-10-29
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep it Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to prohibit anything in the Act from being construed to require an individual to terminate coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in which the individual was enrolled during any part of the period beginning on the date of enactment of PPACA (March 23, 2010) and ending on December 31, 2013.

 Allows: (1) continuation of coverage under a group health plan or health insurance in which an individual was enrolled during any part of such period, regardless of whether the individual renews such coverage; (2) family members of the individual to join coverage under such a plan that is renewed; (3) new employees to join a group health plan that provides coverage during any part of such period; and (4) continuation of coverage maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that was ratified before the end of such period.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Health Insurance Freedom Act of 2013 - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), with respect to the definition of a qualified health plan, to allow a health insurance issuer to offer coverage that: (1) provides the essential health benefits package required of a qualified health plan other than the minimum benefits required under the essential benefits and level of coverage requirements, and (2) meets federal and state benefit requirements as otherwise applied as of October 1, 2013, in the state in which the coverage is offered.

Makes such coverage ineligible: (1) for the premium assistance income tax credit or PPACA cost-sharing reductions; and (2) to be treated as a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum plan or be taken into account for purposes of determining the applicable second lowest cost silver plan.

Makes this Act's amendments effective as if they were included in the enactment of PPACA.

Date: 2013-11-12
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Self-Insurance Protection Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the definition of "health insurance coverage" a stop loss policy obtained by a self-insured health plan or a plan sponsor of a group health plan that self-insures the health risks of its plan participants to reimburse the plan or sponsor for losses incurred in providing health or medical benefits to such plan participants in excess of a predetermined level set forth in the stop loss policy.

Date: 2013-11-13
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here, with an updated short title.)

Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an employer, for purposes of determining whether such employer is an applicable large employer and thus required to provide health care coverage to its employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to exclude employees who have coverage under a health care program administered by the Department of Defense (DOD), including TRICARE, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Date: 2013-11-13
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to eliminate the funding mechanism for the three-year transitional reinsurance program, under which group health plans are required to pay a fee to reinsurance entities for plan years beginning January 1, 2014. (The fees are distributed to individual health plans that cover high-risk individuals.) Authorizes appropriations for such reinsurance program instead.

Date: 2013-11-14
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Allows any individual who is otherwise entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to elect to opt out of such entitlement.

Allows an individual who has opted out of Medicare to opt back in without penalty.

Prohibits any requirement to opt out of SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) as a condition for opting out of Medicare.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make individuals who opt out of Medicare part A eligible for health savings accounts.

Date: 2013-11-14
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Consumer Protection and Rate Review Act of 2013 - Requires each state insurance commissioner to investigate and take appropriate actions on cases of inadequate notices of cancellations or conversions of health insurance coverage in the individual market that take effect on or after January 1, 2014. Requires that such a notice be treated as inadequate if it fails to: (1) contain information on obtaining health insurance coverage through an American Health Benefit Exchange under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), on the possible availability of assistance under PPACA towards payment of the premiums and cost-sharing for such coverage, and on the improved benefits for coverage through an Exchange, compared to coverage not offered through an Exchange; (2) be transparent by inappropriately steering individuals to more expensive plans provided by the cancelling issuer; or (3) otherwise comply with requirements of law.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to declare that federal requirements that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) review unreasonable premium increases in health care coverage shall not be construed to prohibit a state from imposing additional rate requirements on health insurance issuers that are more protective of consumers. Expands such review to include all rate increases, not only premium increases.

Directs the Secretary or the relevant state insurance commissioner (or state regulator) to take corrective actions to ensure that any excessive, unjustified, or unfairly discriminatory rates are corrected before, or as soon as possible after, implementation, including through mechanisms such as denying rates, modifying rates, or requiring rebates to consumers. Authorizes civil monetary penalties and ineligibility as a qualified health plan for failing to comply with any corrective action taken by the Secretary.

Requires the Secretary to determine whether the state insurance commissioner or regulator or the Secretary will undertake such corrective actions based on whether the state can adequately undertake such actions. Applies this Act to health plans grandfathered under PPACA.

