United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2015
Seniors' Tax Simplification Act of 2015 This bill directs the Internal Revenue Service to make available to taxpayers who have turned age 65 at the close of the taxable year a new federal income tax Form 1040SR (similar to the existing Form 1040EZ). Such taxpayers can use this new form even if their income includes: (1) social security benefits; (2) distributions from qualified retirement plans, annuities, or other such deferred payment arrangements; (3) interest and dividends; or (4) capital gains and losses.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2015
Veterans Access to Extended Care Act of 2015 This bill modifies the treatment of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) agreements with service providers to furnish veterans with nursing home care, adult day health care, or other extended care services. Any such agreement shall: not be treated as a federal contract for the acquisition of goods or services and shall be not subject to any provision of law governing federal contracts for the acquisition of goods or services, and include specified requirements (such as for medical licensing and VA review of staff and facilities) to ensure the safety and quality of care furnished to veterans pursuant to such agreement. The failure of a provider to comply with a provision of the agreement may result in VA termination of the agreement. Such agreements are exempted from the application of certain public contract labor laws.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2015
Dignified Interment of Our Veterans Act of 2015 Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to study and report to Congress on matters relating to the interring of veterans' unclaimed remains in national cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, including: the scope of the issues relating to veterans' unclaimed remains, including the estimated number of such remains; the effectiveness of VA procedures for working with persons or entities having custody of unclaimed remains to facilitate the interment of such remains in such cemeteries; state and local laws that affect the Secretary's ability to inter unclaimed veterans' remains in such cemeteries; and recommendations for appropriate legislative or administrative action.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2015
International Violence Against Women Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of State to establish an Office of Global Women's Issues which shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. Establishes in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) a Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment who shall direct USAID activities, policies, programs, and funding relating to gender equality and women's empowerment. Directs the Ambassador-at-Large to: (1) develop or update annually for five years (after the 2012 United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally which shall be deemed to be the first required strategy) a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, and (2) coordinate U.S. government efforts regarding gender integration and advancing the status of women and girls in U.S. foreign policy. Directs the Ambassador-at-Large and Senior Coordinator to: (1) include in each strategy an analysis of best practices for preventing and addressing violence against women and girls internationally; and (2) develop a plan for monitoring programs, projects, and activities carried out under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2015
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise conditions of and limitations on payment for home health care services. Allows payment for home health services to Medicare beneficiaries by: (1) a nurse practitioner, (2) a clinical nurse specialist working in collaboration with a physician in accordance with state law, (3) a certified nurse-midwife, or (4) a physician assistant under a physician's supervision.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Restoring Access to Medication Act of 2015 Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that limit payments for medications from health savings accounts, medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending arrangements to only prescription drugs or insulin (thus allowing distributions from such accounts for over-the-counter drugs).
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2015 Requires (current law authorizes) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to accept, for purposes of establishing a claim for veterans disability benefits, a report of a medical examination administered by a private physician without requiring confirmation by a Veterans Health Administration physician if the report is sufficiently complete. Defines "sufficiently complete" as competent, credible, probative, and containing such information as required to make a decision on the claim for which the report is provided. Requires the Secretary to submit: (1) a report on the progress of the VA's Acceptable Clinical Evidence initiative in reducing the necessity for in-person disability examinations, and (2) an annual report for each VA regional office regarding claims for which private medical evidence was determined to be unacceptable.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Campus Accountability and Safety Act Amends provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in title IV (Student Assistance) programs to include in their annual campus security reports provided to current and prospective students and employees: the memorandum of understanding that this Act requires IHEs to enter into with local law enforcement agencies (and update, as necessary, every two years) to clearly delineate responsibilities and share information about certain serious crimes, including sexual violence, occurring against students or other individuals on campus; and specified information regarding the number of sex offenses reported to the IHE and the IHE's disposition of sex offense cases. Requires IHEs to provide new students and employees with a statement that identifies domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as crimes which will be reported and with respect to which, based on the victim's wishes, the IHE will cooperate with local law enforcement. Requires an IHE's disciplinary procedures for such offenses to comply with its campus security policy and provide both the accuser and accused written notice of the outcome of such procedures or a change in an outcome within 24 hours after it occurs. Directs the Secretary to develop and administer through an online portal a standardized, online, and biannual survey of students regarding their experiences with sexual violence and harassment. Omits survey responses from the annual crime statistics IHEs must report, but requires the Secretary to publish survey information that includes campus-level data for each school on the Department of Education's (ED's) website biannually. Requires IHEs to publish the campus-level results of the survey on their websites and in their annual security reports. Requires ED to make publicly available guidance regarding the intersection of the campus security and crime statistics reporting requirements under title IV and requirements under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Requires