Healthcare

Expanding the Availability of Medicare Data Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Expanding the Availability of Medicare Data Act Expands the kinds of uses of Medicare data available to qualified entities for quality and patient care improvement activities. (A "qualified entity" is a public or private entity that: [1] is qualified to use claims data to evaluate the performance of service providers and suppliers on measures of quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and resource use; and [2] agrees to meet specified requirements, such as ensuring data security.) Authorizes a qualified entity to use claims data combined with non-claims data the entity has received, as well as information derived from evaluation of service provider and supplier performance, to conduct additional non-public analyses and provide or sell them to authorized users for non-public use (including to assist service providers and suppliers to develop and participate in quality and patient care improvement activities, including new models of care). Defines "authorized users" as service providers, suppliers, employers, health insurance issuers, medical societies or hospital associations, or any other entities approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Prohibits a qualified entity from charging a fee to provide Medicare claims data. Requires a qualified entity and an authorized user to enter into a data use agreement, and prohibits the use of data or analyses for marketing purposes or, except in certain circumstances, its redisclosure. Directs the Secretary to provide Medicare data to qualified clinical data registries for purposes of linking it with clinical outcomes data and performing risk-adjusted, scientifically valid analyses and research to support quality improvement or patient safety. Requires charging a fee to a registry for such data. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to include among standardized extracts of Medicare claims data that may be made available to qualified entities, if the Secretary determines appropriate, also claims data under SSAct titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP). Requires any fees charged for making standardized extracts available to qualified entities to be deposited into the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program Management Account (currently, into the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund).

Medicare Payment Rate Disclosure Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Medicare Payment Rate Disclosure Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make publicly available on the official Medicare Internet site during a specified initial period: (1) Medicare payment rates for frequently reimbursed hospital inpatient and outpatient procedures and services, as well as for physicians' services; and (2) the period for which payment rates are applicable. Requires posting also after the initial period of an expanded selection of such items. Directs the Secretary to select at least 30 procedures and services for the basic posting and at least 100 procedures and services for the expanded posting.

Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act of 2015 Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct any prescription drug plan that has in its network one or more pharmacies located in a health professional shortage area, in a medically underserved area, or among a medically underserved population, and that provides a reduction in coinsurance or copayments for covered part D drugs, to extend to any pharmacy located in that area, or among that population, the option to be an in-network pharmacy under terms and conditions comparable to those the plan has agreed upon with other in-network pharmacies located in the area or among that population.

Vaccine Access, Certainty, and Innovation Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Vaccine Access, Certainty, and Innovation Act of 2015 This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to report on the process used by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in making recommendations on vaccines. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must issue final guidance to facilitate the use of expedited pathways for the development and licensure of vaccines to prevent certain infectious diseases. The Public Health Service Act is amended to require the CDC to provide a vaccine developer, upon request, with information on public health needs and priorities and certain epidemiological analyses or data. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amended to require the Food and Drug Administration to establish a process for designating diseases as tropical diseases included in the priority review voucher program. The amount of the priority review user fee is set to the cost difference between a priority review and a non-priority review. The National Institutes of Health must support or conduct activities to advance the development of vaccines and must report on vaccine research. Within 60 business days of a recommendation by ACIP, HHS must determine whether to update Medicare coverage of vaccines. The Government Accountability Office must report on the impact of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates on vaccine access. For purposes of calculating a medical loss ratio, the cost of a program to increase adult immunization is accounted for: (1) by a private health insurer as an activity that improves health care quality, and (2) by a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act as a medical loss.

Stark Administrative Simplification Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Stark Administrative Simplification Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe a single civil monetary penalty as an alternative sanction to those already established for compensation arrangements between a physician (or an immediate family member) and a person or entity that is in violation of the limitation on certain physician referrals (Stark Law) solely due to technical noncompliance. (The Stark law, or Stark Rule, prohibits physician referrals of certain health services for Medicare and Medicaid patients to a specified entity if the physician, or an immediate family member, has a financial relationship with that entity.) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to accept the voluntary disclosure of a technically noncomplaint compensation arrangement by a person or entity in violation of the Stark Law under certain circumstances.

Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the caps on Medicare outpatient rehabilitation physical therapy services and speech-language pathology services.

Protecting Access to Diabetes Supplies Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Protecting Access to Diabetes Supplies Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the special competitive acquisition program rule applied to diabetic testing strips to require the volume for such types of products to be determined through the use of multiple sources of data that measure consumption and utilization of such strips among individuals in the United States. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reject any bid submitted by an entity under the competitive acquisition program that does not demonstrate that it can furnish the types of strips included in its bid. Requires an entity to furnish to an individual the brand of strips compatible with the individual's home blood glucose monitor. Prohibits an entity from attempting to influence or incentivize an individual to switch the brand of glucose monitor or testing strips selected. Prohibits an entity from communicating directly to such an individual until it has given the individual verbally standardized information about the individual's rights with respect to the entity. Directs the Secretary to establish a process under which an individual furnished with diabetic testing strips under a competitive acquisition program may reject them by notifying the supplier and the Secretary. Permits the individual to obtain different strips from another supplier and have a new claim processed.

Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Compassionate Freedom of Choice Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to declare that nothing in it or in the Public Health Service Act prevents or restricts, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must not prevent or restrict, the manufacture, importation, distribution, or sale of investigational drugs or devices for terminally ill patients. The FDA is prohibited from requiring the disclosure, collection, or reporting of certain information concerning such drugs or devices, except that the sponsor of a clinical trial may voluntarily disclose, collect, or report such information to the FDA. Except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, any person who manufactures, imports, distributes, prescribes, or administers an investigational drug or device is not liable under state or federal law for loss, damage, or injury from: (1) the development, testing, production, acquisition, or use of such drugs or devices; or (2) their safety or effectiveness.

Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct or support epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical research regarding Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Directs HHS to establish the Interagency Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Working Group to review all HHS efforts concerning tick-borne diseases to ensure interagency coordination and examine research priorities. Requires the Working Group to: (1) provide a summary of tick-borne disease research, advances, and scientific viewpoints every two years; (2) make recommendations to HHS regarding tick-borne disease activities; and (3) hold annual public meetings. Requires HHS to submit a strategic plan for tick-borne disease research within three years of enactment and every five years thereafter that includes: (1) budgetary requirements; (2) benchmarks for improving tick-borne disease diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, and prevention; and (3) a plan to disseminate Working Group summaries and other relevant information on tick-borne disease to health professionals and the public.

Medicaid Expansion Incentive Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Medicaid Expansion Incentive Act of 2015 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to entitle to an increase (bonus) in payments under its state medical assistance plan any state electing to meet Medicaid expansion requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Requires such bonuses to be in amounts made available from a net reduction in federal payments to other states not electing to meet those requirements.

Zero Tolerance for FGM Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Zero Tolerance for FGM Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to report on the development and implementation of a strategy that: ensures individuals who encounter minors at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) are fully prepared to take action to prevent the practice; ensures individuals subjected to FGM can seek necessary services; provides for updating Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates of the prevalence of FGM or female circumcision; and provides for a public awareness campaign, so that the public understands how to help individuals at risk of FGM and address the needs of individuals subjected to FGM.

Permanent Investment in Health Research Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Permanent Investment in Health Research Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to make appropriations to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for FY2016-FY2025: for FY2016, $32 billion; and for each fiscal year from FY2017-FY2025, the amount appropriated for the preceding fiscal year, adjusted by any percentage increase in nominal gross domestic product during the preceding calendar year. The bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to add NIH to the list of programs and activities exempt from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.

Recognizing the importance of transformative breakthroughs in biomedicine, biotechnology, and life sciences in the diagnosis, management, curing, and treatment of illness and the existence of a "Valley of Death" in biotechnology and life sciences funding that stifles innovation and impedes translational medical research.

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Recognizes: the value of biomedicine, biotechnology, and life sciences; the challenges those industries face; and the ways those challenges can be addressed.