Date: 2013-11-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
21st Century Care for Military and Veterans Act - Permits the use of a telecommunications system to provide an item or service to current and former members of the uniformed services and their dependents under the TRICARE plan of health care benefits administered by the Department of Defense (DOD) and to veterans receiving health care benefits under plans administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Date: 2013-11-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Seniors' Health Care Choice Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish: (1) a special enrollment period under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for an individual enrolled in COBRA (health insurance continuation benefits) continuation coverage who elected not to enroll under part B during the individual's initial enrollment period, and (2) a three-month open enrollment period starting with 2014 and recurring in the first three months of each subsequent year in which a Medicare Advantage (MA)-eligible individual under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice) may change his or her Medicare enrollment election.

Date: 2013-11-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Veterans and Armed Forces Health Promotion Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to jointly develop and implement: (1) a plan to expand materially and substantially the scope of research and education on, and delivery of holistic care that includes, the integration of appropriate complementary and alternative medicine interventions in the delivery of health care to veterans and members of the Armed Forces at military medical treatment facilities; and (2) a three-year pilot program to establish not fewer than five jointly-operated medical treatment and research facilities.

Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out: (1) a 3-year pilot program, through the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing not fewer than 10 complementary and alternative medicine centers within VA medical centers to promote the use and integration of complementary and alternative medicine services for mental health diagnoses and pain management; (2) a 3-year pilot program, through grants to nonprofit entities, to assess the feasibility and advisability of using wellness programs at VA facilities to complement the provision of mental health care to veterans and family members eligible for counseling; (3) a 3-year pilot program, through the National Center for Preventive Health, to assess the feasibility and advisability of promoting health in covered veterans at not less than 15 VA medical centers through support for fitness center membership or medical nutrition therapy; and (4) a 2-year pilot program under which the Secretary makes grants to nonprofit veterans services organizations (VSOs) to upgrade VSO community facilities into health and wellness centers in at least 10 different geographic locations.

Date: 2013-11-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Federal and State Insurance Exchange Access Fairness and Penalty Delay Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to delay the effective date of the penalty for failure to maintain minimum essential health insurance coverage to months beginning no earlier than 30 days after the end of an enrollment period extension required by this Act (a period of at least 90 days after a certification to Congress by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] that the healthcare.gov website and a state exchange website are fully operational, or only the healthcare.gov website in the case of an individual residing in a state without a state exchange website).

Requires the Inspector General, in determining whether to make such certification, to consider monthly reports by the Comptroller General (GAO) on the progress of the websites in achieving such status.

Date: 2013-11-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Employee Health Care Protection Act of 2014 - Permits a health insurance issuer that has in effect health insurance coverage in the group market on any date during 2013 to continue offering such coverage for sale through 2018 outside of a health care exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Treats such coverage as a grandfathered health plan for purposes of an individual meeting the requirement to maintain minimum essential health coverage.

Date: 2013-11-18
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Medicare Link Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Link Program through which individuals entitled to enroll in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice), but who are not enrolled in one, are eligible to enroll with a nongovernmental Medicare Link contractor which shall provide: (1) a specified variety of optional care management services as well as coverage of the same items and services covered under Medicare parts A and B, and (2) a reduction or rebate in the premium otherwise applicable under Medicare part B as well as in cost-sharing.

Date: 2013-11-20
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Start Healthy Act of 2013 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide: (1) mandatory coverage of qualified (uninsured) newborns, and (2) 100% federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for temporary coverage of such newborns.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
State Health Care Choice Act - Authorizes a state to limit the application of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) with respect to health insurance coverage within that state by enacting a law that: (1) expresses the intent of the state to opt out of one or more of the provisions of PPACA, (2) contains a list of the provisions that will not apply to the state, and (3) either expresses the state's intent to continue to administer health coverage-related laws as in effect in the state on March 23, 2010, or provides for the implementation of related state laws enacted after such date.

Sets forth provisions that may be made inapplicable within a state, including provisions related to health coverage, essential health benefits, health insurance exchanges, alternative health plans established by states, individual and employer health coverage requirements, interoperable protocols for enrollment in federal and state health and human service programs, and expansion of Medicaid coverage.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Allows an individual residing in a state who had health insurance coverage in effect as of December 31 under which a provider furnished such individual benefits for a life-sustaining treatment with respect to a health condition, and for whom such coverage is not continued for the following plan year and is not offered in such state by such provider, to enroll in health insurance offered in any other state that provides for coverage of such treatment by such provider, as if such individual were a resident of such other state.

