Skip to content
PoliticalRepoPoliticalRepo

Person

Official portrait of Rep. Derrick, Butler C. [D-SC-3]

Rep. Derrick, Butler C. [D-SC-3]

United States · Official source

Records

1,772 records where Rep. Derrick, Butler C. [D-SC-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years

Bill· HRH.R. 5952 (98th)referred

A bill to amend the Trade Act of 1974 to require Congressional approval of certain executive actions affecting import relief.

United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1984

Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require that import relief actions recommended by the International Trade Commission (ITC) shall take effect even though the President proposes different actions, unless Congress approves such presidential actions by a joint resolution of both Houses. (Currently, such congressional approval is by concurrent resolution of both Houses and must occur within 90 days of receiving such proposal). Requires the President to impose the action which was recommended by the ITC within 30 days after the day on which either House does not adopt such resolution.

Bill· HRH.R. 5929 (98th)reported

A bill to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to make the sale or distribution in or affecting commerce or the production for sale or distribution in or affecting commerce of counterfeit goods or services an unfair or deceptive act or practice and an unfair method of competition and to authorize the Federal Trade Commission to initiate seizure actions in such cases, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1984

Title I: Amendment to Federal Trade Commission Act - Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to make the sale, distribution or the production for sale or distribution of counterfeit goods or services an unfair method of competition and an unfair or deceptive act or practice in or affecting commerce. Permits the Federal Trade Commission, on or after the date the Commission issues a complaint with respect to a sale, distribution, or production of counterfeit goods, to proceed against the counterfeit goods by process of libel for their seizure and condemnation in any district court within the jurisdiction of which such goods are found. Permits the Commission to order counterfeit goods detained for a certain period. Defines "counterfeit goods or services" with respect to trademark, patent, and copyright law. Title II: Amendments to the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 - Amends the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 to require a textile fiber or wool product processed or manufactured in the United States to be so identified. Requires the product, as well as the package in which it is contained, to be labeled as to country origin. Provides that this Act shall not be construed as requiring such labeling on each hosiery product contained in a package that is so labeled. Requires catalog sales descriptions and other advertisements for textile and wool products to contain country of origin information. Requires that the identification label or imported textile and wool products be affixed to the most conspicuous place on the inner side of the product.

Law· HRH.R. 5890 (98th)enacted

A bill to establish a commission to assist in the first observance of the Federal legal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1984

Establishes a commission to be known as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to: (1) encourage appropriate ceremonies and activities throughout the United States relating to the first observance of the Federal legal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.; and (2) provide advice and assistance to the Federal Government and to State and local governments and private organizations with respect to the observance of the holiday. Sets forth requirements regarding the membership and staff of the Commission. Authorizes the heads of all Government departments and agencies, upon the request of the Commission, to detail any of their personnel to the Commission and to otherwise assist the Commission in carrying out its responsibilities under this Act. Requires that all of the Commission's expenditures be made from donated funds. Directs the Commission, not later than April 20, 1986, to report to the President and the Congress concerning its activities under this Act. Terminates the Commission after the submission of such report.

Bill· HRH.R. 5865 (98th)open

Bail Reform Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Bail Reform Act of 1984 - Repeals the Bail Reform Act of 1966 and sets forth new bail procedures. Authorizes a judicial officer to consider the safety of any person or the community when making a pretrial release determination. Establishes as a mandatory release condition that the person not commit a Federal, State, or local crime during release. Authorizes pretrial release upon execution of an unsecured appearance bond. Expands the discretionary release conditions to require that the defendant: (1) maintain employment or an educational program; (2) avoid contact with an alleged victim or potential witness; (3) report to a law enforcement or pretrial service agency; (4) comply with a curfew; (5) refrain from possessing a firearm or using alcohol or narcotic drugs; (6) undergo medical treatment; (7) forfeit designated property upon failure to appear; and (8) return to custody at specified hours. Authorizes a judicial officer to order the detention for up to ten days of a person who is presently on pretrial release for a felony under Federal, State, or local law or on probation or parole or release pending sentencing or appeal for any offense, if no conditions will assure his appearance and the safety of the community and any other person. Provides for the detention of an alien whose presence in the United States is not under color of law. Authorizes a judicial officer to order the pretrial detention of a person upon finding that no condition will reasonably assure such person's appearance and the safety of any other person and the community. Requires that a detention hearing be held in any case involving: (1) a crime of violence; (2) any offense punishable by life imprisonment or death; (3) a narcotics offense punishable by at least ten years imprisonment; or (4) any offense committed after the person has been convicted of two or more offenses for which a hearing is mandated. Permits the government or the court to move for a detention hearing in any other case involving a serious risk of flight or obstruction of justice. Enumerates additional factors to be considered by the judicial officer in making a release determination, including the defendant's past conduct, history of drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history, and the nature and seriousness of the danger to the community or any person. Requires the detention of a person who has appealed his conviction unless the judicial officer finds by clear and convincing evidence that: (1) such person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to another person or property; and (2) the appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact. Requires the detention of a person awaiting sentencing unless the officer finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to any other person or the community. Authorizes a U.S. attorney to appeal a release order. Provides additional penalties for failing to appear before the court or surrender for service of sentence as required. Establishes mandatory additional penalties for commission of an offense while on pretrial release. Subjects a person who has been conditionally released and violates a condition of release to revocation of release and prosecution for contempt of court. Grants new authority to law enforcement officers to arrest a person who violates certain pretrial release conditions.

Bill· HRH.R. 5861 (98th)open

Medicare Preferred Provider Organization and Competition Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Medicare Preferred Provider Organization and Competition Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through negotiations, to provide for the determination of payment rates for services by preferred provider organizations so long as the total amount of payments made under title XVIII pursuant to such rates does not exceed the lesser of: (1) 95 percent of the adjusted average per capita cost; or (2) the adjusted community rate plus the actuarial value of additional benefits provided. Defines a "preferred provider organization" as an eligible health maintenance organization or competitive medical plan which has entered into an agreement with the Secretary under which: (1) the organization will provide directly or indirectly to individuals enrolled with the organization and entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII, and enrolled under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII, all the services described in parts A and B and the organization will provide directly or indirectly to individuals enrolled with the organization and enrolled under part B (but not entitled to benefits under part A) all the services described in part B; (2) the organization may provide additional services or benefits if these services or benefits are specifically identified to the Secretary and prospective enrollees; (3) the organization agrees to meet requirements respecting access to care, quality of care, program administration, marketing and enrollment practices and materials, full and fair disclosure for enrollees, relationships with health care providers, financial viability, and protections to assure that enrollees will be held harmless in the case of the insolvency of an organization; and (4) the organization agrees to receive payment on a per capita basis. Prohibits any State from preventing any group health plan payors: (1) from negotiating or entering into contracts for alternative rates of payments with, or determining alternative rates of payment for, providers of health care services and offering the benefit of such alternative rates to group health plan beneficiaries who select such providers; or (2) with the agreement of group policyholders and subject to the terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreement, from limiting payment under a policy to services secured by group health plan beneficiaries from providers of health care services charging alternative rates.

Bill· HRH.R. 5845 (98th)open

Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1984 - Amends the Federal criminal code to define "armor piercing ammunition." Excludes from the definition: (1) shot gun shot required by Federal or State regulations for hunting; (2) frangible projectiles for target shooting; and (3) projectiles that the Secretary of Treasury determines are primarily intended for sporting purposes. Makes it unlawful for any person to manufacture or import armor piercing ammunition. Allows for: (1) the manufacture or importation of armor piercing ammunition for the use of the United States or any State or local government; and (2) manufacture for the sole purpose of exportation. Establishes a licensing fee of $1,000 per year for manufacturers and importers of armor piercing ammunition. Imposes an additional mandatory sentence of not less than five years for any person who uses or carries a firearm and is in possession of armor piercing ammunition during the commission of a violent felony. Provides that such sentence shall not be suspended nor probation nor parole granted.