each IHE that receives funding under the HEA to establish a campus security policy that includes: the designation of one or more confidential advisors at the IHE to whom non-employee victims of sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking can report, including anonymously; provision on the IHE's website of specified information to assist the victims of such crimes, including contact information for the confidential advisor; authorization for the IHE to provide an online reporting system to collect anonymous disclosures of crimes and track patterns of crime on campus; an amnesty policy for any student who, in good faith, reports sexual violence to a higher education responsible employee, with respect to a non-violent student conduct violation revealed in the course of such a report; a training program, developed by the Secretary, for IHE employees who are involved in implementing the school's student grievance procedures or responsible for interviewing alleged sexual assault victims; a uniform process (for each of the IHE's campuses) for student disciplinary proceedings relating to claims of sexual violence against a student attending the IHE; the annual provision of information to ED's Office for Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the IHE's title IX coordinator; the provision of written notice to the accuser and accused student within 24 hours of the IHE's decision to proceed with an institutional disciplinary process regarding an allegation of sexual misconduct; and the provision of written notice to the accuser and accused student within 24 hours of the determination of responsibility made by the disciplinary board and any sanctions. Directs the Secretary to establish a title IX website that includes: the name and contact information for the title IX coordinator at each IHE, including a brief description of the coordinator's role and the roles of other officials who may be contacted regarding sexual harassment; and ED's pending investigations and the actions it has taken regarding all title IX complaints and compliance reviews related to sexual harassment. Directs the Secretary to develop online training materials for training higher education responsible employees, title IX coordinators, and individuals involved in implementing an IHE's student conduct grievance procedures. Authorizes the Secretary to impose civil penalties upon IHEs that fail to: (1) enter into memorandums of understanding with their local law enforcement agencies, (2) carry out campus security and crime statistics reporting requirements, or (3) establish the requisite campus security policy. Amends the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 to: (1) increase the minimum grant that may be provided to IHEs to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campuses; and (2) authorize the use of such grants to train campus personnel in how to use victim-centered, trauma-informed interview techniques. Amends the HEA to authorize the Secretary, using amounts collected under this Act's penalty provisions, to award competitive grants to IHEs to enhance their ability to address sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, on campus. Amends the Education Amendments of 1972 to authorize the Secretary or DOJ to impose civil penalties on IHEs that violate or fail to carry out title IX requirements regarding sexual violence. Gives individuals 180 days after their graduation or disaffiliation with an IHE to file a complaint regarding such a violation with ED's Office for Civil Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Concussion Awareness and Education Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to: (1) establish and oversee a national system to accurately determine the incidence of sports-related concussions among youth, and (2) begin implementation of such system within one year of this Act's enactment. Requires the data collected to include: the incidence of sports related concussions in individuals 5 through 21 years of age; demographic information of the injured individuals; pre-existing conditions of the injured individuals; the concussion history of the injured individuals; the use of protective equipment and impact monitoring devices; the qualifications of personnel diagnosing the concussions; and the cause, nature, and extent of the concussive injury. Requires the National Institutes of Health to conduct or support: research designed to inform the creation of guidelines for the management of short- and long-term sequelae of concussion in youth; research on the effects of concussions and repetitive head impacts on quality of life and the activities of daily living; research to identify predictors, and modifiers of outcomes, of concussions in youth; and research on age- and sex-related biomechanical determinants of injury risk for concussion in youth. Requires CDC to develop and disseminate to the public information regarding concussions. Establishes a Concussion Research Commission, which shall study the programs and activities conducted pursuant to this Act and formulate systemic recommendations to increase knowledge about, and change the culture surrounding, concussions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Pet and Women Safety Act of 2015 Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit threats or acts of violence against a person's pet under the offenses of stalking and interstate violation of a protection order. Defines "pet" to mean a domesticated animal that is kept for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes. Requires the "full amount of the victim's losses" for purposes of restitution in domestic violence and stalking offenses to include any costs incurred for veterinary services relating to physical care for the victim's pet. Directs the Department of Agriculture to award grants to eligible entities to carry out programs to provide specified housing assistance, support services, and training of relevant stakeholders to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their pets. Expresses the sense of Congress that states should encourage the inclusion of protections against violent or threatening acts against the pet of the person in domestic violence protection orders.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include optometry services in primary health services for purposes of the National Health Service Corps. Optometrists are eligible for the fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2015