Medicare Residential Care Coordination Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Medicare Residential Care Coordination Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and implement a demonstration project under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to evaluate the use of capitated payments made to eligible continuing care retirement communities for residential care coordination programs.

A resolution designating February 2015 as "National Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Awareness Month".

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Designates February 2015 as National Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Awareness Month.

Safeguarding Classrooms Hurt by ObamaCare's Obligatory Levies

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Safeguarding Classrooms Hurt by ObamaCare's Obligatory Levies Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any elementary or secondary school, state or local educational agency, and institution of higher education from the definition of "applicable large employer" for purposes of the employer mandate to provide health care coverage for employees. Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report on the impact of the employer health insurance mandate on educational agencies and institutions before and after the enactment of this Act.

Small Business Tax Credit Accessibility Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2015

Small Business Tax Credit Accessibility Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the small employer health care insurance tax credit, to: (1) revise the definition of "eligible small employer" to mean an employer with not more than 50 (currently, 25) full-time employees; (2) modify the phaseout formula for such credit to base such phaseout on number of employees and average annual wages; (3) extend from two to three consecutive taxable years the period during which an employer may claim such credit; and (4) eliminate the requirement that employers contribute the same percentage of cost of each employee's health insurance and the cap limiting eligible employer contributions to average premiums paid to a state health insurance exchange.

PRESIDENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2016 HEALTH CARE PROPOSALS

United States · United States Senate · 4 February 2015

Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2015 Expands the TRICARE health care program managed by the Department of Defense (DOD) to entitle additional female beneficiaries and dependents to care related to the prevention of pregnancy. (Currently, such care is limited to certain female members of the uniformed service or a reserve component performing active duty or certain servicewomen performing inactive-duty training.) Prohibits cost-sharing from being imposed or collected for such pregnancy prevention care, including for any method of contraception provided through a facility of the uniformed services, the TRICARE retail pharmacy program, or the national mail-order pharmacy program. Provides for such pregnancy prevention care to include all methods of contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling. Directs the DOD Secretary to: (1) ensure that every military treatment facility has a sufficient stock of a broad range of FDA-approved methods of contraception to dispense to any women members of the Armed Forces and female covered beneficiaries who receive care through such facility, (2) disseminate clinical practice guidelines and decision support tools to DOD-employed health care providers, (3) ensure that women members of the Armed Forces have access to comprehensive counseling on contraception during health care visits, and (4) establish uniform curriculum to be used in family planning education programs for all men and women members of the Armed Forces. Requires questions regarding family planning services and counseling to be incorporated into DOD health surveys. Requires every military treatment facility, upon request, to provide emergency contraception, or information about FDA-approved methods of emergency contraception, to any woman who: (1) states to personnel that she is a victim of sexual assault or is accompanied by another individual who states that the woman is a victim of sexual assault, or (2) is reasonably believed to be a survivor of sexual assault.

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act of 2015 Amends the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 to: (1) expand the assistance provided under such Act, and (2) reauthorize appropriations for FY2016-FY2020. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to establish or expand: (1) veterans treatment court programs, which involve collaboration among criminal justice, veterans, and mental health and substance abuse agencies to provide qualified veterans (preliminarily qualified offenders who were discharged from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable) with intensive judicial supervision and case management, treatment services, alternatives to incarceration, and other appropriate services, including housing, transportation, job training, education, and assistance in obtaining benefits; (2) peer to peer services or programs to assist such veterans in obtaining treatment, recovery, stabilization, or rehabilitation; (3) practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, transitional, and other appropriate services to such veterans who have been incarcerated; and (4) training programs to teach criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving such veterans. Revises the definition of "preliminarily qualified offender" to include, in the case of a veterans treatment court program, an adult or juvenile accused of an offense who has been diagnosed with, or manifests obvious signs of, mental illness or a substance abuse disorder or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorder. Removes a requirement that the adult or juvenile be accused of a nonviolent offense. Requires preliminarily qualified offenders to be unanimously approved for participation in a collaboration program by, when appropriate, the relevant prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or corrections official, judge, and representative from the relevant mental health agency. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to enhance the capabilities of a correctional facility to: (1) identify and screen for mentally ill inmates; (2) plan and provide assessments of the clinical, medical, and social needs of inmates and appropriate treatment and services that address mental health and substance abuse needs; (3) develop, implement, and enhance post-release transition plans that coordinate services and public benefits, the availability of mental health care and substance abuse treatment services, alternatives to solitary confinement and segregated housing, and mental health screening and treatment for inmates placed in solitary confinement or segregated housing; and (4) train employees in identifying and responding to incidents involving inmates with mental health disorders or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to provide support for programs that teach law enforcement personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving persons with such disorders. Directs the Attorney General to give priority in awarding grants for adult or juvenile collaboration programs to applications that: (1) propose interventions that have been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism, and (2) use validated assessment tools to target preliminarily qualified offenders with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a need for treatment and services.