Bill· HRH.R. 5863 (98th)referred

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment Act of 1984 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate 20 centers for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Requires such centers to: (1) provide a central facility for diagnosis, evaluation, and counseling; (2) develop standards of treatment and methods of delivering cost-effective services; (3) train professionals and nonprofessionals in diagnosing and treating such disorders; and (4) develop a comprehensive acute and long-term treatment program. Authorizes FY 1985 through 1989 appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make $1,000,000 available to each center for each of at least five years for teaching, training, research, and staffing. Permits eligible persons to elect to receive benefits as provided for by this Act rather than under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or XX (Grants to States for Service) of the Social Security Act, or under the Older Americans Act of 1965.

Bill· HRH.R. 5862 (98th)referred

A bill to provide for an intra-HMO competition demonstration project.

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) demonstration projects in at least four States, under which: (1) the Secretary would contract with one or more health maintenance organizations or competitive medical plans (organizations) to perform the functions both of intermediaries under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII and carriers under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) with respect to benefits furnished in a State; (2) if the Secretary contracts with one organization in an area, the Secretary must permit any other organization in the area to enter into such a contract; (3) individuals residing in the State covered by the project and entitled or enrolled under part A or B of title XVIII would be required to enroll with at least one participating organization, but may elect to receive any covered service through any qualified Medicare provider; (4) an organization may offer additional benefits, at no additional cost; (5) an organization will not charge copayments or deductibles if a beneficiary is enrolled with and receives benefits directly from the organization; (6) each organization would receive payment at an annual per capita rate equal to 95 percent of the adjusted per capita cost; and (7) each organization shall have the right of final claim review for necessity and appropriateness of items and services furnished. Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress a protocol report concerning such demonstration projects and annual reports.

Bill· HRH.R. 5858 (98th)referred

A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to rationalize the payment amount under the DRG-payment system.

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1984

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the diagnosis related group (DRG) payment system to provide that if the total operating costs for inpatient hospital services: (1) are less than or equal to the payment amount, the amount of payment with respect to such operating costs payable under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII shall be equal to the amount of such operating costs plus 50 percent of the amount by which the payment amount exceeds the amount of the operating costs; or (2) are greater than the payment amount, the amount of the payment with respect to such operating costs payable under part A shall be equal to the payment amount plus the lesser of the amount by which the amount of the operating costs exceeds the payment amount or ten percent of the payment amount. Defines the term "payment amount" to mean the total of the amounts that would otherwise be paid to a hospital without regard to this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 5823 (98th)referred

Textile Employment and Fair Trade Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1984

Textile Employment and Fair Trade Act of 1984 - Directs the President to limit the total quantity of textile imports during each of calendar years 1984 through 1988. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish and administer an import licensing system for administration of this Act. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to enforce the import limitations and the import licensing system.

Bill· HRH.R. 5770 (98th)referred

A bill for the relief of Doctor Rajko Medenica.

United States · United States Congress · 31 May 1984

Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 315 (98th)referred

A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the television and radio networks and stations broadcasting coverage of the XXIII Olympiad include announcements or other informational programming to discourage drug and alcohol abuse by young people.

United States · United States Congress · 31 May 1984

Expresses the sense of Congress that television and radio networks and stations broadcasting coverage of the XXIII Olympiad should include public service announcements or other informational programming warning young people of the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.

Bill· HRH.R. 5638 (98th)open

Textile Fiber and Wool Products Identification Improvement Act

United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1984

Textile Fiber and Wool Products Identification Improvement Act - Amends the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 to require a textile fiber or wool product to be so labeled if it has been processed or manufactured in the United States. Requires the product, as well as the package in which it is contained, to be labeled as to country of origin. Provides that such requirement shall not be construed as requiring such labeling on each hosiery product contained in a package as long as such package is labeled. Requires catalog sales descriptions and other advertisements for textile and wool products to contain country of origin information. Requires that the identification label on imported textile fiber or wool products be affixed to the most conspicuous place on the inner side of the product.

Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 294 (98th)passed

A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the President should express to the Government of the Soviet Union the disapproval of the American people concerning the Soviet Union's systematic nondelivery of international mail addressed to certain persons residing within the Soviet Union, and that the United States delegation to the Congress of the Universal Postal Union seek the compliance of the Government of the Soviet Union with the treaties governing international mail to which it is a party.

United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1984

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should express to the Soviet Union the U.S. disapproval of the Soviet Union's: (1) systematic nondelivery of U.S. mail addressed to persons in the Soviet Union; and (2) violation of specified treaties governing international mail. States that at the meeting of the Congress of the Universal Postal Union in Hamburg, Germany, U.S. representatives should; (1) bring such violations to the attention of the Union; (2) request that an investigation of such violations be conducted by the Union; and (3) consider possible sanctions against the Soviet Union for such violations.

Bill· HRH.R. 5438 (98th)referred

A bill to redesignate the Under Secretary for Health and Human Services in the Department of Health and Human Services as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and to establish the positions of Under Secretary for Health and Under Secretary for Human Services in such Department.

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1984

Redesignates the Office of Under Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Department of Health and Human Services as the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Establishes in such Department the Offices of: (1) Under Secretary for Health; and (2) Under Secretary for Human Services. Makes the Under Secretary for Health responsible for the Public Health Service, the Health Care Financing Administration, and the Office of Assistant Secretary for Health. Makes the Under Secretary for Human Services responsible for the Social Security Administration, the Office of Human Development Services, and the Office of Community Services.

Bill· HRH.R. 5423 (98th)referred

Consumer Lease and Rental Purchase Agreement Act

United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1984

Consumer Lease and Rental Purchase Agreement Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to add Title X, Consumer Lease and Rental-Purchase Act. Sets forth findings, purposes, and definitions. Exempts from coverage under this Act: (1) commercial leases and rental-purchase agreements primarily for business, commercial or agricultural purposes or those made with government agencies or instrumentalities or with organizations; (2) safe deposit box leases; and (3) lease or bailment of personal property which is incidental to the lease of real property and which provides that the consumer has neither liability for the value of the property at scheduled expiration (besides abnormal wear and tear) nor an option to buy. Directs the Federal Reserve Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this Act. Requires the lessor to disclose in a consumer lease concerning personal property certain specified information, including the total initial payments to the lessor and the total of scheduled payments. Sets forth substantive rights that limit the consumer's liability at early termination or at the end of the lease term. Allows the lessor to base the consumer's liability on the anticipated residual value of the leased property. Presumes the anticipated residual value to be unreasonable, and uncollectable, when it exceeds the actual residual value by more than three times the average payment allocable to a month. Requires a lessor to disclose in a rental-purchase agreement specified information, including the amount and timing of payments and a statement as to whether the property is new or used. States that a renegotiation is a new lease or agreement requiring new disclosures. Specifies four events which are not renegotiations. Exempts from the disclosure requirements any extension of a consumer lease or a rental-purchase agreement. Requires a recalculation of anticipated residual value of leased property where a consumer lease is extended for more than one month beyond the end of the lease term. Specifies those items which must be contained in an advertisement for a consumer lease or a rental purchase agreement. Grants the Federal Trade Commission primary but not exclusive enforcement authority under this Act. Specifies civil penalties for the failure of a lessor to comply with these provisions. Sets forth the defenses available to a lessor in a civil suit. Provides for the liability of assignees. Imposes a fine or prison term for willful and knowing violation of these provisions. Sets forth the relationship of these provisions and State laws. Provides that the laws of a State are preempted by this Act only to the extent that a person is unable to comply with them without violating a provision of this title. Exempts the United States Government, States, and their agencies from civil or criminal penalties under these provisions. Requires an annual report to the Congress concerning the administration of these provisions.

