United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2009
Nursing and Allied Health Education Preservation Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from denying provider-operated status for a nursing and allied education program that substantially meets certain requirements pertaining to the cost of approved activities for such programs, in effect as of October 1, 2006, on the basis of an organizational structure, contractual arrangements, or legal structure of the program, or a change in such a structure or arrangement, so long as a hospital, hospitals, or health system continues to substantially control the nursing or allied program. Prohibits denial of payments for the costs of approved educational activities for a nursing or allied health education program. Requires restoration to a hospital of any recoupment or denial effected for a previous cost reporting year.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2009
SMA Treatment Acceleration Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a national clinical trials network for spinal muscular atrophy by upgrading and unifying spinal muscular atrophy clinical trial sites and recruiting new investigators and sites. Requires the Director to ensure that such network: (1) conducts coordinated, multisite, clinical trials of therapies and clinical approaches to the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy; and (2) rapidly and efficiently disseminates scientific findings to the field. Requires the Director to: (1) establish a data coordinating center with respect to spinal muscular atrophy; and (2) expand and intensify NIH programs with respect to preclinical translation research related to spinal muscular atrophy. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to enhance and support a spinal muscular atrophy patient registry to provide for expanded epidemiological research towards improving awareness, management, treatment, and prevention of spinal muscular atrophy. Requires the Secretary to ensure the collection and analysis of longitudinal data related to individuals of all ages. Directs the Secretary to establish the Interagency Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research Coordinating Committee. Sets forth the duties of the Committee, including to develop a comprehensive strategy related to spinal muscular atrophy research and other related neurological diseases and disorders. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide information and education on spinal muscular atrophy to health professionals and the general public.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2009
Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 - Directs the President to develop and implement: (1) a National Strategy for Global Development to further the U.S. foreign policy objective of reducing poverty and contributing to economic growth in developing countries, including responding to humanitarian crises; and (2) a system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance. Expresses the sense of Congress that American taxpayers and foreign assistance recipients should have, to the maximum extent practicable, full access to U.S. foreign assistance information.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Surface Transportation Safety Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to modify certain federal regulations to: (1) allow fire services personnel to wear high visibility apparel meeting certain requirements; and (2) ensure that positive protective measures (including temporary longitudinal traffic barriers) are used to separate workers on highway construction projects from motorized traffic. Directs the Secretary to approve the use of federal-aid highway funds by a state for patented or proprietary items that further the goals of state strategic highway safety plans. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to revise the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to include a standard for a minimum level of retroreflectivity that must be maintained for pavement markings, which shall apply to all roads open to public travel. Revises requirements for the highway safety improvement program to count installation, replacement, and upgrade of highway signs and pavement markings as a highway safety improvement project. Authorizes: (1) states to obligate highway safety improvement program funds apportioned to them for projects to maintain minimum levels of retroreflectivity in highway signs or pavement markings on public roads, whether or not such projects are included in state plans; and (2) a federal share of costs of 100% for such projects. Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out a program to improve traffic signs and pavement markings for older drivers and pedestrians in all states; (2) review the safety of all highway-rail grade crossings in the United States and, based on such review, compile a list of the ten highway-rail grade crossings having the greatest need for safety improvements; (3) establish a national database of information on the safety of highway-rail grade crossings in the United States; and (4) allocate $20 million to each state with a population density of less than 20 persons per square mile for each fiscal year beginning with FY2010 for rural highway safety improvement projects.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Childhood Cancer Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to expand and intensify the CDC's cancer control programs, including programs for conducting surveillance activities or supporting state comprehensive cancer control programs. Requires the Director of the National Cancer Institute to coordinate the activities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with respect to cancer survivorship, including child cancer survivorship. Requires the Director of NIH, acting through the Director of the Institute, to make grants for research relating to: (1) childhood cancer survivors within minority populations; and (2) health disparities in cancer survivorship outcomes within minority or other medically underserved populations. Requires the Director of NIH to conduct or support research to evaluate systems of follow-up care for childhood cancer survivors. Directs the Secretary to make grants to establish or improve training programs for health care professionals to: (1) improve the quality of immediate and long-term follow-up care for survivors of childhood cancers and their families; and (2) ensure that such care is linguistically and culturally competent. Requires the Director of NIH to make grants to establish pilot programs to develop, study, or evaluate model systems for monitoring and caring for childhood cancer survivors. Requires the Secretary to make grants to: (1) establish and operate a clinic for comprehensive long-term follow-up services for childhood cancer survivors; and (2) improve physical and psychosocial care for childhood cancer survivors.