United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Medical Malpractice Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business tax credit for taxable years beginning in 2005 or 2006 for expenditures for medical professional malpractice insurance. Allows a credit for: (1) 30 percent of the malpractice insurance expenditures of a physician who practices in any surgical specialty or subspecialty, emergency medicine, obstetrics, or anesthesiology or who does intervention work that is reflected in medical malpractice insurance expenditures; and (2) 20 percent of such expenditures of a physician who practices in general medicine, allergy, dermatology, pathology, or other specialty and of any hospital, clinic, or long-term care provider. Limits the amount of expenditures that may be taken into account to twice the average of costs of medical malpractice insurance for similarly situated health care providers. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to make grants to certain nonprofit hospitals, clinics, and long-term care providers to assist such entities in defraying their medical malpractice insurance expenditures. Limits the amount of such grants to 15 percent of the medical malpractice insurance expenditures incurred by such entities in any year.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Veterans Outreach Act of 2005 - Rescinds a specified Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) memorandum (Status of VHA Enrollment and Associated Issues) from the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management. States that: (1) Veterans Integrated Service Networks' marketing activities shall be carried out without regard to such memorandum; and (2) no VA funds shall be used to carry out such memorandum. Directs the Secretary of the VA to annually prepare a plan for VA outreach activities for the following year which shall include plans to: (1) identify veterans who are not enrolled for VA benefits; and (2) inform veterans and their dependents of benefits changes, including medical and nursing care eligibility. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish procedures to coordinate VA outreach activities; and (2) assign VA employees to conduct outreach program services for eligible dependents (spouse, surviving spouse (whether or not remarried), child (regardless of age or marital status), or parent of a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service).
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
21st Century Health Information Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to regional health information organizations to develop and implement regional health information technology plans. Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to establish and maintain a national technical assistance center to provide assistance to physicians to facilitate adoption of health information technologies and participation in such regional plans. Requires the Secretary to establish a program of accrediting health information networks. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the progress of regional health information organizations in realizing the purposes of this Act. Prohibits federal funds available under this Act from being used for the purchase of a health information technology product unless such product has been certified as incorporating interoperability data standards and compliance criteria. Allows the Secretary to make loans to any accredited regional health information organization to finance investments in network infrastructure and technology acquisition, training, and workflow engineering for physicians. Amends the Social Security Act to exclude the provision of equipment or services for the development of such a regional plan from illegal remuneration provisions and limitations on physician compensation arrangements. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a methodology for making adjustments in Medicare payments to providers participating in an accredited network; and (2) make matching Medicaid payments to states for the development and implementation of a regional plan under certain circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers to conduct multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each such center to: (1) be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence; (2) establish ongoing collaborations with community organizations; (3) be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions; (4) be supported under this Act for a period of not more than five years with additional periods allowed after review and recommendation; and (5) use innovative approaches to study unexplored areas of the environment and breast cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel to make recommendations for and to review grants awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Children's Vision Improvement and Learning Readiness Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to make grants to states for providing: (1) comprehensive eye examinations for children, with priority given to children under nine years old; (2) subsequent vision treatment or services to correct vision problems; and (3) educational materials to parents, teachers, and health care practitioners on recognizing signs of visual impairment in children. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop criteria to collect data related to vision assessment and the utilization of follow-up services; and (2) coordinate the grant program with appropriate federal and state child services programs. Requires states to annually submit to the Secretary a program evaluation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Urban and Rural Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make matching grants and loans to state and local government agencies and community development public authorities for the development of indoor centers for disease prevention and health promotion that are: (1) used principally as indoor recreational facilities; (2) owned or controlled by the entity receiving the grant; (3) available for use by residents of the jurisdiction free of charge or at a fee necessary to provide for the operation and maintenance of the facility; and (4) subject to legally binding and enforceable commitments as to the availability of the facility for 25 years.