Bill· HRH.R. 5394 (98th)open

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1984

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1984 - Title I: Agricultural Programs - Incorporates by reference the conference report on H.R. 4072, the Wheat Improvement Act of 1983 (H. Report 98-646) dealing with: (1) price supports for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice; (2) export assistance; and (3) agricultural credit. Title II: Civil Service and Military Retirement Programs - Limits the cost of living increase in the annuity or retired or retainer pay of a Government retiree for FY 1986 and 1987 to one-half of the increase that would otherwise be effective if: (1) the retiree is under 62 years of age as of the effective date of the increase; and (2) the annuity or retired or retainer pay is based on the retiree's Government service (but is not computed on the basis of a disability). Requires any survivor annuity which is based on the service of any such retiree to be computed as if this title had not been enacted. Title III: Health Programs - Medicare and Medicaid Budget Reconciliation Amendments of 1984 - Part A: Medicare Reconciliation Amendments - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national fee schedule for diagnostic laboratory tests for which payment is made under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Directs the Secretary to set the fee schedule at 60 percent of the prevailing charges paid under part B for similar diagnostic laboratory tests during the 12-month period beginning July 1, 1984. Directs the Secretary, in addition to the amounts provided under the fee schedule, to provide for and establish a nominal fee payable to cover the costs of collecting the sample in a diagnostic laboratory test. Provides for Medicare payment of the lesser of 80 percent (or 100 percent in the case of tests for which payment is made on the basis of an assignment or in the situation of the death of a beneficiary) of the amount determined by the Secretary or the amount of billed charges. Eliminates the part B deductible for laboratory tests paid on the basis of an assignment and in the case of payment on behalf of a deceased beneficiary. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for Medicaid coverage of laboratory tests to the extent such coverage is provided under Medicare. Provides for Medicare coverage of hepatitis B vaccine and its administration in a hospital or renal dialysis facility. Revises provisions under part B of title XVIII relating to payment for the services of a teaching physician to limit, for the purposes of determining the customary charge, the consideration of charges made by a physician outside of teaching to charges made by nonteaching physicians. Provides that if all the teaching physicians in the hospital agree to have payment made for all physicians' services under part B furnished patients in the hospital on the basis of an assignment, the carrier shall take into account the amounts otherwise payable under part B with respect to similar services in the same locality. Directs the Secretary to compile annually a list of physicians serving individuals enrolled under part B indicating the share of claims which each physician has accepted on an assignment basis in the preceding year. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish annually a list of all physicians who have agreed to accept payment on the basis of an assignment; and (2) annually provide enrollees with a list of physicians in their area who accept assignments. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on methods by which payment amounts and other program policies under part B may be modified to: (1) eliminate inequities in the relative amounts paid to physicians by type of service, locality, and specialty; (2) increase incentives for physicians and other suppliers to accept assignments; and (3) provide incentives for physicians and other providers not to provide increased or otherwise excessive amounts of hospital, physician, and other health care services. Directs the Secretary, in order to carry out the study and facilitate congressional review, to compile a centralized Medicare part B charge data base utilizing information gathered by Medicare carriers and used by the carriers in making the 1984 reasonable charge updates. Directs the Secretary to issue revisions to the current guidelines for payment under part B for physicians' services for the transtelephonic monitoring of cardiac pacemakers. Requires such guidelines to include provisions regarding the specifications for and frequency of transtelephonic monitoring procedures which will be found reasonable and necessary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review, and report to the appropriate congressional committees, regarding the appropriateness of the current rate of part B reimbursement for physicians' services associated with the implantation or replacement of pacemaker devices and pacemaker leads; and (2) consider reducing the recognized rates for such services by 20 percent. Directs the Secretary, through the Administrator of the Food and Drug Administration, to provide for a registry of all cardiac pacemaker devices and pacemaker leads for which payment was made under title XVIII. Directs the Secretary, in any case where the Secretary has reason to believe that replacement of a cardiac pacemaker device or lead for which Medicare payment is or may be requested is related to the malfunction of a device or lead, to require the testing of the device. Directs the Secretary to provide that payment will not be made under part B for a physician's debridement of mycotic toenails to the extent such debridement is performed more than once every 60 days, unless the medical necessity for more frequent treatment is documented by the physician. Allows payments to hospitals under part A (Hospital Insurance) of Medicare for the operation of mobile intensive care units if certain conditions are met. Provides for the appointment by the President (rather than by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) of the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration. Sets forth the pay level for the Administrator. Permits limited provider representation on peer review organizations (PRO's). Permits a physician who has a financial interest in an agency which is a sole community home health agency to carry out the certification and plan-of-care functions for patients who will receive services from the agency. Repeals certain special tuberculosis treatment requirements. Allows part B payments to be made to a health benefits plan, if the beneficiary agrees, and if the physician or supplier accepts the plan's payment as payment in full. Includes podiatrists in the definition of "physician" for outpatient physical therapy services. Includes podiatrists and dentists in the definition of "physician" for outpatient ambulatory surgery. Allows physical therapists to establish medicare qualified plans for physical therapy. Increases from $10,000 to $50,000 the minimum amount of any agreement between a medicare provider and a subcontractor before the Secretary or Comptroller General must have access to the subcontractor's records. Establishes the statutory right of Medicare to recover directly from a liable third party, if the beneficiary himself does not do so, and to pay a beneficiary, or on the beneficiary's behalf, pending recovery where such third party is not expected to pay promptly. Extends the Secretary's authority to rely on accrediting organizations in determining whether rural health clinics, laboratories, clinics, rehabilitation agencies, including outpatient rehabilitation facilities, and public health agencies meet Medicare requirements. Sets forth rules for the confidentiality of accreditation surveys. Limits coverage to 30 days for services furnished by a home health agency whose agreement has been terminated. Extends the Secretary's authority to exclude from Medicare participation (and to direct State agencies to exclude from Medicaid participation) any entity in which ownership or controlling interest is held by a person convicted of program-related criminal offenses, or in which an officer, director, agent, or managing employee was convicted of such criminal offense. Eliminates the Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council. Requires the Secretary to designate one 30-day period in which all health maintenance organizations (HMO's) and competitive medical plans (CMP's) in an area participating in Medicare must have an open enrollment period. Specifies a deadline of July 1, 1985, for a report to Congress on including payment for physicians' services to hospital inpatients in DRG payment amounts. Authorizes the Secretary, if patient health and safety is not jeopardized, to apply less severe sanctions than are presently available for dealing with an end-stage renal disease facility which is not in compliance with applicable regulations. Makes the national end-stage renal disease medical information system discretionary with the Secretary. Removes the costs of nurse anesthetists from DRG-based payments. Sets forth rules for the determination of hospital area wage indexes. Revises the definition of bona fide emergency services for purposes of the limitations on payment for hospital outpatient services. Delays from October 1, 1983, to April 1, 1984, the effective date for single-rate for skilled nursing facilities. Part B: Medicaid Reconciliation Amendments - Provides that the Federal medical assistance percentage, under title XIX of the Social Security Act, shall be 100 percent with respect to amounts expended as medical assistance for services furnished to a "qualified pregnant woman or child." Defines a qualified pregnant woman or child as an individual who was not eligible for categorically needy coverage under Medicaid as of June 30, 1983, and who is: (1) under five years of age and who meets Aid to Families with Dependent Children (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) requirements but does not receive cash payments and is a categorically needy individual; or (2) a pregnant woman who, at the State's option, may be deemed an AFDC recipient for Medicaid purposes or who is a member of a family which would be eligible for AFDC if the State's AFDC plan required payment of aid with respect to dependent children deprived of parental support by reason of the unemployment of a parent who is the principal earner. Authorizes a State's Medicaid plan to not take into account the financial responsibility of any individual for an applicant or recipient who is a pregnant woman under 21 who does not have legal custody over other children, unless the applicant or recipient is the individual's spouse, except that a State may limit the applicability of this provision to applicants and recipients living in such an individual's household or in a custodial institution for pregnant women. Provides that a child born to a woman eligible for and receiving Medicaid as of the child's birth shall be deemed to have applied for medical assistance and been found eligible for assistance on the child's birth date and shall remain eligible for assistance for one year so long as the child is a member of the women's household and the woman remains eligible for assistance. Revises Medicaid provisions relating to medically needy income levels. Provides that in the case of a family consisting of only two individuals both of whom are adults and at least one of whom is aged, blind, or disabled, the term "highest amount which would ordinarily be paid to a family of the same size" under the State's plan approved under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act shall, at the State's option, be the amount determined by the State to be the amount of aid which would ordinarily be payable under such plan to a family which consists of one adult and two children and which is without any income or resources. Revises Medicaid provisions relating to the recertification of need for stays in skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities. Requires recertifications for intermediate care facility patients to occur on or before 60 days of admission, six, 12, 18, and 24 months afterwards, and annually thereafter. Requires recertifications for skilled nursing facility patients to occur on or before 30, 60, and 90 days of admission, and every 60 days thereafter. Revises the penalty formula for noncompliance with the recertification requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to modify or waive the requirement which limits the total combined Medicare and Medicaid membership to 75 percent for a health maintenance organization if the organization: (1) is a nonprofit organization with at least 25,000 members; (2) is and has been a qualified health maintenance organization for at least four years; (3) provides basic health services through members of the staff of the organization; (4) is located in a medically underserved area; and (5) previously received a membership requirement waiver. Prohibits Medicaid copayments for prescribed drugs. Increases the maximum amount of Medicaid payments available to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Provides that Medicaid provisions requiring a reduction of the amount of payment otherwise to be made to a public psychiatric hospital due to the level of care received in such hospital shall not apply to payments to hospitals before July 1, 1985. Provides that such a reduction made for payments during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1986, and during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1987, shall be one-third and two-thirds, respectively, of the amount of the reduction which would otherwise be required. Makes technical amendments to titles V (Maternal and Child Health Services) and XIX of the Social Security Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions relating to the recovery of Federal expenditures from a hospital or other medical facility under certain conditions. Provides that the United States shall be entitled to recover a certain amount, from either the transferor or transferee, if any such facility which received Federal funds for construction or modernization, under the Public Health Service Act, at any time within 20 years after the completion of construction or modernization: (1) is sold or transferred to any entity which is not qualified to file an application under such Act for a construction or modernization project or which is not approved as a transferee by a State; or (2) ceases to be a public health center or a public or other nonprofit hospital, outpatient facility, facility for long-term care, or rehabilitation facility. Provides that the amount the United States is entitled to recover, subject to certain exceptions, shall bear the same ratio to the then value of so much of the facility as constituted an approved project as the amount of the Federal financial participation bore to the cost of the construction or modernization of such