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659 records in US in 1993
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Health Payor Forms Simplification Act of 1993 - Mandates development of simple and uniform model forms for consumers and health care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Drug Testing Quality Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a program for the certification of laboratories for the performance of toxicological urinalysis for drug testing programs. Requires the program to conform to specified mandatory guidelines. Mandates regulations to ensure the integrity of drug testing programs. Sets forth specimen collection procedures. Prohibits: (1) performing urinalysis for drug testing without certification; and (2) subject to exception, testing for a drug or drug class not listed in certain provisions. Provides for criminal penalties, administrative remedies, injunctions, and certain civil actions. Requires fees for certification and recertification to cover costs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Benefits and Eligibility Title II: Participation of Physicians, Dentists, Nurses, Hospitals, and Others Title III: Local Administration Title IV: State Administration Title V: National Health Insurance Board; National Advisory Medical Policy Council; General Administrative Provisions Title VI: Eligibility Determinations, Complaints, Hearings, and Judicial Review Title VII: Application of Act to Individuals Covered Under Medicare Program Title VIII: Fiscal Provisions Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions Title X: Value Added Tax and National Health Care Trust Fund Title XI: Study and Development of Cost Control Mechanisms National Health Insurance Act - Title I: Benefits and Eligibility - (Sec. 101) Makes medical services available to eligible individuals. (Sec. 102) Authorizes the National Health Insurance Board to limit services when personnel, facilities, or funds are inadequate. (Sec. 103) Allows patient choice of physicians and hospitals. (Sec. 105) Makes Federal grants to States under the Social Security Act available to the States for services for uninsured needy individuals. Title II: Participation of Physicians, Dentists, Nurses, Hospitals, and Others - (Sec. 205) Authorizes State agreements with individuals or organizations for service provision. (Sec. 208) Regulates payment bases and rates, requiring local adjustments. (Sec. 210) Allows providers to choose their practice locality and, consistent with State law and professional ethics, reject patients. Title III: Local Administration - (Sec. 301) Decentralizes administration to local administrative committees or officers. (Sec. 303) Requires establishment in each health service area of a local area committee and local professional committees. Title IV: State Administration - (Sec. 401) Expresses the intent of the Congress that benefit provisions be administered by each State. Provides for Board administration if State plans are not approved and complied with. Title V: National Health Insurance Board; National Advisory Medical Policy Council; General Administrative Provisions - (Sec. 501) Establishes: (1) in the Department of Health and Human Services the National Health Insurance Board; (2) the National Advisory Medical Policy Council. Title VI: Eligibility Determinations, Complaints, Hearings, and Judicial Review - (Sec. 601) Requires that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determine benefit eligibility. (Sec. 602) Describes complaint investigation procedures. Title VII: Application of Act to Individuals Covered Under Medicare Program - (Sec. 701) Limits, for individuals entitled to benefits under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, benefits under this Act to services for which the individual is not eligible under Medicare. (Sec. 702) Mandates a study of the relationship of this Act's program and Medicare. Title VIII: Fiscal Provisions - (Sec. 801) Makes National Health Care Trust Fund amounts available for expenditures under this Act. (Sec. 802) Directs the Board to determine amounts to be made available from the Fund and allotments to the States. (Sec. 803) Authorizes grants to: (1) educational institutions regarding the training of personnel providing or administering benefits; and (2) individuals in courses regarding the provision or administration of benefits. Requires that funds be made available. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 902) Requires that benefits first become available on a specified date. Title X: Value Added Tax and National Health Care Trust Fund - (Sec. 1001) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on each taxable transaction (the sale of property, performance of services, and importing of property by a taxable person in a commercial-type transaction). Sets the tax rate at zero for: (1) retail food, principal residence housing (sale and rental), and medical care; (2) certain transactions involving governmental entities; and (3) certain tax-exempt organizations. Makes the person selling the property or services liable for the tax. (Sec. 1002) Establishes the National Health Care Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund amounts received from the value added tax. Allows the Fund to be used only to carry out the program under this Act. Title XI: Study and Development of Cost Control Mechanisms - (Sec. 1101) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) conduct a study on controlling benefit costs, including malpractice claims and malpractice insurance costs; (2) report to the Congress; and (3) implement the report's recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Universal Access to Health Coverage Title II: Medical and Health Insurance Information Reform Title III: MEWA Enforcement Improvements Universal Health Benefits Empowerment and Partnership Act of 1993 - Title I: Universal Access to Health Coverage - (Sec. 101) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for universal coverage under group health plans and statewide accessible (or State-based) health benefits systems. Requires employers to offer coverage for eligible individuals under basic group health plans or group health payroll deduction plans. Sets forth requirements for statewide accessible health benefit systems, including reporting, participation, benefits, contribution, reciprocity, and coverage. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prescribe regulations for such systems. Provides for coverage by such systems of uninsurable risks and preexisting conditions. (Sec. 102) Allows States to establish certain State-based systems in the absence of statewide access to coverage. Provides for recognition of certain substitute basic health benefits systems. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a program of grants to statewide accessible health benefits systems. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 103) Declares that such statewide accessible or substitute systems satisfy certain continuation coverage requirements under ERISA and related laws. (Sec. 104) Preempts State laws which mandate certain health benefits or restrict managed medical care under employee welfare benefit plans. (Sec. 105) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to remove certain restrictions on the tax-exempt status of multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) providing basic health benefits. (Sec. 106) Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) with respect to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the Office of the Forum for Quality and Effectiveness in Health Care. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 107) Establishes a Federal Advisory Council on Health Care Coverage and Costs. Requires the Council to study and report to the Secretary of HHS on how practice guidelines may be used in reducing medical malpractice costs. (Sec. 108) Amends the IRC to increase the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals from 25 percent through 1995 to 50 percent in 1996 and 1997 and to 100 percent in 1998 and thereafter. Title II: Medical and Health Insurance Information Reform - Medical and Health Insurance Information Reform Act of 1993 - (Sec. 202) Amends the Social Security Act to require the Secretary to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets specified criteria and, if it has not developed or implemented such a program, take necessary action to implement a comparable program in such State. Requires Federal agency heads responsible for providing health insurance or health care services to individuals to develop health care value information about their programs comparing them with State program data. Requires the Secretary to promulgate requirements for the periodic submission by insurers of health care data relevant to health care Services research. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to make all Medicare claim records available under the Freedom of Information Act, without regard to the consent of the physician or other item or service furnisher. Requires the Secretary to develop model systems to facilitate the gathering and analysis of health care cost, quality, and outcomes data. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to each State for the development and implementation of its health care value information program. Authorizes appropriations. Preempts State laws which require medical or health insurance records to be maintained in written, rather than electronic form. Requires the Secretary to promulgate: (1) requirements concerning health insurance information privacy and confidentiality protection for individuals; (2) standards and requirements concerning the electronic receipt and transmission of certain health insurance information if there are problems receiving and transmitting it which cause significant administrative costs; and (3) requirements for the format and content of basic health insurance claim forms. Requires the Secretary to publish recommendations for the types and format of information used by insurers if requests for it by insurers cause administrative costs disproportionate to the benefits derived. Requires the Secretary to: (1) promulgate rules for determining the liability of insurers when benefits are payable under two or more health insurance plans; and (2) promulgate requirements for the furnishing of health insurance information among insurers if there are problems relating to its availability which cause significant mistaken benefit payments or administrative costs. Requires the Secretary to determine if each State has in effect standards, requirements, and rules substantially the same as those under this Act for insurers relating to health insurance information privacy and confidentiality protection, identification numbers, the receipt and transmission of health insurance information, health insurance claim forms, liability, and the furnishing of health insurance information among insurers. Applies such standards, requirements, and rules to activities of insurers in the State if the State does not have them. Requires the Secretary to: (1) determine if the State maintains an effective enforcement mechanism for State requirements; and (2) promulgate requirements for hospitals and other providers concerning electronic medical data. Sets forth requirements for hospitals which participate in Medicare. Allows Federal agency heads to require any provider required to transmit certain data elements to transmit them electronically and present them in the manner prescribed under this Act. (Sec. 204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on: (1) insurers and administrators of self-insured employee plans who fail to comply with the standards, requirements, and rules established under this Act; and (2) insurers who fail to submit to the Secretary certain health care data for health care research purposes. Title III: MEWA Enforcement Improvements - Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements Enforcement Improvements Act of 1993 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with respect to multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) and other employee welfare benefit plans. (Sec. 302) Revises the definition of employee welfare benefit plan to: (1) allow up to five percent of the aggregate number of covered individuals to be individuals who are not employees or former employees of the employer (or members or former members of the employee organization) which established or maintains the plan; and (2) include a plan, fund, or program established or maintained by a franchise network or by two or more trades or businesses that are within the same control group or were within it at any time during the preceding one-year period. (Sec.303) Amends the definition of MEWA to: (1) limit the