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651 records in US in 2013
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013
Expresses support for the designation of Health and Fitness Month and for efforts to educate Americans on the importance of a healthy and nutritious lifestyle.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National STD Awareness Month. Recognizes the human toll of sexually transmitted infections and the importance of making the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of such infections an urgent public health priority. Urges all sexually active individuals to get tested for such infections and seek appropriate care.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2013
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Williams Syndrome Awareness Month.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 25 April 2013
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a program of mental health care and rehabilitation for veterans who: (1) have been discharged or released from active-duty service under conditions other than dishonorable for no more than two years; (2) are enrolled in the VA system of annual patient enrollment and were so enrolled before the date of enactment of this Act; (3) are diagnosed by a VA physician with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, or substance use disorder that is service-related (as determined by the Secretary or a VA physician); and (4) agree to certain participation conditions, including not submitting a claim for veterans' disability compensation for any such condition until either one year after program commencement or the conclusion of the prescribed treatment regimen. Requires the Secretary to provide for each participant a treatment regimen and rehabilitation plan for the determined condition. Provides a stipend for participants, commencing upon program commencement, continuing through successful treatment and plan compliance, and ending either upon the conclusion of such treatment or one year after treatment and plan commencement. Allows a veteran to participate more than once in the program if the Secretary determines that the additional participation will assist the veteran in achieving the remediation of the condition.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Veterans' Health Promotion Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to designate and operate at least one center of innovation for complementary and alternative medicine in health research, education, and clinical activities in each of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks. Directs the Secretary to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing complementary and alternative medicine centers within current VA medical centers in order to promote the use and integration of such services for veterans' mental health diagnoses and pain management. Requires the establishment of at least 15 such centers in 15 different VA medical centers. Requires the Secretary to establish a three-year pilot program for the award of grants to public or private nonprofit entities to assess the feasibility and advisability of using wellness programs to complement the provision of mental health care to veterans and family members eligible for VA counseling services. Directs the Secretary to carry out a two-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of promoting health through the payment of fitness center membership for veterans determined to be overweight or obese and who reside more than 15 minutes' driving distance from a VA fitness facility. Requires the Secretary to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability, through the establishment of VA fitness facilities, of promoting the achievement of a healthy weight in veterans enrolled in the VA system of annual patient enrollment. Prohibits the assessment of a user fee for program participants using such facilities. Directs the Secretary to conduct a comprehensive study of barriers encountered by veterans in receiving complementary and alternative medicine from the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Improving the Lives of Children with Spina Bifida Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing contracted case management services (services) to individuals entitled to VA benefits as children of Vietnam and Korean War veterans born with spina bifida, and children of women Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects who live in a rural area and have no access to such services through the VA or otherwise. Authorizes the Secretary to extend the program for an additional two years. Allows the services to include the coordination and management of needed health care, monetary, general care, and transportation services. Requires the Secretary to: (1) notify eligible individuals, and (2) contract with an appropriate entity for the provision of such services. Directs the Secretary to carry out an additional pilot program (for the same period and with the same authorized extension) to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing assisted living, group home care or similar services, and transportation to the individuals described above. Requires the Secretary to: (1) notify eligible individuals, and (2) consider entering into an agreement with the appropriate service providers. Requires preliminary and final reports with respect to, and provides funding for, each pilot program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Rural Hospital Access Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend through FY2014: (1) the Medicare-dependent hospital program, and (2) increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that, as the United States draws down combat operations in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense (DOD) should continue to seek to assist in the identification of behavior indicating a risk of suicide in members of the Armed Forces (members). Directs the Secretary of Defense to carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of using an online computerized assessment to assist DOD in detecting behaviors in members that indicate a risk of suicide or other mental health conditions. Requires: (1) 1,000 members of each regular component and 500 members of each reserve and National Guard component to be used in the pilot program, and (2) each participating member to complete two assessments. Requires the first superior officer of each participating member to also complete a computerized assessment on the behavior of that member as it relates to the risk of suicide or other mental health conditions. Requires each member determined under the pilot program to have behavior indicating a risk of suicide or other mental health conditions to be referred to an appropriate mental health care provider for further assessment, care, and services. Directs the Secretary to establish one or more control groups whose behavior permit comparison with the behavior and experiences of the participants. Provides for the privacy of any medical or other information obtained under the pilot program. Prohibits information obtained from being used in determining the promotion or advancement of the member. Excludes the use of participant personally identifiable information in any required report.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Expresses support for: (1) the designation of April as Parkinson's Awareness Month, and (2) research to find better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease. Recognizes those living with Parkinson's who participate in clinical trials. Commends the dedication of state, local, regional, and national organizations, volunteers, researchers, and millions of Americans across the United States working to improve the quality of life of persons with Parkinson's and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Designates September 26, 2013, as National Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day. Commends: (1) children battling brain cancer, and their families and friends, for their courage and perseverance; (2) organizations, including the Team Jack Legacy Fund and the University of Nebraska, that raise awareness and encourage the accurate and early diagnosis of pediatric brain cancer; and (3) the researchers, scientists, and health care providers who are dedicated to treating and finding a cure for pediatric brain cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to shield a health care professional from liability under federal or state law for harm caused by any act or omission if: (1) the professional is serving as a volunteer in response to a disaster; and (2) the act or omission occurs during the period of the disaster, in the professional's capacity as such a volunteer, and in a good faith belief that the individual being treated is in need of health care services. Makes exceptions where: (1) the harm was caused by an act or omission constituting willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed; or (2) the professional rendered the health care services under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or an intoxicating drug.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric Physicians Act or HELLPP Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include podiatrists as physicians in order to cover their services under the Medicaid program. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to revise requirements for coverage of therapeutic shoes for individuals with diabetes regarding the processes of: (1) documentation by a physician of, and certification of a comprehensive plan of care related to, the diabetic condition; (2) prescription by a podiatrist or other qualified physician upon a finding of the medical necessity for the therapeutic shoes, including findings communicated to a certifying doctor of medicine or osteopathy of certain related foot conditions; and (3) fitting and supplying the shoes. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject to the continuing levy upon property and property rights, for collection of unpaid taxes, any payments made to a Medicaid provider or supplier.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Kids First Research Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate: (1) the taxpayer election to designate $3 of income tax liability for financing of presidential election campaigns, (2) the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, and (3) the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. Redesignates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund as the 10-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund. Makes amounts in the Fund available only for allocation to national research institutes and national centers through the Common Fund for making grants for pediatric research under this Act. Requires deposit into the Treasury general fund of any amounts in the Pediatric Research Initiative Fund that remain unobligated on October 1, 2024. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, to allocate funds appropriated under this Act to the national research institutes and national centers for making grants for pediatric research representing important areas of emerging scientific opportunities, rising public health challenges, or knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis and would benefit from conducting or supporting additional research that involves collaboration between two or more national research institutes or national centers, or would otherwise benefit from strategic coordination and planning. Authorizes $13 million out of the 10-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund for each of FY2014-FY2023 for pediatric research through the Common Fund. Requires such funds to supplement, not supplant, funds otherwise allocated by NIH for pediatric research. Prohibits the use of such amounts for any purpose other than making grants for pediatric research described in this Act. Requires the Director of NIH, before continuing any health economics research grant, project, or activity, to report to Congress on the justification for such research, including the reason for giving it priority over research on pediatric diseases and disorders. Prohibits the Director from initiating any health economics research grant, project, or activity until the Director has submitted the report outlining the justification and a federal law has been enacted authorizing NIH to use funding specifically for health economics research.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Vaccine Safety Study Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to conduct a comprehensive study to: (1) compare total health outcomes, including the incidence and risk of autism, between vaccinated and unvaccinated U.S. populations; and (2) determine whether exposure to vaccines or vaccine components is associated with autism spectrum disorders, chronic conditions, or other neurological conditions. Requires the Secretary to seek to include in the study U.S. populations that have traditionally remained unvaccinated for religious or other reasons. Directs the Secretary to ensure the preservation of all data, including all data sets, collected or used for purposes of the study to facilitate further research by the Secretary or others. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the conduct or support of any study in which an individual or population is encouraged or incentivized to remain unvaccinated.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Patients First Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support basic and applied research to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, testing, and human clinical use of stem cells that may result in improved understanding of, or treatments for, diseases and other adverse health conditions, including pluripotent stem cells that have the flexibility of embryonic stem cells (whether or not such pluripotent stem cells have an embryonic source), provided that such techniques will not involve: (1) the creation of a human embryo for research purposes; (2) the destruction or discarding of, or risk of injury to, a living human embryo; or (3) the use of any stem cell the derivation or provision of which would be inconsistent with this Act. Requires the Secretary to issue guidelines implementing this Act to ensure that any research (including any clinical trial) supported under this Act: (1) is clearly consistent with the standards established in this Act, if conducted using human cells; and (2) is prioritized in terms of potential for near-term clinical benefit in human patients. Requires the Secretary to report on peer reviewed stem cell research proposals that were not funded.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
In It All Together Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to limit the health plans that the federal government may make available to the President, the Vice President, and executive cabinet officials to those created under the Act or offered through an Exchange established under the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2013
Recognizes the sequencing of the human genome as one of the most significant scientific accomplishments of the past 100 years. Honors the 60th anniversary of the outstanding accomplishment of describing the structure of DNA and the 10th anniversary of completing the Human Genome Project. Expresses support for the designation of DNA Day.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 24 April 2013
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Treto Garza Far South Texas Veterans Inpatient Care Act of 2013 - Redesignates the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center in Harlingen, Texas, as the "Treto Garza South Texas Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center." Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) ensure that such Center includes a full-service inpatient health care facility, (2) modify the existing facility to meet such requirement, and (3) include in the annual VA strategic capital investment plan a project to expand the Center's capabilities to provide increased inpatient capacity, an urgent care center, and a full range of services for women veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem misbranded any food that has been genetically engineered or contains one or more genetically engineered ingredients, unless such information is clearly disclosed. Exempts from this requirement any food that: (1) is served in restaurants or other similar eating establishments, (2) is a medical food, (3) would be subject to such requirement solely because it was produced using a genetically engineered vaccine, or (4) would be subject to such requirement solely because it includes the use of a genetically engineered processing aid (including yeast) or enzyme. Defines "genetically engineered" as a material intended for human consumption that is: (1) an organism produced through the intentional use of genetic engineering, or (2) the progeny of intended sexual or asexual reproduction (or both) of one or more organisms that is the product of genetic engineering. Defines "genetically engineered ingredient" as an ingredient in a food that is derived from any part of an organism that has been genetically engineered, without regard to whether: (1) the altered molecular or cellular characteristics of the organism are detectable in the material, and (2) the organism is capable for use as human food. Excludes from penalties for misbranding of genetically engineered food or ingredients any recipient that establishes a guaranty or undertaking that: (1) is signed by, and contains the name and address of, a person residing in the United States from whom the recipient received the food in good faith (including the receipt of seeds to grow raw agricultural commodities); and (2) contains a statement to the effect that the food is not genetically engineered or does not contain a genetically engineered ingredient. Applies this exclusion from penalties without regard to the manner in which the recipient uses the food. Excludes an agricultural producer also from such penalties when a violation occurs because food the producer has grown, raised, or otherwise produced, which neither contains nor was produced with a genetically engineered material, is subsequently contaminated with a food that does contain or was produced with a genetically engineered material, and the agricultural producer has not intended any such contamination nor was negligent in the matter.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude from the average sales price in calculating Medicare payments for drugs and biologicals any customary prompt pay discounts from manufacturers to wholesalers
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Medicare DMEPOS Market Pricing Program Act of 2013 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish a market pricing program for durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) as a replacement for the competitive acquisition program, which is terminated as of December 31, 2013. Terminates contracts awarded before enactment of this Act on July 1, 2013. Prescribes requirements for transitional payments for items and services, including payments for diabetic supplies and off-the-shelf orthotics, in areas designated for rounds 1 and 2 of the erstwhile phase-in of the competitive acquistion program, as well as during the initial two-year period of the market pricing program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct market-priced auctions in eligible auction areas throughout the United States for the furnishing of market priced items and services, (2) establish an auction design through a specified process and meeting certain requirements, and (3) ensure that the first auction will be conducted for all eligible auction areas not later than 14 months after contracting with an auction expert. Directs the Secretary to: (1) select a combination of two categories of items and services for each auction, (2) establish a lead product for each product category, (3) establish for each market priced item and service a clearing price equal to the highest cost bid that will meet capacity targets in the market area, (4) award a contract to any entity in an auction's eligible market area whose bid is at or below the clearing price, and (5) monitor the performance of suppliers that are awarded a contract to ensure their compliance with certain requirements. Requires the Secretary, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, to contract with an auction expert and a market monitor to assist in the design, development, implementation, and functioning of the auction. Requires the market monitor, on an ongoing basis, also to monitor suppliers and the effects of the market pricing program. Rescinds unobligated balances of all discretionary appropriations for each fiscal year (except those for accounts, programs, projects and activities operated by the Department of Defense [DOD] or the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]) in an amount necessary to make this Act budget neutral for such fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from implementing, administering, or enforcing specified regulations insofar as they would replace International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 with ICD-10 as a standard for code sets for appropriate data elements for financial and administrative transactions involving the electronic exchange of health information. (The ICD is a health care classification system of diagnostic codes for classifying diseases.)