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Full-Service Community Schools Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to: (1) eligible entities to assist public elementary or secondary schools to function as full-service community schools; and (2) state collaboratives to support development of full-service community school programs. Requires such schools to: (1) participate in community-based efforts to coordinate educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services through community-based organizations and public and private partnerships; and (2) provide access to such services to students, families, and the community. Gives local grant priority to entities that: (1) will serve at least one school eligible for schoolwide programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and more than one full-service community school as part of a community or districtwide strategy; and (2) demonstrate a record of effectiveness in integrating at least three of various qualified services. Establishes a Full-Service Community Schools Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Nursing School Capacity Act of 2005 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to request that the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) conduct a study to: (1) identify constraints encountered by schools of nursing in admitting and graduating the number of registered nurses necessary to ensure patient safety and meet the need for quality assurance in the provision of health care; and (2) develop recommendations to alleviate the constraints on a short-term and long-term basis. Directs the Secretary to provide that the study consider the perspectives of: (1) nurses and physicians in inpatient, outpatient, and residential facilities; (2) faculty and administrators of nursing schools; (3) providers of health plans or health insurance; and (4) consumers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish for placement a memorial headstone or marker in a national cemetery to commemorate veterans and their spouses whose remains are interred in an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Health Security for All Americans Act - Amends the Social Security Act to provide participating States with funding to provide health insurance coverage through State-administered plans targeted at low-income residents. Requires States to implement systems to ensure universal health insurance coverage for their residents by 2010, including by requiring employers to contribute to health insurance premiums for their employees. Requires health plans to: (1) create entities to serve as employers for their home care providers; (2) ensure that enrollees will continue to receive health services if the plan's services are terminated; and (3) supply the State with information on their health care workers. Incorporates the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, as passed by the Senate on June 29, 2001, and the Patient Safety and Health Care Whistleblower Protection Act of 2001, as introduced on June 27, 2001. Establishes the Health Care Quality, Patient Safety, and Workforce Standards Institute (and a related advisory committee) within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) with a mission to demonstrate how patient safety issues and workplace conditions are linked to quality patient care, reduce medical errors, and improve patient safety and care. Requires that individuals entitled to Medicare benefits be provided full mental health and substance abuse treatment parity. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct research to identify model programs for the provision of long-term and home health care services. Expresses the sense of Congress that funds to implement this Act should be offset by: (1) general revenues available as a result of an on-budget surplus for a fiscal year; (2) direct saving in health care expenditures; and (3) reductions in unnecessary Federal tax benefits available to individuals and large corporations in the maximum tax brackets.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
New GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century Act - Revises, expands, or provides new rights and benefits for members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their dependents and survivors, including, among others: (1) an FY 2006 increase in funding for veterans' medical care; (2) a prohibition until the end of FY2006 on medication copayments and on the imposition of a health care system enrollment fee; (3) an extension until 2010 of Vietnam veterans' eligibility for readjustment counseling services; (4) the collection of data from pre- and post-deployment health assessments, and preventive maintenance post-deployment intervention; (5) the prevention, early detection, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for returning troops; (6) a Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs Council on Post-Deployment Mental Health; (7) survivors' and dependents' eligibility for family and bereavement counseling; (8) certain educational initiatives; (9) a National Steering Committee on PTSD Education and a PTSD public awareness program; (10) certain benefits and outreach services for disabled veterans; (11) an increase in survivors' dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC); (12) certain pay increases and bonuses for active-duty members; (13) an expansion of benefits under under both the active-duty and reserve Montgomery GI Bill programs; (14) employment assistance for homeless veterans; (15) expanded reserve member eligibility under the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense managed health care program); (16) certain recruitment and retention incentives for Selected Reserve members; and (17) certain pay matters with respect to Federal employees performing active-duty reserve service. Repeals the: (1) DIC offset from Survivor Benefit Plan surviving spouse annuities; (2) pay reduction and high school graduation requirement for participation in the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program; (3) delimiting date for entitlement to basic educational assistance under such program; (4) time limitation on the exclusion of combat zone compensation by reason of hospitalization; (5) tax cut (implemented in 2001) for high-income taxpayers; (6) scheduled termination of the phaseout of personal exemptions; and (6) scheduled phaseout of the overall limitation on itemized deductions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Steve Grissom Relief Fund Act of 2005 - Establishes the Steve Grissom Relief Fund in the Treasury. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a single payment from the Fund to any individual infected with HIV or diagnosed with AIDS who: (1) was treated with HIV-contaminated blood, blood components, human tissue, or organs; (2) is the lawful spouse of an individual so treated; (3) is a former spouse of such an individual and can assert reasonable certainty of transmission of HIV from such individual; and (4) acquired HIV through perinatal transmission from such an individual or individual's spouse. Sets forth documentation, petition, determination, and payment procedures. States that such payments do not create or admit any claim, but do constitute full satisfaction of all claims by or on behalf of such an individual. Provides that such payments do not constitute income for tax, benefits, or other purposes. Prohibits the assignment or transfer of rights under this Act. Limits petitions to one per victim. Terminates the program after five years. Excludes payments from consideration as: (1) compensation or reimbursement in determining repayment for insurance or worker's compensation benefits; or (2) income or resources in determining eligibility for social security income benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each state's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final federal or state court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide increased protections and eligibility for family-sponsored immigrants. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to adjust the status of aliens who would otherwise be inadmissible (due to unlawful presence, document fraud, or other specified grounds of inadmissibility) if such aliens have been in the United States for at least five years and meet other requirements. Establishes the Task Force on Fraudulent Immigration Documents. Authorizes S (witness or informant) nonimmigrant status for aliens in possession of critical reliable information concerning commercial alien smuggling or trafficking in immigration documents. Requires petitioners for nonimmigrant labor to describe their efforts to recruit lawful permanent residents (LPRs) or U.S. citizens. Makes permanent an INA provision allowing adjustment of status of certain aliens for whom family-sponsored or employment-based applications or petitions were filed by a specified date. Lessens immigration consequences for minor criminal offenses. Eliminates retroactive changes in grounds of inadmissibility and removal. Increases the worldwide level of diversity immigrants. Authorizes adjustment of status for certain nationals or citizens of Haiti and Liberia. Eliminates mandatory detention in expedited removal proceedings. Amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to: (1) waive document fraud as a ground of inadmissibility; and (2) address determinations with respect to children. Eliminates the one-year filing requirement for asylum applicants. Includes gender persecution within the particular social group category of persecution. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to eliminate a provision prohibiting restrictions on the communication of immigration status information by a government entity. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Welfare Reform Act) to eliminate a provision requiring an alien's verification of eligibility for public benefits. Eliminates state authority under INA to carry out immigration functions. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to clarify eligibility for relief. Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (VAWA) to apply that Act's deportation protections for transitional relief to all VAWA petitioners. Provides a range of immigration protections for abused aliens. Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998, to provide access to legal services for such aliens. Amends the Welfare Reform Act to make such aliens eligible for certain public benefits. Authorizes the Attorney General to award trafficking-related law enforcement training grants to eligible entities.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Medicare Early Access Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to add a new part E (Purchase of Medicare Benefits by Certain Individuals 55 to 65 Years of Age). Provides access to Medicare benefits for individuals 55 to 64 years of age who do not have coverage under a Federal health insurance program or under a group plan. Requires enrollees to pay a premium to receive Medicare coverage. Requires the Secretary to base the premium on the Secretary's estimate of the average, national annual per capita amount of the cost of providing services to the population. Allows early retirees with access to retiree coverage to enroll under this part while keeping their Federal or State COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) continuation coverage. Allows an employer that offers employment-based retiree health coverage to an individual who enrolls under this part to modify such coverage to provide for: (1) employer payment of items and services for which payment may not be made under Medicare; and (2) employer payment of 25 percent of the monthly premium applicable to the individual after enrollment. Creates in the Treasury the Medicare Early Access Trust Fund to hold the premiums collected under this Act and to support the new program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow program enrollees to receive a 75 percent advance, refundable credit to offset Medicare early access premium costs (thus requiring program enrollees in the Medicare early access program to be responsible for 25 percent of the monthly premiums).
