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151 records in US in 1991
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Authorizes a grant to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for construction of a medical research facility. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Financial Aid for All Students Act of 1991 - Title I: Pell Grant Entitlement, Graduate Assistance, and Excellence Scholarships - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions for Pell Grants. Increases the Pell Grant maximum by $600, after July 1, 1994, and makes the additional amount for which the student qualifies an entitlement. Authorizes a full entitlement under the Pell Grant program for all eligible students, if the Congress makes available for such purpose sufficient additional revenue or savings pursuant to the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. Makes first-year graduate students eligible for Pell Grants if: (1) they would be eligible if they were undergraduates; and (2) there has been full funding of Pell Grants for undergraduate students in that fiscal year. Establishes an Excellence Scholarship Program for Pell Grant recipients who demonstrate high academic achievement. Grants eligible students a contractual right against the United States to receive such scholarships. Makes students eligible if they: (1) have received a Pell Grant for that academic year, are enrolled on at least a half-time basis in a program of study of at least two academic years in length that leads to a degree or certificate, and meet the following conditions for demonstrating academic excellence: (1) in the case of first year undergraduates, by taking specified college preparatory level coursework and by ranking in the top ten percent of their secondary school graduating class or achieving at least the minimum designated score on a nationally administered standardized test or participating for at least 36 months in an early intervention program, a special program for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or similar program; (2) in the case of students who initially qualified for a first-year scholarship because they participated in such early intervention or special program, by participating in student support program services and continuing to make significant progress toward agreed-upon academic milestones; and (3) in the case of any other student, by ranking in the top ten percent of their last completed undergraduate class year or meeting another measure of academic achievement determined by the Secretary of Education (the Secretary). Sets such scholarship award at $1,000 for any academic year. Reduces such amount by the amount it exceeds the student's cost of attendance by itself or when combined with other Federal or non-Federal grant or scholarship assistance in the academic year. Provides for proportionate reductions in each award to adjust for insufficient appropriations. Allows eligible students to receive up to four scholarships, each for one academic year, for undergraduate study (or five scholarships for undergraduate study programs that require attendance for the full-time equivalent of five academic years). Provides that a student's eligibility for such a scholarship does not depend on receipt of scholarship or Pell Grant in the previous academic year. Title II: Income-Dependent Education Assistance Program - Establishes the Income-Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Credit program as part D of title IV of HEA. (Replaces the current part D, Income Contingent Direct Loan Demonstration Project.) Directs the Secretary to: (1) make IDEA loans to eligible students; and (2) enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury for the collection of repayments on such loans. Grants eligible students a contractual right against the United States to receive a loan under such IDEA program. Sets the following conditions for student eligibility for an IDEA loan: (1) eligibility for title IV assistance in accordance with specified provisions; (2) carrying at least one-half the normal full-time course work load; (3) applying for title IV need-based assistance,in the cases of independent students with adjusted gross incomes below specified levels and dependent students with family incomes below specified levels; (4) notification of the head of household of eligibility for a parent (PLUS) loan, in the case of dependent students with expected family contributions above specified levels; and (5) the borrower understanding and signing a statement that taking the IDEA loan will increase such individual's income taxes until the loan is paid in full with interest. Requires each eligible student to use the IDEA loan only to attend an eligible institution. Sets forth provisions for distribution of program funds to eligible institutions and students. Sets forth provisions for the amounts and terms of IDEA loans. Sets annual limits on the amounts of such loans to various categories of students. Sets a limitation on individual borrowing capacity, with adjustments for the borrower's age, exceptions for certain graduate students, and consideration of any outstanding student loan obligations. Limits the duration of individual eligibility for such loans. Sets forth requirements for: (1) agreements to the terms of such loans; and (2) applications. Sets forth provisions for interest charges on such loans. Requires such charges to be added to the recipient's obligation account at the end of each calendar year. Bases such charges on an interest rate equal to the lesser of: (1) ten percent; or (2) the sum of the average bond equivalent rates of 91-day Treasury bills auctioned for the previous year, plus two percentage points, rounded to the next higher one-eighth of one percent. Provides for conversion and consolidation of certain other types of student loans as IDEA loans. Authorizes the Secretary, upon request of borrowers who have received federally insured or guaranteed loans under title IV HEA (Stafford loans) or of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (HEAL loans), to make new IDEA loans to such borrowers which are equal to the sum of the unpaid principal of those other loans and which discharge the liability on those other loans. Provides for mandatory conversion of certain defaulted student loans to IDEA loans. Requires IDEA collection treatment of any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under specified provisions of HEA or PHSA after enactment of this Act which is assigned after default for collection by the Secretary of Education or the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to the Congress on the effects of: (1) the IDEA program on participating institutions' tuition rates and accrediting and licensure standards; and (2) inflation on IDEA loan limits, on the progressivity factor in IDEA loan collection formulas, and on the cost of attendance at an eligible institution. Authorizes the Secretary, after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees, to make inflation adjustments to increase: (1) IDEA loan limits; (2) adjusted gross income levels used to determine the progressivity factor in IDEA loan collection formulas; and (3) the cost of attendance determination for purposes of IDEA loan amounts. Directs the Secretary to notify each IDEA loan borrower of his or her yearly repayment obligation. Sets forth formulas for computation of the annual IDEA loan repayment amount. Makes such amount equal to the lesser of: (1) 20 percent of the excess of the modified adjusted income of the taxpayer for such taxable year over the sum of the standard deduction and any applicable exemption; or (2) the product of a base amortization amount and a progressivity factor based on the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income. Defines "base amortization amount" as the amount which, if paid at the close of each year for 12 consecutive years, would fully repay (with an eight-percent annual interest rate) the maximum account balance of the borrower. Sets forth progressivity factor tables for various types of taxpayers. Provides that, in general, the repayment obligation of an IDEA loan borrower shall terminate only if there is repaid the principal plus interest at applicable rates. Requires no repayment after 25 years in repayment status. Sets forth provisions for the determination of years in repayment status. Provides for discharge, by the Secretary, of the IDEA loan liability of any borrower who dies or becomes permanently and totally disabled. Provides for crediting of amounts paid on a joint return. Sets forth formulas for computation of an alternative annual payment for individuals who have attained age 55. Provides that, in general, an IDEA loan shall not be dischargeable in a case of bankruptcy, but authorizes the Secretary to postpone certain portions of the loan liability in such cases. Makes specified provisions relating to finality of assessment and collection applicable to such loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to include the amount required to be repaid for IDEA loans under amounts listed under requirements relating to failure by an individual to pay estimated income tax. Requires individuals who are obligated to make IDEA loan repayments to file income tax returns for the applicable years. Adds provisions for the collection of IDEA loans under IRC. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Education to provide for collection of IDEA loan repayments due by using the income tax collection system. Title III: Early Intervention Program - Amends HEA to establish an Early Intervention Program (under provisions for grants to States for student incentives). Directs the Secretary to make incentive grants to States for early intervention programs that: (1) raise the awareness of eligible students about the advantages of obtaining a postsecondary education; (2) prepare students for postsecondary education; and (3) qualify students for Excellence Scholarships for Pell Grant recipients demonstrating academic achievement. Directs the Secretary to allocate such payments to States, on the basis of the number of eligible students, from a specified total amount. Entitles and grants a contractual right to each State to receive such payment, subject to continuing compliance with program requirements. Bases student eligibility for the early intervention program on their eligibility: (1) to be counted under the chapter 1 program for educationally disadvantaged students under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (2) for assistance under the National School Lunch Act; or (3) for assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act. Requires a State to use its allotment to conduct an early intervention program that: (1) provides eligible students in any of the grades pre-school through 12 with continuing systems of mentoring and advising that is coordinated with Federal and State community service initiatives, that may include specified support services, and that may be provided by specified types of service providers; (2) requires each student to agree to achieve certain academic milestones in exchange for an Excellence Scholarship; (3) creates new linkage structures and programs to encourage greater collaboration between elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; and (4) provides for evaluation to allow service providers to track eligible student progress during program participation. Directs the Secretary to prescribe standards for the evaluation of the State programs. Requires submission of State plans. Requires annual State evaluations of such programs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on assisted activities and program evaluations. Title IV: Guaranteed Student Loan Programs - Terminates all student loan programs under part B (Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program) of title IV of HEA, except the parent loan (PLUS) program. Prohibits any new loan from being made, insured, or guaranteed under part B after June 30, 1994 (including Stafford loans and supplemental loans for students, but not parent PLUS loans). Provides that such prohibition shall not affect the administration of such loans made on or before June 30, 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicaid coverage of services furnished by all certified nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists which are authorized under State law to be performed by such a nurse, regardless of whether or not such services are performed under the supervision of a physician or other health care provider. Defines "clinical nurse specialist" as an individual who: (1) is a registered nurse and is licensed to practice nursing in the State in which the clinical nurse specialist services are performed; and (2) holds a master's degree in a defined clinical area of nursing from an accredited institution.