project. Title IV: Small Business Programs - Amends the Small Business Act to extend through October 1, 1987, the requirement that agricultural producers seek disaster loan assistance from the Farmers Home Administration before applying for a Small Business Administration disaster loan. Title V: Veterans' Programs - Makes the effective date for the award of a military pension to the survivor of a veteran with a non-service connected disability the first day of the month in which the death occurred if the application is received within 60 days of the date of death. Increases from one-half to one percent the loan fee payable by a veteran receiving a Veterans Administration (VA) home loan. Extends from FY 1985 through FY 1987 the fee collection program. Directs that such fees be deposited in the VA Loan Guaranty Revolving Fund. Requires that the Administrator be notified by the holder of a guaranteed loan which is in default of any proposed public sale of the property securing the loan. Limits the liability of the United States under the guaranty to the difference between the amount of total indebtedness under the loan and the net value of the property where the Administrator determines that the net value of the property exceeds the amount of unguaranteed debt. Sets forth conditions under which the Administrator may or may not receive conveyance of the property depending upon whether the holder of the defaulted loan is the successful bidder and whether or not the bidding price meets, exceeds or is less than the net value of the property or the total indebtedness under the loan. Establishes the liability of the United States under the guaranty in each case. Directs the Administrator to reduce the number of vendee loans (loans made to purchasers of real property acquired by the VA because of the default of a guaranteed loan) to 75 percent of the number of sales of such property. Title VI: Savings in AFDC, SSI, and Other Programs - Subtitle A: Accelerated Collection and Deposit of Payments to Executive Agencies - Requires the head of each executive agency, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, to provide for the collection and timely deposit of money owed to such agency by the use of such procedures as withdrawals and deposits by electronic transfer of funds, automatic withdrawals from accounts of financial institutions, and a system under which financial institutions receive and deposit, on behalf of the agency, payments transmitted to post office lockboxes. Establishes in the Treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Cash Management Improvements Fund to be used for developing and implementing such collections and deposits. Provides that noncomplying agencies shall be assessed a charge which will be deposited in such Fund. Requires an agency to deposit in the Treasury money collected within three days of receipt. Subtitle B: Improvements in Administration of Social Security Earnings Test - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish procedures to avoid paying more than the correct amount of title II benefits to any individual as a result of such individual's failure to file a correct report or estimate of earnings or wages. Subtitle C: Improvements in SSI, AFDC, and Related Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, upon written request, to disclose return information with respect to unearned income to any officer or employee of any Federal, State, or local agency administering any of the following programs: (1) the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act); (2) Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act); (3) Supplemental Security Income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act); (4) as applicable to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands any benefits provided under titles I (Old Age Assistance and Medical Assistance for the Aged), X (Aid to the Blind), XIV (Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled), and XVI of the Social Security Act; and (5) the Food Stamp program. Amends Part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require any Federal, State, or local agency receiving such information to independently verify such information before making any benefit adjustments. Directs each State agency charged with the administration of a State plan approved under part A of title IV, title X, title XIV, or title XVI of the Act, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the SSI program, to request and use any such information obtained from the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of income and eligibility verification. Requires such information to be used to identify and prevent ineligibility and incorrect payments. Amends title XVI of the Act to increase, by $100.00 per year over the next five years for single individuals and by $150.00 per year for the next five years for married individuals, the resources limit for single individuals from $1,500 to $2,000, and for married couples from $2,250 to $3000. Provides, under title XVI, that in situations where there has not been fraud in connection with an SSI overpayment, such overpayment shall be recovered through adjustments in future benefits in amounts not exceeding the lesser of: (1) the monthly benefit; or (2) an amount equal to ten percent of a beneficiary's monthly income. Provides that to the extent that an overpayment results because a recipient's resources exceed the applicable limit, such overpayment shall be determined to be the lesser of: (1) the benefits received; or (2) the greatest amount by which the total value of the recipient's resources exceeded the applicable limit. Excludes from resources, for 12-months from the date of receipt, any underpayment amount received in the form of a retroactive check. Amends part A of title IV of the Act to revise the gross income limitation. Provides that no family shall be eligible if its income exceeds 130 percent of the poverty line as defined in the Community Services Block Grant Act. (Current law prohibits eligibility if family income exceeds 150 percent the State's standard of need.) Provides that the $75 monthly work expense deduction shall be applicable to both full and part-time workers. Repeals the four-month limit on the $30 disregard from earned income. Requires a State plan to provide that, in any case where a family has ceased to receive aid because of certain increases in income, a monthly transition allowance of $10.00 shall be paid for at least nine months. Permits former AFDC recipients to reapply for such allowance in certain cases. States that, for purposes of earned income disregards, an individual's earned income shall be the gross amount of earnings. Permits the exclusion from resources of burial plots, funeral agreements, and real property which a family is making a good faith effort to sell. Provides that where a State is unable to provide day care and transportation for community work experience program participants, the State shall directly reimburse participants for such costs. Permits, rather than requires, States to use a monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting system. Provides Federal matching for State supplementary payments made under a retrospective budgeting system. Provides for the exclusion from income, for AFDC purposes, of amounts received as an earned income tax credit. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to permit any State with an approved AFDC plan to establish and conduct one or more pilot projects to demonstrate the use of integrated service delivery systems for human services programs in that State or in one or more political subdivisions of such State. Requires a pilot project to involve or include: (1) the development of a common set of terms; (2) the development for each applicant of a single comprehensive family profile; (3) the establishment and maintenance of a single resources directory; (4) the development of a unified budget and budgeting process, and a unified accounting system; (5) the implementation of unified planning, needs assessment, and evaluation; (6) the consolidation of agency locations and related transportation services; (7) the standardization of procedures for purchasing services from nongovernmental sources; (8) the creation of communications linkages among agencies; (9) the development of uniform application and eligibility determination procedures; and (10) any other methods, arrangements, and procedures consistent with the establishment of an integrated service delivery system. Requires any State desiring to establish and conduct a pilot project to apply to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to approve a project only if the project will not lower or restrict the levels of aid, assistance, benefits, or services, or the income or resource standards, deductions, or exclusions of any of the human services programs involved. Permits a State with an approved application to request the Secretary to waive any requirement which would otherwise apply with respect to the proposed project under any of the laws governing the human services programs to be included in the project. Sets forth guidelines for approving or disapproving such waiver request. Sets forth guidelines relating to information disclosure. Provides that Federal funding for an approved pilot project shall be: (1) 90 percent for the first 18 months; (2) 80 percent for the following 12-months; and (3) 70 percent for the next 12-month period. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress concerning approved projects. Directs the Comptroller General, through the personnel and facilities of the General Accounting Office, to conduct a study concerning such projects. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for such projects for FY 1985 through 1988. Authorizes, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, any State which is currently participating in the AFDC program, the Medicaid program, and the food stamp program to apply to the Secretary to establish and conduct a demonstration program which shall try to develop ways of improving the delivery of services to needy individuals and families under the three programs by eliminating at least some differences in program requirements and specifications. Prohibits the approval of more than five applications. Directs the Secretary to approve an application only if the project will not lower or restrict the level of aid, assistance, benefits, services, or the applicable income or resource standards, deductions, or exclusions under the programs. Prohibits a project from lasting more than three years, except that an additional two years may be allowed upon the Secretary's approval. Authorizes each State conducting a demonstration project to adopt, for purposes of the AFDC program, any of the existing rules, procedures, and specifications currently in effect under either or both of the other two programs, with the objective of developing for the three programs: (1) a common set of terms and definitions; (2) uniform application and eligibility determination procedures; (3) a unified budgeting process; (4) a single-family case file; and (5) a common administrative structure that allows for unified planning and evaluation. Requires: (1) each participating State to report to the Secretary; and (2) the Secretary to report to Congress. Exempts pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy from registering for the work incentive program. Provides that when computing the maximum number of required hours of work under a community work experience program, child support payments received shall be subtracted from the AFDC payment. Permits a State to recalculate the period of AFDC ineligibility which occurs when a family receives a nonrecurring lump sum, if the recalculation would promote the purposes and objectives of the AFDC program. Provides that recovery of an AFDC overpayment need not be attempted if the cost of recovery would equal or exceed the amount of the overpayment. Provides that when an overpayment occurs due to the ownership or possession of excess resources, the amount of overpayment to be recovered shall be the lesser of: (1) the total amount of benefits that the family received during the period in which resources exceeded the limit; or (2) the greatest amount by which the total value of the resources exceeded the limit at any time during the overpayment period. Authorizes a State to make protective payments if the parent does not register for work as required, accept suitable employment, or cooperate with child support enforcement efforts. Suspends sanctions on States based on AFDC error rates for the period beginning October 1, 1983, and ending September 30, 1985. Provides that any individual who is an alien and whose sponsor was a public or private agency shall be ineligible for AFDC for the three year period following such alien's entry into the United States, unless the State agency administering the plan determines that the sponsor either no longer exists or has become unable to meet the individual's needs. Permits the disclosure of certain information concerning an AFDC recipient who is a fugitive felon to a State or local law enforcement officer. Establishes a payment schedule for the Federal reimbursement of States' back claims for public assistance programs under the Social Security Act. Provides for an AFDC grant diversion program under which a State may make employment (including on-the-job training) available as an alternative to AFDC otherwise provided. Directs a State, in operating a grant diversion program, to: (1) enter into contracts with public or private employers under which such employers will provide employment for eligible individuals over a period of up to nine months; and (2) pay to each such employer with respect to each individual so employed an amount equal to the lesser of the maximum amount that could have been paid directly to such individual as AFDC at the time of the initial job placement or 50 percent of the individual's wages. States that: (1) wages paid shall be considered to be wages under any provision of law; and (2) any participant shall be considered to be receiving AFDC for purposes of Medicaid eligibility. Makes permanent AFDC and SSI provisions which exempt in-kind home energy assistance provided by a private nonprofit organization. Sets forth the effective date. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to begin the period for the 26-week additional trade readjustment allowances with the first week the worker is in training if that training has not been approved until after the last week of entitlement to basic benefits. Increases the maximum job search allowance from $600 to $800. Increases the maximum relocation allowance from $600 to $800. Extends eligibility for industry-wide technical assistance to industries in which a substantial number of workers have been certified for trade adjustment assistance. Increases from $2,000,000 to $10,000,000 the amount of assistance that can be provided annually to a single industry.