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 silver coins emblematic of the design selected by the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation for the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, in commemoration of disabled American veterans. Expresses the sense of Congress that, to the greatest extent possible, the coins should be struck at the United States Mint at West Point, New York, Limits the period for coin issuance to the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2010. Imposes a $10 surcharge per coin, to be distributed to the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the construction of American Veterans' Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Medicare Ambulance Payment Reform and Rural Equity Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise ambulance payment rates; and (2) provide additional payments for providers furnishing ambulance services in rural areas. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the system for adjusting payments for rural ambulance services to determine their adequacy and appropriateness. Amends SSA title XVIII with respect to a Secretary-specified uniform coding system identifying furnished ambulance services for purposes of a fee schedule. Directs the Secretary to establish a system or systems for the coding of claims for ambulance services for which payment is made, including a code set specifying the medical condition of the individual who is transported and the level of service that is appropriate for the transportation of an individual with that medical condition. Requires the code set to take into account the list of medical conditions developed in the course of the negotiated rulemaking process. (Current law authorizes the Secretary to require the claim for any ambulance services to include a code (or codes) under a uniform coding system specified by the Secretary, but does not require the establishment of such a coding system.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices Reduction Act - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to prohibit any person, in connection with a subprime federally related mortgage loan, from providing mortgage lending services or mortgage brokerage services unless such person is certified by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development as having been adequately trained with regard to subprime lending. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require lenders to establish a best practices plan, meeting certain criteria, to ensure compliance with such Act for high cost mortgages. Proscribes unfair or deceptive acts or practices in providing mortgage lending services for either a subprime federally related mortgage loan or for mortgage brokerage services for such a loan. Sets forth civil penalties for violations. Consumer Fairness Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to declare unenforceable a written provision in any consumer contract or transaction which requires binding arbitration to resolve any controversy arising out of such transaction or contract, or the refusal to perform all or any part of the transaction. (Permits post-controversy arbitration agreements.) Amends the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to authorize the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to make grants to nonprofit community development corporations to educate and train borrowers and community groups regarding illegal and inappropriate predatory lending practices.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the San Francisco Old Mint Building, its importance to California and U.S. history, and its role in rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Requires that all surcharges received by the Secretary from such coin sales be promptly paid to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society for purposes of rehabilitating the Historic Old Mint in San Francisco as a city museum and an American Coin and Gold Rush Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Water for the Poor Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to U.S. water and sanitation assistance programs. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to furnish assistance for programs in developing countries to provide affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation. Directs the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop a strategy to further the U.S. foreign assistance objective of providing affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
1901 Missouri African American Expulsion Commission Act - Establishes the 1901 Missouri African American Expulsion Commission to: (1) investigate the expulsion of any African-American resident in or around the Missouri cities of Aurora, Monett, Newburg, Pierce City, Cassville, or Webb City from his or her home or farm between August 1894 and August 1901; (2) identify any person who is a relative of such resident or whom the Commission determines sustained an identifiable loss (including a loss to the personal relations, real property, or personal property of such person) because of the expulsion, whether or not it has previously been the subject of a legal proceeding; (3) research and develop a historical record of the expulsion; and (4) make recommendations regarding the feasibility of providing reparations to the person and the appropriate method to provide it.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Living Organ Donor Job Security Act of 2005 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to entitle employees covered by FMLA to leave to provide a living organ donation, including for time spent for: (1) tests to determine medical suitability of the employee for donation; (2) physical, psychological, and social evaluations of the donor; (3) pretransplant outpatient services; (4) postoperative inpatient and outpatient transplantation services; (5) travel in connection with such tests, evaluations, and services; and (6) recuperation.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
9/11 Commission Full Funding Act - Requires the President to submit to Congress a report explaining each homeland security funding shortfall included in the budget submitted for FY 2006 and for every fiscal year thereafter, including the rationale for requesting less than the authorized funding level. Defines "homeland security funding shortfall" as a program authorized by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 for which: (1) the maximum specified authorization of appropriations is not requested in the President's budget; or (2) no amount of authorized appropriations is specified and the amount requested by the President is insufficient to operate the program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), to expand and intensify research and related activities on postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. Requires the Director of NIMH to conduct or support research to expand the understanding of the causes of, and to find a cure for, such conditions. Directs the Secretary to make grants to establish, operate, and coordinate effective and cost-efficient systems for the delivery of essential services to individuals with such conditions