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to extend from three years to five years the delay in application of: (1) the 25% patient threshold payment adjustment to freestanding and grandfathered long-term care hospitals (LTCHs); (2) any payment adjustment, in certain circumstances, to any applicable LTCH or satellite facility located in a rural area or co-located with an urban single or metropolitan statistical area (MSA) dominant hospital; (3) the very short-stay outlier policy; and (4) a specified one-time prospective adjustment to LTCH prospective payment rates. Extends from three years to five years the moratorium on: (1) the establishment and classification of a LTCH or satellite facility, other than an existing one; and (2) an increase of LTCH beds in existing LTCHs or satellite facilities. Establishes a formula for annual adjustment of the base prospective payment rate for LTCHs for rate years 2011 through 2015 in order to implement a budget neutrality offset of the costs of implementing this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2009 or the PHIT Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly or heads of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses. Defines "qualified sports and fitness expenses" as amounts paid for fitness center memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Workforce Health Improvement Program Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of employees: (1) the value of any on-premises employer-provided athletic facility; and (2) fees, dues, or membership expenses paid to an athletic or fitness facility by an employer for its employees, but not exceeding $900 per employee per year. Allows employers a tax deduction for fees, dues, or membership expenses paid to an athletic or fitness facility. Limits the amount of such deduction to $900 per employee per year.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Recognizes the 40th anniversary of the National Eye Institute. Expresses support for the designation of the Decade of Vision to maintain a sustained awareness of the public health challenges associated with vision impairment and eye disease and to emphasize the need for federal support for prevention and early detection, access to treatment and rehabilitation, and research. Commends the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research for its efforts to expand awareness of eye disease through its Decade of Vision 2010-2020 Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2009
Remembers the lives of the women and men who have lost their fight with breast cancer and expresses support and admiration for those who have survived. Congratulates participants in the Global Race for the Cure to raise money for research and education. Urges Americans to walk this year and support their family and friends who participate. Honors the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2009
Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins and $1 silver coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner . Requires a coin design emblematic of the War of 1812, and in particular of, the Battle for Baltimore that formed the basis for the Star-Spangled Banner. Limits the period for coin issuance to calendar year 2012. Imposes a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coins and $10 per coin for the $1 coins, which shall be distributed to the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission for the purpose of supporting bicentennial activities, educational outreach activities, and preservation and improvement activities pertaining to the sites and structures relating to the War of 1812.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2009
National Park Educational Partnership Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish the National Park Ranger School Partnerships program authorizing the Secretary of Education to award competitive, three-year grants to schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) to enter into partnerships with the National Park Service (NPS) to provide kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) students with educational programs and K-12 teachers with professional development emphasizing science, the environment, natural resources, mathematics, civics, and history. Makes education service agencies eligible for grants to carry out such educational programs and professional development activities. Deems schools and LEAs to be eligible for such a grant only if they: (1) have, are capable of, or will develop certain connections to the NPS; (2) have been identified as needing improvement under title I of the ESEA; and (3) serve a significant percentage of low-income students. Permits: (1) the NPS to participate in the Mathematics and Science Partnerships program that provides training to teachers of such subjects under title II of the ESEA; and (2) educational service agencies, including federal agencies that serve as educational service providers, to partner with LEAs under such title's Teaching American History Grant Program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2009
Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2009 - Amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to: (1) make a person who intentionally and maliciously takes any migratory bird by any manner not allowed by such Act guilty of a felony and subject to a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years; and (2) make a person who intentionally and maliciously commits any other act or omission in violation of such Act guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years. Requires the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of the Treasury to pay rewards to persons who furnish information that leads to an arrest or a criminal conviction for any violation of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2009
Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act of 2009 - Establishes the Salmon Stronghold Partnership as a cooperative, incentive-based, public-private partnership working across political boundaries and land ownerships to identify and conserve salmon strongholds. Requires that its board include representatives of Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state, as well as representatives from specified entities. Requires the Assistant Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to carry out specific information and assessment functions associated with salmon strongholds. Establishes a salmon stronghold watershed grants and technical assistance program. Authorizes the sharing of status and trends data, innovative conservation strategies, conservation planning methodologies, and other information with North Pacific countries, including Canada, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, and appropriate international entities to promote salmon conservation and habitat. Prohibits acquiring private property without the owner's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2009