Community Lending Enhancement and Regulatory Relief Act of 2015 or the CLEARR Act of 2015 This bill amends the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to exempt from its annual privacy policy notice requirement any financial institution which: (1) provides nonpublic personal information only in accordance with specified requirements, and (2) has not changed its policies and practices regarding disclosures of nonpublic personal information from those disclosed in the most recent disclosure sent to consumers. The federal banking agencies are directed to study jointly the appropriate capital requirements for mortgage servicing assets for nonsystemic banking institutions. Mortgage servicing assets are those resulting from contracts to service loans secured by real estate, where such loans are owned by third parties. A nonsystemic banking institution is any banking institution other than one identified by the Financial Stability Board as a global systemically important bank. Any regulatory implementation of either Basel III or National Credit Union Administration capital requirements about mortgage servicing assets for nonsystemic banking institutions is prohibited until six months after a report to Congress on the study. The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) is amended to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) to exempt from certain escrow or impound requirements a loan secured by a first lien on a consumer's principal dwelling if the loan is held by a creditor with assets of $10 billion or less. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must provide either exemptions to or adjustments from the mortgage loan servicing and escrow account administration requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 for servicers of 20,000 or fewer mortgage loans. The TILA is also amended to exempt from property appraisal requirements a higher-risk mortgage loan of $250,000 or less if it appears on the loan creditor's balance sheet for at least three years. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act is revised to direct federal banking agencies to issue regulations that allow a reduced reporting requirement for depository institutions meeting certain criteria when making the first and third report of condition for a year. If a depository financial institution receives an order to request a funds transfer (entry) via an automated clearing house, it shall not be required to verify that the entry is not a prohibited monetary transaction if the originating depository financial institution has warranted its compliance with the sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Federal Reserve Board must revise the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on the Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors to raise its consolidated asset threshold from $1 billion to $5 billion. The TILA is again amended to create a safe harbor from lawsuit for creditors that are depository institutions for any failure to comply with certain requirements with respect to a residential mortgage loan, and the banking regulators are required to treat such a loan as a qualified mortgage, if the creditor has, since the loan's origination, held it on its balance sheet and all prepayment penalties with respect to the loan comply with specified limitations. A safe harbor from lawsuit is also created for mortgage originators for steering a consumer to a residential mortgage loan if: the creditor is a depository institution and has informed the mortgage originator that it intends to hold the loan on its balance sheet for the life of the loan, and the mortgage originator informs the consumer that the creditor intends to do so.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2015
Improving Access to Maternity Care Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Health Resources and Services Administration to designate maternity care health professional shortage areas and review these designations at least annually. The Department of Health and Human Services must collect and publish data on health professional shortage areas so availability of maternal health professionals can be compared by professional category and geographic region. A maternity care health professional shortage area is: (1) an area determined to have a shortage of providers of full scope maternity care health services or of hospital or birth center labor and delivery units, or (2) a population group determined to have a shortage of such providers or facilities. Full scope maternity care health services include care during labor, birthing, prenatal care, and postpartum care.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2015
Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to waive coinsurance for colorectal cancer screening tests (in order to cover 100% of their cost under Medicare part B [Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled]), regardless of the code billed for a diagnosis as a result of a test, or for the removal of tissue or other procedure furnished in connection with, as a result of, and in the same clinical encounter as the screening test.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2015
Personal Health Investment Today Act or the PHIT Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for a joint return or a head of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses. Defines "qualified sports and fitness expenses" as amounts paid for fitness facility memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2015
National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission to evaluate and recommend solutions regarding better coordination and leveraging of federal programs that relate to supporting appropriate clinical care for people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, and the chronic diseases and conditions that are complications of or caused by diabetes. The duties of the Commission include: evaluating HHS programs regarding the utilization of preventive health benefits, identifying current activities and critical gaps in federal efforts to support clinicians in providing integrated care, making recommendations regarding the development and coordination of federally funded clinical practice support tools, recommending clinical pathways for new technologies and treatments, evaluating and expanding education and awareness to health care professionals regarding prevention of diabetes, and reviewing and recommending appropriate methods for outreach and dissemination of educational resources. The Commission must submit an operating plan to HHS and Congress within 90 days of its first meeting.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2015
Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2015 Repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and restores provisions of law amended by those sections) related to the establishment of an Independent Payment Advisory Board to develop proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in spending under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2015
Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude services rendered by bona-fide volunteers providing firefighting and prevention services, emergency medical services, or ambulance services to a state or local government or a tax-exempt charitable organization from the category of services usually rendered by an employee of an applicable large employer subject to the mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), thus exempting such employers from PPACA requirements with respect to such volunteers. The bill defines "bona fide volunteer" as an employee of any government entity and any tax-exempt charitable organization whose only compensation is in the form of: (1) reimbursement for (or reasonable allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of volunteer services, or (2) reasonable benefits (including length-of-service awards) and nominal fees customarily paid by similar entities for the services of volunteers.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2015
Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2015 Directs the President to establish the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. Directs the Commission to: (1) identify opportunities and ideas within government and the private sector that are key components in achieving the end of breast cancer and which have been overlooked, yet are ripe for collaboration and investment; (2) recommend projects to leverage such opportunities and ideas in the areas of the primary prevention of breast cancer and the causes and prevention of breast cancer metastasis; and (3) ensure that its activities are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories of other government agencies. Directs the President to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine for an evaluation of the Commission's progress. Terminates the Commission on June 1, 2020.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2015
Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2015 Amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) to locate the Office on International Religious Freedom in the Office of the Secretary of State. Directs the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to seek to coordinate religious freedom policies and religious engagement strategies across all U.S. programs, projects, and activities. Specifies additional foreign government actions violating religious freedom for the Ambassador's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, including a Special Watch List of countries or violent nonstate actors that have engaged in or tolerated such violations but do not yet meet the criteria for designation as countries of particular concern for religious freedom. Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary to develop a curriculum for, and the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center to begin, mandatory training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers. Amends IRFA to require the Commission on International Religious Freedom to compile and make publicly available regularly updated lists of persons imprisoned, detained, disappeared, placed under house arrest, tortured, or subject to forced renunciations of faith by: (1) a foreign government recommended for designation as a country of particular concern for religions freedom, or (2) a violent nonstate actor. Extends the Commission's termination date. Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to direct the President to appoint in the National Security Council a Special Adviser for Global Religion Engagement and International Religious Freedom (in lieu of the Special Adviser to the President on International Religious Freedom) who shall assist the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to coordinate executive branch international religious freedom policies and global religion engagement strategies. Establishes within the National Security Council: (1) the Interagency Policy Committee on Religious Freedom and Engagement; and (2) the Interagency Policy Committee on Religion, International Religious Freedom, and National Security. Amends IRFA to revise requirements, including reporting requirements, for presidential actions with respect to country and violent nonstate actor designations, in particular those countries on the Special Watch List. Declares the sense of Congress that: ongoing and persistent waivers for designated countries, especially those engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom, do not fulfill IRFA purposes; and the President, the Secretary, and other executive branch officials, in consultation with Congress, should seek to find ways to address existing violations, on a country-by-country basis, through specified actions. Repeals the automatic termination of a presidential designation after two years. States that it should be U.S. policy that violent nonstate actors should be eligible for designation as countries of particular concern and that specified presidential actions should apply to them or individual members of such groups. Makes funds available for FY2016-FY2021 for the Human Rights and Democracy Fund. Establishes in the State Department the Religious Freedom Defense Fund, to be administered by the Ambassador at Large. Authorizes the President to take specified actions against foreign persons: (1) responsible for committing or supporting systemic violations of religious freedom, or (2) supporting violence or terrorist acts targeting members of religious groups. Declares the sense of Congress about: (1) adoption of codes of conduct by U.S. institutions of higher education outside the United States, and (2) national security strategy to promote religious freedom through U.S. foreign policy.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2015
Responsible Additions and Increases to Sustain Employee Health Benefits Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax exclusion for distributions from health flexible spending arrangements, to: (1) increase to $5,000, with an additional $500 for each additional employee dependent above two dependents, the maximum annual amount of funding for such plans, and (2) allow a carryforward into the next year for unused amounts in such plans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and (2) make permanent the maximum 35% gift tax rate and the lifetime gift tax exemption. Provides for an inflation adjustment to such exemption amount.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Prohibits a state from enforcing a law or imposing liability on an entity that hires a motor carrier for the transportation of property or household goods if the liability arises from a personal injury, death, or cargo or other property damage claim or cause of action related to the negligent selection of that motor carrier under state law or regulation. Specifies as such an entity any person acting as a shipper, as a broker, as a consignee, a freight forwarder, a household goods freight forwarder, a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier, an ocean freight forwarder, an ocean transportation intermediary, an indirect air carrier, a licensed customs broker, an interchange motor carrier, or a warehouse. Makes an entity eligible for this immunity from liability only if, before tendering a shipment, but not more than 35 days before the hitred motor carrier picks up a shipment, the entity verifies that the motor carrier at the time of verification: is registered with and authorized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to operate as a motor carrier or household goods motor carrier, has the minimum insurance coverage required by federal regulation, and does not have an unsatisfactory safety rating from FMCSA in force at the time of verification.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of State to submit an annual, publicly-available report to Congress containing: (1) an assessment of the level of access Chinese authorities granted U.S. diplomats, journalists, and tourists to Tibetan areas in China; (2) a list of the persons in senior leadership positions in Tibet Autonomous Region and other specified provinces, prefectures, and autonomous entities; and (3) a list of the persons in senior leadership positions at the national and regional levels as defined by this Act. Makes certain listed persons ineligible for U.S entry under specified circumstances. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) reciprocity forms the basis of diplomatic law and the practice of mutual exchanges between countries; (2) consular access should be given on a reciprocal basis; and (3) the Secretary, when granting Chinese diplomats access to parts of the United States, should take into account the extent to which China grants U.S. diplomats access to parts of China, including the level of access to Tibetan areas.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise Medicare payments for dialysis services provided to individuals with end stage renal disease (ESRD) and acute kidney injury. Extends the time period when a private health insurer, in determining benefits, cannot consider a group health insurance enrollee's ESRD or entitlement to Medicare coverage due to ESRD. Makes individuals with ESRD eligible for Medicare Advantage. Allows dialysis facilities to provide kidney disease education services and allows physician assistants, nurse practitioners, or clinical nurse specialists to refer individuals to those services. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an ESRD Care Coordination program to provide higher Medicare payments to nephrologists, dialysis facilities, and other providers that reduce spending on ESRD by being part of a coordinated care organization. Amends the Public Health Service Act to include dialysis as a service provided by the National Health Service Corps in health professional shortage areas. Makes nephrologists and non-physician practitioners who provide dialysis eligible for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and Loan Repayment Program. Requires the Government Accountability Office to submit a report identifying gaps in chronic kidney disease research and comparing research funding to expenditures on disease treatment. Requires HHS to study the causes of kidney disease and efforts to treat kidney disease in disproportionately affected minority populations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Medicare Audiology Services Enhancement Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: limit covered auditory services to only auditory treatment, vestibular treatment, and intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring services in addition to currently covered hearing and balance assessment services; exclude inter-operative neurophysiological monitoring provided by a physician or qualified audiologist in hospitals from covered inpatient hospital services; revise the requirements and procedure for payment of outpatient auditory services claims of service providers; include audiology services under the limitation on certain physician referrals for designated health services; and declare that nothing shall be construed to require a qualified audiologist to participate in Medicare.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the low-income housing tax credit, to make permanent the minimum 9% credit rate for new buildings that are not federally-subsidized and to establish a minimum 4% credit rate for existing buildings that are not federally-subsidized.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that the tax exemption of fraternal benefit societies continues to generate significant returns to society and that the work of such societies should continue to be promoted.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2015
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims Reform Act This bill extends the temporary expansion of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Specified recall provisions for retired Court judges are amended, including changing the recall period from 90 days in a calendar year to 90 days. A regular service judge and a retired judge shall be treated as an employee for government life insurance purposes. Regular service judges, retired recall eligible judges, and certain retired but not recall-eligible judges may purchase up to an additional year of service credit for each year of federal judicial service completed. The salary of Court judges is set at the rate applicable to federal appellate court judges. (Currently, their salary is set at the rate applicable to federal district court judges.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2015
Farm to School Act of 2015 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reauthorize the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Farm to School Program through FY2021 and modify the program. The program currently provides grants and technical assistance to schools, state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, agricultural producers, and nonprofit entities to improve access to local foods in schools. The bill makes schools participating in the Summer Food Service Program for children, the early care and afterschool portions of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the School Breakfast Program eligible to participate in the program. It also permits USDA to provide land-grant colleges and universities with grants, research, and technical assistance under the program. The purposes for grants awarded under the program are expanded to include agricultural literacy and nutrition education. The bill requires USDA to provide technical assistance, research, and information to increase awareness of and participation in farm to school programs among agricultural producers. In awarding grants, USDA must improve local food procurement and distribution options for agricultural producers and eligible schools. USDA is permitted to fund projects that include innovative approaches to aggregation, processing, transportation, and distribution. The bill establishes new limitations on the amount and duration of grants. The bill also establishes reporting requirements and limits funds that may be used for administrative costs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2015
Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue or revise medical certification regulations to ensure that an individual may operate as a pilot of a covered aircraft without regard to any medical certification or proof of health requirement otherwise applicable under federal law if the flight meets certain criteria and the individual: possesses a valid state driver's license, complies with applicable medical requirements associated with that license, is transporting five or fewer passengers, and is operating under visual or instrument flight rules. "Covered aircraft" is one that: is not authorized under federal law to carry more than six occupants, and has a maximum certificated takeoff weight of no more than 6,000 pounds. The FAA may not take enforcement action against a pilot of a covered aircraft for not holding a valid third-class medical certificate if the pilot and the flight meet such requirements, unless the FAA has published final regulations under this Act in the Federal Register. The Pilot's Bill of Rights is amended to authorize any persons adversely affected by an FAA decision to deny, suspend, or revoke a covered certificate or impose a civil penalty to file an appeal with the National Transportation Safety Board or, without further administrative review, in the U.S. district court or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This subjects all FAA-issued certificates involving an adverse action to review. "Covered certificate" means, in addition to an airman certificate (as under current law), a design organization certificate, holder of type