Date: 2013-11-22
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Medical Foods Equity Act of 2013 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage of medically necessary food and food modified to be low protein formulated to be consumed or administered under the supervision of a qualified medical provider, for the treatment of conditions as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (the Advisory Committee), and the medical equipment and supplies necessary to administer such food. Provides coverage under the Department of Defense (DOD) TRICARE and Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHBP) programs for such health benefits.

Defines "medically necessary food" as a food formulated to be consumed or administered through the gastrointestinal tract orally or by tube under the supervision of a physician and intended for the specific dietary management of a disease or condition for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation. Includes nutritionally modified counterparts of traditional foods and other forms of foods such as formulas, pills, capsules, and bars.

Provides Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP prescription drug coverage of pharmacological doses of vitamins and amino acids used for the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism, for the treatment of conditions as recommended by the Advisory Committee, and as prescribed by a qualified medical provider. Provides similar coverage of such items under the TRICARE and FEHBP programs, without regard to the age of the patient.

Date: 2013-12-05
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to increase by 10% the required state matching funds for certain newly eligible individuals under the Medicaid program who, as of January 1, 2014, are under age 65, not pregnant, not entitled to or enrolled for benefits under SSA title XVIII (Medicare), and whose income does not exceed 133% of the poverty line for a family of the size involved.

Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to increase the discretionary spending limit under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) for the security category by $20 billion for FY2014 and then to increase the security and nonsecurity categories for that fiscal year each by half of the remaining estimated reduction in new budget authority resulting from enactment of this Act.

Date: 2013-12-05
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Support our Services to Veterans Caregivers Act or the S.O.S. Veterans Caregivers Act - Includes a veteran who has a serious illness or injury (currently, a serious injury) incurred or aggravated in the line of active duty on or after September 11, 2001, as an "eligible veteran" for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers of eligible veterans.

Requires the VA Secretary, as part of such program, to provide to each caregiver who is designated as the primary provider of personal care services for an eligible veteran, not less than annually, a multidimensional assessment to measure the burden and strain felt by such caregiver.

Requires the Secretary's annual report on such program to include a description of the satisfaction experienced by caregivers and veterans with respect to such program.

Date: 2013-12-05
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Family Cord Blood Banking Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat the cost of private umbilical cord blood banking services as a medical care expense for purposes of the tax deduction for medical expenses.

Date: 2013-12-05
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Accelerating Innovation in Medicine Act of 2013 or AIM Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop an AIM list of medical devices for which, because of their inclusion on the list, insurance benefits and payments are prohibited under Medicare (either directly or on a capitated basis), with the result that no Medicare claim may be submitted and an individual who consents to receive such a device is responsible for paying for it and for any related services.

Directs the Secretary to post on a public HHS website or other publicly accessible media an updated list of the medical devices on the AIM list.

Date: 2013-12-09
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Public Option Act or Medicare You Can Buy Into Act - Amends part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize an option for any citizen or permanent resident of the United States to buy into Medicare.

Declares that such coverage satisfies the requirements of: (1) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that an individual maintain minimum essential coverage (individual mandate), and (2) the Internal Revenue Code for premium assistance eligibility with respect to a qualified health plan offered in the individual market in the health care exchange where the individual resides.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Coverage Protection Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in the case of an individual who enrolls in a qualified health plan offered through a health care exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) before February 1, 2014, to require the issuer of the plan to treat such individual as enrolled as of December 23, 2013, if the individual:

 attests, not later than January 31, 2014, to making reasonable, good-faith attempts to successfully enroll in such a plan through an exchange before December 23, 2013, or was initially determined through an exchange to be eligible to enroll in a Medicaid plan but is not eligible to so enroll in such a plan and, because of the incorrect eligibility determination, was subsequently unable to enroll in a qualified plan before December 23, 2013; and pays, not later than January 31, 2014, the monthly premiums for the plan in which such individual enrolls for January and February 2014, taking into account the amount of any premium assistance made available under the Internal Revenue Code. Counts coverage provided under a qualified plan for January and February 2014 under this Act as coverage under such a plan by or through an exchange for such months for all purposes, including premium assistance, PPACA cost-sharing reductions, and the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage. Directs the Secretary to require a health insurance issuer that offers a qualified plan through an exchange to: allow in-network providers in the plan to treat a receipt of payment of premiums by an individual enrolled for January or February 2014 who has not received a health insurance card from the issuer in the same manner as if such receipt were such a health insurance card issued for services furnished during such month; and notify such in-network providers of that policy.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Union Tax Fairness Act of 2013 - Requires that the payments to an applicable reinsurance entity for any plan year beginning in the three-year period beginning January 1, 2014, required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be applied equally to all health insurance issuers and third party administrators (on behalf of group health plans). Prohibits such payments from being waived on behalf of any such issuer, administrator, or group health plan.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Rate Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to extend, from January 1, 2014, to January 1, 2015, the temporary high risk health insurance pool program providing health insurance coverage to uninsured individuals who have a preexisting condition.

Appropriates additional funds to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay claims that exceed the amount of premiums collected from the high risk pool's enrollees.

Prohibits individuals who were not enrolled in the high risk health insurance pool program at the close of 2013 from enrolling in the program in 2014, but requires the Secretary to enable individuals to enroll in the federal government's high risk pool program if they are enrolled until the day before a high risk pool that was operated by a state or nonprofit private entity as of December 31, 2013, is terminated in 2014.

Date: 2013-12-16
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Nullifying Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results Act or the NUMBER Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment, unless the Comptroller General certifies to Congress that at least 7 million individuals have been successfully enrolled in qualified health plans through a health care exchange during the enrollment period ending on March 31, 2014.

Date: 2013-12-16
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Health Premium Parity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction from gross income for the health insurance premiums of a taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse and dependents, and any child of the taxpayer who has not attained age 27. Makes such deduction available to taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize their tax deductions.

Date: 2013-12-19
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Nullifying Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results Act or the NUMBER Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment, unless the Comptroller General certifies to Congress that at least 7 million individuals have been successfully enrolled in qualified health plans through a health care exchange during the enrollment period ending on March 31, 2014.

Date: 2013-12-19
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Health Insurance Accountability Act of 2014 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective on the date on which a study reported by the Comptroller General (GAO) determines that the number of individuals who are uninsured exceeds the number of individuals who were uninsured on the date of enactment of the PPACA. Requires subsequent studies and reports every 60 days until the Comptroller General makes such a determination.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), if a determination is made on the basis of the last such report submitted during a fiscal year that the number of uninsured has decreased as compared to the number on the date of PPACA enactment, to reduce the unobligated funding for the following, according to a specified ratio: health insurance consumer information, assistance to states for health care exchanges, and the Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund. Deems such amounts to rescinded and permanently cancelled for purposes of debt reduction.

Date: 2014-01-10
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Promoting Health for Future Generations Act of 2014 -  Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to health savings accounts (HSAs), to: (1) increase the contribution limitation for such accounts, (2) allow Medicare beneficiaries and participants in health care programs administered by the Veterans Administration (VA) to enroll in and contribute to such accounts, and (3) allow adult children of deceased holders of Archer Medical Savings Accounts and HSAs to receive tax-free rollovers of remaining amounts in such accounts.

Date: 2014-01-14
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Better Care, Lower Cost Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an integrated chronic care delivery program (Better Care Program or BCP) that promotes accountability and better care management for chronically ill patient populations and coordinates items and services under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance), B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), and D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program), while encouraging investment in infrastructure and redesigned care processes that result in high quality and efficient service delivery for the most vulnerable and costly populations.

Requires the program to include specified elements and focus on long-term cost containment and better overall health of the Medicare population by implementing through qualified BCPs strategies that prevent, delay, or minimize the progression of illness or disability associated with chronic conditions.

Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to require a state to pay the Secretary, with certain adjustments, for full benefit dual eligible individuals (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid) enrolled in a qualified BCP. Makes Medicare the primary payor for such individuals.

Amends SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice Program) to direct the Secretary to establish procedures for the transition of special needs individuals to a Medicare Advantage plan qualified BCPs.