and their families. Allows the Secretary to provide technical assistance to grant recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Healthy Families Act - Requires certain employers, who employ 15 or more employees for each working day during 20 or more workweeks a year, to provide a minimum paid sick leave of: (1) seven days annually for those who work at least 30 hours per week; and (2) a prorated annual amount for those who work less than 30 but at least 20 hours a week, or less than 1,500 but at least 1,000 hours per year. Allows employees to use such leave to meet their own medical needs or to care for the medical needs of certain family members. Directs the Secretary of Labor to exercise certain investigative and enforcement authority with respect to this Act's provisions regarding employees covered by title I of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 or the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. Provides that, for employees under their jurisdiction, such authority shall be exercised by the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General, the Board of Directors of the congressional Office of Compliance, or the Merit Systems Protection Board. Declares that the requirements under this Act are minimum requirements, and are not to be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining more generous leave policies.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Medicare Mental Health Modernization Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for: (1) elimination of the lifetime limit on inpatient mental health services; (2) parity in treatment for outpatient mental health services; (3) coverage of intensive residential services under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and of intensive outpatient services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance); (4) exclusion of clinical social worker services from coverage under the Medicare skilled nursing facility prospective payment system; and (5) coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to Congress on whether the criteria for coverage of any therapy service or any oupatient mental health care service under Medicare unduly restricts the access to such a service of any Medicare beneficiary with Alzheimer's disease or a related mental illness because the coverage criteria requires the Medicare beneficiary to display continuing clinicial improvement to continue to receive the service.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2005 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) reduce guarantee fees for small business borrowers and lenders; (2) permit guaranteed and non-guaranteed loan combination financing; and (3) increase maximum guaranteed and gross loan amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Action of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan or a health issuer offering group health insurance coverage that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Prohibits such a plan or issuer from: (1) restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection; or (2) requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan or issuer for prescribing any such length of stay. Requires such a plan or issuer to: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this Act; and (2) ensure that full coverage is provided for secondary consultations by specialists in the appropriate medical fields to confirm or refute a diagnosis of cancer. Applies such requirements to health insurance issuers offering coverage in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2005 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase and the Escalante Canyons; (4) Moab-LaSal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
Community Environmental Equity Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit any entity that handles, manages, treats, releases, discharges, disposes, stores, transports, removes, moves, or delivers any covered substance from disproportionately exposing any person or community to such substance on the ground of race, color, national origin, or economic status. Defines "covered substance" to include: (1) any contaminant identified under the Safe Drinking Water Act; (2) any pesticide chemical under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (3) any chemical listed as a known or probably human carcinogen under the National Toxicology Program of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (4) any chemical substance or mixture regulated under the Toxic Substance Control Act; (5) any hazardous waste identified under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (6) any pesticide registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; (7) any air pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act; and (8) such other contaminants, chemicals, materials, wastes, and substances as appropriate. Requires such an entity to: (1) work in partnership with State and local government officials and the Federal Government to comply with this Act; and (2) address actual or potential disproportionate exposure of covered substances prior to pursuing authorization or approval to work with such substances. Authorizes enforcement: (1) by denial or termination of authorization to work with covered substances; (2) by any other means authorized by law; and (3) for an entity receiving Federal financial assistance, through specified compliance provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2005
Diabetic Foot Complication and Lower Extremity Amputation Reduction Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible multidisciplinary health care programs for: (1) providing a high-risk, underserved population with screening, education, and evidence-based medical treatment regarding diabetic foot complications that may lead to lower extremity amputations; and (2) evaluating the quality, cost effectiveness, parity, and patient satisfaction of medical interventions in the prevention of diabetic foot complications and lower extremity amputations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2005
HRIFA Improvement Act of 2005 - Amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to: (1) include document fraud among the grounds of inadmissibility which shall not preclude an otherwise qualifying Haitian alien from permanent resident status adjustment; and (2) provide that determinations with respect to children shall be made using the age of an individual as of the date of enactment of this Act. Permits new status adjustment applications to be filed for a limited time period. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures for reopening status adjustment applications based upon the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Second Chance Act of 2005: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention or the Second Chance Act of 2005 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize, rewrite, and expand provisions regarding adult and juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects, including by authorizing funds to: (1) provide structured post-release housing and transitional housing; (2) facilitate specified collaboration to promote the employment of people released from prison and jail; (3) carry out programs that support children of incarcerated parents; and (4) establish or expand the use of reentry courts. Sets forth grant priorities and requirements, including that each state, territory, tribe, or local government recipient establish a Reentry Task Force or other authority. Authorizes the Attorney General to make a grant to provide for the establishment of a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center. Directs the Attorney General to establish an interagency task force on federal programs regarding offender reentry. Authorizes the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct research on offender reentry. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the role of state child protective services at the time of arrest and establish services for the preservation of families impacted by the incarceration of a family member; and (2) the Secretary of Labor to implement a program to educate employers about one-stop centers, existing incentives for the hiring of former prisoners, and tax credits, and to make grants to nonprofit organizations to provide transitional services. Amends the federal criminal code to direct a court to revoke a term of supervised release or a sentence of probation for a defendant who commits a crime of violence against, or an offense of unlawful sexual contact with, a person who has not attained the age of 16 years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Clean Water Investment and Infrastructure Security Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from State volume caps private facility bonds for sewage and water supply facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act - Declares it is U.S. policy to protect and preserve living and other resources of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (Farallones NMS) and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Cordell Bank NMS) marine environments. Makes certain adjustments to expand the boundaries of the Farallones NMS and the Cordell NMS. Prohibits within the Farallones NMS and the Cordell Bank NMS: (1) the leasing, exploration, development, production, or transporting by pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons; (2) the conduct of aquaculture (with exceptions); and (3) the discharge of materials and substances or a change in the salinity. Prohibits the conduct of aquaculture within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete an interim supplemental management plan for each sanctuary that focuses on protective resource management in the areas added by this Act. Requires the Secretary to review the operations of the Farallones NMS to determine whether area added to it by this Act shall be designated as a new and separate NMS.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Prevention First Act - Title X Family Planning Services Act of 2005 - Authorizes appropriations for family planning services grants and contracts under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). Family Planning State Empowerment Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow States to provide family planning services and supplies to certain individuals not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and PHSA to prohibit a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer providing group coverage, from excluding or restricting benefits in any way for prescription contraceptive drugs, devices, and outpatient services if the plan provides benefits for other outpatient prescription drugs, devices, or outpatient services. Amends PHSA to apply those prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market. Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and disseminate information on emergency contraception to the public and to health care providers. Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act - Requires hospitals, as a condition of receiving Federal funds, to offer and to provide, upon request, emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. Preventing Teen Pregnancy Act - Amends PHSA to authorize the Secretary to award grants to public and private entities to establish or expand teenage pregnancy prevention programs. Truth in Contraception Act - Requires that any information concerning the use of a contraceptive provided through specified federally funded education programs be medically accurate and include health benefits and failure rates.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Employee Free Choice Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees have authorized designation of the representative and there is no other individual or labor organization currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit. Sets forth special procedural requirements for reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement following certification or recognition. Revises enforcement requirements with respect to unfair labor practices during union organizing drives. Provides, under injunction provisions, for priority to be given to preliminary investigation of charges of violations by employers or other entities. Adds to remedies for such violations: (1) back pay plus liquidated damages; and (2) additional civil penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages to: (1) add nonretaliation requirements; (2) increase penalties; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities for negotiation skills training programs for girls and women. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Education to issue regulations or policy guidance to integrate such training into certain programs under their Departments. Directs the Secretary to provide for certain studies, information, national summit, and guidelines, awards, and assistance for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect certain pay information. Directs: (1) the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to collect data on woman workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey; (2) the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to use specified types of methods in investigating compensation discrimination and in enforcing pay equity; and (3) the Secretary to make accurate information on compensation discrimination readily available to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Recognizes America's Blood Centers and its members for providing blood to patients, ensuring the safety of the blood supply, and promoting blood donor initiatives.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require State Medicaid plans to require staff working with developmentally disabled persons or persons with traumatic brain injury to call emergency services in the event of a life-threatening situation.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Colon Cancer Screen for Life Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the use of and reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening tests covered under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA). Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) increase Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening and diagnostic tests; (2) cover an outpatient office visit or consultation for the purpose of beneficiary education before a colorectal cancer screening test consisting of a colonoscopy, or in conjunction with the beneficiary's decision to obtain such a screening, regardless of whether the screening is medically indicated with respect to the beneficiary; and (3) waive the deductible for such tests.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Homeland Emergency Response Operations Act or HERO Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from granting any extension beyond December 31, 2006, for the reassignment of the frequencies assigned for public safety services. Directs the FCC to complete assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum between 764 and 776 megahertz and between 794 and 806 megahertz for public safety services and to permit operations by public safety services on those frequencies no later than January 1, 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Protecting Every Health Center Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem all federally-qualified health centers and their officers, employees, and contractors to be employees of the Public Health Service for whom any remedy for any civil action that may arise for services provided shall be exclusively against the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Kids First Act of 2005 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States the option to receive 100 percent Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for medical assistance to children in poverty in exchange for expanded coverage of children in working poor families under Medicaid or SCHIP (SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance)). Eliminates the cap on SCHIP funding for States that expand eligibility for children. Gives States the option to: (1) provide wrap-around SCHIP coverage to children who have other health coverage; (2) enroll low-income children of State employees in SCHIP; (3) provide optional coverage of legal immigrant children under Medicaid and SCHIP; and (4) provide for passive renewal of eligibility for children under Medicaid and SCHIP. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for: (1) a refundable income tax credit for health insurance coverage of children; and (2) forfeiture of the personal tax exemption for any child not covered by health insurance. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to require group market health insurers to offer a dependent coverage option for workers and other individuals with children.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
States that Executive Order 12898 (pertaining to Federal actions to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations) shall remain in force until changed by law. Makes the provisions of this Act applicable to such Executive Order. Defines environmental justice. Establishes criteria for defining an environmental justice community. Requires specified Federal agencies and offices to establish an Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). Requires Federal agencies to integrate the environmental justice strategy developed under the Executive Order into the operation and mission of the agency and to address compliance with this Act in specified activities. Directs the interagency Federal Working Group on Environmental Justice to: (1) coordinate an integrated environmental justice training plan for those Federal agencies and offices required to establish OEJs; (2) formalize public participation efforts; (3) survey Federal agencies and offices with regard to outreach efforts; (4) develop a strategy for allocating responsibilities and ensuring participation; and (5) coordinate plans to communicate research results. Requires: (1) each Federal agency and office with an OEJ to undertake outreach activities and report such activities to the Working Group; and (2) Federal agencies and the Working Group to develop ways to enhance partnerships and coordination with stakeholders. Directs Federal agencies to fund community technology centers to provide assistance relating to environmental justice.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2005 - Prohibits cruise vessels entering U.S. ports from discharging sewage, graywater, or bilge water into the waters of the United States, with specified exceptions, including when in compliance with effluent limits and management standards. Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations establishing effluent limits for sewage and graywater discharged by cruise vessels. Requires the Commandant to issue regulations implementing an inspection, sampling, and testing program sufficient to verify compliance with this Act and other specified laws. Prohibits employment discrimination against persons who institute or testify in proceedings under this Act. Authorizes interested persons to file a petition in U.S. circuit court requesting review of the Commandant's action in promulgating effluent limits or carrying out inspections, sampling, or testing under this Act. Establishes administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Authorizes rewards for information leading to the payment of such penalties. Establishes in rem liability for cruise vessels violating this Act. Authorizes citizen suits in the U.S. district courts against those who violate this Act or related regulations and orders, or against the Administrator or Commandant for an alleged failure to perform. Establishes special compliance deadlines for Alaskan cruise vessels with advanced treatment systems. Establishes the Cruise Vessel Pollution Control Fund. Requires the Commandant to establish and collect fees from cruise vessels to carry out this Act and to deposit fees in the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Stem Cell Research Investment Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for investment in qualified stem cell research bonds. Defines "qualified stem cell research bond" as any bond issued by a State or local government, 95 percent of the proceeds of which are to be used for interdisciplinary scientific and medical research relating to stem cells, therapy development relating to stem cells, and development of pharmacologies and treatments through clinical trials relating to stem cells. Imposes certain limitations on the use of stem cells that are supported by a bond issuance under this Act. Sets a national limitation in 2006 through 2008 of $10 billion on the issuance of stem cell research bonds. Terminates the authority to issue such bonds after FY 2008.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Election Weekend Act - Amends Federal law to change the date for the election of: (1) President and of Vice President to the first consecutive Saturday and Sunday in November in every fourth year succeeding every presidential election; and (2) Members of Congress to the first consecutive Saturday and Sunday in November in every even numbered year. Expresses the sense of Congress that private employers in the United States should give their employees a day off on either of such days starting in November 2006 to enable them to cast votes in the Federal and other elections held on that day.
![Official portrait of Del. Christensen, Donna M. [D-VI-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000380_200.jpg)