Bill· HRH.R. 5393 (98th)open

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1984

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1984 - Title I: Agricultural Programs - Incorporates by reference the conference report on H.R. 4072, the Wheat Improvement Act of 1983 (H. Report 98-646) dealing with: (1) price supports for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice; (2) export assistance; and (3) agricultural credit. Title II: Civil Service and Military Retirement Programs - Limits the cost of living increase in the annuity or retired or retainer pay of a Government retiree for FY 1986 and 1987 to one-half of the increase that would otherwise be effective if: (1) the retiree is under 62 years of age as of the effective date of the increase; and (2) the annuity or retired or retainer pay is based on the retiree's Government service (but is not computed on the basis of a disability). Requires any survivor annuity which is based on the service of any such retiree to be computed as if this title had not been enacted. Title III: Health Programs - Medicare and Medicaid Budget Reconciliation Amendments of 1984 - Part A: Medicare Reconciliation Amendments - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national fee schedule for diagnostic laboratory tests for which payment is made under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Directs the Secretary to set the fee schedule at 60 percent of the prevailing charges paid under part B for similar diagnostic laboratory tests during the 12-month period beginning July 1, 1984. Directs the Secretary, in addition to the amounts provided under the fee schedule, to provide for and establish a nominal fee payable to cover the costs of collecting the sample in a diagnostic laboratory test. Provides for Medicare payment of the lesser of 80 percent (or 100 percent in the case of tests for which payment is made on the basis of an assignment or in the situation of the death of a beneficiary) of the amount determined by the Secretary or the amount of billed charges. Eliminates the part B deductible for laboratory tests paid on the basis of an assignment and in the case of payment on behalf of a deceased beneficiary. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for Medicaid coverage of laboratory tests to the extent such coverage is provided under Medicare. Provides for Medicare coverage of hepatitis B vaccine and its administration in a hospital or renal dialysis facility. Revises provisions under part B of title XVIII relating to payment for the services of a teaching physician to limit, for the purposes of determining the customary charge, the consideration of charges made by a physician outside of teaching to charges made by nonteaching physicians. Provides that if all the teaching physicians in the hospital agree to have payment made for all physicians' services under part B furnished patients in the hospital on the basis of an assignment, the carrier shall take into account the amounts otherwise payable under part B with respect to similar services in the same locality. Directs the Secretary to compile annually a list of physicians serving individuals enrolled under part B indicating the share of claims which each physician has accepted on an assignment basis in the preceding year. Directs the Secretary to: (1) publish annually a list of all physicians who have agreed to accept payment on the basis of an assignment; and (2) annually provide enrollees with a list of physicians in their area who accept assignments. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on methods by which payment amounts and other program policies under part B may be modified to: (1) eliminate inequities in the relative amounts paid to physicians by type of service, locality, and specialty; (2) increase incentives for physicians and other suppliers to accept assignments; and (3) provide incentives for physicians and other providers not to provide increased or otherwise excessive amounts of hospital, physician, and other health care services. Directs the Secretary, in order to carry out the study and facilitate congressional review, to compile a centralized Medicare part B charge data base utilizing information gathered by Medicare carriers and used by the carriers in making the 1984 reasonable charge updates. Directs the Secretary to issue revisions to the current guidelines for payment under part B for physicians' services for the transtelephonic monitoring of cardiac pacemakers. Requires such guidelines to include provisions regarding the specifications for and frequency of transtelephonic monitoring procedures which will be found reasonable and necessary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review, and report to the appropriate congressional committees, regarding the appropriateness of the current rate of part B reimbursement for physicians' services associated with the implantation or replacement of pacemaker devices and pacemaker leads; and (2) consider reducing the recognized rates for such services by 20 percent. Directs the Secretary, through the Administrator of the Food and Drug Administration, to provide for a registry of all cardiac pacemaker devices and pacemaker leads for which payment was made under title XVIII. Directs the Secretary, in any case where the Secretary has reason to believe that replacement of a cardiac pacemaker device or lead for which Medicare payment is or may be requested is related to the malfunction of a device or lead, to require the testing of the device. Directs the Secretary to provide that payment will not be made under part B for a physician's debridement of mycotic toenails to the extent such debridement is performed more than once every 60 days, unless the medical necessity for more frequent treatment is documented by the physician. Allows payments to hospitals under part A (Hospital Insurance) of Medicare for the operation of mobile intensive care units if certain conditions are met. Provides for a freeze on the economic index used to limit prevailing charges for physician services provided to hospital inpatients. Requires physicians to accept Medicare assignment for all services provided to Medicare hospital inpatients for a specified period of time. Requires the Secretary, during such time, to report to the Congress on the advisability and feasibility of including payments for inpatient physician services in the DRG prospective payment legislation. Revises rules relating to Medicare provider agreements to require hospitals to obtain signed agreements from each doctor on its medical staff where the physician agrees to accept assignment for any Medicare beneficiary that he or she treats as an inpatient of that hospital. Provides for the appointment by the President (rather than by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) of the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration. Sets forth the pay level for the Administrator. Permits limited provider representation on peer review organizations (PRO's). Permits a physician who has a financial interest in an agency which is a sole community home health agency to carry out the certification and plan-of-care functions for patients who will receive services from the agency. Repeals certain special tuberculosis treatment requirements. Allows part B payments to be made to a health benefits plan, if the beneficiary agrees, and if the physician or supplier accepts the plan's payment as payment in full. Includes podiatrists in the definition of "physician" for outpatient physical therapy services. Includes podiatrists and dentists in the definition of "physician" for outpatient ambulatory surgery. Allows physical therapists to establish medicare qualified plans for physical therapy. Increases from $10,000 to $50,000 the minimum amount of any agreement between a medicare provider and a subcontractor before the Secretary or Comptroller General must have access to the subcontractor's records. Establishes the statutory right of Medicare to recover directly from a liable third party, if the beneficiary himself does not do so, and to pay a beneficiary, or on the beneficiary's behalf, pending recovery where such third party is not expected to pay promptly. Extends the Secretary's authority to rely on accrediting organizations in determining whether rural health clinics, laboratories, clinics, rehabilitation agencies, including outpatient rehabilitation facilities, and public health agencies meet Medicare requirements. Sets forth rules for the confidentiality of accreditation surveys. Limits coverage to 30 days for services furnished by a home health agency whose agreement has been terminated. Extends the Secretary's authority to exclude from Medicare participation (and to direct State agencies to exclude from Medicaid participation) any entity in which ownership or controlling interest is held by a person convicted of program-related criminal offenses, or in which an officer, director, agent, or managing employee was convicted of such criminal offense. Eliminates the Health Insurance Benefits Advisory Council. Requires the Secretary to designate one 30-day period in which all health maintenance organizations (HMO's) and competitive medical plans (CMP's) in an area participating in Medicare must have an open enrollment period. Specifies a deadline of July 1, 1985, for a report to Congress on including payment for physicians' services to hospital inpatients in DRG payment amounts. Authorizes the Secretary, if patient health and safety is not jeopardized, to apply less severe sanctions than are presently available for dealing with an end-stage renal disease facility which is not in compliance with applicable regulations. Makes the national end-stage renal disease medical information system discretionary with the Secretary. Removes the costs of nurse anesthetists from DRG-based payments. Sets forth rules for the determination of hospital area wage indexes. Revises the definition of bona fide emergency services for purposes of the limitations on payment for hospital outpatient services. Delays from October 1, 1983, to April 1, 1984, the effective date for single-rate for skilled nursing facilities. Part B: Medicaid Reconciliation Amendments - Provides that the Federal medical assistance