Designating June 6, 1994, as "D-Day National Remembrance Day".
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Designates June 6, 1994, as D-Day National Remembrance Day.
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United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Designates June 6, 1994, as D-Day National Remembrance Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Designates 1994 through 1999 as the Years of the Girl Child.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national policy of the United States should be to: (1) increase energy efficiency, as specified; (2) increase renewable energy technologies to 20 percent of the overall national energy mix by 2010; and (3) achieve these goals by adopting a specified national strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
Disabled and Blind Homeowners Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Act - Amends the National Housing Act to make homeowners who are at least 50 years old and disabled or blind eligible for insured home equity conversion mortgages.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
Independent Counsel Accountability and Reform Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal judicial code to reauthorize the independent counsel statute (the Act). Makes the Act applicable to Members of Congress. Revises the Act to: (1) require specific information from a credible source sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether a person covered by the Act has violated specified Federal criminal laws; and (2) permit the Attorney General to issue subpoenas. Requires the division of the court that appoints an independent counsel to: (1) define with specificity the independent counsel's prosecutorial jurisdiction; (2) assure that the independent counsel has adequate authority to fully investigate and prosecute the alleged violations of criminal law with respect to which the Attorney General has requested the appointment and matters directly related to such criminal violations; and (3) strongly consider appointing independent counsel prosecutors from State or local governments. Revises provisions regarding compensation of staff of an independent counsel. Directs the independent counsel, to the greatest extent possible, to use personnel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on a reimbursable basis in lieu of appointing employees. Directs (currently, authorizes) the division to award reimbursement for attorney's fees upon the request of an individual who is the subject of an investigation conducted by an independent counsel if no indictment is brought against such individual pursuant to that investigation (as under current law), if such individual is acquitted of all charges, if no conviction is obtained against such individual, or if the conviction of such individual is overturned on appeal. Establishes or revises provisions regarding: (1) treatment of classified information by, per diem expenses of, administrative support for, compliance with DOJ policies by, limitations on expenditures of, periodic reports on activities of, and the removal, termination, and periodic reappointment of, an independent counsel; and (2) job protections for individuals under investigation. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to report to the Congress with recommendations of ways to improve controls on costs of offices of independent counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
Designates 1994 as The Year of Gospel Music.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain spouses a full deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1993
Directs the Secretary of Energy to terminate the gas turbine-modular helium reactor program of the Department of Energy. Transfers funds appropriated for such program to the Deficit Reduction Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) it should be U.S. policy to encourage leaders in the Middle East to consider establishing a Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Middle East, modeled on the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (2) the U.S. Government should consult with the interested parties, including the Government of the Russian Federation, to explore the possibilities for its establishment.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: AFDC Transition and Work Program Title II: Paternity Establishment Title III: Expansion of Statutory Flexibility of States Title IV: Expansion of State and Local Flexibility Title V: Child Support Enforcement Title VI: Welfare Restrictions for Aliens Title VII: Controlling Welfare Costs Title VIII: Consolidated Block Grant to States for Food Assistance Title IX: Miscellaneous Responsibility and Empowerment Support Program Providing Employment, Child Care, and Training Act - Title I: AFDC Transition and Work Program - Amends part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give the JOBS program the new purpose of assuring that needy families with children obtain not only the education and training needed to prepare them for a life without welfare, but the work experience as well. (Sec. 101) Requires State JOBS programs to include a transition component and a work supplementation component that: (1) are each allowed to include any State work experience program approved by the Secretary; and (2) with respect to the first component, must include the State's job search program, and, with respect to the second component, may include the State's work supplementation or community work experience program. Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV to revise State AFDC plan participation requirements to incorporate participation in the two JOBS program components above under specified guidelines as a requirement for qualified individuals to receive AFDC. Imposes sanctions for a qualified individual's failure to participate in the JOBS program as required under such guidelines, which include a reduction in AFDC benefits and eventual benefit termination for repeated failures. Revises the exemptions from JOBS program participation requirements. Extends to all States the option to limit AFDC-UP. Increases State JOBS program and work program participation rates with regard to, respectively, AFDC-eligible individuals and unemployed parents. Provides for additional payments to States for JOBS programs. (Sec. 102) Amends community work experience and work supplementation program provisions. Title II: Paternity Establishment - Amends SSA title IV part A to: (1) provide for denial or reduction of AFDC for children whose paternity is not established; and (2) require unmarried individuals under 19 who are eligible for AFDC and are pregnant or with dependent children under their care to reside at home in order to receive AFDC. (Sec. 203) Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to require earlier specified paternity establishment efforts by States. Expresses the encouragement of the Congress for States to develop procedures in public hospitals and clinics to facilitate the acknowledgment of paternity. (Sec. 204) Increases the paternity establishment percentage. Title III: Expansion of Statutory Flexibility of States - Amends SSA title IV part A to give States the option to: (1) convert AFDC into a block grant program; (2) exempt themselves from otherwise mandatory denial of AFDC where either parent is a minor; (3) treat families moving interstate who apply for AFDC in their new State of residence (where they have resided for less than on year) under the AFDC rules of their former State of residence; (4) reduce AFDC for parents under 21 who have dropped out of school and dependent children who, without good cause, do not maintain minimum school attendance; (5) exempt themselves from otherwise mandatory denial of AFDC for additional children; (6) modify certain AFDC income disregard rules; (7) provide for a married couple transitional benefit in cases where an AFDC recipient marries an individual who is not a parent of the recipient's child, and the resulting family would become ineligible for AFDC by reason of the marriage; (8) disregard certain savings and income of a family on AFDC designated for education, training, employability, home purchase, or residence change in determining eligibility for AFDC; and (9) condition the receipt of AFDC on the recipient's attendance at parenting and money management classes and prior approval of any action requiring a change in the educational institution attended by the recipient's dependent child. Title IV: Expansion of State and Local Flexibility -Establishes an Interagency Waiver Request Board in order to provide a focal point within the Federal Government for the development and coordination of waiver requests to improve opportunities for low-income individuals and families. (Sec. 402) Prescribes contents of applications to implement Federal assistance plans, as well as the review, approval, implementation, and evaluation processes. (Sec. 405) Requires any entity applying for plan approval to establish a Public Private Partnership Committee to advise it on plan development and implementation. Title V: Child Support Enforcement - Provides for a national system for employee reporting of any child support owed, the obligee involved, and other specified related information on W-4 forms for employer withholding and distribution of support owed, and reporting of related information to the State involved for availability to other States through the Interstate Locate Network established under this title. (Sec. 502) Makes various changes with regard to State child support order registries, the Parent Locater Service, regulations for sharing child support information, withholding orders, and noncustodial parents with child support arrearages who are receiving certain public welfare assistance. Title VI: Welfare Restrictions for Aliens - Makes aliens (except refugees, permanent residents, and certain current residents) ineligible for various specified types of public welfare assistance, including non-emergency related assistance under Medicaid, food stamps, and job training assistance. (Sec. 602) Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require State AFDC agencies to provide information on illegal aliens to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Title VII: Controlling Welfare Costs - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), and other Federal law to establish various specified measures for controlling welfare costs, including Federal spending caps. Title VIII: Consolidated Block Grant to States for Food Assistance - Repeals the Food Stamp Act of 1977, National School Lunch Act, Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987, and other specified Federal laws and replaces them with a: (1) State food assistance block grant program to provide food assistance to economically disadvantaged individuals and families (eligible populations); and (2) new food coupon program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 803) Grants the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commodity Credit Corporation the authority to sell surplus commodities and foodstuffs to the States to provide food assistance to eligible populations. Title IX: Miscellaneous - Amends SSA title IV part A to require AFDC applicants and recipients to undergo any necessary substance abuse treatment as a condition of receiving AFDC. (Sec. 902) Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to: (1) make ineligible for SSI benefits individuals receiving SSI on the basis of a disability resulting from illegal drug addiction who continue to use illegal drugs or refuse to be tested for them; and (2) make representative payee changes. (Sec. 903) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) conduct research projects to evaluate the impact of education and training programs on the ability of individuals to end participation in the AFDC program; (2) conduct demonstration projects and report to the Congress on whether providing benefits based on need through the use of electronic cards and automatic teller machines would reduce administrative costs and fraud; and (3) establish a commission to determine the cost and feasibility of creating an interstate system to compare the social security numbers of all AFDC recipients in order to identify those recipients receiving AFDC from multiple States. (Sec. 904) Amends SSA to require State AFDC applicants to participate in job search activities while the application is pending, unless a State by law exempts itself from this requirement. (Sec. 906) Public Housing Rent Reform and Empowerment Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with regard to the determination of income and rent charges. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to allow, upon request, under certain circumstances, a public housing agency or resident management corporation to carry out a demonstration program to determine the feasibility and desirability of providing such entities with the authority to establish policies for agency-administered public housing projects, without regard to the public housing requirements of the United States Housing Act of 1937. (Sec. 907) Amends SSA title IV part A to deny AFDC for certain children who have not received appropriate medical examinations and immunizations. Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act with regard to childhood immunizations. Requires the Surgeon General to issue and periodically revise recommendations for the immunization of children under age six.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