certificate, production certificate, airworthiness certificate, air carrier operating certificate, airport operating certificate, air agency certificate, air navigation facility certificate, or medical certificate. Requirements are prescribed or revised for FAA: failure to notify an individual who is the subject of an investigation regarding the approval, denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of a covered certificate; provision to persons holding a covered certificate of the releasable portion of an investigative report before issuing an emergency order relating to the investigation; response to a written request by a certificate-holding repair station subject to an investigation to withdraw from or settle a proceeding relating to the investigation within 30 days after receiving the request; and reexamination of airmen certificates where there are reasonable grounds to question an airman's lack of competence or believe a certificate was obtained through fraud. The FAA may not take enforcement action against an individual for violation of a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) regarding airspace system information until the FAA certifies its compliance with certain NOTAM Improvement program requirements, as amended by this Act. The FAA, upon receiving a request for a covered flight record not in its possession, shall request the record from a FAA contract tower or other FAA contractor possessing it. Any individual designated by the FAA to act as an FAA representative shall be shielded from liability in a civil action for actions performed with reasonable care in connection with related duties. The Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 is amended to shield from liability a volunteer pilot that flies for a volunteer pilot nonprofit organization for public benefit an aircraft for which the volunteer was properly licensed and insured. The staff, mission coordinators, officers, and directors of the nonprofit organization shall also be shielded from liability, provided certain conditions are met.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2015
Ensuring VA Employee Accountability Act Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to retain a copy of any reprimand or admonishment received by a VA employee in the employee's permanent record.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: U.S. government agencies should provide assistance to Ukraine for fulfillment of the economic, social, and government reform requirements necessary for European Union membership; the President should follow through on the Ukraine Freedom Support Act providing Ukraine with financial and defensive military aid; and President Petro Poroshenko should continue his efforts in fighting corruption, building civil society, and creating an inclusive and tolerant society for all Ukraine's citizens. Expresses solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 2015
Veterans Information Security Improvement Act Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) carry out certain information security activities, (2) ensure that officials and staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) possess specified qualifications in such areas, and (3) coordinate the staffing of related information technology and security offices. Requires the Secretary to ensure that: (1) the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, the head of the Office of Information Security (OIS), and relevant field staff possess certain levels of information technology education, certifications, and experience; (2) Office of Information and Technology (OIT) staff are assigned to the OIS; and (3) subordinate OIT offices maintain appropriate information security functions. Directs the Secretary to ensure that subordinate OIT offices maintain functions to: (1) integrate the VA's security architecture into the VA's overall enterprise architecture strategy, (2) restrict the development of new data warehouses and data marts holding sensitive personal information of veterans, (3) reduce the number of data marts holding such personal information, and (4) deploy an incident response capability. Defines: "data mart" as a subset of a data warehouse that contains information for a specific entity of an organization rather than the entire organization, and "data warehouse" as a collection of data designed to support management decision making that contains a wide variety of data presenting a coherent picture of business conditions for an entire organization at a single point in time and whose development includes systems to extract data from operating systems plus installation of a warehouse database system that provides managers with flexible data access. Requires the Secretary to safeguard VA network infrastructure, computers, and servers. Directs the Secretary to protect the confidentiality of sensitive personal information of veterans by: providing upgrades or phaseouts of outdated or unsupported operating systems to protect against harmful viruses and malicious software; and securing VA web applications and the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (commonly referred to as the "Vista system," which allows for an integrated inpatient and outpatient electronic health record for patients and provides administrative tools to VA employees). Directs the Secretary to submit certifications to Congress regarding the VA's compliance with information security requirements, including actions required by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Office of Management and Budget. Requires the Secretary to submit monthly reports to Congress regarding security vulnerabilities discovered after performing regular scans of VA computers and servers.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act of 2015 This bill directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue orders applicable to manufacturers of concrete masonry products. Any such order must provide for the establishment of a Concrete Masonry Products Board to carry out a program of promotion, research, and information regarding concrete masonry products. Manufacturers and importers shall maintain, and make available, specified records. An order must also provide that assessments be paid by concrete masonry product manufacturers with respect to concrete masonry products manufactured and marketed in the United States. Assessment rates are specified. At least 50% of the assessments paid by a manufacturer must be used to support research, education, and promotion plans and projects in support of the geographic region of the manufacturer. During the 60-day period preceding the proposed effective date of an order, the Secretary shall conduct a referendum for order approval among the manufacturers required to pay assessments under it. Referendum procedures are outlined. The bill allows petition and review of an order, and order enforcement through U.S. district courts. The Secretary: (1) may conduct appropriate investigations in order to administer this Act (with power of subpoena); and (2) must suspend or terminate any order or provision that obstructs or does not tend to effectuate the purposes of this Act, or that is not favored by persons voting in a referendum.