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Medicaid Program Integrity Act of 2013 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the option a state has, when determining an individual's Medicaid eligibility for long-term care assistance, to change the $500,000 maximum allowable equity interest of the individual in his or her home. Gives states the further option to reduce the maximum allowable home equity interest below $500,000 but not below $50,000. Requires indexed inflation adjustments to the state-selected alternative maximum beginning in 2014. Revises the general maintenance of effort requirement that a state maintain Medicaid eligibility standards no stricter than those in effect when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted until the state health insurance exchange required by such Act is operational. Declares that such maintenance of effort requirement shall not apply to changes in eligibility standards for medical assistance for long-term care services, so long as such changes would have been permitted under the law as in effect before the enactment of PPACA.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem misbranded any food that has been genetically engineered or contains one or more genetically engineered ingredients, unless such information is clearly disclosed. Exempts from this requirement any food that: (1) is served in restaurants or other similar eating establishments, (2) is a medical food, (3) would be subject to such requirement solely because it was produced using a genetically engineered vaccine, or (4) would be subject to such requirement solely because it includes the use of a genetically engineered processing aid (including yeast) or enzyme. Defines "genetically engineered" as a material intended for human consumption that is: (1) an organism produced through the intentional use of genetic engineering, or (2) the progeny of intended sexual or asexual reproduction (or both) of one or more organisms that is the product of genetic engineering. Defines "genetically engineered ingredient" as an ingredient in a food that is derived from any part of an organism that has been genetically engineered, without regard to whether: (1) the altered molecular or cellular characteristics of the organism are detectable in the material, and (2) the organism is capable for use as human food. Excludes from penalties for misbranding of genetically engineered food or ingredients any recipient that establishes a guaranty or undertaking that: (1) is signed by, and contains the name and address of, a person residing in the United States from whom the recipient received the food in good faith (including the receipt of seeds to grow raw agricultural commodities); and (2) contains a statement to the effect that the food is not genetically engineered or does not contain a genetically engineered ingredient. Applies this exclusion from penalties without regard to the manner in which the recipient uses the food. Excludes an agricultural producer also from such penalties when a violation occurs because food the producer has grown, raised, or otherwise produced, which neither contains nor was produced with a genetically engineered material, is subsequently contaminated with a food that does contain or was produced with a genetically engineered material, and the agricultural producer has not intended any such contamination nor was negligent in the matter.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2013
Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require a state Medicaid plan to provide 12-month continuous enrollment for an eligible individual, regardless of age. Amends SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) to require a state CHIP plan also to provide 12-month continuous enrollment for an eligible individual.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Restoring Integrity to our Government Act - Prohibits a proposed significant regulatory action from being finalized unless it includes the reasons why the agency proposing it determined that it is a significant regulatory action. Defines "significant regulatory action" as any regulatory action likely to result in a regulation that may: (1) have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal governments or communities; (2) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligation of recipients thereof; (4) add to the national debt; or (5) raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Restoring Honesty for our Economy Act - Prohibits a proposed economically significant regulation from being finalized unless such regulation: (1) identifies and quantifies all costs associated with it, or (2) describes why it is not possible for the agency to identify or quantify all such costs. Permits any person to file a petition for judicial review of such agency action. Defines "economically significant regulation" as one that: (1) has an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; or (2) adversely affects in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal governments or communities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day. Commends rehabilitation counselors and professional organizations assisting those who require rehabilitation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Ensuring Women's Access to Free-Market Healthcare Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow a health plan which does not have a deductible for prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care to be treated as a high deductible health plan.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Patient Centered Quality Care for Life Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Patient-Centered Health Care and Quality of Life Stakeholder Strategic Summit to: (1) analyze key health system barriers to providing patient-centered health care that integrates symptom management and other aspects of coordinated or palliative care; and (2) identify strategic solutions for collectively addressing quality of life concerns for the rapidly expanding population of patients and survivors facing serious, complex, and chronic illness in the United States and for the families of such patients and survivors. Requires the Secretary to establish a Summit Steering Committee, which shall draft a summary report detailing Summit recommendations for a national strategic action agenda to improve patient-centered care and quality of life. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a national quality of life education and awareness grants program initiative for seriously ill patients, their families, and health professionals who treat them for the purposes of encouraging an increased demand for and delivery of integrated and patient-centered care for managing their pain and symptoms and improving their quality of life. Requires the Director to award competitive grants to develop new and expand existing information, resources, and communication materials about symptom management and other aspects of patient-centered care as an integral part of quality care for serious illnesses. Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to establish a health care professional workforce training grants program initiative for purposes of promoting and enhancing symptom assessment and management, communications skills, coordinated patient-centered care, and other quality of life focused clinical core competencies across all clinical specialties that serve seriously ill patients and patients with multiple or complex chronic diseases. Requires the Secretary: (1) to update and expand the September 2002 HRSA report, titled "The Supply, Demand and Use of Palliative Care Physicians in the United States"; (2) to establish a Quality of Life Cross-Agency Advisory Committee to assist the CDC and HRSA in conducting the national quality of life education and awareness initiative and the health care professional workforce training initiative and to disseminate initiative findings for cross agency implementation of best practices; and (3) acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop and implement a strategy to be applied across NIH institutes and centers that is in accordance with the Advisory Committee's recommendations to expand national research programs in symptom management, palliative, psychosocial, and survivorship care.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2013
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1549) to amend Public Law 111-148 to transfer fiscal year 2013 through fiscal year 2016 funds from the Prevention and Public Health Fund to carry out the temporary high risk health insurance pool program for individuals with preexisting conditions, and to extend access to such program to such individuals who have had creditable coverage during the 6 months prior to application for coverage through such program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2013
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. Encourages state and local governments to recognize and support such a day. Promotes effective and comprehensive HIV prevention education programs as a tool to ensure that all people in the United States are educated about HIV. Urges youth-friendly and accessible health care services to better provide for the early identification of HIV through voluntary routine testing and to connect those in need to clinically and culturally appropriate care and treatment as early as possible. Commends the work of AIDS service organizations, community and faith-based organizations, and school-based health centers that are providing youth-friendly, effective, prevention, treatment, care, and support services to young people living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Recognizes the importance of interventions that address structural barriers faced by young people to living healthy lives. Prioritizes youth leadership and development in order to ensure youth involvement in decisions that impact their health and well-being and to provide the next generation of HIV/AIDS professionals as a necessary means to achieving an AIDS-free generation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2013
Improving Cancer Treatment Education Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage to comprehensive cancer patient treatment education services, including a one-hour patient treatment education session delivered, in advance of treatment, by a registered nurse to an individual diagnosed with cancer (or whose course of treatment has been materially modified). Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate research programs to: (1) improve the treatment and management of symptoms and side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatment, and (2) evaluate the role of nursing interventions in the amelioration of such symptoms and side effects.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2013
Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exempt traditional large and premium cigars from regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from user fees assessed on tobacco products by the FDA.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2013
Patients Right to Know Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require health plans to disclose in writing to consumers: (1) the annual fee on health insurance providers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (2) the annual fees imposed on health insurance policies, (3) required contributions by health plans to the reinsurance program, (4) user fees on health plans participating in health insurance exchanges, (5) payments by health plans whose costs are lower than the target amount (premiums collected minus administrative costs), and (6) charges assessed by states on health plans whose enrollees have a lower actuarial risk than the average actuarial risk of all enrollees in a state. Allows such costs to be calculated separately for individual, small group, or large group markets. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the methods of calculating the impact on average premium costs associated with: (1) guaranteed issuance of coverage and community rated premiums, (2) limitations on age rating, (3) required coverage of preventive services, and (4) the requirement that plans cover at least 60% of the actuarial value of essential health benefits. Requires Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make the disclosures under this Act and the GAO study available to the general public through an Internet website.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2013
Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act - Requires the Secretary of Education to make grants to states for the modernization, renovation, or repair of public schools, including early learning facilities and charter schools, to make them safe, healthy, high-performing, and technologically up-to-date. Allocates grant funds among states on the basis of the relative portion of school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) in each state under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Reserves 2% of the grant funds for assistance to outlying areas and Indian schools. Reserves 5% of the grant funds for LEAs serving geographic areas: (1) with significant economic distress, (2) recovering from a natural disaster, or (3) containing a military installation selected for closure. Requires states to reallocate such grant funds to LEAs on the basis of each LEA's share of school improvement funds received by LEAs in the state for the previous fiscal year. Allows LEAs to give priority to projects involving the abatement, removal, or interim control of asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, mold, mildew, lead-based hazards, or a proven carcinogen. Requires the iron and steel used in projects funded under this Act to have been produced in the United States, subject to specified exceptions. Directs LEA grantees to use their grants for public school modernization, renovation, repairs, construction, or maintenance that meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System standards, Energy Star standards, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria, Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating standards (Green Globes), or equivalent standards adopted by the entities that have jurisdiction over such LEAs. Requires the Secretary to work with grant recipients to promote appropriate opportunities for individuals enrolled in YouthBuild, Job Corps, junior or community college, or preapprenticeship programs to gain employment experience on projects funded under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) grants to institutions of higher education to provide an additional 250,000 part-time work-study jobs; (2) creation of an additional 100,000 Public Lands Corps positions; (3) the retention, rehiring, and hiring of 300,000 education jobs; (4) grants to state, local, and Indian tribal governments to hire and rehire overall an additional 40,000 career law enforcement officers; and (5) the hiring and rehiring of an additional 12,000 firefighters. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible health care and long-term care (LTC) providers to hire and retain 40,000 health care and LTC professionals. Authorizes appropriations for state and local government units to establish a Community Corps to create an additional 750,000 jobs for unemployed individuals to carry out specified activities. Amends the Head Start Act to authorize appropriations to employ an additional 100,000 full-time infant and toddler Head Start specialists.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2013
Making Investments Now for Dementia Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue bonds to aid in the funding of Alzheimer's research. Authorizes appropriations to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for such research. Expresses the sense of Congress that any funds collected pursuant to this Act are in addition to yearly appropriated funds and are not to be used to supplement current funding.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2013
Examining America's Mental Health Services Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine (or, if the Institute declines to enter into such an arrangement, another appropriate entity) to conduct a comprehensive study on gaps in mental health services and how these gaps can increase the risk of violent acts. Requires the study to include consideration of: (1) gaps in mental health treatment services for adults and children with severe and persistent mental illness; (2) barriers to receiving mental health services that result in high rates of untreated mental illness, and (3) the availability of interventions such as assisted outpatient treatment designed to reach individuals with untreated severe mental illness.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 17 April 2013
United States · United States Senate · 17 April 2013
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2013
Enhanced Access to Medicaid Services Act of 2013 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to apply the Medicaid primary care payment rate in 2013 and 2014 to additional physicians with a primary specialty designation of neurology, psychiatry, or obstetrics and gynecology.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2013
Cody Miller Initiative for Safer Prescriptions Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations regarding the authorship, content, format, and dissemination requirements for patient medication information (PMI) for prescription drugs. Requires such regulations to require the PMI for such a drug: (1) to be scientifically accurate and to be based on the approved professional labeling and authoritative, peer-reviewed literature; and (2) to include plain language that is not promotional in tone or content. Requires that such language include: (1) the established name of the drug; (2) drug uses and clinical benefits; (3) general directions for proper use; (4) contraindications, common side effects, and the most serious risks of the drug; (5) measures patients may take to reduce the side effects and risks; (6) when a patient should contact his or her health care professional; (7) instructions not to share medications; (8) any key storage requirements; (9) recommendations relating to proper disposal of any unused portion of the drug; and (10) known clinically important interactions with other drugs and substances. Requires such regulations to: (1) include standards related to performing timely updates of drug information, ensuring that common information is applied consistently and simultaneously across similar drug products and for drugs within classes of medications, and developing a process to assess the quality and effectiveness of PMI in promoting patient understanding and safe and effective use; and (2) provide for the development of a publicly accessible electronic repository for all PMI. Requires the Secretary to publish on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website a link to the Daily Med website.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2013
Cody Miller Initiative for Safer Prescriptions Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate regulations regarding the authorship, content, format, and dissemination requirements for patient medication information (PMI) for prescription drugs. Requires such regulations to require the PMI for such a drug: (1) to be scientifically accurate and to be based on the approved professional labeling and authoritative, peer-reviewed literature; and (2) to include plain language that is not promotional in tone or content. Requires that such language include: (1) the established name of the drug; (2) drug uses and clinical benefits; (3) general directions for proper use; (4) contraindications, common side effects, and the most serious risks of the drug; (5) measures patients may take to reduce the side effects and risks; (6) when a patient should contact his or her health care professional; (7) instructions not to share medications; (8) any key storage requirements; (9) recommendations relating to proper disposal of any unused portion of the drug; and (10) known clinically important interactions with other drugs and substances. Requires such regulations to: (1) include standards related to performing timely updates of drug information, ensuring that common information is applied consistently and simultaneously across similar drug products and for drugs within classes of medications, and developing a process to assess the quality and effectiveness of PMI in promoting patient understanding and safe and effective use; and (2) provide for the development of a publicly accessible electronic repository for all PMI. Requires the Secretary to publish on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website a link to the Daily Med website.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2013
Native American Suicide Prevention Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a state or state-designated eligible entity, as a condition of receiving a grant or cooperative agreement for development or implementation of a statewide youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategy, to agree to consult with each federally recognized Indian tribe and tribal organization and each urban Indian organization regarding such development or implementation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2013