Medicare Demonstration of Coverage for Low Vision Devices Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Medicare Demonstration of Coverage for Low Vision Devices Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to commence a project to demonstrate and evaluate the fiscal impact of covering low vision devices under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act in the same or similar manner as coverage is provided for durable medical equipment under such part.

Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015 Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the ambulance fee schedule to: (1) increase the conversion factor for ground ambulance services in the formula for determining the appropriate fee, and (2) increase the mileage rate for such services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study how the conversion factor should be modified, if at all, to take into account the cost of providing ambulance services in urban, rural, and super-rural areas. Directs the Secretary to establish a process to determine, in advance of furnishing end stage renal disease ambulance services, whether payment for them may not be made because they are not covered or because they are excluded from coverage. Prohibits any payment unless the Secretary determines, pursuant to this process, that the service meets coverage requirements. Directs the Secretary to develop a data collection system for ambulance providers to collect cost, revenue, utilization, and other appropriate information.

Medical Innovation Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Medical Innovation Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require certain drug manufacturers to make payments to fund research supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A drug manufacturer with over $1 billion in net income in a fiscal year that has entered into a settlement agreement in the previous five years with a federal agency regarding specified violations must pay 1% of its net income to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for each of its covered blockbuster drugs. A covered blockbuster drug is a drug that has at least $1 billion in net sales in a year and was developed, in whole or in part, through federal investments in medical research, including a drug for which a patent contains information that relates to, or is based upon, federally-funded research. Each fiscal year, HHS must publish a list of manufacturers that make payments, each manufacturer's covered blockbuster drugs, and payment amounts. Payments are divided between the FDA and the NIH in proportion to the discretionary funding of those agencies, excluding FDA user fees. Payments are not disbursed if appropriations for the FDA or the NIH are lower than in the prior fiscal year. The FDA's priority use for payments must include advancing regulatory science for medical products. The NIH's priority use for payments must include supporting: (1) research that fosters radical innovation, (2) research that advances fundamental knowledge, (3) research related to diseases that disproportionately account for federal health care spending, and (4) early career scientists. A covered blockbuster drug for which a manufacturer has not made a required payment is considered misbranded and cannot be sold until payment is made.

Taxpayer Bailout Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Taxpayer Bailout Protection Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that payments to plans do not exceed payments to HHS under the risk corridors program (under which a qualified health plan is required to participate in a payment adjustment system based on the ratio of the allowable costs of the plan to the plan's aggregate premiums) for a plan year. HHS must proportionately decrease payments to plans in order to ensure that this requirement is satisfied each year.

Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require mammography facilities to include up-to-date information about breast density in both the written report of the results of a mammography examination provided to a patient's physician and the summary of that written report given to the patient. Requires the summary to convey: (1) the effect of breast density in masking the presence of breast cancer on a mammogram, and (2) that individuals with dense breasts should talk with their physicians about any questions or concerns regarding the summary and whether they would benefit from additional tests. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to expand and intensify research on breast density, the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of supplemental imaging relating to breast density, and best practices concerning mammograms and supplemental screening for those with dense breasts.

Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require mammography facilities to include up-to-date information about breast density in both the written report of the results of a mammography examination provided to a patient's physician and the summary of that written report given to the patient. Requires the summary to convey: (1) the effect of breast density in masking the presence of breast cancer on a mammogram, and (2) that individuals with dense breasts should talk with their physicians about any questions or concerns regarding the summary and whether they would benefit from additional tests. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to expand and intensify research on breast density, the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of supplemental imaging relating to breast density, and best practices concerning mammograms and supplemental screening for those with dense breasts.

Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention, and Reform Act of 2015 Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to the ambulance fee schedule to: (1) increase the conversion factor for ground ambulance services in the formula for determining the appropriate fee, and (2) increase the mileage rate for such services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study how the conversion factor should be modified, if at all, to take into account the cost of providing ambulance services in urban, rural, and super-rural areas. Directs the Secretary to establish a process to determine, in advance of furnishing end stage renal disease ambulance services, whether payment for them may not be made because they are not covered or because they are excluded from coverage. Prohibits any payment unless the Secretary determines, pursuant to this process, that the service meets coverage requirements. Directs the Secretary to develop a data collection system for ambulance providers to collect cost, revenue, utilization, and other appropriate information.

Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2015 Expands the TRICARE health care program managed by the Department of Defense (DOD) to entitle additional female beneficiaries and dependents to care related to the prevention of pregnancy. (Currently, such care is limited to certain female members of the uniformed service or a reserve component performing active duty or certain servicewomen performing inactive-duty training.) Prohibits cost-sharing from being imposed or collected for such pregnancy prevention care, including for any method of contraception provided through a facility of the uniformed services, the TRICARE retail pharmacy program, or the national mail-order pharmacy program. Provides for such pregnancy prevention care to include all methods of contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling. Directs the DOD Secretary to: (1) ensure that every military treatment facility has a sufficient stock of a broad range of FDA-approved methods of contraception to dispense to any women members of the Armed Forces and female covered beneficiaries who receive care through such facility, (2) disseminate clinical practice guidelines and decision support tools to DOD-employed health care providers, (3) ensure that women members of the Armed Forces have access to comprehensive counseling on contraception during health care visits, and (4) establish uniform curriculum to be used in family planning education programs for all men and women members of the Armed Forces. Requires questions regarding family planning services and counseling to be incorporated into DOD health surveys. Requires every military treatment facility, upon request, to provide emergency contraception, or information about FDA-approved methods of emergency contraception, to any woman who: (1) states to personnel that she is a victim of sexual assault or is accompanied by another individual who states that the woman is a victim of sexual assault, or (2) is reasonably believed to be a survivor of sexual assault.

Supporting Adoptive Families Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Supporting Adoptive Families Act Amends part B (Child and Family Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to make it a purpose of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program to promote efforts to prevent children from entering the foster care system through the provision of pre- and post-adoptive support services. Extends adoption promotion and support services to those designed to support adoptions from other countries as well as domestic adoptions. Specifies related pre- and post-adoptive support services. Amends SSAct title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) to revise requirements for state expenditures for adoption support services. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award grants or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to develop and implement state-sponsored statewide or tribal post-adoption mental health service programs for all adopted children. Amends SSAct title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to direct the Secretary, as part of the child support and paternity data collection system, to promulgate final regulations requiring the states to collect and report information regarding children adopted within the United States or from other countries who enter into state custody as a result of the disruption of a placement for adoption or the dissolution of an adoption.

Taxpayer Bailout Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Taxpayer Bailout Protection Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that payments to plans do not exceed payments to HHS under the risk corridors program (under which a qualified health plan is required to participate in a payment adjustment system based on the ratio of the allowable costs of the plan to the plan's aggregate premiums) for a plan year. HHS must proportionately decrease payments to plans in order to ensure that this requirement is satisfied each year.

Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Stabilize Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Act Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require a state Medicaid plan to provide 12-month continuous enrollment for an eligible individual, regardless of age. Amends SSAct 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.

Expressing support for designation of February 4, 2015, as National Cancer Prevention Day.