Prohibits any Medicare supplemental (Medigap) policy from covering cost-sharing for items and services (other than certain emergent services) furnished to an enrollee in a qualified BCP by a service provider or supplier that is not a qualified BCP professional.

Revises requirements for the initial preventive physical examination (Welcome to Medicare visit) and annual wellness visits for BCP eligible individuals.

Directs the Secretary, acting through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to designate and provide core funding for at least three Chronic Care Innovation Centers.

Establishes new curricula requirements for direct and indirect graduate medical education payments that address the need for team-based care and chronic care management, including palliative medicine, chronic care management, leadership and team-based skills and planning, and leveraging technology as a care tool.

Date: 2014-01-15
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Health Plan Notice Requirements Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with respect to abortion coverage in qualified plans offered through a health care exchange in a state, to modify the notice rules to require that in the case of services regarding abortions both for which public funding is prohibited and allowed, the extent of coverage shall be included in any marketing or advertising materials, comparison tools, or summaries of benefits and coverage explanations made available by the issuer of the plan or an exchange during any enrollment period for the plan or prior period for purposes of comparisons of qualified health plans.

Date: 2014-01-28
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to cover low vision devices under Medicare.

Date: 2014-01-29
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Savings on Medical Expenses for Seniors Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the reduction in the threshold level (10% to 7.5% of adjusted gross income) for determining the amount of deductible medical expenses for individuals who have attained age 65.

Date: 2014-02-27
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Patient Navigation Assistance Act of 2014 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require a state Medicaid plan to provide for state reimbursement of an eligible entity for any patient navigator service provided to a Medicaid-eligible individual.

Includes within the definition of "medical assistance" certain patient navigator services defined under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) as assisting in specified ways individuals who are at risk for or who have cancer or other chronic diseases.

Treats as eligible entities those identified under PHSA as public or nonprofit private health centers (including federally qualified health centers), health facilities operated by or pursuant to a contract with the Indian Health Service, hospitals, cancer centers, rural health clinics, academic health centers, or nonprofit entities that enter into a partnership or coordinate referrals with such a center, clinic, facility, or hospital to provide patient navigator services.

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of payments to a Medicare Advantage Medical Savings Account (MSA), to eliminate the restriction on contributions or transfers to such accounts (currently, only a contribution made by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) pursuant to Medicare Advantage or a trustee-to-trustee transfer is permitted).

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Seniors' Fairness Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) part C (Medicare+Choice) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Medicare Advantage Improvement Fund.

Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate reduced cost-sharing for individuals enrolling in qualified health plans beginning in plan year 2015.

Date: 2014-03-11
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Seniors' Rights to Know Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) part C (Medicare+Choice) of the Social Security Act to require the information the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides to promote informed choice on available part C coverage options to describe the changes for the plan year made by a Medicare Advantage (MA) organization, with respect to the MA plan it offers, pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Allows such information to assess the effect of such provisions and amendments on MA-eligible individuals who enroll under the plan.

Prohibits the Secretary from disapproving the inclusion of any such information in marketing materials or application forms unless it is factually inaccurate for the plan year for which the information is provided or any preceding plan year beginning after March 23, 2010.

Date: 2014-03-11
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Advantage of Medicare Advantage for Minorities and Low-Income Seniors Act of 2014 - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study: (1) enrollment by racial and ethnic minorities and low-income seniors in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII of the Social Security Act; and (2) the projected impact of payment reductions to such MA program, including reductions resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and from administrative actions.

Date: 2014-03-12
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Small Business Health Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the small employer health care insurance tax credit, to: (1) revise the definition of "eligible small employer" to mean an employer with not more than 50 (currently, 25) full-time employees; (2) increase the employee threshold from 10 to 20 employees for purposes of determining the maximum allowable amount of such credit; (3) eliminate the requirement that employers contribute the same percentage of cost of each employee's health insurance and the cap limiting eligible employer contributions to average premiums paid to a health care exchange; and (4) extend from 2 to 3 consecutive taxable years the period during which an employer may claim such credit. Treats health insurance providing essential health benefits as defined by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through a plan not offered through an exchange as a qualified health plan offered through an exchange.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
Action for Dental Health Act 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to or enter into contracts with eligible entities to obtain portable or mobile dental equipment and to pay for appropriate operational costs for the provision of free dental services to underserved populations that are delivered in a manner consistent with state licensing laws.