FECA Fraud Deterrence Act - Amends the Federal Employees' Compensation Act to provide that an individual convicted of making a false statement to obtain Federal employees' compensation or of other fraud related to the application for or receipt of benefits shall forfeit entitlement to benefits for any injury occurring before conviction. Specifies that no benefits shall be provided to any individual confined in a correctional facility pursuant to that individual's conviction of a felony offense, except that the Secretary of Labor may pay a specified percentage of the benefits to such individual's dependents. Requires a Federal, State, or local agency to make the name and social security account number of any individual who is confined in a correctional facility under the agency's jurisdiction pursuant to the individual's conviction of felony offense available to the Secretary upon request to carry out provisions of the Act. Revises provisions of the Federal criminal code to provide that whoever knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up a material fact or makes or knowingly uses a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in connection with the application for or receipt of Federal employees' compensation shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or up to five years' imprisonment.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
United States Military Academy Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half dollar clad coins emblematic of the U.S. Military Academy. Mandates that surcharges collected from coin sales be paid to the Association of Graduates, U.S. Military Academy, to assist its efforts to provide direct support to the Corps of Cadets, U.S. Military Academy.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 1993
Child Care Availability Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit (as part of the general business credit) for employers who provide qualified day care centers for the use of their employees.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child or certain other relatives at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $1,500 annually (adjusted for inflation) for each account. Disallows the deduction for contributions to an account maintained for any individual aged 19 or older. Requires any account balance to be distributed after the beneficiary attains age 30. Permits an exclusion from the gross income of the contributor or the beneficiary of account distributions used to pay educational expenses of the latter. Exempts an account from taxation (except for the tax on unrelated business income of a charitable organization), unless a contributor or the beneficiary engages in specified prohibited transactions. Imposes a ten percent surtax on distributions not used for educational purposes. Requires the account trustee to report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary concerning the account. Imposes a penalty for failure to report. Allows taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize deductions to deduct for contributions to an education savings account. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account. Exempts from annual contribution limitations distributions from education savings accounts into individual retirement accounts. Excludes from gross income distributions from individual retirement accounts into education savings accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1993
Designates August 1994 and August 1995 as National Slovak American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1993
Declares that none of the following entities established under national health care reform enacted by the Congress should be permitted to form a political action committee or to make a contribution to Federal candidates: (1) any entity established to oversee or set Federal standards regarding national health care benefits, costs, or quality standards; (2) any entity established by States to purchase coverage for employees and dependents of companies with fewer than 5,000 employees and for the families of most part-time workers, self-employed, unemployed, and nonworkers; and (3) any entity established by corporations with more than 5,000 employees, Taft-Hartley plans, and rural electric and telephone cooperatives to purchase coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of covering room and board furnished by a relative under home- and community-based waivers under the Medicaid program only if such coverage does not result in greater expenditures under the State's Medicaid plan.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Directs the President to declare June 7 through 14, 1994, as National Flag Celebration Week.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1993
Amends the Social Security Act, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for excluding the Unemployment Trust Fund from Federal budget calculations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Commemorates the bravery and valor of those Danes who participated in rescue operations that saved the lives of 7,300 Danish Jews in 1943.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Guam and the Northern Marianas Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar coins emblematic of the American forces that liberated Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in World War II. Requires payment of surcharges received from the coin sales to the Secretary of the Interior to construct a visitors center and museum at: (1) the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam; and (2) the American Memorial Park on Saipan.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1993
Prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from expending, in any year, any amounts in connection with instituting a new logo if its total obligations and expenditures incurred in the previous year exceeded its total revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1993
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Justice should repudiate its reinterpretation of Federal child pornography laws, defend the conviction won in lower courts in Knox v. United States, and vigorously prosecute sexual exploitation of children.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1993
Prohibits the imposition of additional charges or fees for attendance at the U.S. Military, Naval, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine Academies, unless such charge or fee is specifically authorized by law.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1993
Designates March 21 through 27, 1994, as National Long-Term Care Administrators Week.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the people on Taiwan should be represented in the United Nations and other international organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1993
1995 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue commemorative one-dollar silver coins bearing a likeness of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Requires the Secretary to distribute proceeds from surcharges ($10 per coin) in equal allocations to: (1) the National Park Foundation Restricted Account for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial; and (2) the National Park Service Restricted Construction Account for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1993
Veterans Adjudication Procedures Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide that, under the work rate standards that apply to Department of Veterans Affairs employees who adjudicate claims for benefits that have been submitted to the Secretary, such employees shall not receive credit for work on a claim until the claim decision becomes final. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress the status of claims for benefits before the Department during the preceding fiscal year, including the average length of time required for such adjudications. Requires a rating official to make the initial determination of the Secretary on all original and reopened claims filed with the Secretary. Allows a single member (currently three) of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to be assigned to and make a determination on a proceeding before such Board. Makes such decision final unless the Chairman of such Board orders reconsideration, in which case three other Board members must hear the proceeding. Subjects decisions made by the Secretary or the Board to revision or reversal on the grounds of clear and unmistakable error.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1993
Reduces discretionary spending limits for FY 1994 by the amount of rescissions under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
Designates May 1 through 7, 1994, as National Walking Week.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Publicly Owned Treatment Works Biological Monitoring Use Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require permits for discharges from publicly owned treatment works to contain terms for biological monitoring or whole effluent toxicity tests if the permitting authority determines that such discharges cause, have the potential to cause, or contribute to an in-stream excursion above a narrative or numeric criterion for whole effluent toxicity. Outlines the process for such tests. Provides that if the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines that it is necessary to include biological monitoring, testing, or assessment methods or whole effluent toxicity tests as a permit condition for publicly owned treatment works, the failure of such tests shall not result in a finding of violation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Equal Indexing for Seniors Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for inflation adjustments to the income threshold amounts at which 85 percent of social security benefits become includable in gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Designates November of each year as National American Indian Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Designates October 29, 1993, as National Firefighters Day.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the targeted jobs credit permanent law. Treats as a member of a targeted group a conflict-era veteran who has been awarded a campaign ribbon, liberation ribbon, or national defense service medal by the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1993
Provides that any health care reform legislation approved by the Congress should provide health care plans of comparable high quality and that Members of Congress should participate on an equal basis with all other Americans in the health care system that results from such legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1993
Designates the week beginning October 25, 1993, as World Population Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1993
Designates October 19, 1993, as National Mammography Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1993
Designates September 29, 1993, and September 28, 1994, as National Barrier Awareness Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1993