United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2015

Expresses support for the designation of National Cancer Prevention Day.

EXAMINING THE U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE TO SEASONAL INFLUENZA

United States · United States House of Representatives · 3 February 2015

Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid Improvement Act

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the treatment of revocable trusts for the benefit of an individual for purposes of meeting income requirements for Medicaid coverage. Extends the supplemental needs trust exemption from treatment of a trust as resources available to the individual to supplemental needs trusts for Medicaid beneficiaries established by those beneficiaries.

Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015 Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to the treatment of revocable trusts for the benefit of an individual for purposes of meeting income requirements for Medicaid coverage. Extends the supplemental needs trust exemption from treatment of a trust as resources available to the individual to supplemental needs trusts for Medicaid beneficiaries established by those beneficiaries.

Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act Establishes the Medicare for All Program to provide all individuals residing in the United States and U.S. territories with free health care that includes all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, dietary and nutritional therapies, prescription drugs, emergency care, long-term care, mental health services, dental services, and vision care. Prohibits an institution from participating unless it is a public or nonprofit institution. Allows nonprofit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that deliver care in their own facilities to participate. Allows patients to choose from participating physicians and institutions. Prohibits a private health insurer from selling health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act. Allows insurers to sell benefits that are not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery benefits. Sets forth methods to pay institutional providers of care and health professionals for services. Prohibits financial incentives between HMOs and physicians based on utilization. Establishes the Medicare for All Trust Fund to finance the Program with amounts deposited: (1) from existing sources of government revenues for health care, (2) by increasing personal income taxes on the top 5% of income earners, (3) by instituting a progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income, (4) by instituting a tax on unearned income, and (5) by instituting a tax on stock and bond transactions. Transfers and appropriates to carry out this Act amounts that would have been appropriated for federal public health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Requires the Medicare for All Program to give employment transition benefits and first priority in retraining and job placement to individuals whose jobs are eliminated due to reduced clerical and administrative work. Requires creation of a confidential electronic patient record system. Establishes a National Board of Universal Quality and Access to provide advice on quality, access, and affordability. Requires the eventual integration of the Indian Health Service into the Program, and an evaluation of the continued independence of Department of Veterans Affairs health programs.

To amend part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to exclude customary prompt pay discounts from manufacturers to wholesalers from the average sales price for drugs and biologicals under Medicare, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

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.

Prevent IRS Overreach Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Prevent IRS Overreach Act of 2015 Prohibits the Internal Revenue Service from filling any position, by transfer or any other appointment taking effect on or after the enactment of this Act, if the duties and responsibilities of such position include the enforcement of any provision of, or amendment made by, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Veterans Equal Access Act

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Veterans Equal Access Act Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to authorize VA health care providers to: (1) provide veterans with recommendations and opinions regarding participation in their state's marijuana programs, and (2) complete forms reflecting such recommendations and opinions.

Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act of 2015 Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, as amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to extend the period of the rural community hospital demonstration program from 5 to 10 years.

Health and Human Services Hiree Clarification Act

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Health and Human Services Hiree Clarification Act Amends the Public Health Service Act to state that provisions authorizing the appointment of special consultants or authorizing individual scientists to receive fellowships do not authorize the designation, appointment, or employment of any special consultant, fellow, or other employee by an agency outside of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Telehealth Modernization Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Telehealth Modernization Act of 2015 Calls for states to authorize health care professionals to deliver health care to individuals through telehealth and consider adopting conditions under which a health care professional delivering care through telehealth should: have access to the individual's medical history and should review it with the individual as if delivering the health care in person; attempt to identify any conditions underlying the symptoms reported by the individual before providing any diagnosis or treatment and, if recommending a treatment, should review with the individual the contraindications; have a conversation with the individual adequate to establish any diagnosis rendered; document any evaluation and treatment delivered to the individual to generate a medical record of the encounter; provide to the individual information regarding the professional's health care education, certification, and credentials; offer no assurance to the individual that any item or service will be issued or provided in exchange for the payment of the consultation fee or solely in response to the individual completing a form or questionnaire; and only issue a prescription if it is issued by a health care professional who has obtained a medical history and conducted an evaluation of the individual adequate to establish a diagnosis, not for certain controlled substances, and filled by a licensed dispensing entity.