Charles August Long Undiagnosed Diseases Research and Collaboration Network Act of 2013 or CAL Undiagnosed Diseases Research and Collaboration Network Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish and maintain an undiagnosed diseases patient network. Includes among the purposes of the CAL Network to: (1) provide physicians who are handling cases of undiagnosed diseases with a means to search for similar cases and to network and collaborate with physicians handling similar cases, (2) better enable and examine cross-disease research, (3) better describe the types and prevalence of cases of undiagnosed diseases in the United States, and (4) provide such data necessary to better understand the length of time for a diagnosis to be rendered and to identify barriers to diagnoses and reasons for misdiagnosis of diseases. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for: (1) the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on cases of undiagnosed diseases and other disorders that can often go undiagnosed or be misdiagnosed as other diseases or disorders; and (2) the establishment of separate undiagnosed disease programs.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2013
Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - States that passage of this Act recognizes that the primary tenets of its success depend on securing U.S. sovereignty and establishing a coherent and just system for integrating those who seek to join American society. Establishes a Southern Border Security Commission if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not achieved effective control in all high-risk border sectors within five years after enactment of this Act. States that the Commission's primary responsibility shall be to make border security policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), and Congress. Directs the Secretary to implement: (1) a Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy for achieving control between the ports of entry in all high-risk sectors along the Southern border, and (2) a Southern Border Fencing Strategy to identify where fencing and technology should be deployed along the Southern border. Establishes in the Treasury the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund. Prohibits the Secretary from processing applications for registered provisional immigrant status (RPI), as established by this Act, until the Secretary has submitted to Congress the notice of commencement of implementation of the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy and the Southern Border Fencing Strategy. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting RPI aliens to lawful permanent resident status, with certain exceptions, until the Secretary certifies to the President and Congress that: (1) the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy is substantially operational, (2) the Southern Border Fencing Strategy is substantially completed, (3) a mandatory employment verification system to be used by all employers to prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining U.S. employment has been implemented, and (4) an electronic exit system at air and sea ports of entry that operates by collecting machine-readable visa or passport information from air and vessel carriers is in use. Title I: Border Security - Directs the Secretary to increase the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers by 3,500 by September 30, 2017. Authorizes the governor of a state, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense (DOD), to order National Guard units or personnel to perform operations in the Southwest border region to assist CBP in securing the southern border. Directs DOD to provide material and logistical assistance as needed. Directs the Secretary to: (1) increase the number of border crossing prosecutions in the Tucson sector of the Southwest border region, (2) enhance border infrastructure, and (3) establish a two-year grant program to improve emergency communications in the Southwest border region. Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enhance law enforcement and operational readiness along the U.S. borders through Operation Stonegarden. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior to provide CBP personnel with immediate access to federal lands in the Southwest border region in Arizona for security activities. Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) to reimburse state, county, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys. Requires CBP to deploy additional mobile, video, and agent-portable surveillance systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Southwest border region. Authorizes appropriations for the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP) through FY2015. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue policies regarding the use of force by DHS personnel; and (2) provide appropriate training for CBP officers, U.S. Border Patrol officers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and agriculture specialists stationed within 100 miles of any U.S. land or marine border, or at any U.S. port of entry. Establishes the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Task Force. Title II: Immigrant Visas - Subtitle A: Registration and Adjustment of Registered Provisional Immigrants - Authorizes the Secretary, after conducting the required national security and law enforcement clearances, to grant RPI status to an alien unlawfully in the United States who: (1) meets specified eligibility requirements, (2) applies before the end of the application period, (3) has paid the required fee and penalty if applicable, and (4) has been physically present in the United States since December 31, 2011, and maintains such presence until RPI status has been granted. Sets forth bars to eligibility based upon criminal convictions, terrorist activity, and grounds for excludability. Provides derivative RPI status to the spouse or child of an RPI alien if the spouse or child is physically present in the United States: (1) on the date on which the RPI alien is granted such status and on or before December 30, 2012, and (2) meets specified eligibility requirements. Requires an alien applicant to satisfy federal tax liabilities and security and law enforcement clearances. Grants RPI status for an initial six-year period, which may be extended under specified conditions. Permits an RPI alien to work and travel outside the United States under specified conditions. Enumerates the grounds under which the Secretary may revoke RPI status. Prohibits an RPI alien from being removed unless such person was ineligible for RPI status or RPI status has been revoked. Makes an RPI alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit, and considers such person to be a noncitizen for certain other federal benefits. Authorizes an RPI alien to be issued a Social Security number. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if such person meets specified eligibility requirements, including: (1) evidence of employment or full-time education, and (2) English language skills. Prohibits an RPI alien from applying for legal permanent resident status until the Secretary of State certifies that immigrant visas have become available for all approved petitions filed before the date of enactment of this Act. States that an RPI alien may only adjust status under the merit-based system provided for by this Act. States that a lawful permanent resident who was lawfully present in the United States and eligible for work authorization for not less than 10 years before becoming a lawful permanent resident may be naturalized in three years upon compliance with all requirements if such person, immediately preceding the date of filing a naturalization application, has: (1) been physically present in the United States for at least 50% of the three-year period preceding such filing date, and (2) resided for at least three months in the state or the jurisdiction of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in which the application was filed. Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2013 or DREAM Act 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of a lawful permanent resident if the person demonstrates that he or she: (1) has been in RPI status for at least five years; (2) was younger than 16 years of age when such person entered the United States; (3) has earned a high school diploma or obtained a general education development certificate in the United States; (4) has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education or has completed at least two years in a program for a bachelor's or higher degree in the United States, or has served in the Uniformed Services for at least four years and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge; and (5) has provided a list of each secondary school attended in the United States. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting the status of an RPI alien to lawful permanent resident status unless the person: (1) satisfies citizenship requirements, (2) submits appropriate biometric and biographic data, and (3) undergoes security and law enforcement background checks. Considers for naturalization purposes an RPI alien granted lawful permanent resident status to have been: (1) lawfully admitted for permanent residence, and (2) in the United States as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence during the period the alien was in RPI status. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence. Sets forth RPI program provisions regarding: (1) prohibited and required disclosures, (2) employer protections, (3) audits and information evaluation, (4) administrative review, (5) privacy and civil liberties, and (6) judicial review. Establishes a criminal penalty of up to $10,000 for a person who knowingly uses, publishes, or permits the improper use of RPI application information. Authorizes the Secretary to establish within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services a program to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to assist RPI applicants. Establishes a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-only lawful permanent resident status for certain long-term Commonwealth legal residents. Authorizes such aliens to receive an immigrant visa or to adjust to lawful permanent (U.S.) resident status beginning five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Subtitle B: Agricultural Worker Program - Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary to confer "blue card status" upon an alien who: (1) has performed specified periods of agricultural employment in the United States or is a qualifying alien's spouse or child, (2) applied for such status during the one-year application period (with a discretionary 18-month extension period), and (3) is not ineligible under the grounds applicable to RPI aliens. Prohibits the Secretary from granting blue card status to an alien (or dependent spouse or child) unless such person submits eligibility-related security and law enforcement biometric and biographic data. States that blue card status expires eight years after the date on which final blue card regulations are published. Permits a blue card alien to work and travel outside the United States under specified conditions. Enumerates the grounds under which the Secretary may revoke blue card status. Makes a blue card alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an alien who has been granted blue card status to RPI status if the alien is unable to fulfill the agricultural service requirement. Directs the Secretary to adjust a blue card alien (and spouse and children) to permanent resident status if the alien has fulfilled specified periods of agricultural employment. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create: (1) a W-3 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a written contract that specifies the wages, benefits, and working conditions of such full-time employment with a designated agricultural employer for a specified period of time; and (2) a W-4 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a full-time employment offer from a designated agricultural employer for such employment. Establishes the nonimmigrant agricultural (W-3 and W-4 visa) worker program. Sets forth employer and worker program provisions and requirements, including penalties for program violations and U.S. worker protections. Establishes a limit for the first five years of the program which may be adjusted annually based upon specified demand and economic factors. Bases subsequent year limitations upon specified demand and economic factors. Provides for a three-year period of admission, with one additional three-year extension without having to leave the United States. Provides for worker portability. Prohibits derivative status for the spouses and children of program aliens. Excludes W-3 and W-4 workers from need-based federal financial assistance programs. Establishes a cut-off date for petitioning for H-2A temporary agricultural workers that is one year after the effective date of the regulations implementing the agricultural worker program under this Act. Subtitle C: Future Immigration - Establishes a merit-based and points immigrant admissions system. Provides for: (1) 120,000 admissions per fiscal year, annual increases based upon specified conditions, and a maximum admissions cap of 250,000; (2) recapture of unused visas; and (3) lawful permanent resident status for such entrants. Provides that: (1) for the first four fiscal years the worldwide level of merit-based immigrant visas shall be available for skilled workers, professionals, and certain other workers; and (2) for subsequent fiscal years preference will be given to tier 1 and tier 2 aliens based upon a point allocation system. Awards tier 1 and tier 2 points to applicants for specified criteria, including: (1) education, (2) employment, (3) entrepreneurship, (4) high demand occupation, (5) English language, (6) age, (7) country of origin, and (8) family relationships. Provides that: (1) RPI aliens may begin accruing points no earlier than 10 years after enactment of this Act, and (2) aliens with a pending or approved petition in another immigrant category are ineligible for a merit-based immigrant visa. Makes specified employment- and family-based applicants and long-term workers eligible for merit-based immigrant visas beginning on October 1, 2014. Sets forth worldwide levels of employment- and family-based immigrants. Includes the spouse or minor child of a lawful permanent resident alien in the definition of "immediate family." Eliminates the per-country limit for employment-based immigrants and increases the per-country limit for family-based immigrants. Revises family-based immigrant visa allocations for: (1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, (2) married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (and requires that they be under 31 years old at time of filing, and (3) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. lawful permanent residents. Eliminates the visa category for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Includes among immigrants not subject to numerical limitations aliens: (1) who are derivative beneficiaries of employment-based immigrants; (2) with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; (3) who are outstanding professors and researchers; (4) who are multinational executives and managers; (5) who have earned a doctorate degree; (6) who are physicians with completed foreign residency requirements; and (7) who have earned a graduate degree in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM field) from an accredited U.S. institution of higher education with an offer of U.S. employment. Increases visa allocations for: (1) certain special immigrants, (2) employment creation immigrants, and (3) skilled workers and professionals. Repeals the diversity immigrant program as of October 1, 2014. Permits aliens selected for FY2013 or FY2014 to retain program eligibility. Revises nonimmigrant V-visa (spouses and children of lawful permanent residents coming to the United States to wait for completion of the immigrant visa process) provisions. Makes fiances of lawful permanent residents eligible for a nonimmigrant K-visa (fiance or fiancee). Redefines "child" for purposes of titles I and II of INA to include a stepchild under 21 years old. Permits children under 18 years old to be adopted. Provides specified relief for orphans and spouses regarding: (1) petitions for immediate relative status, (2) parole eligibility, (3) naturalization, (4) processing of immigrant visas and derivative petitions, (5) waivers of inadmissibility, (6) surviving relative consideration for certain petitions and applications, and (7) immediate relative status. Authorizes an immigration judge, under specified conditions, to: (1) decline to order an alien removed, deported, or excluded; and (2) terminate such proceedings. Revises waiver of inadmissibility provisions, including: (1) waiving inadmissibility for certain persons who entered the United States before they were 16 years old who have earned a degree from a U.S. institution of higher education; (2) adding a three-year limit on immigration-related misrepresentations; and (3) waiving inadmissibility for false claims of U.S. citizenship by persons under 18 years old, or otherwise lacking mental competence. Extends the Iraqi special immigrant visa program and the Afghan special immigrant visa program. Requires application processing improvements. Makes the special immigrant non-minister religious worker and the EB-5 regional center programs permanent. Subtitle D: Conrad State 30 and Physician Access - Makes the J-1 visa waiver (Conrad state 30/medical services in underserved areas) program permanent. Excludes from numerical immigration limitations alien physicians who have completed national interest waiver requirements by working in a health care shortage area (including alien physicians who completed such service before the date of enactment of this Act and their spouse and children). Sets forth specified employment protections and contract requirements for alien physicians working in underserved areas. Increases the number of alien physicians that a state may be allocated to 35 per fiscal year under specified circumstances. Provides for additional increases or decreases based upon demand. Provides up to three visa waivers per fiscal year per state for physicians in academic medical centers. Permits dual intent for an alien coming to the United States to receive graduate medical education or training, or to take examinations required for graduate medical education or training. Subtitle E: Integration - Renames the Office of Citizenship of DHS as the Office of Citizenship and New Americans. Authorizes the Office to make grants to states and local governments to assist them in integrating immigrants. Authorizes the Secretary, through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to: (1) establish the United States Citizenship Foundation to expand citizenship preparation programs; and (2) award initial entry, adjustment, and citizenship assistance grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for immigration integration programs. Waives, with respect to naturalization: (1) English language and civics requirements for persons over 65 years old who have lived in the United States for at least 5 years as lawful permanent residents, and (2) the English language requirement for persons over 60 years old who have lived in the United States for at least 10 years as lawful permanent residents. Title III: Interior Enforcement - Subtitle A: Employment Verification System - Prohibits an employer from: (1) hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee an alien who is not authorized to work in the United States or failing to comply with E-Verify or document requirements; or (2) continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. Authorizes an employer to rely on a state employment agency's referral of an employee if the agency has certified that it has complied with document requirements. Provides a good faith defense for an employer who has complied with document and E-Verify requirements. Requires an employer to: (1) examine specified documents to verify an individual's identity and employment status and use an identity authentication mechanism once it becomes available, and (2) retain verification records for the later of three years after hiring or one year after termination. Requires an employee to provide an employer with such documents and attest that he or she is authorized to work in the United States. Sets forth employer penalties and civil rights protections. States that these provisions shall not be construed to authorize the establishment of a national identification card. Requires: (1) federal agencies and departments to participate in E-Verify 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, (2) federal contractors to participate as provided for by a final rule, (3) employers with more than 5,000 employees to participate within two years after implementing regulations are published, (4) employers with more than 500 employees to participate within three years after implementing regulations are published, (5) agricultural laborers to participate four years after enactment of the Legal Workforce Act, (6) tribal employers to participate within five years after implementing regulations are published, and (7) all other employers to participate within four years after implementing regulations are published. Provides that one year after implementing regulations are published the Secretary may authorize