percentage, under title XIX of the Social Security Act, shall be 100 percent with respect to amounts expended as medical assistance for services furnished to a "qualified pregnant woman or child." Defines a qualified pregnant woman or child as an individual who was not eligible for categorically needy coverage under Medicaid as of June 30, 1983, and who is: (1) under five years of age and who meets Aid to Families with Dependent Children (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) requirements but does not receive cash payments and is a categorically needy individual; or (2) a pregnant woman who, at the State's option, may be deemed an AFDC recipient for Medicaid purposes or who is a member of a family which would be eligible for AFDC if the State's AFDC plan required payment of aid with respect to dependent children deprived of parental support by reason of the unemployment of a parent who is the principal earner. Authorizes a State's Medicaid plan to not take into account the financial responsibility of any individual for an applicant or recipient who is a pregnant woman under 21 who does not have legal custody over other children, unless the applicant or recipient is the individual's spouse, except that a State may limit the applicability of this provision to applicants and recipients living in such an individual's household or in a custodial institution for pregnant women. Provides that a child born to a woman eligible for and receiving Medicaid as of the child's birth shall be deemed to have applied for medical assistance and been found eligible for assistance on the child's birth date and shall remain eligible for assistance for one year so long as the child is a member of the women's household and the woman remains eligible for assistance. Revises Medicaid provisions relating to medically needy income levels. Provides that in the case of a family consisting of only two individuals both of whom are adults and at least one of whom is aged, blind, or disabled, the term "highest amount which would ordinarily be paid to a family of the same size" under the State's plan approved under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act shall, at the State's option, be the amount determined by the State to be the amount of aid which would ordinarily be payable under such plan to a family which consists of one adult and two children and which is without any income or resources. Revises Medicaid provisions relating to the recertification of need for stays in skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities. Requires recertifications for intermediate care facility patients to occur on or before 60 days of admission, six, 12, 18, and 24 months afterwards, and annually thereafter. Requires recertifications for skilled nursing facility patients to occur on or before 30, 60, and 90 days of admission, and every 60 days thereafter. Revises the penalty formula for noncompliance with the recertification requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to modify or waive the requirement which limits the total combined Medicare and Medicaid membership to 75 percent for a health maintenance organization if the organization: (1) is a nonprofit organization with at least 25,000 members; (2) is and has been a qualified health maintenance organization for at least four years; (3) provides basic health services through members of the staff of the organization; (4) is located in a medically underserved area; and (5) previously received a membership requirement waiver. Prohibits Medicaid copayments for prescribed drugs. Increases the maximum amount of Medicaid payments available to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Provides that Medicaid provisions requiring a reduction of the amount of payment otherwise to be made to a public psychiatric hospital due to the level of care received in such hospital shall not apply to payments to hospitals before July 1, 1985. Provides that such a reduction made for payments during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1986, and during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1987, shall be one-third and two-thirds, respectively, of the amount of the reduction which would otherwise be required. Makes technical amendments to titles V (Maternal and Child Health Services) and XIX of the Social Security Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions relating to the recovery of Federal expenditures from a hospital or other medical facility under certain conditions. Provides that the United States shall be entitled to recover a certain amount, from either the transferor or transferee, if any such facility which received Federal funds for construction or modernization, under the Public Health Service Act, at any time within 20 years after the completion of construction or modernization: (1) is sold or transferred to any entity which is not qualified to file an application under such Act for a construction or modernization project or which is not approved as a transferee by a State; or (2) ceases to be a public health center or a public or other nonprofit hospital, outpatient facility, facility for long-term care, or rehabilitation facility. Provides that the amount the United States is entitled to recover, subject to certain exceptions, shall bear the same ratio to the then value of so much of the facility as constituted an approved project as the amount of the Federal financial participation bore to the cost of the construction or modernization of such project. Title IV: Small Business Programs - Amends the Small Business Act to extend through October 1, 1987, the requirement that agricultural producers seek disaster loan assistance from the Farmers Home Administration before applying for a Small Business Administration disaster loan. Title V: Veterans' Programs - Makes the effective date for the award of a military pension to the survivor of a veteran with a non-service connected disability the first day of the month in which the death occurred if the application is received within 60 days of the date of death. Increases from one-half to one percent the loan fee payable by a veteran receiving a Veterans Administration (VA) home loan. Extends from FY 1985 through FY 1987 the fee collection program. Directs that such fees be deposited in the VA Loan Guaranty Revolving Fund. Requires that the Administrator be notified by the holder of a guaranteed loan which is in default of any proposed public sale of the property securing the loan. Limits the liability of the United States under the guaranty to the difference between the amount of total indebtedness under the loan and the net value of the property where the Administrator determines that the net value of the property exceeds the amount of unguaranteed debt. Sets forth conditions under which the Administrator may or may not receive conveyance of the property depending upon whether the holder of the defaulted loan is the successful bidder and whether or not the bidding price meets, exceeds or is less than the net value of the property or the total indebtedness under the loan. Establishes the liability of the United States under the guaranty in each case. Directs the Administrator to reduce the number of vendee loans (loans made to purchasers of real property acquired by the VA because of the default of a guaranteed loan) to 75 percent of the number of sales of such property. Title VI: Savings in AFDC, SSI, and Other Programs - Subtitle A: Accelerated Collection and Deposit of Payments to Executive Agencies - Requires the head of each executive agency, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, to provide for the collection and timely deposit of money owed to such agency by the use of such procedures as withdrawals and deposits by electronic transfer of funds, automatic withdrawals from accounts of financial institutions, and a system under which financial institutions receive and deposit, on behalf of the agency, payments transmitted to post office lockboxes. Establishes in the Treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Cash Management Improvements Fund to be used for developing and implementing such collections and deposits. Provides that noncomplying agencies shall be assessed a charge which will be deposited in such Fund. Requires an agency to deposit in the Treasury money collected within three days of receipt. Subtitle B: Improvements in Administration of Social Security Earnings Test - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish procedures to avoid paying more than the correct amount of title II benefits to any individual as a result of such individual's failure to file a correct report or estimate of earnings or wages. Subtitle C: Improvements in SSI, AFDC, and Related Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, upon written request, to disclose return information with respect to unearned income to any officer or employee of any Federal, State, or local agency administering any of the following programs: (1) the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act); (2) Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act); (3) Supplemental Security Income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act); (4) as applicable to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands any benefits provided under titles I (Old Age Assistance and Medical Assistance for the Aged), X (Aid to the Blind), XIV (Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled), and XVI of the Social Security Act; and (5) the Food Stamp program. Amends Part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require any Federal, State, or local agency receiving such information to independently verify such information before making any benefit adjustments. Directs each State agency charged with the administration of a State plan approved under part A of title IV, title X, title XIV, or title XVI of the Act, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the SSI program, to request and use any such information obtained from the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of income and eligibility verification. Requires such information to be used to identify and prevent ineligibility and incorrect payments. Amends title XVI of the Act to increase, by $100.00 per