Calls on the President to direct the U.S. Representative to the United Nations (UN) to: (1) urge the UN to begin formal investigations into violations of international law that have been committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991; (2) encourage the UN Commission of Experts to begin using funds earmarked for such investigations by immediately sending teams of investigators to locations in Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Croatia, Kosovo, and Serbia, where thousands of victims of war crimes are residing; and (3) urge the UN, by October 6, 1993, to appoint a prosecutor for the International Tribunal to continue and expand such investigations and to prosecute persons responsible for such violations. Encourages the President to provide, on temporary assignment to the Commission or to the prosecutor, Federal personnel who have experience working with victims of rape and other heinous crimes to interview such victims and to gather legal evidence relating to such crimes. Requests the President to work with the UN to establish a time schedule for aggressive prosecution of persons responsible. Calls on the UN Security Council to withhold consideration of lifting the economic sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) until all indictments against those persons ultimately responsible for such violations have been issued by the International Tribunal and such persons have surrendered for trial.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1993
Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, to conduct a study concerning traumatic brain injury. Requires the study to seek to: (1) identify common therapeutic interventions which are used for the rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injuries; and (2) develop practice guidelines for the rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to conduct studies concerning traumatic brain injury and establish a uniform reporting system. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to cooperate with, and provide assistance to, public and private nonprofit entities to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury through the establishment and effectuation of prevention projects. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to State and local entities, and to public or nonprofit private entities, to support: (1) special prevention and public awareness initiative projects; (2) model traumatic brain injury prevention, research, and support programs; (3) projects that study the service needs of individuals with traumatic brain injury; and (4) projects involving grants for services coordination. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, to provide assistance to public and private nonprofit entities to support the conduct of basic and applied research concerning traumatic brain injury, especially with respect to the biomechanics of brain injury. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to award grants to States for the establishment of programs related to traumatic brain injury. Authorizes appropriations. Designates October 1993 as National Head Injury Month.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1993
Veterans' Long-Term Care Act of 1993 - Defines "long-term care," for veterans' benefits purposes, as a continuum of institutional and noninstitutional programs and services that provide restorative care and support through a time period generally exceeding 90 days. Makes eligible for long-term care provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs any veteran: (1) being treated for a service-connected disability (SCD); (2) who has an SCD of 50 percent or more, for the treatment of any disability; (3) who is eligible for pension from the Department, for the treatment of any disability; and (4) for any disability resulting from Department treatment. Authorizes the Secretary to provide long-term care to certain nonqualifying veterans when medically necessary and subject to facility availability. Requires the Secretary to establish a schedule of long-term care copayments, and a long-term care coinsurance plan. Deems Department long-term care providers to be Medicare participating providers for purposes of Medicare payments under the Social Security Act. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with non-Department facilities for the provision of long-term care for veterans when Department facilities are inaccessible or otherwise incapable of providing such care. Requires such facilities to meet certain standards. Authorizes the provision of in-kind assistance to such facilities in lieu of payments. Authorizes the Secretary to provide social support services, including personal care and homemaker services, as part of long-term care services provided. Directs the Secretary to designate geographic areas of the United States as veterans' service areas in which long-term care will be available. Requires a report. Requires operation of such service areas by October 1, 1999. Directs the Secretary to regularly assess Department needs for new long-term care services. Establishes in the Treasury the Veterans' Long-Term Care Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements for the establishment on Department property of veterans' continuing care facilities in which veterans reside while receiving appropriate care. Requires a Department medical center, outpatient clinic, or nursing home to be colocated with such facilities. Requires at such facilities the establishement of a team of primary care providers to be known as the Veterans' Continuing Care Center Health team. Requires congressional reports.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1993
Amends the Truth in Lending Act of 1968, Truth in Savings Act of 1991, and Consumer Leasing Act of 1976 to declare that radio broadcast advertisements satisfy statutory consumer disclosure requirements if they include toll-free telephone numbers providing consumers with disclosure information prior to engaging in the transactions specified.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1993
Requires educational organizations that offer educational programs to minors for a fee to disclose certain information in written form to the minor or the minor's parent before accepting funds for the cost of the minor's participation in such a program. (Excludes from the definition of educational organization a local educational agency, an elementary or secondary school or organization sponsored by such a school, a recreational organization, or a social club.) Requires each such educational organization to include a verifiable statement of nondiscriminatory enrollment and employment policy on all enrollment or recruitment material. Directs the Secretary of Education to monitor compliance with this Act. Authorizes imposition of civil fines for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Republic of China on Taiwan deserves full participation, including a seat, in the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1993
Urges any health care reform legislation that is enacted to require a Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress and any individual holding a position in levels I through III of the Executive Schedule to enroll in a health plan offering the standard benefit package and to publicly disclose, on an annual basis, the health plan in which they are enrolled.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care Subtitle A: Increased Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage for Employees and Their Families Subtitle B: Reform of Health Insurance Marketplace for Small Business Subtitle C: Preemption Subtitle D: Health Deduction Fairness Subtitle E: Improved Access to Community Health Services Subtitle F: Improved Access to Rural Health Services Subtitle G: State Flexibility in the Medicaid Program: The Medical Health Allowance Program Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings Subtitle C: Deduction for Cost of Catastrophic Health Plan; Medical Savings Accounts Subtitle D: Anti-Fraud Subtitle E: Medicare Payment Changes; Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals Subtitle F: Removing Anti-Trust Impediments Subtitle G: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities Subtitle H: Prefunding Government Health Benefits for Certain Annuitants Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Long-Term Care Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle B: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle C: Studies Subtitle D: Volunteer Service Credit Demonstration Projects Affordable Health Care Now Act of 1993 - Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care - Subtitle A: Increased Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage for Employees and Their Families - Part 1: Required Coverage Options for Eligible Employees, Spouses, and Dependents - Requires each employer to make available to each eligible employee a group health plan under which: (1) coverage of each eligible individual with respect to such employee may be elected on an annual basis; (2) coverage is provided for at least the required coverage specified; and (3) employees may elect to have premiums collected through payroll deduction. Does not require employer contributions to the cost of coverage under such a plan. Provides for the exclusion of: (1) employers who have been employers for less than two years or who have no more than two eligible employees or no more than two eligible employees not covered under any group health plan; and (2) family members under specified circumstances. Specifies that a group health plan shall not be treated as failing to meet the requirements of this Act solely because a period of service by an eligible employee of not more than 60 days is required for coverage. Specifies that the required coverage is standard coverage, except that in the case of a small employer that has not contributed during the previous plan year to the cost of coverage for any eligible employee under any group health plan, the required coverage for the plan year is coverage under a MedAccess standard, MedAccess catastrophic, and MedAccess medisave plan. Provides for a five-year transition for existing group health plans. (Sec. 1002) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) compliance with applicable requirements through multiple employer health arrangements; and (2) coverage options under a State medical health allowance program. Part 2: Preexisting Conditions and Continuity of Coverage; Renewability - Prohibits a group health plan from imposing (and an insurer from requiring an employer from imposing through a waiting period for coverage under a plan or similar requirement) a limitation or exclusion of benefits relating to treatment of a preexisting condition if: (1) the condition relates to a condition that was not diagnosed or treated within three months before the date of coverage under the plan; or (2) the limitation or exclusion extends over more than six month after the date of coverage, applies to an individual who, as of the date of birth, was covered under the plan, or relates to pregnancy. Specifies that, in the case of an individual who is eligible for coverage under a plan but for a waiting period imposed by the employer, the individual shall be treated as having been covered under the plan as of the earliest date of the beginning of the waiting period. (Sec. 1012) Requires each group health plan to waive any period applicable to a preexisting condition for similar benefits with respect to an individual to the extent that the individual, prior to enrollment in such plan, was covered for the condition under any other health plan. (Sec. 1013) Prohibits: (1) a multiemployer plan and an exempted multiple employer health plan from canceling or denying renewal of coverage under such a plan for an employer other than for nonpayment of contributions, fraud or other misrepresentation, noncompliance with plan provisions, or misuse of a provider network provision, or because the plan is ceasing to provide any coverage in a geographic area; (2) an insurer from canceling a health insurance plan or denying renewal of coverage other than as prescribed above; and (3) an insurer who terminates the offering of health insurance plans in an area from offering such a plan to any employer in the area until five years after the date of the termination. Part 3: Enforcement; Effective Dates; Definitions - Makes provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 applicable