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Preclearance Authorization Act of 2015 Authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance operations in a foreign country to: prevent terrorists, instruments of terrorism, and other security threats from entering the United States; prevent inadmissible persons from entering the United States; ensure merchandise destined for the United States complies with applicable U.S. customs laws; and ensure the prompt processing of persons eligible to travel to the United States. Conditions the establishment of preclearance operations at an airport in a foreign country under an agreement on the requirements that: at least one U.S. passenger carrier operates at the airport; and the access of all U.S. passenger carriers to those preclearance operations is the same as the access of any non-U.S. passenger carrier. Directs the CBP to: measure monthly the average customs processing time to enter the 25 U.S. airports with the highest volume of international travel; quarterly assess whether the average customs processing time for those airports significantly exceeds the average customs processing time to enter the United States through a preclearance operation; and provide Congress with a remediation plan for reducing that time in the event of an affirmative assessment. Directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), before commencement of CBP preclearance operations at an airport in a foreign country, to enter into an agreement requiring the country to adopt aviation security screening standards comparable to those of the United States. Requires TSA rescreening in the United States of passengers and their property before they may deplane into sterile areas of U.S. airports if they have come from an airport in a foreign country that has failed to maintain security standards and protocols according to such an agreement. Requires TSA rescreening also, before being permitted to board a domestic flight in the United States, of any passenger on a flight originating from a foreign airport with preclearance operations who is a selectee based on a check against a terrorist watch list. Prohibits DHS from entering into or renewing an agreement with a foreign country to establish or maintain CBP preclearance operations at an airport in that country unless it certifies that it: routinely submits information about lost and stolen passports of its citizens and nationals to INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Document database, or makes such information available to the United States through another comparable means of reporting.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act Directs the President to issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe two minutes of silence on Veterans Day, beginning at 3:11 p.m. Atlantic standard time, in honor of the service and sacrifice of veterans throughout the history of the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2015 Includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam its territorial seas for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Social Security Fairness Act of 2015 Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the government pension offset requirement applicable to and reducing husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and divorced mother's and divorced father's insurance benefits with respect to federal, state, or local government employees who receive a government pension and did not pay Social Security taxes during their years of government service, and so did not earn entitlement to Social Security benefits for those years. Repeals also the windfall elimination requirement with respect to computation of an individual's primary insurance amount under which OASDI retirement or disability benefits are reduced if the individual receives a federal, state, or local government pension, did not pay Social Security taxes during the years of government service, and so did not earn entitlement to Social Security benefits for those years.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2016 the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of indebtedness on a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Commuter Parity Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, of certain transportation benefits provided by an employer to an employee, including cash reimbursements for such benefits, to allow a monthly exclusion amount of: (1) $235 for transportation in a commuter highway vehicle from home to work and any transit pass, (2) $235 for qualified parking, and (3) $35 for qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement. Allows an annual cost-of-living adjustment to such exclusion amounts after 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Commends the international community, global and domestic health organizations, the private sector, school and community leaders, and faith-based organizations for bolstering global and domestic health through vaccination. Affirms vaccines save lives and are essential to public health, and economic and national security. Recognizes that the lack of vaccination can cause a public health crisis, and that there is no credible evidence to show that vaccines cause life-threatening or disabling diseases in healthy children or adults. Encourages a continued commitment to research to improve vaccines and develop new vaccines. Urges parents, in consultation with their health care provider, to follow the scientific evidence and consensus of medical experts in favor of timely vaccinations to protect their children and their community.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2015
Expresses support for: (1) the principles and values set forth in the Secondary School Student Athletes' Bill of Rights; and (2) secondary schools that have successfully implemented programs, policies, and practices to emphasize and encourage student athlete safety and well-being. Recognizes the importance of proper safety measures, timely medical assessments, and appropriate environmental conditions, and the role that teachers, parents, coaches, and athletic health care team members play, in ensuring the well-being of secondary school student athletes. Encourages secondary schools to continue to take all available and reasonable efforts to ensure student athlete safety.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act of 2015 Provides that for purposes of medical professional liability insurance or civil and criminal malpractice liability determinations, a physician or athletic trainer (covered sports medicine professional) who is authorized to practice medicine in a state (primary state) and who provides medical services to an athlete or athletic team in a state where such professional is not authorized to practice (secondary state) shall be deemed to have provided such medical services in the primary state, provided that prior to providing the covered medical services such professional has disclosed the nature and extent of such services to the entity that provides such professional with medical professional liability insurance in the primary state.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force to develop: (1) best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and (2) a strategy for disseminating such best practices. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to: states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for first responders, health professionals, and family members administering naloxone to counteract opioid overdoses), local governments, and nonprofit organizations to expand educational efforts to prevent abuse of opioids, heroin, and other substances of abuse, understand addiction as a chronic disease, and promote treatment and recovery; organizations that have received a grant under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 to implement comprehensive community-wide strategies that address local drug crises; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit organizations for treatment alternative to incarceration programs for individuals who have come into contact with the juvenile or criminal justice system or have been arrested or charged with an offense, who have a substance use disorder, mental illness, or both, and who have been approved for participation in such a program; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies to create a demonstration law enforcement program to prevent opioid and heroin overdose death; state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, distributors, or reverse distributor of prescription medications, retail pharmacies, registered narcotic treatment programs, hospitals or clinics with an on-site pharmacy, eligible long-term care facilities, or any other entity authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispose of prescription medications to expand or make available disposal sites for unwanted prescription medications; states (with priority to states that provide civil liability protection for administering naloxone), local governments, and Indian tribes to implement medication assisted treatment programs through their criminal justice agencies; states, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes for educational programs for incarcerated offenders; state substance abuse and criminal justice agencies, jointly, to address the use of opioids and heroin among pregnant and parenting female offenders in a state to promote public safety, public health, family permanence, and well-being; establish or expand veterans treatment court programs, peer to peer services or programs for qualified veterans, practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, and transitional services to incarcerated veterans, and training programs to teach criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and appropriately respond to incidents involving veterans; and states to prepare a comprehensive plan for and implement an integrated opioid abuse response initiative. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to enable state substance abuse agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations that have a high rate of, or have had a rapid increase in, the use of heroin or other opioids to expand activities, including medication assisted treatment, for the treatment of addiction in the geographical areas affected. Authorizes the Recovery Branch of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to award grants to: (1) enable high schools and colleges with substance abuse recovery programs and nonprofit organizations to provide substance abuse recovery support services to high school and college students, to help build communities of support for young people in recovery, and to encourage initiatives designed to help young people achieve and sustain recovery; and (2) enable recovery community organizations to develop, expand, and enhance recovery services. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the Department of Education from including any question about the conviction of an applicant for the possession or sale of illegal drugs on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Directs HHS to establish a bipartisan Task Force on Recovery and Collateral Consequences to: (1) identify collateral consequences for individuals with drug convictions who are in recovery for a substance use disorder, and (2) determine whether such consequences unnecessarily delay such individuals from resuming their personal and professional activities. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to direct the Attorney General to report annually on how grants awarded under such Act are used for family-based substance abuse treatment programs that serve as alternatives to incarceration for custodial parents to receive treatment and services as a family. Expresses the sense of Congress that the amounts expended to carry out this Act should be offset by a corresponding reduction in federal non-defense discretionary spending. Directs the Comptroller General to report on the impact that the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease exclusion (defined as the prohibition on federal matching payments under Medicaid for patients who have attained age 22, but have not attained age 65, in an institution for mental diseases) has on access to treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
This bill repeals a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that imposes an annual fee on a health insurance provider based on its net premium income.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2015
This bill authorizes the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to provide assistance (including training, equipment, lethal weapons of a defensive nature, logistics support, supplies, and services) to the military and national security forces of Ukraine through September 30, 2017, to help Ukraine: (1) secure its sovereign territory against foreign aggressors, (2) protect the Ukrainian people from attacks posed by Russian-backed separatists, and (3) promote the conditions for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
Amends the Highlands Conservation Act to reauthorize through FY2021: (1) land conservation partnership projects in the highlands regions of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; and (2) Forest Service and Department of Agriculture programs to assist states, units of local government, and private forest and farm landowners in the conservation of land and natural resources in that region.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
Veterans TRICARE Choice Act Allows an individual who is eligible to participate in the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed health care program) to: (1) elect to be ineligible to enroll in such program, (2) make tax deductible contributions to a health savings account during the period such individual elects to be ineligible for TRICARE coverage, and (3) enroll in the TRICARE program at a later date during a special enrollment period. Requires DOD to: (1) submit to the Internal Revenue Service information on each TRICARE-eligible individual who makes such election for purposes of determining such individual's eligibility for a health savings account; and (2) report to Congress, annually, on elections by TRICARE-eligible individuals under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2015
American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise the formula for calculating the amount of the reseach tax credit, (2) make such revised credit permanent, and (3) allow a portion of the research credit as an offset against the alternative minimum tax of an eligible small business.
![Official portrait of Rep. Costello, Ryan A. [R-PA-6]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c001106_200.jpg)