exclusion of collective bargaining agreements, under specified conditions; (2) exclude franchise networks; (3) exclude insurers, or health maintenance organizations licensed to do business in a State; (4) exclude trades and businesses within the same control group at any time during the preceding one-year period (as well as those currently in the same group), by deeming them a single employer; and (5) provide that single plans shall not be deemed MEWAs solely because they cover individuals who are not employees or former employees, or their beneficiaries, if the number of such individuals never exceeds five percent of the aggregate covered during the plan year. (Sec. 304) Makes ERISA title I (Protection of Employee Benefit Rights) applicable to any MEWA engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 305) Requires MEWAs which provide medical care benefits to file annual registration statements with the Secretary of Labor. (Sec. 306) Authorizes the Secretary, to assess a civil penalty for a trustee's or other responsible person's failure or refusal to file such registration statement. Authorizes district courts to order the MEWA to cease activities and to grant additional equitable or remedial relief. (Sec. 307) Sets forth MEWA exemption and exclusion procedures. (Sec. 308) Provides that States may require disclosure of information from any employee welfare benefit plan (in connection with certain investigations) as to whether such plan is a MEWA or is in compliance with the MEWA exemption or 18-month exclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Requirements for Leave Title II: Leave for Civil Service Employees Title III: Commission on Leave Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions Title V: Coverage of Congressional Employees Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 - Title I: General Requirements for Leave - Establishes certain requirements for family and medical leave for permanent employees. (Sec. 101) Makes employees eligible for such leave if they have been employed, by the employer from whom leave is sought, for at least: (1) 12 months; and (2) 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12-month period. (Excludes from such coverage: (1) employees at worksites at which the employer employs less than 50 persons, if the total number of employees of that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is less than 50; and (2) Federal officers and employees covered under title II of this Act.) (Sec. 102) Entitles employees to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of: (1) the birth of their child; (2) the placement of a child for their adoption or foster care; (3) their care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition; or (4) their own serious health condition which makes them unable to perform the functions of their position. Conditions such leave for the birth or placement of a child as follows: (1) the entitlement ends 12 months after the birth or placement; and (2) such leave may not be taken intermittently unless employee and employer agree otherwise. Allows intermittent leave for necessary medical treatment of an employee or family member. Allows the employer to require a temporary transfer to an equivalent alternative position that better accommodates such intermittent leave. Allows all leave under this title to: (1) be taken on a reduced leave schedule, upon agreement with the employer; and (2) consist of unpaid leave, except under specified conditions when substitution of certain types of paid leave may be elected or required. Does not require an employer to provide paid sick or medical leave in any situation in which the employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Requires employees to: (1) give at least 30 days' notice of the need for leave to which they are entitled under this Act, when foreseeable; and (2) make a reasonable effort to schedule medical treatment or supervision so as not to disrupt unduly the employer's operations, subject to approval of the health care provider. Allows limitation of the dual aggregate leave entitlement to 12 weeks in any 12-month period, in the case of spouses employed by the same employer, if such leave is for the birth or placement of a child or for the care of a sick parent. (Sec. 103) Sets forth conditions of certification for leave entitlements under this Act. (Sec. 104) Requires restoration of the employee to his or her position or an equivalent position upon return from such leave. Allows an employer to deny such restoration to certain highly compensated employees, under specified conditions (the highest paid ten percent of the employer's employees within a 75-mile radius of a facility; the denial must be necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer's operations). Requires maintenance of employee health benefits during such leave. (Sec. 105) Prohibits interference with or discrimination against employees exercising rights under this title. (Sec. 106) Sets forth the investigative authority of the Secretary of Labor under this title. (Sec. 107) Provides for enforcement of this Act. Provides for administrative and civil actions. Makes an employer who violates this title's prohibitions against interference or discrimination liable for damages in the amount of: (1) any wages, salary, employment benefits, or other compensation denied or lost; (2) (where such compensation has not been denied or lost) any actual monetary losses, such as the cost of providing care; (3) interest on such losses; and (4) liquidated damages under certain conditions. Makes such employers also liable for appropriate equitable relief, including, without limitation, employment, reinstatement, and promotion. Sets forth provisions for attorney's fees, limitation of actions, and injunctions. (Sec. 108) Sets forth special rules concerning employees of local educational agencies and of private elementary and secondary schools. (Sec. 109) Sets forth requirements for posting notice and for fines. (Sec. 110) Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title. Title II: Leave for Civil Service Employees - (Sec. 201) Entitles eligible civil service employees to family and temporary medical leave for specified periods. Allows up to 12 administrative workweeks of leave without pay (or substituted paid leave) in any 12-month period for: (1) family leave (i.e., leave because of the birth or placement of a child or care of a sick spouse, child, or parent); or (2) temporary medical leave for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of their position. Sets forth: (1) requirements for employees to give prior notice; (2) certification provisions; (3) protections for job position and health insurance benefits; and (4) prohibitions against coercion. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for this title which are consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under title I of this Act. Title III: Commission on Leave - (Sec. 301) Establishes the Commission on Leave. (Sec. 302) Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of: (1) existing and proposed leave policies; (2) the potential costs, benefits, and impact on productivity of such policies on employers; and (3) alternative and equivalent State enforcement of this Act with respect to employees of local educational agencies and private schools. Requires the Commission to report on such study to the Congress within two years after the Commission first meets. (Sec. 306) Terminates the Commission within 30 days after its report to the Congress. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 401 and Sec. 402) Sets forth the effect of this Act on other laws and existing employment benefits. (Sec. 403) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting more generous leave policies. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title (except those provisions applicable to the Senate) within 60 days. Title V: Coverage of Congressional Employees - (Sec. 501) Applies the rights and protections established under specified provisions of title I of this Act to Senate employees. Makes specified provisions of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 applicable, with certain exceptions. Provides that allegations shall be considered by the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices or another entity designated by the Senate. Requires such Office to ensure that Senate employees are informed of their rights under this Act. (Sec. 502) Applies the rights and protections under title I of this Act to employees of the House of Representatives, except for the exemption concerning highly compensated employees. Requires that the remedies and procedures under the Fair Employment Practices Resolution be applied in administering such coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Federal Employees Health Benefits Reform Act of 1993 - (Sec. 2) Revises the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (the Program) to: (1) establish the Federal Employees Health Benefits Board (the Board); (2) replace current service and indemnity health benefit plans with a new Government-wide health insurance plan that offers both a standard and a high option for either self or family coverage; (3) require group- and individual-practice prepayment plans and mixed model prepayment plans to offer the same types of benefits offered under the standard option; (4) allow employee organization sponsored health plans to offer supplementary benefits; (5) establish flexible spending plans to allow employees to set aside a portion of their salary on a pretax basis to pay out-of-pocket health care expenses; and (6) allow annuitants whose annuities are insufficient to cover the full amount of required withholdings to elect to be covered under health benefits plans if they pay an amount equal to such withholdings to the Employees Health Benefits Fund (the Fund) through the retirement system that administers their health benefits enrollment. Directs the Board to: (1) prescribe regulations governing the provision of health insurance benefits to Federal employees, their families, and retirees under the Government-wide plan; and (2) establish procedures for reviewing the utilization of health care services under such plan and controlling service costs. Revises provisions for computing Government contributions. Provides for the following: (1) establishment of specified biweekly employee contributions; (2) procedures for determining average annual enrollment charges (the costs for providing benefits and administering the plan and any amounts necessary to maintain an adequate contingency reserve); (3) allocation of such costs to each option reasonably and equitably; (4) publication of new enrollment charges in the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations; and (5) continued individual and family coverage for employees who are placed in a leave without pay status. Revises provisions regarding contracting authority to establish separate authority for awarding competitive three-year contracts to nongovernmental organizations to administer the Government-wide plan on a regional basis in areas established by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Permits certain employee organizations which currently self-insure to serve as the plan administrators for employees within their bargaining unit. Repeals provisions regarding payment or reimbursement for services by: (1) psychologists or optometrists; and (2) any person licensed under State law in a State where a specified percentage of the population is located in primary medical care manpower shortage areas. Revises provisions concerning election of coverage. Provides for automatic coverage of an eligible Federal employee under the standard option for self-alone, unless the employee chooses otherwise. Allows temporary employees to enroll in the Government-wide plan provided they pay both employee and Government contributions. Revises provisions regarding contribution set-asides in the Fund to establish new set-aside requirements for contributions to the basic health benefits plans. Directs OPM to prescribe Program regulations providing for the establishment of wellness programs for Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Defense Nuclear Workers' Health Insurance Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a health insurance program for certain former employees of Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities exposed to ionizing radiation for certain cancer health care expenses incurred above $25,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Designates October 1993 as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Urges the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate to work together in a bipartisan manner to pass health care reform initiatives in the 103d Congress.