Directs the Secretary to award grants to or enter into contracts with eligible entities to collaborate with state, county, or local public officials and other stakeholders in order to develop and implement initiatives to: (1) improve oral health education and dental disease prevention; (2) reduce barriers in a manner that increases dental provider participation in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); (3) make the health care delivery system providing dental services under Medicaid or CHIP more accessible and efficient by taking actions necessary to facilitate the establishment of dental homes; (4) address geographic, language, cultural, and similar barriers in the provision of dental services; and (5) reduce the use of emergency departments for dental services more appropriately delivered in a dental primary care setting.

Date: 2014-04-03
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 - Exempts expatriate health plans, employers acting as sponsors of such plans, and health insurance issuers providing coverage under such plans from the health care coverage requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Deems expatriate health coverage to be minimum essential coverage for purposes of meeting the individual responsibility requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.

Declares that a qualified expatriate (and any dependent) enrolled in an expatriate health plan shall not be considered a U.S. health risk for purposes of assessing the annual fee on health insurance providers that provide health coverage to any U.S. health risk for any year after 2014.

Establishes a special rule for calculating the amount of this fee for calendar 2014.

Defines a "qualified expatriate" as: (1) a participant in a group health plan who is an alien residing outside the United States, a U.S. national, a lawful permanent resident, or a nonimmigrant about whom there is a good faith expectation of being abroad, in connection with his or her employment, for at least 180 days in a 12-month period; or (2) an individual who is abroad as a member of a group determined appropriate by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Date: 2014-04-07
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Strengthening Healthcare Options for Vulnerable Populations Act - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to extend permanently the authorization for certain Medicare Advantage (MA) Dual Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs).

Requires MA D-SNPs by December 31, 2018, to be fully integrated, in accordance with state law, with capitated contracts with states for any benefits under SSA title XIX (Medicaid), including long-term care and behavioral health.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a clearly defined role for state Medicaid agencies in contracting and oversight of plans.

Directs the Secretary, in implementing requirements for the payment of Medicare+Choice organizations, to take steps necessary to ensure that the quality rating for a D-SNP: (1) does not disadvantage a plan that enrolls full-benefit dual (Medicare- and Medicaid-) eligible individuals, qualified Medicare beneficiaries, and individuals with complex health care needs; and (2) accounts for differences in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of enrollees of such a plan that result in significant variation in health outcomes.

Allows the Secretary to increase temporarily the quality rating that a specialized MA plan would otherwise receive under certain circumstances.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to report on steps taken for improving health outcomes, cost controls, and beneficiary satisfaction.

Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to designate the Federal Coordinated Health Care Office (FCHCO) as the dedicated point of contact within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to assist states with ongoing D-SNP administration issues.

Allows the Secretary, through the FCHCO, to waive applicable Medicare requirements to promote the integration, alignment, and delivery of items and services under the Medicare program and the Medicaid program, with respect to dual eligible individuals and to ensure the seamless delivery of patient-centered services across the continuum of care with resect to such individuals.

Requires D-SNPs to provide coverage during the appeals process with respect to dispute resolution for claims.

Directs the Secretary to establish a streamlined process for dispute resolution for claims and appeals, with respect to items and services furnished to special needs individuals, to align the Medicare program process with the one under the Medicaid program.

Amends SSA title XI to require the Secretary to report to Congress on the Integrated Data Repository and the One Program Integrity System.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Covering People With Pre-Existing Conditions Act of 2014 - Requires each state to mitigate the health costs of high risk individuals in the state through a state reinsurance program or a state high risk pool.

Date: 2014-04-28
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Tax Free Health Insurance Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer a deduction from gross income of insurance premiums paid for the health care coverage of the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse and dependents. Makes such deduction available to taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize their deductions.

Date: 2014-05-07
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Taxation
ChiPACC Act of 2014 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give states the option of covering a children's program of all-inclusive coordinated care (ChiPACC).

Date: 2014-05-08
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health
Insurance Rate Transparency Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that specific health insurance premium increase information submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) be disclosed to Congress no later than 30 days after receipt of the information.

Date: 2014-05-09
Topic: Health (Insurance)
Subject: Health