No Child Left Inside Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states, as a prerequisite to receiving implementation grants, to develop environmental literacy plans, approved by the Secretary of Education, for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 that include environmental education standards and teacher training. Directs the Secretary to award Environmental Education Professional Development Grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to partnerships that include an LEA and, permissibly, institutions of higher education (IHE), other educational entities, or federal, state, regional, or local natural resource or environmental agencies, for activities involving, among other things, teacher training and the development of more rigorous environmental education curricula that advance the teaching of interdisciplinary courses. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to partnerships that include an LEA and, permissibly, IHEs, other educational entities, federal, state, regional, or local natural resource or environmental agencies, or park and recreation departments, for activities to improve and support environmental education that include: (1) advancing content and achievement standards; (2) developing or disseminating innovations or model programs; and (3) research.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2009
Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act or the CLEAR Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought a congressional earmark, or from any senior executive of such an entity, or any lobbyist for whom the entity was a client. Prohibits the acceptance of any contribution from a separate segregated fund established and administered by a corporation or labor organization if the Member sought a congressional earmark for the corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2009
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Calls for recognition of: (1) national and community organizations and private sector supporters for their work in promoting awareness about sexual assault, providing information and treatment to its survivors, and increasing the number of successful prosecutions of its perpetrators; and (2) public safety, law enforcement, and health professionals for their hard work and innovative strategies to increase the percentage of sexual assault cases that result in the prosecution and incarceration of the offenders. Urges national and community organizations, private businesses, colleges and universities, and the media to promote, through such Month, awareness of sexual violence and strategies to decrease the incidence of sexual assault.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Grants a federal charter to the Military Officers Association of America (a nonprofit corporation and incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia).
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the award of a single gold medal in honor of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) collectively, in honor of their pioneering military service and exemplary record, which forged revolutionary reform in the U.S. Armed Forces. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall make the medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations associated with the WASP.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Elder Justice Act - Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Elder Justice program under title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services). Establishes within the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Elder Justice Coordinating Council (EJCC). Establishes the Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation. Directs the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities to establish stationary and mobile forensic centers, to develop forensic expertise regarding, and provide services relating to, elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Directs the Secretary to provide incentives for individuals to train for, seek, and maintain employment providing direct care in a long-term care (LTC) facility. Directs the Secretary to make grants to LTC facilities to: (1) offer continuing training and varying levels of certification to employees who provide direct care to LTC facility residents; and (2) provide bonuses or other benefits to employees who achieve certification. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to assist LTC facilities in offsetting the costs for standardized clinical health care informatics systems designed to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events and health care complications resulting from medication errors. Directs the Secretary to ensure that HHS: (1) provides funding to state and local adult protective services services offices that investigate reports of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and (2) collects and disseminates related data in coordination with the Department of Justice. Establishes a program of annual adult protective services grants to states. Directs the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities to: (1) improve the capacity of state LTC ombudsman programs to respond to and resolve abuse and neglect complaints; and (2) conduct pilot programs with state or local LTC ombudsman offices. Directs the Secretary to establish programs to provide and improve ombudsman training for national organizations and state LTC ombudsman programs. Amends part A of SSA title XI to require each individual owner, operator, employee, manager, agent, or contractor of an LTC facility receiving certain federal support to report to the Secretary and local law enforcement entities any reasonable suspicion of crimes occurring in such facility. Requires the owner or operator of such an LTC facility to notify the Secretary and the appropriate state regulatory agency of a facility's impending closure, as well as a plan for the transfer and adequate relocation of facility residents. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the EJCC and appropriate congressional committees on establishing a national nurse aide registry. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) study, analyze, and report to Congress, the Secretary, and the states on state laws and practices relating to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and (2) develop objectives, priorities, policies, and a long-term plan for elder justice programs and activities. Requires the Comptroller General to review and report to Congress on existing federal programs and initiatives in the federal criminal justice system relevant to elder justice. Authorizes the Attorney General to award victim advocacy grants to eligible entities to study the special needs of victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Directs the Attorney General to award grants to provide: (1) training, technical assistance, policy development, multidisciplinary coordination, and other types of support to local and state prosecutors and courts, as well as employees of state Attorneys General and Medicaid Fraud Control Units handling elder justice-related matters; and (3) similar types of support to police, sheriffs, detectives, public safety officers, corrections personnel, and other front line law enforcement responders who handle elder justice matters to fund specially designated elder justice positions or units designed to support front line law enforcement in elder justice matters. Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the missing Alzheimer's Disease patient alert program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a long-term care facility worker employment tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation on behalf of Congress of a gold medal of appropriate design to Dr. Muhammad Yunus in recognition of his many enduring contributions to the fight against global poverty.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Expresses support for: (1) designation of a National Autism Awareness Month; and (2) devoting new resources to researching the root causes of autism, identifying the best methods of early intervention and treatment, expanding programs for individuals with autism, and promoting understanding of their special needs. Commends parents and relatives for providing for the special needs of children with autism. Stresses the need to begin early intervention services. Recognizes: (1) the shortage of appropriately trained teachers to teach, assist, and respond to special needs students; and (2) the importance of worker training programs tailored to the needs of developmentally disabled persons.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Sets forth Congress's commitment to include within legislation authorizing national health care reform provisions that facilitate state innovation and that: (1) promote the unique role of states as innovators in health care reform; (2) feature flexibility for states in implementing national goals and objectives for health care reform; (3) facilitate state efforts to improve upon and expand the goals and objectives of national health reform; and (4) incorporate the principles of state innovation espoused in the Health Partnership Act and Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act of 2009 - Terminates certain authorities under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel management system with respect to TSA employees under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act and related law, including all authority to establish or adjust a human resources management system. Subjects TSA employees (including screeners) to the protections of the federal civil service system, including the right to collective bargaining, compensation, leave, health, and other employee rights. Prohibits any reduction in rate of pay or certain other rights of TSA employees upon conversion from the TSA personnel system to the federal civil service system. Provides that nothing in this Act shall repeal laws against striking against the U.S. Government.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
The White House Conference on Food and Nutrition - Directs: (1) the President to call the White House Conference on Food and Nutrition to be convened in order to make fundamental policy recommendations on ways to end hunger and to improve nutrition in the United States; and (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Treasury to plan and conduct the Conference. Sets forth Conference provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Life Sustaining Treatment Preferences Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, to extend Medicare coverage to consultations regarding an order for life sustaining treatment for qualified individuals. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible entities to: (1) establish new programs for orders regarding life sustaining treatment in a state or locality; (2) expand or enhance an existing program; or (3) set up a clearinghouse of information on programs for such orders and consultative services for the development or enhancement of such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Savings for American Families' Future Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the rate of the tax credit for retirement savings contributions; (2) make such credit refundable; and (3) direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay matching credit amounts into taxpayer retirement accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment Act of 2009 or the WATER Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 30% of amounts paid for WaterSense program property certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Limits the lifetime dollar amount of such credit to $1,500. Terminates such credit after 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Secure Electronic Military Separation Act - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 to direct the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a secure electronic method of forwarding DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to the appropriate office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in which the former member of the Armed Forces will first reside.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2009
Complete America's Great Trails Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for the fair market value of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribution. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to study and report to Congress on the efficacy of such tax credit in completing, extending, and increasing the number of National Scenic Trails.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2009
Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2009
Fair Elections Now Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) with respect to: (1) eligibility and qualifying contribution requirements and benefits of fair elections financing of House of Representatives election campaigns; (2) establishment of a Fair Elections Fund; (3) eligibility for Fund allocations; (4) contribution and expenditure requirements; (5) a public debate requirement; (6) certification of whether or not a federal election candidate is a participating candidate; (7) benefits for participating candidates; (8) matching payments for qualified small dollar contributions; (9) political advertising vouchers; (10) establishment of a Fair Elections Oversight Board; (11) civil penalties for violation of contribution and expenditure requirements; (12) prohibition of joint fundraising committees with any political committee other than a candidate's authorized committee; and (13) a specified limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees with participating candidates. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the deposit into the Fair Elections Fund of 10% of the proceeds from competitive auctions for recovered analog spectrum. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow for designation of a certain amount of income tax liability to the Fair Elections Fund. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) prohibit the preemption of the use of a broadcasting station by a legally qualified House candidate who has purchased and paid for such use; (2) revise Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to revoke licenses for broadcasting stations who fail to provide access to House candidates; and (3) revise the formula for determining reduced broadcast rates for participating candidates in certain circumstances. Directs the FCC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish a standardized form to be used by broadcasting stations to record and report the purchase of advertising time by or on behalf of a candidate for nomination for election, or for election, to federal elective office. Amends FECA to: (1) empower the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to appeal a civil action; (2) require all designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under FECA to be filed directly with the FEC, and in computer-accessible electronic form; and (3) reduce from 48 to 24 hours after their receipt the deadline for the FEC to make designations, statements, reports, or notifications available to the public in the FEC office and on the Internet.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2009
Quality FIRST (From Incentives, Reporting, Standards, and Technology) Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make performance-based payments each fiscal year to hospitals that provide high quality inpatient hospital services to inpatients entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance). Requires the Secretary to select appropriate evidence-based, statistically valid, and sufficiently field tested quality measures of care furnished by hospitals in inpatient settings for evaluating hospital performance. Requires a utilization and quality control peer review organization to give priority of quality improvement assistance to low-performing hospitals. Directs the Secretary to establish a program under which a hospital seeking to improve the quality of inpatient hospital services based on the results of a performance evaluation may apply to the Secretary to receive quality improvement assistance from a private quality organization with expertise in supporting inpatient service quality improvement.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2009
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) authorize Medicare coverage of and payment for intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) administered in the home; and (2) Medicare coverage of disposable pumps for administration of a drug to treat colorectal cancer in certain cases.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2009
Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prescribe consumer protection guidelines for rental-purchase transactions, including: (1) the determination of rental-purchase cost; (2) disclosure requirements; (3) prohibitions against confessions of judgment, wage assignments, and waiver of consumer claims or defenses; (4) furnishing of statements of account; (5) point-of-rental disclosures; and (6) rental-purchase advertising disclosures. Declares that an action for civil liability may be brought against a merchant's assignee only if the violation is apparent on the face of a rental-purchase agreement to which it relates, including, but not limited to, a disclosure that can be determined to be incomplete or inaccurate from the face of the agreement. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate implementing regulations. Grants enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission and to state attorneys general. Subjects to criminal penalties any willful and knowing violation of the information disclosure requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2009
Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act of 2009 or EARLY Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct a national evidence-based education campaign: (1) to increase public awareness regarding the threats posed by breast cancer to young women, including the particular risks faced by certain ethnic and cultural groups; and (2) focusing on awareness of risk factors and achieving early detection through community-centered informational forums, public service advertisements, and media campaigns. Directs the Secretary to award grants to entities to establish national multimedia campaigns that: (1) will encourage young women to be aware of their personal risk factors, strategies for increasing early detection and self awareness, evidence based preventative lifestyle changes, and other appropriate breast cancer early detection and risk reduction strategies; (2) will encourage young women of specific higher-risk populations to talk to their medical practitioners about those risks and methods for appropriate screening and surveillance; and (3) may include advertising through specified media. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to: (1) establish an advisory committee to assist in creating and conducting the public education campaign; (2) conduct an education campaign to increase awareness among health care professionals; and (3) conduct prevention research. Directs the Secretary to award grants to organizations and institutions to provide to young women diagnosed with breast cancer substantive assistance and health information from credible sources on: (1) education and counseling regarding fertility preservation; (2) social, emotional, psychosocial, financial, lifestyle, and caregiver support; (3) familial risk factors; and (4) risk reduction strategies to reduce recurrence or metastasis.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat the cost of private umbilical cord blood banking services as a medical care expense for purposes of the tax deduction for medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2009
Voting Record Transparency Resolution - Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to post on the public Internet site of the Office of the Clerk a record, organized by Member name, of the recorded votes of each Member (including each Delegate or Resident Commissioner) taken in the House, including the roll, date, issue, question, result, and title or description of the vote, and any cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) related to the vote. Requires each Member of the House who maintains an official public Internet site using amounts from the Members' Representation Allowance to provide a clearly presented electronic link on the site to his or her individual recorded vote information.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2009