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that: (1) in the case of an urban area with a wage index below the rural wage index applicable in the State, any decision rendered by the Medicare Geographical Classification Review Board or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on an application by a hospital for a change in geographic classification may not result in a reduction of that urban area's wage index; and (2) no urban wage index in a State may be below the rural wage index applicable in the State.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Small Town Environment Planning Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish: (1) a program to assist small communities in planning and financing environmental facilities and compliance activities; and (2) a Small Town Environmental Planning Task Force. Requires the Administrator to publish a list of requirements under Federal environmental and public health statutes applicable to small towns and other political subdivisions of States and make additions to, and deletions from, such list on an annual basis. Directs the Administrator, as part of the Small Town Environmental Planning Program, to implement a program to notify small communities of such regulations and of future regulations and requirements. Requires the Administrator to establish and staff in each regional office an office of the Small Town Ombudsman to provide assistance in connection with the Small Town Environmental Planning Program. Directs the Administrator to evaluate and report to the Congress on the feasibility of establishing a multi-media permitting program for small towns. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any States to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers to the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unmployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the Armed Forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection Of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assitance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required payment, subjet to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Designates 1991 as the Year of Public Health.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, or health services for the homeless, and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners, in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under provisions relating to migrant or community health centers or health services for the homeless unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; (2) reviewed the professional credentials, claims history, and other information regarding its licensed health care practitioners; and (3) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service, or has cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against such claims and has taken corrective action. Empowers the Attorney General, if certain conditions are met, to determine that an individual practitioner shall not be deemed a Public Health Service employee for purposes of these provisions. Prohibits hospitals from denying admitting privileges to an otherwise qualified health care provider who is an officer, employee, or contractor of such an entity.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Medicaid Moratorium Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenues Act of 1988 to: (1) delay until September 30, 1992, the issuance of regulations changing the treatment under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes; and (2) maintain current regulations that allow intergovernmental transfers as a source of a State's expenditures for which Federal matching funds are available under the Medicaid program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to specified congressional committees a report on: (1) regulations to limit the use of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes to obtain Federal financial participation; (2) specific types of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes that may be used as sources of State expenditures for which Federal financial participation is available; and (3) any legislation that the Secretary believes is appropriate. Sets forth budget compliance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the use of claim sampling to deny claims or recover overpayments under Medicare except when fraud has been determined, in which case claim sampling may be used for the purpose of assessing civil monetary penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
American Health Quality Act - Declares that the Congress finds that health care liability systems impact on interstate commerce by contributing to the high cost of health care and premiums for malpractice and products liability insurance purchased by health care providers and producers. Title I: Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to make enhanced Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) bonus payments for a two-year period to eligible States that submit a plan for the development or implementation of alternative dispute resolution systems (ADRS) to resolve health care liability claims as an alternative to a judicial proceeding in a Federal or State court. Sets forth eligibility, approval, and review requirements for such program. Directs the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to make recommendations to the Secretary concerning such requirements. Requires the Agency to appoint a panel of advisers to: (1) assist in developing criteria for an ADRS that States must meet to be eligible to receive enhanced payments and assist States in preparing applications; (2) as part of such criteria, assist States receiving enhanced payments in complying with data gathering and evaluation guidelines; (3) provide advice and assistance to representatives from State governments concerning the establishment of an ADRS; (4) develop qualification standards and assist States applying to be quality improvement States; (5) report, not later than four years after the approval of an application, to the Secretary and the appropriate congressional committees on States receiving enhanced payments; (6) recommend to such entities, not later than four years after enactment of this Act, on the feasibility of a mandated ADRS; and (7) report to such entities, not later than four years after approval of the first quality improvement State plan, concerning the reform of State health profession disciplinary boards or alternative quality assurance plans. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to award grants to private entities for the establishment of demonstration alternative dispute resolution programs in the private sector. Sets forth application requirements for such program. Requires the panel: (1) to provide assistance to such entities in designing and implementing an ADRS; and (2) report to the Agency, the Secretary, and the appropriate congressional committees with data collected on such systems, together with recommendations for improvements. Authorizes appropriations for the demonstration programs for FY 1992 through 1996. Amends the Social Security Act to revise certain Medicaid payment provisions to conform with enhanced payments made under this title. Title II: Uniform Standards for Health Care Liability Claims - Establishes uniform rules for health care liability actions brought in any Federal or State court and any health care action resolved through an ADRS. Establishes procedures for settlement offers, including the calculation of attorney fees. Requires mandatory periodic payments of awards exceeding $100,000. Limits non-economic damages to $250,000. Mandates reductions in damages received by an individual, where other payments will be or have been made to compensate such individual. Limits attorney fees to 25 percent of the first $150,000 of any award or settlement and 15 percent of any additional amount in excess of $150,000. Prohibits punitive damages from exceeding twice the award of compensatory damages. Allows a separate proceeding to decide if punitive damages are to be awarded or to decide the amount of such award. Requires that 50 percent of all awards of punitive damages resulting from health care liability actions be transferred to a State health care disciplinary trust fund to assist the State in the improvement of health care quality programs. Permits claimants pursuing punitive damages to collect reasonable attorney fees. Declares that the liability of each defendant for non-economic damages shall be several only and shall not be joint. Prohibits health care liability actions from being initiated after the expiration of the two-year period that begins on the date on which the alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered, but in no event later than four years after the date of the alleged occurrence of the injury. Provides an exception for minors. Requires a higher standard of proof in obstetric cases where the physician delivering the baby has not provided prenatal services prior to delivery. Prohibits punitive damages from being awarded against a manufacturer or product seller of a drug or device that caused a complaint, if the drug or device is in compliance with Food and Drug Administration approval processes. Declares that this title supersedes any State law only to the extent that such law establishes higher payment limits, applies joint and several liability to all damages, permits the recovery of a greater amount of damages or the awarding of a greater amount of attorney fees, or establishes a longer period during which a health care liability claim may be initiated. Title III: Health Care Injury Prevention - Directs the Secretary to establish a program to make enhanced Medicaid bonus payments for a two-year period to eligible States that submit a State plan for the development or implementation of a health care injury prevention program or an approved alternative. Sets forth eligibility and application requirements for States. Designates a State that receives enhanced payments as a quality improvement State. Requires a quality improvement State to: (1) establish a Statewide health care injury prevention program; and (2) cooperate with Federal research efforts with respect to patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness and clinical practice guidelines. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations that establish performance criteria for the health care practitioner disciplinary board of such State in performing its oversight functions concerning health care professionals. Requires the State to: (1) allocate certain fees for the conduct of disciplinary actions with respect to health care professionals; (2) ensure that the general public is represented on such board; (3) grant immunity to such board from liability; (4) include a continuing education requirement in performance criteria for physicians who have been disciplined by such board. Title IV: Community Health Centers - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make a grant to an entity that represents recipients of assistance under provisions relating to migrant and community health centers to enable the entity to develop a business plan for, and to establish, a nationwide risk retention group as provided for in the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986, and that meets other requirements. Allows the group to negotiate with other entities for the purpose of managing and administering the group, and for obtaining reinsurance. Requires the group to provide professional liability insurance, and other types of profitable insurance approved for issuance by the Secretary, to migrant and community health centers. Requires the centers, subject to exception, to become members of the group and purchase the group's insurance. Makes all professional staff members of the centers eligible to obtain the group's insurance. Requires the group to engage outside experts in insurance, financing, and business to analyze and audit the group. Requires the experts to provide the group with an evaluation of the plan and group. Requires the group to submit the plan and the evaluation to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to permit implementation of the plan and operation of the group if it will result in an increase in the amount of funds available for use by community and migrant health centers and other entities receiving assistance under the specified provisions. Authorizes appropriations for preparation of the plan, establishment of the group, and capitalization of the group. Requires assets remaining after dissolution of the group to be used by the Secretary to pay the remaining expenses of the group. Authorizes appropriations to carry out specified provisions relating to migrant and community health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Emergency Unemployment Benefits and Congressional Spending Priorities Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor, in a period of a seven or eight percent total unemployment rate in that State (as defined under this Act), to elect to trigger an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by an average unadjusted total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State for the most recent six calendar months with published data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; and (3) seven for a six-percent period or for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimuim period of at least 13 weeks. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of the day after the enactment date of this Act or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligible period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Title II: Other Provisions - Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Title III: Financing Provisions - Subtitle A: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for rellocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Subtitle B: Rescission of Unnecessary Spending - Rescinds, except to the extent obligated, specified amounts which were set aside or otherwise made available (and the underlying appropriations for such amounts) under specified 1991 Appropriations Acts for: (1) the Department of Interior and Related Agencies (for: Native Hawaiian artifacts sales development; projects at America's Industrial Heritage Park, Pennsylvania; museum construction at Cordell Hull residence, Tennessee; restoration of Keith Albee Theatre, Huntington, West Virginia; and locomotive artifacts restoration at Steamtown, Pennsylvania); (2) Department of Transportation and Related Agencies (for: a bicycle transportation project in Macomb County, Michigan; and Biscayne Boulevard renovation in Miami, Florida); (3) Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies (for a performing arts and cultural center in North Miami Beach, Florida); (4) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs (for: the International Fund for Ireland; and retiring the debt owed by the University of Central America to the Inter-American Development Bank); (5) the Legislative Branch (for the layout of fitness facilities for House office buildings; upgrading the Senate subway system; and modular furniture for Senate office buildings; (6) the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies (for a fish farming station in Stuttgart, Arkansas); and (7) the Department of Defense (for design and construction of a parliament building in the Solomon Islands). Subtitle C: Presidential Authority to Ensure Budget Neutrality - Directs the President, upon determination that the new outlays resulting from the preceding provisions of this Act in FY 1992 exceed the sum of the reduction in outlays and increase in receipts resulting from such provisions in such fiscal year, to issue certain sequestration orders which cancel, in the following order, as necessary: (1) up to 30 percent of the FY 1992 budgetary resources for budget accounts in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1992; (2) any FY 1992 congressional pay raise made by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989; (3) any FY 1992 congressional foreign travel budgetary resources provided by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1992; and (4) any FY 1992 congressional operations budgetary resources provided by the latter Act. Requires the President to obtain the recommendations of specified congressional officials before cancelling such budgetary resources relating to congressional pay, foreign travel, or operations. Subtitle D: Budgetary Treatment - Requires that all reductions in budgetary resources made by subtitles A through C of this title be considered to be reductions in direct spending accounts for purposes of applying specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Durable Medicare Equipment Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit: (1) unsolicited telephone contacts from suppliers of items of durable medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries; and (2) payment for such items furnished subsequent to unsolicited contacts. Excludes suppliers engaging in a pattern of unsolicited contacts from participation in Medicare and other programs under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Designates the week of February 2 through 8, 1992, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to payment to hospitals for inpatient hospital services to provide that when promulgating or enforcing rules or guidelines which implement guidelines for determining whether a county in which a hospital is located should be treated as being part of a particular Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by establishing proximity criteria to represent affinity of a county to a particular MSA, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall not require contiguous borders between the county and the MSA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Intermodal Surface Transportation Infrastructure Act of 1991 - Declares that: (1) it is a goal of the United States to develop a national intermodal transportation (IT) system that moves people and goods in an energy efficient manner; and (2) the nation's future economic direction is dependent on its ability to confront directly the challenges of the global economy, declining productivity growth, energy vulnerability, air pollution, and the need to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. Title I: Federal-Aid Highways - Declares that the authorizations of appropriations and apportionments for construction of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Interstate System - IS) made by this Act are the final authorizations of appropriations and apportionments for completion of construction of the IS. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to apportion for all States (other than Massachusetts) for FY 1993 specified sums authorized for such year by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 for expenditure on the IS, based on the apportionment factors contained in Committee Print 102-24 of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Extends specified apportionments for the IS through FY 1997. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) obligation ceilings for Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction programs for FY 1992 through 1997, with exceptions; and (2) the distribution of, limitations on, and redistribution of unused, obligation authority. Authorizes appropriations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for: (1) the State flexible program; (2) the National Highway System (NHS); (3) the urban mobility system (UMS); (4) the rural mobility system (RMS); (5) the combined highway safety improvement program; (6) the bridge program; (7) Indian reservation roads; (8) forest highways; (9) public lands highways; (10) parkways and park highways; (11) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) safety programs; and (12) FHWA highway safety research and development programs. Requires: (1) that not less than ten percent of the amounts authorized to be appropriated under titles I, III, V, and VI of this Act be expended with small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and econmically disadvantaged individuals, with exceptions; (2) each State to annually survey and compile a list of disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) and the location of such concerns in the State, and notify the Secretary, in writing, of the percentage of such concerns which are controlled by women, by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals other than women, and by women who are otherwise socially and economically disadvantaged; and (3) the Secretary to establish minimum uniform criteria for State governments to use in certifying whether a concern qualifies as a DBE. Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) conduct a study of the FHWA's DBE program; and (2) report on the results to specified committees. Makes reductions in specified authorizations. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) freeway service patrols; and (2) budget compliance. Restructures the Federal-aid highway program by reorganizing it into four Federal-aid systems: (1) the IS; (2) the NHS; (3) the UMS; and (4) the RMS. Requires: (1) each State to functionally reclassify the roads and streets in such State; and (2) the Secretary to approve and report to the Congress containing such reclassification and to study and report on route redesignations of the NHS. Directs the Secretary to establish a flexible program under which a State may expend funds apportioned to it for carrying out any project or activity for which Federal funds may be obligated under Federal highway provisions. Requires any State which includes a nonattainment area for transportation-related pollutants under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to expend a percentage of apportioned funds (equal to the percentage of the population of the State residing in such nonattainment areas but not to exceed 50 percent) to carry out in such areas any project or activity for which Federal funds may be obligated under this title. Includes among eligible NHS projects: (1) construction, resurfacing, and rehabilitation of segments of such system; (2) highway safety improvements for segments of such system; (3) highway-related technology transfer activities; (4) fringe and corridor parking; (5) carpool and vanpool projects; (6) bicycle transportation; and (7) participation in wetland mitigation banks and statewide programs to create, conserve, or enhance wetland habitat. Includes among eligible UMS and RMS systems: (1) construction, resurfacing, and rehabilitation of segments of such system; (2) highway safety improvements; (3) public transportation; (4) transportation planning; (5) highway-related and public transportation-related technology transfer activities; (6) bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways; (7) landscaping, scenic enhancement, and planting of wild flowers; and (8) participation in such wetland mitigation banks and statewide programs. Specifies that with respect to eligible NHS projects and UMS and RMS systems: (1) contributions toward wetland mitigation efforts may occur in advance of specific project activity to build up credit for future projects that may impact upon wetlands; and (2) participation in such wetlands conservation projects shall not serve to exempt any highway construction project from any applicable requirement of Federal law. Authorizes appropriations under the interstate substitute program for highway and transit projects. Makes funds authorized to be appropriated for substitute transit projects for FY 1993 and 1995 available until expended. (Under current law, such funds are available for the fiscal year for which apportioned or allocated and for the succeeding fiscal year.) Sets forth provisions with respect to apportionments: (1) under the interstate substitute program; and (2) for the NHS, RMS, UMS, and the State flexible program. Limits the transferability of NHS apportionments, but provides special transferability rules for nonattainment areas for carbon monoxide or ozone under the CAA. Increases the set-aside for metropolitan planning. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the manner in which alternative fuels are treated for purposes of determining a State's relative revenue contributions to the HTF. Revises program and project approval provisions to bar the Secretary from approving: (1) any project in a proposed program which is not eligible for assistance under Federal highway provisions; (2) projects after September 30, 1992, which are not included in a transportation improvement program (TIP); (3) any program of projects in an urbanized area not based on the planning process (under Federal highway provisions) and without consideration by the State of the views of responsible public officials of the affected area; (4) a highway project (other than a project for construction of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes) in an urbanized area of more than 200,000 population which will significantly increase the motor vehicle carrying capacity of a highway facility unless the project is consistent with a congestion management system for such area; and (5) a highway project for new construction or reconstruction within the boundaries of a State along which a pedestrian walkway or a bicycle transportation facility is required to be included under the State TIP unless such walkway or facility is part of such highway project, with exceptions. Directs the Secretary, in approving programs for: (1) NHS projects in non-urbanized areas, to require that such projects be selected by the State in consultation with appropriate local officials; (2) RMS projects, to require that such projects be selected by the State highway department, appropriate local officials, and Indian tribal governments in cooperation with each other, with exceptions; (3) NHS projects, to give preference to such projects as will expedite the completion of an adequate and connected system of highways interstate in character; (4) UMS projects, to require that such projects be selected by the designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) in consultation with the State; and (5) Federal-aid systems, to give priority to projects which incorporate improved standards and features with safety benefits. Authorizes the Secretary, in approving programs, to give priority of approval to, and expedite the construction of, projects that are recommended by specified officials as important to the national defense. Specifies that, in preparing programs to submit for approval, the Secretary and the State: (1) shall give consideration to projects providing direct and convenient public access to public airports, public ports for water transportation, new town communities, and new town-intown communities; and (2) may give priority to projects for the reconstruction, resurfacing, restoration, or rehabilitation of highways which are incurring a substantial use as a result of transportation activities to meet national energy requirements and which will continue to incur such use. Sets forth provisions with respect to preconstruction activities and contracting for engineering and design services. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress a national list of rights-of-way identified by the MPOs and the States, including a strategy for preventing further loss of rights-of-way and the desirability of creating a transportation right-of-way land bank to preserve vital corridors. Authorizes the States, MPOs, or units of local government (using NHS, UMS, or RMS funds) to purchase threatened rights-of-way, subject to certain limitations. Directs the Secretary, in approving such purchases, to give priority to those rights-of-way most imminently threatened with being lost to transportation purposes. Specifies that this Act shall not be construed to affect the Federal share established by the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1983, for highway construction on the IS. Directs the Secretary to advance the State of Washington emergency relief funds for the replacement of a bridge on the IS damaged by storms in November 1990. Sets forth provisions with respect to the Federal share and repayment of funds. Bars States from allowing a longer combination vehicle (LCV) to be operated on the IS within its boundaries without having its apportionment of funds withheld, unless authorized under this title. Authorizes a State to continue to allow LCVs lawfully operated on June 1, 1991 to operate on the IS within its boundaries, subject to specified requirements. Establishes separate requirements for the State of Wyoming. Makes additional exceptions with respect to the operation of certain specialized hauling vehicles on Interstate Route 68 in Garrett and Alleghany Counties, Maryland. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study of State and Federal regulations pertaining to transporters of water well drilling rigs on public highways to identify requirements which place a burden on such transporters without enhancing safety or preservation of public highways; and (2) report to the Congress within two years on the results of such study. Exempts firefighting vehicles from axle weight limitations and the bridge formula for vehicles using the IS for two years, subject to renewal for an additional year. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of State laws regulating the use on the IS of such vehicles and the issuance of permits by States exempting such vehicles from such requirements to determine whether or not: (1) such State laws and Federal highway provisions need to be modified; (2) a permanent exemption should be made for such vehicles; or (3) the bridge formula should be modified as it applies to such vehicles. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to permit Federal participation in the initial construction (current law authorizes such participation in construction) and 4R projects with respect to toll highways, bridges, or tunnels, conversion of toll-free bridges or tunnels to toll facilities, and preliminary studies to determine the feasibility of a toll facility for which Federal participation is authorized on the same basis as in the construction of free highways. Sets forth provisions with respect to ownership of such facilities, limitations on the use of revenues and on the Federal share, and modification of agreements to allow Federal participation. Eliminates the public operation requirement for toll ferries. Directs the Secretary, subject to specified circumstances, to void certain agreements with respect to: (1) the Fort McHenry Tunnel, Maryland; and (2) the I-78 Delaware River Bridge. Specifies that any new agreement shall permit the continuation of tolls without repayment of Federal funds and shall provide that all toll revenues be used first for repayment of the non-Federal cost of construction, second for operation and maintenance costs, and for other specified purposes. Replaces railway-highway crossing provisions with provisions for a combined highway safety improvement program, under which each State shall: (1) conduct and systematically maintain an engineering survey of all highways to identify hazardous locations, as well as railroad crossings which may require separation, relocation, protective devices, or pedestrian stoplights; (2) assign priorities for correction; and (3) establish and implement a schedule of projects for improvements so identified. Sets the Federal share for projects under such program at 80 percent of the cost. Authorizes the Secretary to classify the various types of projects involved in the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings and set for each classification a percentage of the costs of construction deemed to represent the net benefit to the railroads for the purpose of determining the railroads' share of construction costs. Sets forth provisions with respect to liability for construction cost, discharge of liability, and enforcement of Act requirements. Provides for the apportionment of funds. Directs the Secretary to set aside: (1) $300,000 for Operation Life Saver (a public information and education program to prevent and reduce motor vehicle accidents, injuries, and fatalities, and to improve driver performance at railway-highway crossings); and (2) $10,000,000 for railway-highway crossing hazard elimination in high speed rail corridors. Authorizes the use of funds by local governments for the improvement of railway-highway crossings under specified circumstances. Requires each State to: (1) establish an evaluation process to assess results achieved by highway safety improvement projects and develop cost-benefit data for various types of corrections and treatments which shall be used in setting priorities for such projects; and (2) submit progress reports to the Secretary by December 30 of each year. Directs the Secretary to: (1) revise the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and such other regulations and agreements of the FHWA as necessary to authorize States and local governments to install stop or yield signs at any rail-highway grade crossing without automatic traffic control devices with two or more trains operating across such crossing per day; (2) initiate a rulemaking proceeding to revise the guidelines and standards for the installation of roadside barriers and other safety appurtenances, reflecting state-of-the-art designs, testing, and evaluating criteria contained in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 230 (relating to approval standards which provide an enhanced level of crashworthy performance to accommodate vans, mini-vans, pickup trucks, and four-wheel drive vehicles); and (3) complete such proceeding and issue a final rule regarding the implementation of revised guidelines and standards for acceptable roadside barriers and other safety appurtenances (which shall accommodate vans, mini-vans, pickup trucks, and four-wheel drive vehicles and shall be applicable to the refurbishment and replacement of existing, as well as the installation of new, roadside barriers and safety appurtenances). Sets forth provisions with respect to the control of outdoor advertising. Directs MPOs, in cooperation with the State, to develop transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas of the State which provide for the development of transportation facilities (including pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities) which will function as an IT system for the State and such urbanized areas. Provides for the designation or redesignation of MPOs for each urbanized area of the State. Sets forth provisions with respect to the area covered by the transportation planning process and the factors to be considered in developing transportation plans and programs, such as: (1) applicable Federal, State, and local energy conservation programs, goals, and objectives; (2) applicable CAA requirements; (3) methods to reduce traffic congestion; (4) the effect of transportation decisions on land use and development; (5) the use of innovative mechanisms for financing projects; (6) long-range needs of transportation systems in the urbanized area; (7) methods to enhance the efficient movement of commercial motor vehicles; and (8) with respect to bridges and tunnels, life-cycle costs in the design and engineering for the bridge or tunnel. Sets forth special rules for urbanized areas of greater than 200,000 population. Requires each MPO designated for an urbanized area to: (1) develop a long-range transportation plan and a TIP for the area for which such organization is designated; (2) provide citizens, affected public agencies, representatives of transportation agency employees, other affected employee representatives, private providers of transportation, and other interested parties with a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposed plan; (3) develop a long-range comprehensive plan for bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways for such area which shall be incorporated into the long-range transportation plan for such area; and (4) review and approve TIPs at least biannually. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Department of Transportation (DOT) an advisory committee to review: (1) the planning process being utilized by MPOs; (2) the composition and organization of such MPOs; (3) the impact on such MPOs of changing demographics and increased responsibilities under Federal highway provisions and under the CAA; and (4) the relationship between the MPO and statewide planning processes. Sets forth reporting requirements. Sets forth provisions with respect to statewide planning that are analogous to those for metropolitan planning. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to develop highway construction training and assistance programs in cooperation with Indian tribal governments; (2) the States to implement a preference for employment of Indians on projects carried out under this title near Indian reservations; (3) the use of RMS or UMS funds for capital improvement to provide access and coordination between intercity and rural bus service, and for construction of facilities to provide connections between highway transportation and other modes of transportation; and (4) the Secretary to approve as a project on any Federal-aid system modifications to existing highway facilities on such system necessary to accommodate other modes of transportation if such modifications will not adversely effect automotive safety or future highway improvements. Makes public mass transportation projects in urbanized areas subject to metropolitan planning requirements under this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) inventory all highway bridges on Indian reservation roads and park bridges; (2) classify them according to serviceability, safety, and essentiality for public use; (3) assign each a priority for replacement or rehabilitation; and (4) determine the cost of replacing such bridge with a comparable facility or of rehabilitating such bridge. Authorizes the Secretary to approve Federal participation in the painting of, or application of calcium magnesium acetate to, the structure of highway bridges upon application by a State for assistance. Provides for the apportionment of discretionary bridge program funds. Authorizes the expenditure of certain funds to rehabilitate, paint, or apply calcium magnesium acetate to highway bridges located on public roads other than those on the Federal-aid system. Requires that projects not on a Federal-aid system be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained in accordance with State laws, regulations, directives, and safety, design, and construction standards. Requires a set-aside for such activities with respect to Indian reservation bridges. Directs the Secretary, upon determining a State bridge apportionment and before transferring funds to the States, to transfer the Indian reservation bridge allocation to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out specified high cost bridge projects. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share (80 percent), delegation of responsibility to the States, and advance construction. Continues existing apportionment criteria. Makes permanent the extension of the 65 miles per hour speed limit demonstration program. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations with respect to: (1) the monitoring of programs conducted by the States to ensure uniformity; and (2) the placing of devices and equipment at such locations on maximum speed limit highways on a scientifically random basis which take into account the relative risk of motor vehicle accidents occurring, considering the classes of such highways and the speeds at which vehicles are traveling on such classes of highways. Sets forth a formula for the transfer of a State's apportionment of Federal highway funds if such State fails to adequately enforce the speed limit. Requires a State to obligate at least 50 percent of any funds transferred under this title for a fiscal year for speed limit enforcement and public information and education. Requires the Secretary to carry out such provisions through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). Provides for the transfer of certain FHWA personnel to the NHTSA to carry out such provisions. Directs the Secretary: (1) in FY 1992 and each fiscal year thereafter, to allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that a State's percentage of the total apportionments in each such fiscal year and allocations for the prior fiscal year for Federal-aid highway programs, with exceptions, shall not be less than 90 percent of the percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in such State paid into the HTF (other than the Mass Transit Account) in the latest fiscal year for which data is available; and (2) in each of FY 1992 through 1997, to make supplemental minimum allocations based upon authorizations for special projects. Authorizes a State, subject to approval by the Secretary, to obligate: (1) UMS and flexible program funds for the construction of pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities and for carrying out-non-construction projects related to safe bicycle use; and (2) NHS funds for such construction adjacent to any highway on the NHS (other than the IS). Authorizes the use of Federal lands highway funds, at the discretion of the department charged with the administration of such funds, for the construction of such walkways and facilities in conjunction with trails, roads, highways, and parkways on Federal lands. Requires each State receiving an apportionment under this title to fund, in the State transportation department, a position of bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. Authorizes, with respect to highway bridge deck replacement or rehabilitation, such replacement or rehabilitation so as to provide for the safe accommodation of bicycles, subject to certain conditions. Sets the Federal share of pedestrian walkway and bicycle transportation facility construction at 80 percent. Requires such walkways and facilities to be located and designed pursuant to an overall plan to be developed by each MPO and State and incorporated into their comprehensive annual long-range plans, which shall provide due consideration for safety and contiguous routes. Limits the use of motorized vehicles on pedestrian walkways and trails under this title. Bars any bicycle project under this Act from being carried out unless the Secretary has determined that such project will be principally for transportation, rather than recreation, purposes. Requires that: (1) two percent of funds made available for Indian reservation roads for each fiscal year be allocated to those Indian tribal governments applying for transportation planning; and (2) the Indian tribal government develop a TIP that includes all Indian reservation road projects proposed for funding. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study on differences between the use of funds out of the HTF on, and the designation of roads as, Indian reservation roads and rural mobility highways; and (2) report to the Congress on the results, together with any recommendations for correcting inequities identified under such study. Requires the Secretary, within one year, to issue regulations for State development, establishment, and implementation of a system (which may include a compliance schedule and minimum standards) for managing: (1) highway pavement of the Federal-aid system; (2) bridges on and off such system; (3) highway and transportation safety; (4) traffic congestion; (5) public transportation facilities and equipment; and (6) IT facilities and systems. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines and requirements for the State development, establishment, and implementation of a traffic monitoring system for highways and public transportation facilities and equipment. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to State requirements, intermodal requirements, reporting requirements, funding, and congressional review of regulations. Authorizes appropriations for specified congestion relief projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share, delegation to the States, and advance construction. Prohibits: (1) the discovery (current law only bars the admission as evidence) of certain reports and surveys compiled to develop a highway safety construction improvement project to enhance the safety of potential accident sites or hazardous conditions; and (2) the Secretary from using iron in highway or urban transit projects (current law specifies only steel and manufactured products used in such projects) that has not been produced in the United States. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) relocation assistance regulations relating to the Rural Electrification Administration; (2) a temporary matching fund waiver regarding qualifying State projects; (3) repayment of increases in the Federal share; and (4) deductions from State apportionments where a State has not made the required repayment on or before March 30, 1994. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to submit to the Congress a report on purchases from foreign entities granted waivers from "Buy America" provisions in FY 1992 and 1993, indicating the dollar value of items for which such waivers were granted. Makes ineligible to receive any contract or subcontract made with funds authorized under this Act any person determined by a court or Federal agency to have intentionally: (1) affixed a label bearing a "Made in America" inscription to any product used in projects under Federal highway provisions, sold in or shipped to the United States, that was not made in the United States; or (2) represented that any product used in such projects, sold in or shipped to the United States that was not produced in the United States, was produced in the United States. Specifies that such waiver shall not apply to products produced in a foreign country if the Secretary determines that such country: (1) is a party to an agreement with the United States pursuant to which the head of a U.S. agency has granted a waiver; and (2) has violated the terms of such agreement by discriminating against specified U.S.-produced products. Identifies and authorizes appropriations for specified high priority corridors on the NHS. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share, delegation to the States, and advance construction. Directs the Secretary to: (1) include all such corridors on the proposed NHS as submitted to the Congress; (2) prepare a long-range plan for the upgrading of each corridor to the appropriate standards for highways on the NHS, including separate plans for developing the corridor and financing the development; (3) prepare feasibility and design studies, as necessary, for those corridors for which such studies have not been prepared; and (4) use procedures for acceleration of projects in carrying out projects on high priority corridors. Requires each State in which a priority segment is located to prepare a detailed plan for completion of construction on such segment and for financing such construction. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth criteria for States to use in selecting high priority segments of corridors of national significance. Authorizes appropriations out of the HTF for feasibility and design studies under this title. Directs the Secretary to establish a Priority Corridor Revolving Loan Fund. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants under a highway bridge research and demonstration program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) take such action as necessary to ensure that information and technology resulting from such research is made available to State and local transportation departments and other interested persons; and (2) make grants to States for construction of highway timber bridges on the RMS. Sets forth provisions with respect to applications, approval criteria, the Federal share, and funding for such grants. Requires the Secretary to carry out a program for ferry boat construction. Bars the Secretary from disapproving, for five years, a highway project solely on the ground that it includes the use of asphalt containing recycled rubber. Specifies that a patented application process for recycled rubber shall be eligible for approval under the same conditions that an unpatented process is eligible. Directs the Secretary to: (1) gather information and recommendations concerning such use in highway projects from those States that have extensively researched and experimented with such use, and make available such information and recommendations to States which indicate an interest in such use; (2) conduct a study to evaluate the economic savings, technical performance qualities, and environmental benefits of using recycled materials in highway projects and report the results to the Congress; and (3) encourage the use of recycled materials in federally-assisted highway projects where such materials are available for the project if such use, in comparison to conventional materials, has been demonstrated to supply equal or superior performance qualities and environmental benefits at equal or lesser cost over the economic life of the project. Directs the Secretary to carry out highway use tax evasion projects, subject to specified limitations. Authorizes the Secretary to allocate specified funds to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the States for such purposes. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study to determine the feasibility and desirability of using dye and markers to aid in motor fuel tax enforcement activities and other purposes; and (2) establish an advisory committee to prepare a plan to carry out and coordinate highway use tax evasion projects, monitor the results, provide progress reports to the Secretary, and make recommendations to the Secretary for the distribution of funds. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) termination of such committee; (2) State certification requirements (that the State will maintain motor fuel tax enforcement activities at a certain level); (3) reporting requirements; and (4) funding of such projects. Authorizes the Secretary to approve substitute highway, bus transit, and light rail transit projects in lieu of construction of the I-94 East-West Transitway project in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, Wisconsin. Directs the Comptroller General to complete a study on equipment rental rates for use in reimbursing contractors for extra work on Federal-aid projects. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish within DOT an advisory committee to assist the Secretary with respect to the establishment of a national scenic byways program; and (2) provide technical assistance and make grants to the States for the planning, design, and development of State scenic byways programs. Sets forth provisions with respect to the membership, function, and reporting requirements of such committee; the Federal share (80 percent); and funding provisions. Establishes an interim scenic byways program during FY 1992 through 1994. Authorizes appropriations. Specifies the Federal share (80 percent). Makes funds available for such years, subject to specified limitations. Directs the Secretary to carry out a highway project in Arkansas to demonstrate: (1) the benefits of providing training to county and town traffic officials in the need for and application of uniform traffic control devices; and (2) safety benefits of providing for adequate and safe warning and regulatory signs. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out specified: (1) rural access projects; and (2) urban access and mobility projects. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share, delegation to the States, and advance construction. Directs: (1) the Secretary to carry out a project to make modifications to bridges necessary for the Secretary of the Army to carry out a project for flood control at Molly Ann's Brook, New Jersey (NJ); and (2) the Governor of NJ to carry out all the responsibilities of the Secretary with respect to highway construction projects in Passaic and Bergen Counties, NJ. Sets forth provisions with respect to certain regulatory interpretations concerning: (1) the coating of steel; and (2) the funding of fusees and flares. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the progress being made by the States in adopting and implementing a uniform system for handicapped parking. Sets forth reporting requirements. Requires that: (1) not less than five percent of the mileage of roadside barriers installed along Federal-aid highways within the boundaries of a State in each calendar year be innovative safety barriers; and (2) each State annually certify to the Secretary compliance with such requirement. Directs the Secretary to conduct a survey to identify current State standards relating to geometric design, traffic control devices, roadside safety, safety appurtenance design, uniform traffic control devices, and sign legibility and directional clarity for all Federal-aid highways, taking into consideration posted speed limits as they relate to highway design. Sets forth reporting requirements. Sets forth: (1) the effective date of this title; and (2) provisions with respect to the availability and transferability of unobligated balances. Authorizes appropriations for specified innovative projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share, delegation to the States, advance construction, and reporting requirements. Exempts certain toll pilot projects in Orange County California, from requirements applicable to public parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study of the advisability and feasibility of establishing an international border highway infrastructure discretionary program; (2) conduct a study to determine an appropriate symbol or emblem to be placed on highway signs referring to the IS to commemorate the vision of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in creating the IS; and (3) report on each to the Congress. Makes unobligated balances of funds previously authorized under the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 for demonstration projects available for projects located in Tampa, Florida; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and from Larkspur to Korbel, California. Renames the U.S. Route 68 bridge across the Ohio River between Aberdeen, Ohio, and Marysville, Kentucky, as the William H. Harsha Bridge. Bars the Secretary from recognizing any certification made by a State on the safety of motorbikes on HOV lanes that was made prior to the enactment of this Act until the Secretary publishes notice of, and provides opportunity for public comment on, such certification. Directs the Secretary to: (1) encourage the States to provide for equitable participation in the use of tourist-oriented directional or logo signs along the IS and Federal-aid primary system; (2) conduct a study, and report to the Congress, on the participation in the use of such signs and State practices with respect to such use; and (3) conduct a study, and report to the Congress, regarding the feasibility of constructing a four-lane highway connecting Interstate Routes 65 and ten in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida. Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to include Calhoun County, Mississippi, in Appalachia. Provides that, in the case of specified highway projects which would otherwise be eligible for assistance, or projects on a federally-owned bridge, the Federal share shall be 100 percent. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a proposed work zone safety program to improve work zone safety at highway construction sites; and (2) issue regulations for the establishment of value engineering review programs by the States. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for various specified highway and highway-related projects throughout the United States. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 to extend the railroad relocation and demonstration program through 1994 (currently, in effect through 1991). Renames a highway bypass in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, as the J. Clifford Naugle Bypass. Authorizes an interim advance construction program, subject to specified limitations. Directs the Secretary to approve the construction of a specified DOT project in Fulton County, Georgia, subject to specified limitations. Authorizes the Secretary to fund the production of a documentary, in cooperation with a not-for-profit national public television station, to create awareness by the public and State and local governments of the nation's infrastructure and to encourage studies and projects to improve the infrastructure. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to collect and analyze data on the volume of traffic crossing specified U.S.-Canadian bridges. Expresses the sense of the Congress that State and local governments should encourage the environmentally safe use of compost and fertilizer products derived from treated municipal sewage sludge along the rights-of-way of Federal-aid highways. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study of State compliance with requirements for revocation and suspension of drivers' licenses; and (2) report to the Congress on the results of such study. Requires the Secretary to establish a private sector involvement program to encourage States to contract with private firms for engineering and design services in carrying out Federal-aid highway projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) grants to States; and (2) reporting requirements. Sets forth provisions with respect to the repayment of funds by New Hampshire to the United States. Title II: Highway Safety - Requires (as a prerequisite to the Secretary's approval) that each State's highway safety program include the following programs: (1) drunk driving; (2) speeding; (3) occupant protection; (4) emergency medical services; (5) motorcycle safety; (6) uniform data collection and reporting; (7) accident location; (8) highway design, construction, and maintenance; and (9) traffic engineering. Permits the Secretary to approve a State's highway safety program only if it includes three or more of the following programs: (1) bicycle safety; (2) pedestrian safety; (3) school bus safety; (4) traffic record system; (5) police traffic services; and (6) such other programs as the Secretary may establish by regulation. Bars the Secretary from approving a State highway safety program that does not: (1) provide that at least 40 percent of Federal funds apportioned to the State for a fiscal year be expended by the political subdivisions of the State, including Indian tribal governments (current law makes no mention of tribal governments); and (2) provide adequate and reasonable access for the safe and convenient movement of individuals with disabilities (currently, physically handicapped persons). Authorizes the Secretary to waive the 40 percent requirement whenever the Secretary determines that there are an insufficient number of local highway safety programs to justify the expenditure in the State of such percentage of Federal funds during the fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations establishing minimum standards for State highway safety programs to be approved under this title which: (1) with