year over the next five years for single individuals and by $150.00 per year for the next five years for married individuals, the resources limit for single individuals from $1,500 to $2,000, and for married couples from $2,250 to $3000. Provides, under title XVI, that in situations where there has not been fraud in connection with an SSI overpayment, such overpayment shall be recovered through adjustments in future benefits in amounts not exceeding the lesser of: (1) the monthly benefit; or (2) an amount equal to ten percent of a beneficiary's monthly income. Provides that to the extent that an overpayment results because a recipient's resources exceed the applicable limit, such overpayment shall be determined to be the lesser of: (1) the benefits received; or (2) the greatest amount by which the total value of the recipient's resources exceeded the applicable limit. Excludes from resources, for 12-months from the date of receipt, any underpayment amount received in the form of a retroactive check. Amends part A of title IV of the Act to revise the gross income limitation. Provides that no family shall be eligible if its income exceeds 130 percent of the poverty line as defined in the Community Services Block Grant Act. (Current law prohibits eligibility if family income exceeds 150 percent the State's standard of need.) Provides that the $75 monthly work expense deduction shall be applicable to both full and part-time workers. Repeals the four-month limit on the $30 disregard from earned income. Requires a State plan to provide that, in any case where a family has ceased to receive aid because of certain increases in income, a monthly transition allowance of $10.00 shall be paid for at least nine months. Permits former AFDC recipients to reapply for such allowance in certain cases. States that, for purposes of earned income disregards, an individual's earned income shall be the gross amount of earnings. Permits the exclusion from resources of burial plots, funeral agreements, and real property which a family is making a good faith effort to sell. Provides that where a State is unable to provide day care and transportation for community work experience program participants, the State shall directly reimburse participants for such costs. Permits, rather than requires, States to use a monthly reporting and retrospective budgeting system. Provides Federal matching for State supplementary payments made under a retrospective budgeting system. Provides for the exclusion from income, for AFDC purposes, of amounts received as an earned income tax credit. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to permit any State with an approved AFDC plan to establish and conduct one or more pilot projects to demonstrate the use of integrated service delivery systems for human services programs in that State or in one or more political subdivisions of such State. Requires a pilot project to involve or include: (1) the development of a common set of terms; (2) the development for each applicant of a single comprehensive family profile; (3) the establishment and maintenance of a single resources directory; (4) the development of a unified budget and budgeting process, and a unified accounting system; (5) the implementation of unified planning, needs assessment, and evaluation; (6) the consolidation of agency locations and related transportation services; (7) the standardization of procedures for purchasing services from nongovernmental sources; (8) the creation of communications linkages among agencies; (9) the development of uniform application and eligibility determination procedures; and (10) any other methods, arrangements, and procedures consistent with the establishment of an integrated service delivery system. Requires any State desiring to establish and conduct a pilot project to apply to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to approve a project only if the project will not lower or restrict the levels of aid, assistance, benefits, or services, or the income or resource standards, deductions, or exclusions of any of the human services programs involved. Permits a State with an approved application to request the Secretary to waive any requirement which would otherwise apply with respect to the proposed project under any of the laws governing the human services programs to be included in the project. Sets forth guidelines for approving or disapproving such waiver request. Sets forth guidelines relating to information disclosure. Provides that Federal funding for an approved pilot project shall be: (1) 90 percent for the first 18 months; (2) 80 percent for the following 12-months; and (3) 70 percent for the next 12-month period. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress concerning approved projects. Directs the Comptroller General, through the personnel and facilities of the General Accounting Office, to conduct a study concerning such projects. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for such projects for FY 1985 through 1988. Authorizes, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, any State which is currently participating in the AFDC program, the Medicaid program, and the food stamp program to apply to the Secretary to establish and conduct a demonstration program which shall try to develop ways of improving the delivery of services to needy individuals and families under the three programs by eliminating at least some differences in program requirements and specifications. Prohibits the approval of more than five applications. Directs the Secretary to approve an application only if the project will not lower or restrict the level of aid, assistance, benefits, services, or the applicable income or resource standards, deductions, or exclusions under the programs. Prohibits a project from lasting more than three years, except that an additional two years may be allowed upon the Secretary's approval. Authorizes each State conducting a demonstration project to adopt, for purposes of the AFDC program, any of the existing rules, procedures, and specifications currently in effect under either or both of the other two programs, with the objective of developing for the three programs: (1) a common set of terms and definitions; (2) uniform application and eligibility determination procedures; (3) a unified budgeting process; (4) a single- family case file; and (5) a common administrative structure that allows for unified planning and evaluation. Requires: (1) each participating State to report to the Secretary; and (2) the Secretary to report to Congress. Exempts pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy from registering for the work incentive program. Provides that when computing the maximum number of required hours of work under a community work experience program, child support payments received shall be subtracted from the AFDC payment. Permits a State to recalculate the period of AFDC ineligibility which occurs when a family receives a nonrecurring lump sum, if the recalculation would promote the purposes and objectives of the AFDC program. Provides that recovery of an AFDC overpayment need not be attempted if the cost of recovery would equal or exceed the amount of the overpayment. Provides that when an overpayment occurs due to the ownership or possession of excess resources, the amount of overpayment to be recovered shall be the lesser of: (1) the total amount of benefits that the family received during the period in which resources exceeded the limit; or (2) the greatest amount by which the total value of the resources exceeded the limit at any time during the overpayment period. Authorizes a State to make protective payments if the parent does not register for work as required, accept suitable employment, or cooperate with child support enforcement efforts. Suspends sanctions on States based on AFDC error rates for the period beginning October 1, 1983, and ending September 30, 1985. Provides that any individual who is an alien and whose sponsor was a public or private agency shall be ineligible for AFDC for the three year period following such alien's entry into the United States, unless the State agency administering the plan determines that the sponsor either no longer exists or has become unable to meet the individual's needs. Permits the disclosure of certain information concerning an AFDC recipient who is a fugitive felon to a State or local law enforcement officer. Establishes a payment schedule for the Federal reimbursement of States' back claims for public assistance programs under the Social Security Act. Provides for an AFDC grant diversion program under which a State may make employment (including on-the-job training) available as an alternative to AFDC otherwise provided. Directs a State, in operating a grant diversion program, to: (1) enter into contracts with public or private employers under which such employers will provide employment for eligible individuals over a period of up to nine months; and (2) pay to each such employer with respect to each individual so employed an amount equal to the lesser of the maximum amount that could have been paid directly to such individual as AFDC at the time of the initial job placement or 50 percent of the individual's wages. States that: (1) wages paid shall be considered to be wages under any provision of law; and (2) any participant shall be considered to be receiving AFDC for purposes of Medicaid eligibility. Makes permanent AFDC and SSI provisions which exempt in-kind home energy assistance provided by a private nonprofit organization. Sets forth the effective date. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to begin the period for the 26-week additional trade readjustment allowances with the first week the worker is in training if that training has not been approved until after the last week of entitlement to basic benefits. Increases the maximum job search allowance from $600 to $800. Increases the maximum relocation allowance from $600 to $800. Extends eligibility for industry-wide technical assistance to industries in which a substantial number of workers have been certified for trade adjustment assistance. Increases from $2,000,000 to $10,000,000 the amount of assistance that can be provided annually to a single industry.