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Act of 2009 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Prohibits such a plan from: (1) restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection, insofar as the attending physician, in consultation with the patient, determines such stay to be medically necessary; or (2) requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan or issuer for prescribing any such length of stay. Requires such a plan or issuer to: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this Act; and (2) ensure that coverage is provided for secondary consultations. Prohibits a group health plan from taking specified actions to avoid the requirements of this Act. Applies such requirements to health insurance issuers offering coverage in the individual market. Allows a health insurance issuer that provides individual health insurance coverage to nonrenew or discontinue an individual's coverage based on the intentional concealment of material facts regarding a health condition related to the condition for which coverage is being claimed.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2009
Empowerment Zone, Renewal Community and Enterprise Community Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax-preferred empowerment zones, rural enterprise communities, and renewal communities to: (1) extend the period of designation for such areas through 2015; (2) provide a safe harbor standard for employee residency requirements in empowerment zones; (3) eliminate certain residency requirements for the empowerment zone employment tax credit; (4) grant authority to expand the boundaries of empowerment zones and enterprise communities, including those located in rural areas; (5) allow carryovers of unused expensing allowances for enterprise zone businesses; (6) allow certain empowerment zone businesses to elect to receive payments in lieu of tax benefits; (7) allow federal guarantees and tax exemptions for enterprise zones and renewal communities; and (8) allow the issuance of tax-exempt rural enterprise community bonds and empowerment zone facility bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2009
Recognizes the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Urges the governments of Egypt and Israel to strengthen the spirit of cooperation that emerged in 1979 as the Middle East faces new challenges. Encourages continued U.S. efforts to mitigate threats to a lasting Middle East peace. Calls for recognition of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty as a model mechanism upon which partner nations may build to overcome barriers to peace.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2009
Sets forth Congress's commitment to include within legislation authorizing national health care reform provisions that facilitate state innovation and that: (1) promote the unique role of states as innovators in health care reform; (2) feature flexibility for states in implementing national goals and objectives for health care reform; (3) facilitate state efforts to improve upon and expand the goals and objectives of national health reform; and (4) incorporate the principles of state innovation espoused in the Health Partnership Act and Health Partnership Through Creative Federalism Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2009
Community Choice Act of 2009 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require state Medicaid plan coverage of community-based attendant services and supports for certain Medicaid-eligible individuals. Outlines requirements for: (1) an enhanced federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for ongoing activities of early coverage states that enhance and promote the use of community-based attendant services and supports; and (2) increased federal financial participation for certain expenditures incurred by the state for the provision of such services and supports. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible states which have established a Consumer Task Force to assist the state in its development of real choice systems change initiatives; and (2) conduct a demonstration project for the purpose of evaluating service coordination and cost-sharing approaches with respect to the provision of community-based services and supports to dually eligible individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2009
Expresses support for the designation of, and the goals and ideals of, National Nutrition Month. Encourages: (1) local communities to raise awareness surrounding nutritional health; and (2) awareness about diseases and death caused by lack of nutrition. Recognizes health care professionals, such as registered dietitians, who spread the knowledge and importance of nutrition each day.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2009
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to deny certain agricultural commodity payments for not less than five years, or permanently, to a person or legal entity that has knowingly engaged in, or aided in the creation of a fraudulent document, or failed to disclose material information relevant to the administration of such benefits. (Current law authorizes payment denial for up to five crop years.) Requires that a person or legal entity that received benefits while ineligible due to excess income repay such amounts fully. Directs the Secretary to request the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to verify the income-related eligibility of a benefit applicant, and deny benefits to a person or entity determined to be ineligible. Authorizes Farm Service Agency reconsideration of a denial.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2009
Equity and Access for Podiatric Physicians Under Medicaid Act- Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to include podiatrists as physicians in order to cover their services under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2009
Recognizes: (1) the cooperative efforts of hunters, sportsmen's associations, meat processors, state meat inspectors, and hunger relief organizations to establish Hunters for the Hungry programs across the United States; and (2) the contributions of Hunters for the Hungry programs to decrease hunger and help feed those in need.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2009
Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act or the FIT Kids Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require annual state and local educational agency report cards to include specified information on school health and physical education programs. Includes the promotion of healthy, active lifestyles by students within ESEA grant programs that support school counseling, smaller learning communities, community learning centers, and parental involvement in their childrens' education. Revises the professional development program for teachers and principals to include training for physical and health education teachers, and training on improving students' health habits and participation in physical activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study that: (1) assesses the effect health and physical education have on students' ability to learn; and (2) makes recommendations for improving, and measuring improvements to, their health and physical education in schools.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_wi_3_kind_ron_200.jpg)