EACH Act

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Equitable Access to Care and Health Act or the EACH Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the religious conscience exemption under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to exempt individuals who rely solely on a religious method of healing and for whom the acceptance of medical health services would be inconsistent with their religious beliefs from the requirement to purchase and maintain minimum essential health care coverage.

FAIR Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015

Freeing Americans from Inequitable Requirements Act of 2015 or the FAIR Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the individual mandate to purchase health care coverage, to delay such requirement from taking effect until the Secretary of the Treasury submits to Congress a certification that the employer mandate to provide health care coverage for employees is being applied and administered without any administratively created exceptions.

Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2015 This bill states that: the President may not prohibit or otherwise regulate travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking transactions; any regulation in effect on the date of enactment of this Act prohibiting or otherwise regulating such travel or transactions incident to such travel shall cease to have any force or effective; but the prohibitions and requirements of this Act shall not apply if the United States is at war with Cuba, armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress, or there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.

Access to Life-Saving Trauma Care for All Americans Act

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Access to Life-Saving Trauma Care for All Americans Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize grants for certain trauma centers and grants to states for trauma centers through FY2020. The categorization of certain trauma centers is revised. The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is given the authority to administer these grants.

Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Trauma Systems and Regionalization of Emergency Care Reauthorization Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize trauma care programs through FY2020. Grants for pilot projects of innovative models of emergency care and trauma systems can be allocated up to half of the remaining funds for trauma care after allocations for improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas and administrative purposes. State plans for emergency medical services are required to include the national standards and requirements of the American Burn Association for verified burn centers. The Department of Health and Human Services must update the model plan for designation of trauma centers and for triage, transfer, and transportation policies, taking into account standards from the American Burn Association.

Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba Act of 2015 Prohibits the President from restricting direct transfers from a Cuban depository institution to a U.S. depository institution in payment for a product authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide information and technical assistance to U.S. agricultural producers, cooperative organizations, or state agencies to promote U.S. agricultural exports products to Cuba. Authorizes the issuance of temporary entry visas to Cuban nationals to facilitate purchase of U.S. agricultural products. Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to repeal the prohibition on enforcement of rights to certain U.S. intellectual properties and such properties' transfer. Prohibits the regulation or prohibition of travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions ordinarily incident to such travel if such travel would be lawful in the United States. Directs the President to rescind all regulations in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act that regulate or prohibit such travel or transactions. Includes in such transactions: (1) accompanied personal baggage; (2) payment of living expenses and the acquisition of personal-use goods or services; (3) travel arrangements; (4) nonscheduled air, sea, or land voyage transactions, (such provision does not permit the carriage of articles other than accompanied baggage into Cuba or the United States); and (5) normal banking transactions. States that such provision shall not apply in time of war or armed hostilities between the United States and Cuba, or of imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. citizens or legal residents. Amends the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 to repeal the requirement for onsite verification of certain medical exports to Cuba. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the airport ticket tax for transportation between the United States and Cuba by $1, and (2) establish in the Treasury the Agricultural Export Promotion Trust Fund.

Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Rural Hospital Access Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make permanent the Medicare-dependent, small rural subsection (d) hospital program and increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system [IPPS] when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.)

Export Freedom to Cuba Act of 2015

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2015

Export Freedom to Cuba Act of 2015 Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, if such travel would be lawful in the United States, relating to: (1) accompanied personal baggage; (2) payment of living expenses and the acquisition of personal-use goods or services; (3) travel arrangements; (4) nonscheduled air, sea, or land voyage transactions (such provision does not permit the carriage of articles other than accompanied baggage into Cuba or the United States); and (5) normal banking transactions. States that such restrictions on authority shall not apply if: (1) the United States is at war with Cuba, or armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress; or (2) there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.