Bill· HRH.R. 5176 (98th)referred

Satellite Television Viewing Rights Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1984

Satellite Television Viewing Rights Act of 1984 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize any person to manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or lease equipment for use in receiving satellite television programming, and to receive satellite programming which is not encrypted, without obligation to any person. Allows any person to receive encrypted programming decoded for private viewing upon compliance with rates, terms, and conditions established by agreement or by the Federal Communications Commission. Prohibits any person from manufacturing, importing, distributing, selling, or leasing equipment intended for the unauthorized reception and decoding of encrypted programming by persons not complying with such requirements. Prohibits any producer or distributor of encrypted programming from requiring a person to purchase or lease decoding equipment from a specific source in order to receive such programming. Prohibits any owner of such programming from restricting the availability of such programming for private viewing, except as provided under this Act. Authorizes the Commission to establish rates, terms, and conditions governing a person's rights to view encrypted programming on the petition of such person if such person is not subject to an agreement or order covering such programming. Authorizes any person who is a party to such an agreement to file the agreement with the Commission. Provides that such agreement shall be placed upon public notice and shall be deemed certified as binding upon the class of persons identified therein unless, within 30 days, a person files an objection alleging that he or she would be directly and adversely affected by certification of such agreement. Sets forth criteria to be considered by the Commission in determining whether such agreement should be certified. Authorizes the Commission, upon the expiration of such an agreement and upon petition by a person subject to such agreement, to issue interim orders necessary to preserve the viewing rights of the persons or class previously subject to such agreement. Authorizes any person subject to such an agreement to commence a civil action in U.S. district court seeking specific performance, actual damages, or such other relief as may be necessary to insure compliance with such agreement. Sets forth penalties for willful violations of this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 5122 (98th)referred

A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to release a reversionary interest held by the United States in certain lands in Pickens, Anderson, and Oconee Counties, South Carolina, and to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain mineral interests of the United States in such lands.

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1984

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to release certain reversionary interests in specified lands conveyed to Clemson University, South Carolina. Conditions such release upon the use of the affected lands for public purposes. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to Clemson University certain Federal mineral interests in the lands to which the reversionary interests applied if the University's application meets specified guidelines.

Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 514 (98th)open

A joint resolution entitled: Hazardous Substances "Right to Know" Resolution.

United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1984

States that: (1) all persons in the workplace have a fundamental right to know when they are handling or are exposed to substances hazardous to their health; (2) the Hazard Communication Standard should immediately be revised by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in order to disseminate meaningful information to workers regarding the identity and composition of hazardous substances to which workers are exposed or which they handle; (3) the Hazard Communication Standard should be immediately revised by OSHA to extend "Right To Know" protection to workers in all industries and services not presently covered by the Standard; and (4) such Standard should set minimum Federal requirements which may be exceeded by more stringent State requirements. Commends those States and local governments which have acted to safeguard workers' health and which have passed community "Right To Know" laws.

Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 501 (98th)referred

A joint resolution to provide for the awarding of a gold medal to Elie Wiesel in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and outstanding contributions to world literature and human rights.

United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1984

Authorizes the President, on behalf of Congress, to present to Elie Wiesel a gold medal in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and outstanding contributions to world literature and human rights. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the public sale of bronze duplicates of such medal.