or direct critical infrastructure employers to participate in E-Verify. States that failure to participate in E-Verify shall constitute a civil violation. Sets forth E-Verify program provisions. Requires that within five years all Social Security cards issued shall be fraud-, tamper-, wear-, and identity theft-resistant. Makes specified forms of Social Security fraud punishable by fine, up to five years' imprisonment, or both. Amends the Social Security Act to direct the Commissioner of Social Security (SSA) establish a secure method to check specified employee data against SSA data in order to confirm identity and employment eligibility. Makes it an unfair immigration-related employment practice for a person, entity, or employment agency to discriminate based upon an individual's national origin or citizenship status with respect to hiring, firing, or verifying employment eligibility. Subtitle B: Protecting United States Workers - Expands the U-visa (crime victims) category to include aliens who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse or harm, or who would suffer extreme hardship upon removal, as a result of having been a victim of the following covered violations: (1) certain workplace abuses, (2) slavery or trafficking in persons, or (3) deprivation of due process or constitutional rights. Provides specified protections for aliens arrested or detained as part of a workplace enforcement action at a facility about which a workplace claim has been filed, including non-removal until interviewed by DHS. Authorizes a U-visa applicant to work in the United States. Limits the disclosure of information provided by alien victims of certain crimes. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Establishes in the Treasury the Interior Enforcement Account. Directs the Secretary, by December 31, 2015, to establish a mandatory exit data system that shall include the collection of data from machine-readable visas, passports, and other travel and entry documents for all aliens who are exiting the United States from air and sea ports of entry. Directs the Secretary to implement an interoperable electronic data system to access database information from federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community for purposes of visa issuance or admissibility or deportability. Requires an appropriate official of each commercial aircraft or vessel departing from the United States to any port or place outside the United States to ensure transmission to CBP of identity-theft resistant departure manifest information covering alien passengers, crew, and non-crew. Prohibits federal law enforcement officers, in making routine law enforcement decisions (such as ordinary traffic stops), from using race or ethnicity to any degree, except that officers may rely on race and ethnicity if a specific suspect description exists. Subtitle D: Asylum and Refugee Provisions - Eliminates the one-year time limit for filing an asylum claim. Permits, and sets forth the requirements for, reopening a claim that was denied because of failure to file within one year. Authorizes the spouse or child of a refugee or asylee to bring his or her accompanying or joining child into the United States as a refugee or asylee. Authorizes the President to designate refugee groups. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to designate specific groups of individuals as stateless persons, (2) the Secretary or the Attorney General to provide conditional lawful status to a qualifying stateless person who is otherwise inadmissible or deportable, and (3) the Secretary or the Attorney General to adjust such person to lawful permanent resident status after one year in conditional lawful status. Sets forth protections for stateless persons in the United States, including work and travel authorizations. Increases the number of annual U-visas, with a set-aside for victims of a covered violation. Subtitle E: Shortage of Immigration Court Resources for Removal Proceedings - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) increase the number of immigration court judges and Immigration Board of Appeals staff attorneys in each of FY2014-FY2016; (2) appoint counsel in certain removal proceedings involving an unaccompanied child, an individual with a serious mental disability, or a particularly vulnerable individual; and (3) establish within the Executive Office for Immigration Review an Office of Legal Access Programs to develop programs to make immigration proceedings more efficient by educating aliens regarding administrative procedures and legal rights. Requires the Board of Immigration Appeals to review decisions of immigration judges. Subtitle F: Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Abuses Involving Workers Recruited Abroad - Requires any person who engages in foreign labor contracting to disclose in writing in English and in the primary language of the worker being recruited specified information, including the identity of the employer and the recruiter, worker protections, and a signed copy of the work contract. Requires a foreign labor contractor to register with the Secretary of Labor. Sets forth registration requirements. Prohibits certain recruitment fees. Prohibits any person who engages in foreign labor contracting from discriminating in hiring based upon race, color, creed, sex, national origin, religion, age, or disability. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a list of all foreign labor contractors registered and a list of all foreign labor contractors whose registration has been revoked; and (2) establish a process for receipt, investigation, and disposition of complaints. Sets forth administrative and civil action enforcement provisions. Subtitle G: Interior Enforcement - Makes an alien who has been convicted of an offense for which an element was active and knowing participation in a criminal street gang inadmissible and deportable. Makes an alien inadmissible who is physically outside the United States and since the age of 18 knowingly and willingly participated in a criminal street gang. Makes an alien who is at least 18 years old ineligible for RPI status for such criminal street gang activities. Makes an alien who has been convicted three or more times for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated inadmissible and deportable. Revises criminal penalty and related affirmative defense provisions regarding illegal entry and reentry. Increases: (1) monetary penalties for owners and operators of vessels and aircraft regarding stowaways and execution of removal orders; and (2) criminal penalties for passport and immigration fraud, including penalties for a passport crime committed to facilitate international terrorism or drug trafficking. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action to enjoin any fraudulent immigration service provider from continuing to provide services that substantially interfere with the administration of the immigration laws or from continuing to willfully misrepresent such provider's legal authority to provide representation. Makes an alien who is convicted of a passport or visa violation under the federal criminal code inadmissible and removable. Makes certain aliens inadmissible who: (1) refuse to comply with a lawful request for biometric information; (2) have been convicted of a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment; or (3) are in violation of a domestic protection order by engaging in conduct that constitutes criminal contempt of such order. Prohibits an individual acting for financial gain from directing or participating in an effort to bring or attempt to bring five or more persons unlawfully into the United States. Establishes: (1) monetary and/or prison penalties for such actions; and (2) increased penalties for such actions that result in death or serious bodily injury or that place a life in jeopardy or involve bribery of a government official, robbery, or sexual abuse. Makes it a crime to: (1) transmit to another person the location, movement, or activities of law enforcement agents while intending to further a federal crime relating to U.S. immigration; and (2) destroy, alter, or damage any physical or electronic device used by the federal government to control the border or any port of entry. Prohibits the carrying or use of a firearm in an alien smuggling crime. Directs the Secretary to establish secure alternatives programs with community-based organizations to ensure appearances at immigration proceedings and public safety. Prohibits a U.S. national from renouncing his or her citizenship during wartime. Authorizes the Secretary to use secure alternatives programs to maintain custody over detained aliens, except for terrorist aliens. Sets forth oversight and related provisions for detention facilities. Directs the Secretary of State, upon notification from the Secretary, to prohibit visas to be granted to persons of a country whose government denies or unreasonably delays accepting their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents back. Makes inadmissible an alien who has committed acts of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes, or systematic attacks on civilians. Title IV: Reforms to Nonimmigrant Visa Programs - Subtitle A: Employment-based Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes: (1) an H-1B visa (specialty occupation) cap of 110,000 for the fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) a market and unemployment based adjustment mechanism that increases or reduces the annual cap by not more than 10,000, with a minimum floor of 110,000 and a maximum ceiling of 180,000. Limits the exemption from H-1B numerical limitations to STEM occupations and increases the annual STEM allocation to 25,000. Authorizes an H-1B spouse to work if he or she is the national of a country that permits reciprocal employment. Provides deference to prior H-1B or L-visa (intra-company transferee) adjudications involving the same employer and nonimmigrant absent material error, changed circumstances, or new information adversely affecting eligibility. Provides a 60-day lawful status period for an H-1B nonimmigrant whose employment is terminated. Authorizes visa revalidation within the United States for specified nonimmigrant visa categories. Establishes: (1) in the Treasury the STEM Education and Training Account, and (2) a low-income STEM scholarship program. Subtitle B: H-1B Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Revises H-1B requirements for employer applications and application reviews. Revises provisions regarding nonimmigrant nurses (H-1C visa) in health professional shortage areas to: (1) permit a one-time three-year extension of admission, (2) reduce the maximum number of such visas per fiscal year to 300, and (3) authorize such nonimmigrants to accept new employment as a registered nurse at any H-1C-qualifying facility. Revises provisions regarding complaints against H-1B employers, including: (1) extending the statute of limitations on complaint investigations, (2) increasing fines for specified violations, (3) enhancing whistle-blower protections, and (4) authorizing the Department of Labor to initiate investigations. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish an H-1B recruitment website. Establishes: (1) specified filing fees for H-1B-dependent employers, and (2) a fee for premium processing of employment-based immigrant petitions. Subtitle C: L Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Authorizes and enumerates the requirements for: (1) outplacement of L-visa nonimmigrants, and (2) 12-month approvals of new office L-visa petitions. Prohibits employers with 50 or more employees in the United States from hiring new or additional H-1B or L-visa workers if their workforce comprises more than 75% H-1B or L-visa workers in FY2015, 65% in FY2016, and 50% H-1B and L-visa workers in FY2017 and thereafter. (Excludes nonprofit institutions of higher education or nonprofit research organizations from such limitation.) Sets forth filing fee provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to initiate complaints against L-visa employers. Sets forth related penalty provisions. Directs the Inspector General of DHS to report to Congress regarding the use of L-visa blanket petitions. Subtitle D: Other Nonimmigrant Visas - Authorizes dual intent for F-1 visa foreign students (and dependents), including students who commute from Canada or Mexico to study in the United States. Establishes additional accreditation requirements for colleges, universities, and language schools. Revises the nonimmigrant E-visa (treaty trader) category to: (1) include aliens seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a bilateral investment treaty or a free trade agreement; (2) establish an E-4 visa for specialty occupation workers (other than from Chile, Singapore, or Australia) to enter the United States pursuant to a free trade agreement; and (3) establish an E-5 visa for specialty occupation workers who are nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Limits E-4 entrants to 5,000 per fiscal year per country. Includes in the nonimmigrant E-3 visa category certain nationals of Ireland coming to the United States under a treaty of commerce to perform specialty occupation services. Extends portability to certain nonimmigrant O-1 visa holders (extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry). Eliminates the 12-month attendance limit for elementary and secondary foreign students. Subtitle E: Jobs Originated through Launching Travel Act of 2013 or the JOLT Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of State to establish a pilot fee-based premium processing service to expedite visa interview appointments. Authorizes the Secretary to admit into the United States a qualifying Canadian citizen over 55 years old and spouse for a period not to exceed 240 days if the person maintains a Canadian residence and owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of such stay. Establishes a nonimmigrant Y-visa for: (1) an alien who invests (and maintains) at least $500,000 in U.S. residential real estate, of which at least $250,000 must be for a U.S. primary residence where such person will reside for more than 180 days per year; and (2) such alien's accompanying spouse and children. Makes such visa renewable every three years. Requires a Y-visa alien to: (1) be at least 55 years old, (2) have purchased a qualifying residence, (3) not need public assistance, and (4) live in the United States for more than 180 days per year. Directs the Secretary to make publicly available each month data for the previous two years regarding visa appointment availability for each visa processing post to allow applicants to identify periods of low demand. Revises the visa waiver program to: (1) authorize the Secretary to designate any country as a program country; (2) adjust visa refusal rate criteria, including addition of a 3% maximum overstay rate; and (3) revise probationary and termination provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to expand registered traveler programs to include individuals who meet security requirements and are employed and sponsored by an international organization which maintains a strong working relationship with the United States. Prohibits enrollment of an individual who is a citizen of a state sponsor of terror. Directs the Secretary of State to require U.S. diplomatic and consular missions to: (1) conduct nonimmigrant visa application interviews expeditiously, consistent with national security requirements and in recognition of resource allocation considerations; and (2) explore expanding visa processing capacity in China and Brazil. Subtitle F: Reforms to the H-2B Visa Program - Exempts returning workers from the nonimmigrant H-2B visa (temporary nonagricultural services) annual numerical limitations through FY2018. Includes ski instructors in the nonimmigrant P-visa (athletes, artists, and entertainers). Requires H-2B employers to: (1) attest that they will not displace a U.S. worker in the same metropolitan statistical area where the H-2B worker will be hired within the period beginning 90 days before the start date and ending on the end date of the H-2B employment, (2) pay certain H-2B worker transportation costs, and (3) pay a $500 labor certification application fee. Authorizes the nonimmigrant admission of: (1) multinational executives and managers for up to 90 days to oversee U.S. operations of their related companies, (2) multinational company employees for up to 180 days to participate in leadership and development activities, and (3) certain relief workers for up to 90 days in response to a federal or state declared disaster. Prohibits the receipt of U.S.-sourced salaries for such activities. Establishes a nonimmigrant Z-visa for certain aliens coming to the United States for up to 90 days to perform health and safety-related maintenance or repairs for common carriers on equipment or machinery manufactured outside of the United States. Subtitle G: W Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research which shall: (1) devise a methodology to determine the annual change to the W-visa nonimmigrant cap and use such methodology to set such caps, (2) supplement W-visa recruitment methods, (3) conduct a survey every three months of construction worker unemployment, (4) devise a methodology to designate shortage occupations by job zone, and (5) report to Congress on employment-based and immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs. Establishes: (1) a nonimmigrant W-1 visa for an alien having a foreign residence who is coming to the United States to perform services or labor for a registered employer in a registered position, and (2) a nonimmigrant W-2 visa for the accompanying or joining spouse or children of such alien. Requires such alien to be certified abroad by the Secretary of State as eligible for a W-visa. Provides that: (1) a certified alien may be granted W-visa status for an initial three-year period, with additional three-year extensions which may be made while in the United States; and (2) a W-visa nonimmigrant must leave the United States if unemployed for more than 60 consecutive days. Sets forth employer registration and related provisions. Subtitle H: Investing in New Venture, Entrepreneurial Startups, and Technologies - Establishes a nonimmigrant X-visa for a qualified entrepreneur: (1) who has secured at least $100,000 in investments from an accredited investor, venture capitalist, or government entity for such alien's U.S. business; or (2) whose U.S. business has created at least three qualified jobs during the previous two years and has generated at least $250,000 in annual revenue in the United States. Provides for an initial three-year period of authorized admission, with three-year extensions based upon job creation, investment, or revenue and up to two one-year extensions based upon performance waivers. Establishes an immigrant investor visa (capped at 10,000 per year) for qualifying entrepreneur aliens (including aliens with advanced STEM degrees) living in the United States whose U.S. business has met specified job creation, revenue, and/or venture capital or investment requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2013
Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2013 - Allows dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) paid through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to the surviving spouses of veterans to be increased for months occurring during the five-year (under current law, two-year) period beginning on the date of entitlement. Provides that the remarriage after age 55 of the surviving spouse of a veteran shall not bar the furnishing of VA DIC, health care, educational assistance, and housing loans. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide, to any spina bifida-affected child of a veteran who served on active duty in Thailand beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, and was exposed to a herbicide agent during such service, the same health care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary allowance required to be paid to a similarly-affected child of a Vietnam veteran. Directs the Secretary to carry out a two-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing grief counseling services for the surviving spouses of veterans who die while serving on active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2013
Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require drug manufacturers to pay the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) drug rebates for rebate eligible (low-income) individuals. Excludes from Medicare coverage as a part D drug any drug or biological manufactured by a manufacturer that has not entered into and have in effect a rebate agreement with the Secretary. Requires a rebate agreement to require a drug or biological manufacturer to provide to the Secretary a rebate, determined according to a specified formula, for each rebate period ending after December 31, 2011, for any covered Medicare part D drug dispensed after that date to any rebate eligible individual for which payment was made by a prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsor or MedicareAdvantage (MA) organization for such period. Specifies a formula for determination of Medicaid rebate amounts for such drugs or biologicals. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to exclude any amounts paid under a rebate agreement from the determination of best price and average manufacturer price under the Medicaid program.