with respect to enforcement of this Act (by the Department of Labor). Amends the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to impose a tax ($100 per day for each individual involved, subject to specified limitations) on the failure of an insurer to comply with the requirements under part 2 unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) determines that the State has in effect a regulatory enforcement mechanism that provides adequate sanctions. Subtitle B: Reform of Health Insurance Marketplace for Small Business - Requires each insurer that makes available a health insurance plan to a small employer in a State to make available to each small employer in the State a MedAccess standard, MedAccess catastrophic, and MedAccess medisave plan, with exceptions for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and if a State provides for guaranteed availability (rather than guaranteed issue). Requires each insurer that offers a MedAccess plan to a small employer in a State to accept: (1) every small employer in the State that applies for coverage; and (2) every eligible individual who applies for enrollment on a timely basis. Sets forth provision regarding: (1) special rules for HMOs; (2) timely enrollment requirements; and (3) enrollment of spouses and dependents. Makes such requirements inapplicable in a State that has provided (in accordance with specified standards) a mechanism under which each insurer offering a health insurance plan to a small employer in the State must participate in a program for assigning high-risk small employer groups (or individuals within such a group) among some or all such insurers, if the insurers comply. (Sec. 1102) Defines "MedAccess plan" as a health insurance plan that: (1) is designed to provide standard coverage with substantial cost-sharing, only catastrophic coverage, or medisave coverage; (2) includes only essential and medically necessary services; (3) meets applicable requirements relating to guaranteed issue; and (4) meets specifies consumer protection standards. Defines "MedAccess standard plan," "MedAccess catastrophic plan," and "MedAccess medisave plan" to mean a MedAccess plan that provides for at least standard coverage, for only catastrophic coverage, or medisave coverage, respectively. Requests the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to submit to the Secretary a set of rules which NAIC determines is sufficient for determining, in the case of any health insurance plan and for purposes of this subtitle, the actuarial value of the coverage offered by the plan. Directs the Secretary to certify such set of rules for use under this subtitle if they meet such requirements or establish such a set of rules. Specifies that a health insurance plan is considered to provide: (1) standard coverage if the benefits are determined, in accordance with certified rules of actuarial equivalence, to have a value that is within five percentage points of an established target actuarial value for standard coverage; (2) catastrophic coverage if benefits are available under the plan for a year only to the extent that expenses for covered services in a year exceed a deductible amount that is consistent with a specified requirement for a catastrophic health plan under the Code, and are determined, in accordance with certified actuarial equivalence rules, to have a value that is within five percentage points of an established target actuarial value for catastrophic coverage; and (3) medisave coverage if such plan consists of a catastrophic health plan within the meaning of the Code and a medical savings account. Requests NAIC to submit to the Secretary target actuarial values for standard and catastrophic coverage. Permits NAIC to submit periodic revisions of, and permits the Secretary to revise, the set of rules of actuarial equivalence and target actuarial values where necessary to take into account changes in the relevant types of health benefits provisions, in deductible levels for catastrophic coverage, or in relevant demographic conditions. (Sec. 1103) Directs the Secretary to request NAIC to develop model regulations that specify standards with respect to requirements: (1) that insurers make available MedAccess plans; (2) of guaranteed availability of MedAccess plans to small employers; (3) relating to limits on premiums and certain consumer protections; and (4) relating to limitation of annual premium increases. Requires the Secretary to review such standards and, if NAIC fails to specify standards meeting such requirements, to promulgate standards. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the application of MedAccess standards and consumer protection standards by the States; and (2) the Federal role. (Sec. 1104) Sets forth provisions: (1) regarding limits on premiums and annual premium increases; and (2) requiring an insurer, at the time of offering a health insurance plan to a small employer, to fully disclose rating practices for health insurance plans, including rating practices for different populations and benefit designs. (Sec. 1106) Directs the Secretary to: (1) request NAIC to develop models for reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms for health insurance plans made available to small employers for whom an insurer is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan; and (2) review such models or specify models. Sets forth provisions regarding implementation of reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms by the States and the Federal role. Amends the Code to provide for the imposition of a tax on any health insurance plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. (Sec. 1108) Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Private Health Care Coverage. Requires the Office Director to submit to the Congress annual reports evaluating health care coverage reform. (Sec. 1109) Authorizes the Director to conduct: (1) research on the impact of this subtitle on the availability of affordable health coverage for employees and dependents in the small employers group health care coverage market and other specified topics; and (2) demonstration projects relating to such topics. Requires the Director to develop: (1) methods for measuring the relative health risks of eligible individuals in terms of the expected costs of providing benefits under health insurance plans and, in particular, MedAccess plans; and (2) a model for equitably distributing health risks among insurers in the small employer health care coverage market. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Preemption - Part 1: Scope of State Regulation - Prohibits: (1) State benefit mandates for group health plans; and (2) State or local law prohibitions against two or more employers obtaining coverage under an insured multiple employer health plan. (Sec. 1203) Preempts State restrictions concerning: (1) reimbursement rates or selective contracting; (2) differential financial incentives; and (3) utilization review methods. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Part 2: Multiple Employer Health Benefits Protections - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow a limited exemption under preemption rules for multiple employer plans providing health benefits subject to certain Federal standards. (Sec. 1212) Relieves exempted multiple employer plans providing medical care benefits of certain restrictions on preemption of State law. Treats such plans as employee welfare benefit plans. Allows commencement of new arrangements only if such exemption is in effect or an application is pending and the Secretary of Labor determines that provisional protection is appropriate. Sets forth exemption procedures, eligibility requirements, and additional requirements applicable to exempted arrangements. Requires certain disclosures to participating employers, maintenance of reserves, and corrective actions. Provides for expiration, suspension, and revocation of exemptions, and for review of actions by the Secretary. (Sec. 1213) Revises provisions relating to scope of preemption rules, and to treatment of single employer arrangements and of certain collectively bargained arrangements. (Sec. 1215) Establishes special rules for employee leasing healthcare arrangements. Treats such arrangements as multiple employer welfare arrangements except when they are multiple employer health plans. (Sec. 1216) Sets forth enforcement provisions relating to multiple employer welfare arrangements and employee leasing health care arrangements. (Sec. 1217) Sets forth filing requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements. (Sec. 1218) Provides for cooperation between Federal and State authorities in enforcing ERISA requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements with the limited exemption. Part 3: Encouragement of Multiple Employer Arrangements Providing Basic Health Benefits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the commonality of interest or geographic location requirement for tax exempt trust status for multiple employer health plans and insured multiple employer health plans if they meet certain requirements under ERISA and this Act. Part 4: Simplifying Filing of Reports for Employers Covered under Insured Multiple Employer Health Plans - Amends ERISA to direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe an alternative method providing for a single annual report with respect to all employers who are covered under the same insured multiple employer health plan. Part 5: Compliance with Coverage Option Requirements - Provides for compliance with applicable coverage requirements through multiemployer plans and other multiple employer health arrangements. Subtitle D: Health Deduction Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide: (1) for a permanent extension and increase in the health insurance tax deduction for self-employed individuals; and (2) that the deduction for certain health insurance costs be determined without regard to an adjusted gross income threshold. Disallows the deduction to individuals eligible for employer-subsidized coverage. Allows the deduction whether or not the individual itemizes other deductions. Subtitle E: Improved Access to Community Health Services - Part 1: Increased Authorization for Community and Migrant Health Centers - Directs the Secretary to provide for grants to migrant and community health centers to promote primary health care services for underserved individuals. Allows grants to be used to promote the provision of off-site services, to improve birth outcomes in areas with high infant mortality and morbidity, to establish primary care clinics in areas in need, and for recruitment and training costs of necessary providers and operating costs for unreimbursed services. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the impact of such grants on access to health care, birth outcomes, and the use of emergency room services. Part 2: Grants for Projects for Coordinating Delivery of Services - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities: (1) to carry out demonstration projects to increase access to outpatient primary health services in specified geographic areas (i.e., areas that are rational areas for the delivery of health services, have a population of not more than 500,000 individuals, and have been designated by the Secretary as areas with a shortage of personal health services or that have a significant number of individuals with low incomes or insufficient health care insurance through coordinating the delivery of such services under Federal, State, local, and private programs; and (2) for developing plans to carry out such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Improved Access to Rural Health Services - Part 1: Establishment of Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Under Medicare - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for: (1) establishment of rural emergency access care hospitals under Medicare; and (2) coverage of and payment for rural emergency access care hospital services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Part 2: Rural Medical Emergencies Air Transport - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treatments. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application and State plan requirements; (2) considerations in awarding grants; (3) State administration and use of grants; (4) the number of grants; and (5) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Part 3: Emergency Medical Services Amendments - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Emergency Medical Services, headed by a Director; (2) engage in specified emergency medical services activities, including disseminating information obtained in carrying out specified activities to public and private entities, providing technical assistance to State and local agencies, coordinating Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) activities with those of other Federal agencies; and (3) ensure that such activities are carried out consistent with certain requirements regarding maintaining an adequate number of health professionals with expertise in the provision of services, developing, periodically reviewing, and revising as appropriate guidelines for the provision of such services, appropriately using available technologies, and serving the unique needs of underserved inner-city and rural areas. (Sec. 1522) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of improving the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services, subject to specified matching fund, budgetary, and other requirements. (Sec. 1523) Provides for demonstration projects to establish telecommunications between rural medical facilities and medical facilities with expertise or equipment. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the telecommunications technologies demonstrated include interactive video telecommunications, static video imaging transmitted through the telephone system, and facsimiles transmitted through such system. (Sec. 1524) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) emergency medical services (including for State offices of Emergency Medical Services and for telecommunications demonstrations); and (2) trauma care and certain other activities. Subtitle G: State Flexibility in the Medicaid Program: The Medical Health Allowance Program - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for the establishment of State health allowance programs under which the State makes payments to a group health plan which provides coverage to an eligible individual as an allowance towards the costs of providing the individual with benefits under the plan. Subtitle H: Medicaid Program Flexibility - Amends SSA title XIX Medicaid) to modify: (1) Federal requirements to allow States more flexibility in contracting for coordinated care services under Medicaid; and (2) provisions regarding the extension of certain waivers. Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Part 1: General Provisions - Makes this subtitle applicable with respect to any medical malpractice liability claim and to any medical malpractice liability action brought in State or Federal court, except a claim or action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death to the extent that title XXI of the Public Health Service Act applies. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) preemption of State law; (2) effect on sovereign immunity and choice of law or venue; (3) jurisdiction; and (4) effective dates. Part 2: Medical Malpractice and Product Liability Reform - Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action from being brought in any State court during a calendar year unless the relevant claim has been initially resolved (i.e., a decision has been reached on whether the defendant is liable to the plaintiff for damages and on the amount of damages) under a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system or an alternative Federal system. Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action from being brought in Federal court based on diversity of citizenship during a calendar year unless the relevant claim has been initially resolved under such a system in the State whose law applies. Directs the Attorney General to establish an ADR process for tort claims consisting of medical malpractice liability claims brought against the United States under chapter 171 of the Federal judicial code (U.S. Court of Federal Claims). Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action based on such a claim from being brought in any Federal court unless the claim has been initially resolved under such process. Sets forth procedures for filing actions. (Sec. 2012) Limits to $250,000 the amount of noneconomic damages that may be awarded to a claimant and family members in a medical malpractice liability action. Sets limits on punitive damages and on periodic payments for future losses. (Sec. 2013) Set forth provisions regarding: (1) limits on attorney fees and other costs; (2) joint and several liability (generally, liability may be found only for those damages directly attributable to the person's proportionate share of fault or responsibility for the injury); (3) a statute of limitations of seven years; and (4) a uniform standard for determining negligence (the defendant's conduct at the time of providing the health care services was not reasonable). (Sec. 2017) Specifies that in the case of a medical malpractice liability claim relating to services provided during labor or the delivery of a baby, if the health care professional did not previously treat the injured individual for the pregnancy, the trier of fact may not find that the defendant committed malpractice nor assess damages unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Part 3: Requirements for State Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Lists requirements for State ADR systems, including that such a system: (1) applies to all medical malpractice liability claims under the jurisdiction of the courts of that State; (2) requires that a written opinion resolving the dispute be issued within six months after each party against whom the claim is filed has received notice of the claim; (3) is approved by the State or local governments; (4) provides for the transmittal to the State agency responsible for monitoring or disciplining health care professionals and providers of any findings of malpractice; and (5) provides for the regular transmittal of information on disputes resolved under the system to the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research in a manner that protects the identity of the parties involved. (Sec. 2032) Directs the Secretary, by October 1 of each year, to certify State ADR systems that meet such requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish an alternative Federal ADR system for the resolution of medical malpractice liability claims in States that do not have in effect a certified ADR system. (Sec. 2033) Directs the Secretary, within five years, to submit to the Congress a report describing and evaluating State ADR systems and the alternative Federal system, including: (1) information on the effect of the ADR systems on health care costs, access to health care, and quality of care provided within the State; and (2) to the extent that such report does not provide information on no-fault systems operated by States as ADR systems, an analysis of the feasibility and desirability of establishing a system for resolving medical malpractice liability claims on a no-fault basis. Part 4: Other Provisions Relating to Medical Malpractice Liability - Authorizes a State agency responsible for disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner to enter into agreements with State or county professional societies to permit their participation in the licensing of such practitioner and to review any health care malpractice action, claims, or allegation, or other information concerning the practice patterns of any such practitioner. Sets forth agreement requirements. (Sec. 2042) Directs the Secretary to study incentives adopted by State and local governments, insurers, medical societies, and other entities to encourage physicians to volunteer to provide health care services in medically underserved areas. (Sec. 2043) Directs each State to require: (1) each health care professional and health care provider to participate in a risk management program to prevent, and provide early warning of, practices which may result in injuries to patients or endanger patient safety; and (2) each provider of health care professional and provider liability insurance in the State to establish risk management programs or sanction programs of risk management for health care professionals and providers provided by other entities, and require each such professional or provider, as a condition of maintaining insurance, to participate in one such program at least once in each three-year period. (Sec. 2044) Directs the Secretary to make grants: (1) for basic research in the prevention of, and compensation for, injuries resulting from health care professional or provider malpractice and for research of the outcomes of health care procedures; (2) to the States to assist in improving their ability to license and discipline health care professionals; and (3) to States and local governments, private nonprofit organizations, and health professional schools for educating the general public about the appropriate use of health care, realistic expectations of medical intervention, and the resources and role of health care professional licensing and disciplinary boards in investigating claims of incompetence or health care malpractice, and for developing programs of faculty training and curricula for educating health care professionals in quality assurance, risk management, and medical injury prevention. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings - Part 1: Standardization of Claims Processing - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to: (1) data elements for use in paper and electronic claims processing under health benefit plans and in utilization review and management of care; (2) uniform claims forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. (Sec. 2102) Authorizes the Secretary, two years after standards are adopted for classes of services upon determining that a significant number of claims for benefits for such services under health benefit plans are not being submitted in accordance with such standards, to require that all providers of such services submit claims to health benefit plans in accordance with such standards. (Sec. 2103) Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for the ongoing receipt and review of comments and suggestions for changes in the standards adopted and promulgated; (2) establish a schedule for the periodic review of such standards; and (3) revise such standards. Part 2: Electronic Medical Data Standards - Directs the Secretary to promulgate standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data, including standards for transmission of such data and confidentiality of patient-specific information. Authorizes the Secretary to periodically revise such standards. (Sec. 2112) Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) the sharing of hospital information under Medicare; (2) waiver of such requirements; and (3) application of such requirements to hospitals of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Sec. 2113) Authorizes the head of a Federal agency to require a provider to present and transmit a required data element electronically in accordance with applicable presentation or transmission standard. (Sec. 2114) Sets forth limitations on data requirements where standards with respect to data elements are in effect. (Sec. 2115) Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory commission on the standards established under this part and operational concerns about the implementation of such standards. Authorizes appropriations. Part 3: Development and Distribution of Comparative Value Information - Directs the Secretary to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets specified criteria and a specified schedule. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants to enable each State to plan development and initiate implementation of its health care value information program; and (2) recover the amount of such a grant by offset against any other amount payable to the State under the Social Security Act under specified circumstances. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 2122) Directs the Secretary to take actions necessary to implement a comparable program in a State that fails to develop or implement a health care value information program in accordance with such criteria and schedule. Authorizes the Secretary to charge fees for the information materials provided pursuant to such a program. (Sec. 2123) Directs the head of each Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to individuals to develop health care value information relating to each program that such head administers and covering the same types of data that a State program meeting such criteria would provide. (Sec. 2124) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop model systems to facilitate the gathering of data on health care cost, quality, and outcome and the analysis of such data in a manner that will permit the valid comparison of such data among providers and among health plans; (2) support experimentation with different approaches to achieve such objectives in the most cost effective manner; and (3) evaluate the various methods to determine their relative success. Authorizes the Secretary to establish standards for the collective and reporting of data on health care cost, quality, and outcomes. Authorizes appropriations. Part 4: Additional Standards and Requirements; Research and Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to: (1) adopt standards relating to the design and use of magnetized Medicare identification cards to assist health care providers in determining whether individuals are eligible for benefits for provided services under the Medicare program and in billing the Medicare program for covered services; (2) take steps to encourage and assist States in the design and use of magnetized Medicaid identification cards under their Medicaid plans; and (3) establish a Medicare and Medicaid information system to provide information on group health and other health benefit plans that are primary payors to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 2132) Specifies that, effective January 1, 1994, no effect shall be given to any provision of State law that requires medical or health insurance records (including billing information) to be maintained in written, rather than electronic, form. (Sec. 2133) Requires, effective January 1, 1995, each health benefit plan: (1) to use a beneficiary's social security number as the personal identifier for claims processing and related purposes (authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil money penalty on any plan that fails to do so); and (2) to use the unique identifier under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) for a provider that furnishes health care items or services to a beneficiary under the plan as the identifier of that provider for claims processing and related purposes. (Sec. 2134) Directs the Secretary to: (1) determine, where benefits are payable under two or more health benefit plans, whether problems relating to the rules for determining the liability of plans or the availability of information among plans causes significant administrative costs; and (2) promulgate standards, if the implementation of standards would significantly reduce such administrative costs. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil money penalty on plans that fail to comply with such standards. (Sec. 2135) Directs the Secretary to provide grants to qualified entities for research on the application of comprehensive information systems in continuously monitoring and improving patient care. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to: (1) two to five community organizations or coalitions of health care providers, health benefit plans, and purchasers to establish and document the efficacy of communication links between the information systems of health benefit plans and of health care providers; (2) two to five public or private nonprofit entities for the development of regional or community-based clinical information systems; and (3) public or private nonprofit entities to develop and test the definition of a comprehensive set of data elements and the specification and manner of presentation of the individual data elements of the set, for electronic medical data generated by physicians and other entities (other than hospitals) that provide health care services. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Deduction for Cost of Catastrophic Health Plan; Medical Savings Account - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include under the medical expense deduction the portion of such expense attributable to coverage under a catastrophic health plan. (Sec. 2202) Allows individuals a tax deduction for percentage of contributions made to a medical care savings account established for the benefit of an eligible individual. Allows such deduction whether or not an individual itemizes deductions. Disallows distributions from such accounts as medical expense deductions. Excludes employer contributions to such accounts from employment taxes. Establishes an excise tax for excess contributions to medical care savings accounts. Subtitle D: Anti-Fraud - Part 1: Criminal Prosecution of Health Care Fraud - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) set penalties for health care providers who knowingly engage in any scheme or artifice to defraud any person in connection with the provision of health care; and (2) make activity which, if engaged in by the U.S. Postal Service, would be a violation of mail fraud provisions punishable to the same extent with respect to private or commercial interstate carriers. (Sec. 2303) Authorizes appropriations to hire, equip, and train no fewer than: (1) 225 special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and support staff to investigate health care fraud cases; (2) 50 assistant United States Attorneys and support staff to prosecute such cases; and (3) 25 investigators in the Office of Inspector General, DHHS, to be devoted exclusively to health care fraud cases. (Sec. 2304) Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General to make payments of up to $10,000 to a person who furnishes information unknown to the Government relating to a possible prosecution of health care fraud, subject to specified requirements and exceptions. Part 2: Coordination of Health Care Anti-Fraud and Abuse Activities - Directs the Secretary to establish in the Office of the Inspector General of DHHS a program (all-payer fraud and abuse control program) to: (1) coordinate Federal, State, and local law enforcement programs to control fraud and abuse with respect to the delivery of, and payment for, health care in the United States; (2) conduct investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections relating to such delivery and payment; and (3) facilitate the enforcement of provisions of the Social Security Act and other statutes applicable to health care fraud and abuse. Directs the Secretary to establish standards to carry out such program, including standards relating to the furnishing of information by health insurers, providers, and other to enable the Secretary to carry out the program and procedures to assure that such information is provided and utilized in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the information and the privacy of individuals receiving health care services. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) qualified immunity for providing information; (2) ensuring access to documentation; and (3) failure to comply as grounds for exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. (Sec. 2312) Authorizes additional appropriations to enable the Secretary to conduct investigations of allegations of health care fraud and to carry out the all-payor fraud and abuse control program. (Sec. 2313) Establishes in the Treasury an Anti-Fraud and Abuse Trust Fund to be used to assist the Inspector General of DHHS in carrying out the all-payor fraud and abuse control program in the fiscal year involved. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the deposit into the Fund of Federal health anti-fraud and abuse penalties; and (2) the use of such penalties to repay beneficiaries for cost-sharing. (Sec. 2314) Amends SSA title XI to provide for the application of Federal health anti-fraud and abuse sanctions to all fraud and abuse against private health benefit plans. Subtitle E: Medicare Payment Changes; Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals: Part 1 - Medicare Payment Changes - Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) eliminate the membership limitation for Medicare health maintenance organizations; and (2) revise the Medicare select policy program and provide for a civil money penalty for misrepresentations made in connection with a Medicare select policy. (Sec. 2402) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to: (1) make permanent the Medicare select policy program; and (2) allow access to Medicare select policies in all States. (Sec. 2403) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take such steps as may be necessary to consolidate the administration of Medicare parts A and B. Part 2: Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals - (Sec. 2411) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the Medicare part B premiums of high income individuals. Subtitle F: Removing Anti-Trust Impediments - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate guidelines under which a health care joint venture may submit an application requesting that the Attorney General provide the entities participating in the venture with an exemption under which: (1) monetary recovery on an antitrust claim brought against the entity shall be limited to actual damages if specified conditions are met; and (2) the conduct of the entity in making or performing a contract to carry out the venture shall not be deemed illegal per se. Requires the Attorney General to approve or disapprove the application within a specified time frame and to provide a statement explaining the reasons for any disapproval. Directs the Attorney General to approve the application if an entity participating in the venture submits to the Attorney General an application that contains the identities of the parties to the venture; the nature, objectives, and planned activities of the venture; and specified assurances and information. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) revocation and renewal of exemptions and withdrawal of an application; (2) requirements relating to notice and publication of exemptions; and (3) issuance of health care certificates of public advantage to each eligible health care joint venture that complies with specified requirements. Establishes the Interagency Advisory Committee on Competition, Antitrust Policy, and Health Care to: (1) discuss and evaluate competition and antitrust policy and their implications regarding the performance of health care markets; (2) analyze the effectiveness of health care joint ventures receiving exemptions in reducing costs and expanding access; and (3) make recommendations to the Congress. Subtitle G: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Part 1: Application of the Clayton Act to Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Provides that no damages, cost of suit, or attorney fee may be recovered under section 4, 4A, or 4C of the Clayton Act, or under any similar State law, except by a State or the United States, from any medical self-regulatory entity as a result of engaging in standard setting or enforcement activities that are: (1) designed to promote the quality of health care provided to patients; and (2) not conducted for purposes of financial gain. Directs the court to award the cost of such a suit, including a reasonable attorney fee, to a substantially prevailing defendant. Part 2: Consultation by Federal Agencies - Requires any Federal agency engaged in the establishment of medical profession standards to consult with appropriate medical societies or associations, specialty boards, or recognized accrediting agencies, if available, in carrying out medical professional standard setting and guidelines or standards relating to the practice of medicine. Subtitle H: Prefunding Government Health Benefit for Certain Annuitants - Requires that certain agencies prefund Government health benefits contributions for their annuitants. Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends Civil Service and Federal Employees' Retirement Systems law to increase the minimum age required to be eligible for an immediate retirement annuity. Provides for the conformance of other Federal retirement systems with the minimum age increase made above. Title III: Long-Term Care - Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance for purposes of insurance company taxation. (Sec. 3002) Excludes from gross income benefits provided under a long-term care insurance contract. Includes in gross income employer-provided coverage for long-term care services. (Sec. 3003) Includes amounts paid for qualified long-term care services as medical expenses for individual itemized deductions. Includes any parent or grandparent as a dependent for purposes of such expenses. (Sec. 3004) Provides for the nonrecognition of gain or loss on the exchange of any life insurance contract or an endowment or annuity contract for a long-term care insurance contract. (Sec. 3005) Excludes from gross income certain amounts withdrawn from individual retirement accounts and certain employer cash or deferred arrangement to pay long-term care premiums. (Sec. 3006) Allows insurance companies to issue accelerated death benefit riders on life insurance contracts. Subtitle B: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends SSA title XIX to require State Medicaid plans to disregard some or all of the individual's assets attributable to coverage under a qualified long-term care insurance contract in determining the individual's eligibility for long-term care services. Subtitle C: Studies - Requires the Comptroller General to study the feasibility of: (1) encouraging health care providers to donate their services to homebound patients; and (2) providing heads of households who care for elderly family members in their home with an income tax credit. (Sec. 3203) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of encouraging or requiring the use of a single designate public or nonprofit agency to coordinate, through case management, the provision of long-term care benefits under current Federal, State, and local programs in a geographic area. Subtitle D: Volunteer Service Credit Demonstration Projects - (Sec. 3301) Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Commissioner of the Administration on Aging to establish and operate a volunteer service credit demonstration project in each State.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1993
General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to set forth a 15-year statute of limitations within which a person may bring a civil action against an aircraft manufacturer for damages for death or injury or damage to property arising from an aircraft accident.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Research on Women's Health Subtitle A: NIH Women Scientist Employment Opportunities Act Subtitle B: Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1993 Subtitle C: Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1993 Subtitle D: National Breast Cancer Strategy Act of 1993 Subtitle E: Lupus Research Amendments of 1993 Subtitle F: Women's Midlife Health Research Act Subtitle G: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Research Education, and Health Services Act of 1993 Subtitle H: Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1993 Subtitle I: Antiprogestin Testing Act of 1993 Subtitle J: Women's Health Environmental Factors Research Act of 1993 Subtitle K: Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1993 Subtitle L: Pharmaceutical Interactions Safety Act Subtitle M: Pharmaceutical Testing Fairness Act Subtitle N: Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1993 Title II: Services Regarding Women's Health Subtitle A: Equity in Health Professions Education Act Subtitle B: Women's Health Office Act of 1993 Subtitle C: Women's Health Information Act of 1993 Subtitle D: Breast and Cervical Cancer Amendments of 1993 Subtitle E: Women's Preventive Health Amendments of 1993 Subtitle F: Postreproductive Health Care Act Subtitle G: Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Coverage Act of 1993 Subtitle H: Mickey Leland Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Parenthood Act of 1993 Subtitle I: Adolescent Health Demonstrations Projects Act of 1993 Subtitle J: Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1993 Subtitle K: Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act Subtitle L: Standby Guardianship Act Subtitle M: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1993 Subtitle N: Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act Subtitle O: Family and Medical Leave Health Care Reform Resolution of 1993 Subtitle P: Veteran Women's Health Improvement Act of 1993 Subtitle Q: Defense Women's Health Improvement Act of 1993 Subtitle R: International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act Women's Health Equity Act of 1993 - Title I: Research on Women's Health - Subtitle A: Women Scientists Employment Opportunities Act - NIH Women Scientists Employment Opportunity Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to: (1) establish policies for NIH on matters relating to the employment of women scientists by NIH; and (2) monitor compliance with such policies and take appropriate actions if the policies have been violated. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1993 - Women and Aids Research Initiative Amendments of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to cases of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, to establish a program, under the Public Health Service Act, for the purpose of conducting biomedical and behavioral research on such cases in women, especially on the prevention of such cases. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1993 - Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to obligate a specified amount to carry out research projects on alcohol abuse and alcoholism among women. Subtitle D: National Breast Cancer Strategy Act of 1993 - National Breast Cancer Strategy Act of 1993 - Establishes an Office of Breast Cancer within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health to coordinate activities of Federal agencies relating to breast cancer. (Sec. 118) Establishes the National Breast Cancer Commission to conduct a study on current efforts on both the public and private sectors relating to the prevention, early detection, treatment, education, and research relating to breast cancer. (Sec. 119) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1996 for conducting and supporting research on breast cancer through the National Cancer Institute. (Sec. 120) Requires the Director of the National Cancer Institute to: (1) conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training, the dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to breast cancer; and (2) establish the Rose Kushner Scholarship Program for the purpose of entering into contracts with individuals under which the Institute provides scholarships to individuals for attending health professions schools and the individuals agree to study oncology and serve as employees of the National Institutes of Health for a specified period. (Sec. 121) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1996 for at least ten research programs on breast cancer, lung cancer, or prostate cancer under designated programs. Subtitle E: Lupus Research Amendments of 1993 - Lupus Research Amendments of 1993 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand and intensify research and related activities of the Institute with respect to lupus. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart F: Women's Midlife Health Research Act - Women's Midlife Health Research Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute on Aging to provide for the development or expansion of not less than five centers for research on: (1) the process by which the functioning of the ovaries diminishes or ceases completely; and (2) conditions arising from the diminished or complete cessation of the functioning of the ovaries. Subtitle G: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Research Education, and Health Services Act of 1993 - Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Research, Education, and Health Services Act of 1993 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the Director of the National Institute on Aging, and the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to expand and intensify research on osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an Interagency Council on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders. Sets forth the duties of such Council. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an Advisory Panel on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to make grants or enter into contracts with eligible organizations to establish a Resource Center on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1993 - Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1993 - Amends provisions of the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 which added provisions to the Public Health Service Act to make revisions concerning ovarian cancer funding and public information education. Subtitle I: Antiprogestin Testing Act of 1993 - Antiprogestin Testing Act of 1993 - Provides for research on antiprogestin drugs for any potential use, including termination of pregnancy and contraception and when used therapeutically for cancer, endocrine disorders, and endometriosis. Subtitle J: Women's Health Environmental Factors Research Act of 1993 - Women's Health Environmental Factors Research Act of 1993 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to carry out research on the effects that environmental factors have on women's health conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle K: Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1993 - Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1993 - Directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to conduct a review of all Federal programs that assess or mitigate the risks to women's health from environmental exposures. Subtitle L: Pharmaceutical Interactions Safety Act - Pharmaceutical Interactions Safety Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act to require clinical investigations to include investigations of the possible interaction of the drug or biological product with relevant female or male hormones, unless inappropriate. Subtitle M: Pharmaceutical Testing Fairness Act - Pharmaceutical Testing Fairness Act - Requires new drug clinical investigations, device clinical investigations, and biological products clinical investigations to include women and minority groups as subjects, unless inappropriate. Subtitle N: Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1993 - Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1993 - Directs the Federal Trade Commissions to conduct specified studies concerning tobacco advertising and its effect on women and minorities, as well as its targeting of women and girls concerning weight loss, and the demographics of such advertising. Title II: Services Regarding Women's Health - Subtitle A: Equity in Health Professions Education Act - Equity in Health Professions Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study to determine the extent to which health professions schools provide adequate education to students on women's health conditions. Subtitle B: Women's Health Office Act of 1993 - Women's Health Office Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health an Office of Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Office. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 208) Establishes within the Office of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an Office of Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Office. Requires the Director of such Office to establish the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Committee. (Sec. 209) Establishes within the Office of the Director of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research an Office of Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Office. Requires the Director of such Office to establish the Coordinating Committee on Research on the Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Committee. (Sec. 210) Amends title VII of the Social Security Act to provide for the establishment within the Office of the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration an Office of Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Office. Requires the Director of the Office to establish the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Committee. (Sec. 210A) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish within the Office of Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration an Office of Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Office. Requires the Director of such Office to establish the Coordinating Committee on Women's Health. Sets forth the duties of such Committee. Subtitle C: Women's Health Information Act of 1993 - Women's Health Information Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Interagency Committee on Health Communications to provide advice to the Secretary on developing and coordinating Federal promotion and education activities, including activities within the Public Health Service. Requires the Committee to give priority to carrying out activities regarding women's health. (Sec. 214) Directs the Assistant Secretary for Health to establish the Clearinghouse on Women's Health to compile, archive and disseminate information concerning women's health and to publish a yearly summary of such materials to be made available upon request. Subtitle D: Breast and Cervical Cancer Amendments of 1993 - Breast and Cervical Cancer Amendments of 1993 - Amends provisions of the program under the Public Health Service Act which provides for breast cancer screenings to place certain limits on the amounts which may be paid to promote entities for such screenings. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1998 for the screening program. Subtitle E: Women's Preventive Health Amendments of 1993 - Women's Preventive Health Amendments of 1993 - Provides for grants for demonstration projects relating to preventive health care for women. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Postreproductive Health Care Act - Postreproductive Health Care Act - Provides for grants to provide specified health services to women who are of menopause age or older. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Coverage Act of 1993 - Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Coverage Act of 1993 - Provides for Medicare coverage of bone mass measurements for qualified individuals. Subtitle H: Mickey Leland Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Parenthood Act of 1993 - Mickey Leland Adolescent Pregency Prevention and Parenthood Act of 1993 - Revises title XX of the Public Health Service Act. Renames such title as Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Care, and Research Grants. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to provide prevention and care services to pregnant adolescents and their male partners, adolescent parents, and nonpregnant adolescents. Sets forth provisions affecting: (1) how such grants are to be used; (2) priorities, amounts, and duration of such grants; (3) grant application requirements; (4) program coordination; and (5) research. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle I: Adolescent Health Demonstrations Projects Act of 1993 - Adolescent Health Demonstrations Projects Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary to make grants to establish or support adolescent health demonstration projects in secondary schools for the purpose of demonstrating how such projects may be established throughout the United States. Requires that priority be given to projects serving low-income or minority populations. Prohibits the use of any project funds to perform or pay for abortions. Subtitle J: Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1993 - Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1993 - Provides for a program of information and education to the public on the prevention and treatment of eating disorders. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle K: Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act - Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for a program that provides to women preventive health services that are related to acquired immune deficiency. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 253) Authorizes the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to make grants for the treatment of women for substance abuse, including counseling to prevent infection with and transmission of AIDS. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 254) Authorizes appropriations for the AIDs early intervention program for women under the Public Health Service Act. Subtitle L: Standby Guardianship Act - Standby Guardianship Act - Amends part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require a State, in order to be eligible for payments under such part, to have in effect standby guardianship laws and procedures. Subtitle M: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1993 - Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for the imprisonment or fining of any individual who knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris of any person under the age of 18. Directs the Secretary to carry out outreach activities in communities that traditionally practice female circumcision. Subtitle N: Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act - Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the State agency responsible for nutrition education and drug abuse education to establish a smoking cessation demonstration program for pregnant participants. Subtitle O: Family and Medical Leave Health Care Reform Resolution of 1993 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that any bill to address the ongoing and unmet health insurance needs of this country that is enacted should require that paid or unpaid leave, as detailed in the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, be incorporated as a basic or elective option in specified situations. Subtitle P: Veteran Women's Health Improvement Act of 1993 - Veteran Women's Health Improvement Act of 1993 - Includes women's health services within the definition of medical services authorized to be furnished to eligible veterans. Includes as women's health services pap smears, breast examinations, and reproductive health care. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to contract with non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for outpatient women's health services when Department facilities are inadequate or inaccessible. Requires information on the provision of women's health services to be included in a report from the Secretary to the Congress concerning women veterans. (Sec. 278) Amends the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 to: (1) require consultation by the Secretary with various officials, advisory committees, and task forces with regard to appropriate women's health research; (2) expand the research related to women to include specified topics; (3) include certain appropriate personnel of the Department in conducting such research, including women veterans and veteran members of minority groups; and (4) direct that a women veterans population study report required under such Act include an examination of the medical and demographic histories of women veterans comprising the study sample. (Sec. 279) Makes applicable to Department medical facilities provisions of the Public Health Service Act regarding mammography quality standards. Requires all Department facilities to meet such standards within two years. Subtitle Q: Defense Women's Health Improvement Act of 1993 - Requires female members and former members of the armed forces who are entitled to medical care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to be furnished primary and preventive health care services for women as part of such care. Provides the same coverage for female dependents of members and former members of the armed forces. (Sec. 283) Directs the Secretary of Defense to prepare and submit to the Congress a report evaluating the provision of health care services through military medical treatment facilities and CHAMPUS to female members of the armed forces and female covered beneficiaries. Requires the Secretary to include a study to determine the needs of female members and dependents for health care services, including primary and preventive health care services for women. (Sec. 284) Directs the Secretary to establish a Defense Women's Health Research Center within the Department of the Army to be the coordinating agent for multidisciplinary and multiinstitutional research within the Department of Defense on women's health issues related to service in the armed forces. (Sec. 285) Directs the Secretary of the Army, during FY 1994, to continue the breast cancer research program as established under prior law. (Sec. 286) Directs the Secretary of Defense, in conducting or supporting clinical research, to ensure that women and minority group members of the armed forces are included as research subjects. Provides a waiver of such requirement. (Sec. 287) Directs the Secretary to submit three annual reports on research relating to female members and dependents within the armed forces. (Sec. 288) Directs the Secretary to establish at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences a women's health curriculum advisory committee to promote the comprehensive integration of women's health issues into the curriculum. Subtitle R: International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act - International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to set forth population assistance authorities and requirements. (Sec. 292) Makes such assistance available to a country that: (1) accounts for a significant portion of the world's annual population increment; (2) has significant unmet needs for methods of contraception, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and obstetric and gynecological care and requires foreign assistance to sustain quality reproductive health services; or (3) demonstrates a strong commitment to population stabilization and reproductive health strategies. Prohibits nongovernmental and multilateral organizations from being subjected to requirements which are more restrictive than those applicable to foreign governments for such assistance. Makes funds available for: (1) the United Nations Population Fund if it agrees to prohibit the use of funds for coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization; and (2) the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training to further international cooperation in the development of contraceptive technology. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 294) Makes development assistance available on a priority basis for countries which have agreed to address specific education, literacy, and health issues. Authorizes the President to establish a grant program, to be known as the Safe Motherhood Initiative, to improve the access of girls and women to reproductive health care services. Earmarks amounts of development and economic assistance for programs in support of equalizing male and female levels of primary and secondary school enrollment. Authorizes appropriations for the Child Survival Fund, the Safe Motherhood Initiative, and for research on, and treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. (Sec. 296) Requires the U.S. executive directors of specified international financial institutions to report annually to the Congress on allocations to population activities and, if such allocations total less than $1 million, to set forth actions to encourage increased allocations. (Sec. 297) Establishes the Commission on World Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health to coordinate U.S. participation in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 298) Provides for certain actions to support the United Nations Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the start-up or continued operation of any plutonium separation plant presents serious environmental hazards and increases the risk of nuclear proliferation and should be suspended until specified proliferation and environmental concerns have been resolved. Urges the President to: (1) convey such opinion to the Governments of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Russia; and (2) address the proliferation and environmental implications of the new Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) in the United Kingdom in high-level discussions with the Government of the United Kingdom before the conclusion of such Government's internal review of whether THORP will be allowed to start up.