respect to the drunk driving, speeding, occupant protection, and police traffic services programs, must include public information, education, and law enforcement components; and (2) may require a State highway safety program to include adoption and enforcement of State law authorizing the use of automatic speed detection devices by law enforcement officers. Specifies that such highway safety requirements and regulations shall, to the extent deemed appropriate by the Secretary, be applicable to federally administered areas where a Federal agency controls the highways or supervises traffic operations. Applies provisions of this title to Indian reservations. Specifies that 95 percent of the funds apportioned to the Secretary of the Interior under this title shall be expended by Indian tribes to carry out highway safety programs within their jurisdictions. Bars the admission as evidence or use in any action for damages of traffic record system data. Sets forth reporting requirements with respect to legislation necessary to implement programs developed by the Secretary to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries. Revises highway safety research and development provisions to authorize the Secretary to: (1) use appropriated funds to engage in research on all phases of highway safety and traffic conditions; and (2) undertake, on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities which may include crash data collection and analysis, driver and pedestrian behavior, and demonstrations of technology. Bars the Secretary from agreeing to provide more than 50 percent of the cost of any such research and development project. Revises drunk driving provisions to authorize the Secretary to make grants to States which adopt and implement effective programs to reduce traffic safety problems resulting from persons driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. Requires States, to be eligible for basic grants, to provide for: (1) the prompt suspension, for a period of not less than 90 days for a first offender and one year for a repeat offender, of the driver's license of any individual who a law enforcement officer has probable cause under State law to believe has committed an alcohol-related traffic offense and who is determined, based on one or more chemical tests, to be intoxicated or who refuses to submit to such a test; (2) a mandatory sentence, of imprisonment for not less than 48 consecutive hours or not less than 100 days of community service, not subject to suspension or probation, for any person convicted of driving while intoxicated (as defined by this Act) more than once in any five-year period; (3) a statewide program for stopping motor vehicles on a nondiscriminatory, lawful basis to determine whether or not operators of such vehicles are driving while under the influence of alcohol; and (4) a self-sustaining drunk driving prevention program under which a significant portion of the fines or surcharges collected from individuals apprehended and fined for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol are returned, or an equivalent amount of non-Federal funds are provided, to those communities which have comprehensive programs for the prevention of such operation of motor vehicles. Modifies or adds provisions with respect to supplemental grants, limits on administrative expenses, apportionment of funds, and reapportionment of noneligible State funds. Authorizes the Secretary, in the case of a local highway program carried out by an Indian tribe with insufficient funds to meet the non-Federal cost of such program, to increase the Federal share of the cost. Directs the Secretary to make $17,000,000 available for each of FY 1993 through 1997 to carry out drunk driving provisions. Allows States which have been eligible for such grants before the date of the enactment of this Act to elect to receive in a fiscal year grants under such provisions, as so in effect, in lieu of receiving in such fiscal year grants under such provisions, as amended by this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States which have in effect specified State motorcycle helmet and safety belt use laws to: (1) educate the public about motorcycle and passenger vehicle safety, and motorcycle helmet, safety belt, and child restraint system use, and to involve public health education and other related agencies in such efforts; and (2) train law enforcement officers in the enforcement of, monitor the rate or compliance with, and enforce, such laws. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the maintenance of State expenditures for traffic safety programs; (2) the Federal share of the cost; (3) eligibility requirements; (4) measuring rates of compliance; and (5) penalties for failing to have in effect such laws. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) NHTSA highway safety and highway safety research and development, programs; and (2) the alcohol traffic safety incentive grant program. Directs the Secretary, acting through the NHTSA, to establish a regional program for implementation of drug recognition programs and for training law enforcement officers to recognize and identify individuals who are operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or one or more controlled substances or other drugs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to establish a citizens advisory committee to report to the Congress. Specifies that such committee shall include one member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and one member of a narcotics control organization. Amends the National Driver Register Act of 1982 to make authorizations of appropriations for highway safety educational programming and a study of the use of mass media to educate the public of ways of reducing the number and severity of highway accidents. Title III: Federal Transit Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to rename the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of DOT the Federal Transit Administration. Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (the Act) to delete specified provisions relating to the authority of the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to issue letters of intent with respect to grants and loans for mass transportation projects. Directs the Secretary to apportion certain amounts for FY 1992 through 1997 for rail and guideway modernization for certain urbanized areas. Earmarks a portion of the funds made available for construction of new fixed guideway systems and extensions for obligation at the Secretary's discretion for systems planning, alternative analysis, and preliminary engineering. Earmarks a specified amount at the Secretary's discretion for grants to States and local public bodies and agencies to prevent crime and to increase security in existing and future transit systems. Revises certain criteria to prohibit the making of grants or loans for construction of new fixed guideway systems or extensions unless such proposed projects: (1) have undergone a cost-effectiveness analysis; and (2) are included, after September 30, 1992, in a transportation improvement program. Requires the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees on factors which the Secretary considers they should use in authorizing such projects. Allocates on a percentage basis grants or loans for mass transportation projects for FY 1992 through 1997 for: (1) rail modernization; (2) construction of new fixed guideway systems and extensions to such systems; (3) replacement, rehabilitation, and purchase of buses and related equipment and the construction of bus-related facilities; and (4) apportionments to States for eligible capital projects and Federal highway programs. Prohibits States (other than the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands) from receiving for any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1991, less than one-third of one percent of funds available from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for transportation projects under this Act. Treats such named territories together as one State. Makes provisions of title 23 of the United States Code (relating to Federal-aid highway projects) applicable to State projects that are funded under this Act. Sets at 80 percent (or any lower percentage mandated) the Federal share of costs with respect to Federal-aid highway and mass transportation projects. Authorizes the remainder of net project costs of a planned extension to a fixed guideway system to include the cost of rolling stock previously purchased if an applicant demonstrates that such purchase was made: (1) solely with non-Federal funds; and (2) for use on such extension. Increases the percentages of block grant funds available for expenditure for mass transportation projects in urbanized areas with more than, and less than, a population of 200,000, respectively. Extends the Secretary's authority to investigate safety conditions of mass transportation projects financed under the block grant program. Redefines the term "associated capital maintenance items" to include supplies (except for fuels and lubricants). Provides for an annual increase in the amount of mass transportation funds that may be used for operating assistance by urbanized areas regardless of size (currently, for urbanized areas with less than a population of 200,000). Authorizes States to transfer their apportionment of mass transportation block grant funds for urbanized areas with populations with less than 200,000 to their apportionment for Federal-aid highway projects. Treats any area that has been designated as an urbanized area under the 1980 census and not under the 1990 census as an urbanized area eligible to receive mass transportation funds. Requires contracts for engineering and design services with respect to mass transportation projects to be performed and audited in compliance with cost principles contained in the Federal acquisition regulations of the Code of Federal Regulations. Defines "transit" to mean mass transportation. Requires the Secretary, not later than January 31, 1992, to issue regulations requiring a pre-award and post-delivery audit with respect to any Federal grant for the purchase of rail rolling stock and for the purchase of IS or more buses in order to assure compliance with certain Federal motor vehicle safety, Buy American, and bid specifications requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer to any public body for any public purpose facilities and equipment and other assets (including land) acquired by a recipient of Federal transportation funds but no longer needed. Sets forth specified determinations to be made by the Secretary with respect to the transfer of such assets for purposes other than for mass transportation. Defines a turnkey system project as a vendor-specific project under which a recipient contracts with a vendor to build a transit system that meets specific performance criteria and which is operated by such vendor for a period of time. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the solicitation for a turnkey system project to be conditionally awarded before Federal requirements are met so long as such award is made without prejudice to such requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to private nonprofit corporations and associations in order to pay operating expenses related to new and existing transportation services that meet the special needs of elderly and handicapped persons. Authorizes transit service providers who receive Federal transportation assistance under programs for elderly and handicapped persons and rural transportation programs to assist in providing meal delivery service for homebound persons if such service does not conflict with the provision or result in a reduction of mass transportation services. Authorizes States to transfer portions of their apportionment of formula grants for public transportation projects in rural areas to their apportionment for Federal-aid highway projects. Requires the Secretary, before apportioning any such formula grants after September 30, 1991, to set aside a specified amount for the development and support of intercity bus transportation. Defines the term "construction" with regard to transportation construction projects to include acquisition of materials and supplies. Authorizes appropriations from the Treasury and the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for FY 1992 through 1997 for: (1) block grants for mass transportation projects in urbanized areas; (2) formula grants for public transportation projects in rural areas; (3) mass transportation and construction projects (including capital maintenance items); (4) rural transportation programs; (5) mass transportation services for elderly and handicapped persons; (6) projects for the deployment of innovative techniques and methods in the management and operation of public transportation services; (7) transportation research, development, and demonstration projects; (8) long-range transportation planning programs and technical studies; (9) grants to public and private nonprofit educational institutions to assist in establishing comprehensive research in the problems of transportation urban areas; (10) rural transit assistance programs; (11) human resources programs in public transportation activities; (12) administrative expenses of the Secretary; (13) a certain survey of the future transit needs of the Nation and a study on the transferability of transit funds for nontransit purposes; and (14) university transportation centers. Makes funds available from the HTF (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY 1992 through 1997 for such transportation centers. Makes specified Federal transportation funds available to the Secretary for making grants, or entering into contracts, for: (1) transportation research, development, and demonstration projects; (2) long-range transportation planning programs and technical studies; (3) fellowships for training of personnel employed in managerial, technical, and professional positions in the public transportation field; (4) public and private nonprofit educational institutions to assist in establishing comprehensive research in the problems of transportation in urban areas; (5) rural transit assistance programs; or (6) human resources programs in public transportation activities. Requires the Secretary to make a specified amount of such funds available for transit-related technical assistance, demonstration programs, special demonstration initiatives, research, public education, and other activities that the Secretary deems appropriate to help transit providers comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. Requires the Secretary to establish an entrepreneurial transportation services program to provide grants and loans to assist in the development of private transportation services to meet new transportation needs and complement public transportation services. Earmarks specified funds for: (1) an inertial navigation system demonstration project to determine the safety, economic, and environmental benefits of deploying inertial navigation tracking and control systems in urban and rural environments. Authorizes the Secretary to undertake a program of transit technology development. Requires the Secretary to establish an industry technical panel to assist in identifying priority technology development areas and in establishing guidelines for project development, project cost sharing, and project execution. Earmarks a specified amount of funds for: (1) State transit cooperative research programs; and (2) State and local transportation planning, research, and training in urbanized areas. Requires the Secretary, as part of the transit cooperative research program, to establish an independent governing board to recommend transit research, development, and technology transfer activities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, the National Academy of Sciences to implement such activities. Directs the Secretary to enter into a full funding grant agreement with a public entity for construction of a suspended light rail system technology pilot project. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to specified congressional committees: (1) an estimate of the future transit needs of the nation, including in rural areas (particularly access to health care facilities); and (2) a study on the transferability of transit funds for nontransit purposes. Requires the Secretary to enter into a full funding grant agreement for the provision of Federal transportation assistance to the New Jersey Urban Core Project. Exempts such project from certain requirements under the Act relating to criteria for new construction of fixed guideway systems. Directs the Secretary to complete a draft environmental impact statement for an extension of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) to the San Francisco International Airport. Directs the Secretary to make grants to BART and to Santa Clara County Transit District (SCCTD) to conduct preliminary engineering and complete environmental impact statements on the locally preferred alternative for the extension of BART to the San Francisco International Airport and for the Tasman Corridor Project. Sets forth a schedule for approval of the construction of such projects. Directs the Secretary, upon such approval, to execute a multiyear grant agreement with BART to permit the expenditure of funds for the construction of the BART San Francisco International Airport Extension and with SCCTD for the construction of the Tasman Corridor Project. Requires the Secretary to execute full funding grant agreements (consistent with Metropolitan Transportation Commission Resolution No. 1876) with BART for Colma and the San Francisco International Airport, and with SCCTD for the Tasman Corridor Project. Requires the Secretary, not later than April 1, 1992, to complete and publish in the Federal Register a final supplemental environmental impact statement for Minimum Operable Segment-3 (other than the East Side Extension) of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Project. Requires the Secretary to negotiate with the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on an amendment to a specified full funding contract for construction of Minimum Operable Segment-2 of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Project in order to include construction of Minimum Operable Segment-3, including a commitment for Federal funding for the East Side Extension, in such contract. Directs the Secretary to enter into multiyear grant agreements with certain States for the construction of specified transportation projects. Directs the Federal Transit Administration to allow petroleum violation escrow account funds spent by the New Jersey Transit Corporation on transit improvements to be applied as credit towards the non-Federal match for any transit project funded under the Act. Makes specified amounts of Federal transportation funds available to the State of New York for projects designed to meet the transportation needs associated with the 1993 World University Games. Increases the limitation on operating assistance for the Staten Island Ferry. Forgives the outstanding balance on a specified grant agreement made to the Fayettville Transit Authority, North Carolina. Extends the repayment period on the outstanding balances due on certain loans made to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority. Requires the Secretary to study procedures for determining disability in order to obtain off peak reduced fares under the Act. Requires the Secretary to make a specified amount of Federal transportation funds available to Pennsylvania for capital expenses to assist in the provision of elderly and handicapped transportation services. Provides for the reduction of authorized appropriations from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF. Declares that any obligated M account balances remaining available for expenditure as of August 1, 1991, for Urban Discretionary Grants and Interstate Transfer Grants-Transit shall remain available until expended. Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to undertake an alternatives analysis for the East-West Central Milwaukee Corridor. Title IV: Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Amends the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 to add as conditions for approval of State plans (to be eligible for commercial motor vehicle safety enforcement grants) that such plans ensure that: (1) activities funded under such Act do not diminish the effectiveness of development and implementation of commercial motor vehicle safety programs; (2) fines imposed and collected by the State for violations of commercial motor vehicle safety regulations will be reasonable and appropriate; and (3) the designated State agency will coordinate the plan with respect to commercial motor vehicle safety with the State highway safety plan. Requires State plans to provide for maintenance of the level of expenditures for enforcement of commercial motor vehicle size and weight limitations, drug interdiction, and State traffic safety laws and regulations as conditions for approval of such plans. Authorizes a State, subject to specified limitations, to use grant funds for: (1) enforcement of commercial motor vehicle size and weight limitations at locations other than fixed weight facilities, at specified geographical locations (such as steep grades or mountainous terrains), or at seaports where intermodal shipping containers enter and exit the United States; (2) detecting the unlawful presence of controlled substances in a commercial motor vehicle or on the person of any occupant of such vehicle; and (3) enforcement of State traffic laws and regulations designed to promote safe operation of commercial motor vehicles. Authorizes appropriations. Makes grants available for expenditure by States for a period of three (currently, one) years, to be available until expended (currently, for the fiscal year and the three succeeding fiscal years). Authorizes the Secretary to deduct up to one (currently, one half) percent of funds made available for administering the grant program in specified fiscal years. Directs the Secretary, on October 1 of each fiscal year, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, to allocate (after making such deduction) among the States whose applications for grants have been approved, the funds authorized to be appropriated for such fiscal year pursuant to criteria established by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to obligate funds for specified fiscal years for: (1) training of hazardous materials inspectors; (2) commercial motor vehicle information system review; (3) the truck and bus accident data grant program; and (4) research, development, demonstration, and training manuals. Authorizes appropriations for motor carrier safety functions of the FHWA. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish, as part of the motor carrier safety information network system of DOT and similar State systems, an information system (paid for by user fees) which will serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information pertaining to State registration and licensing of commercial motor vehicles and the safety fitness of the registrants of such vehicles; and (2) authorize the operation of such system by contract, through an agreement with a State or States, or by designating a third party which represents the interests of the States. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a review of State motor vehicle registration systems pertaining to license tags for commercial motor vehicles; (2) establish standards to ensure uniform data collection and reporting by all States; and (3) include, as part of the information system established under this title, information on the safety fitness of the registrant of the commercial motor vehicle and such other information as the Secretary considers appropriate. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States: (1) to carry out a project to demonstrate methods of establishing an information system which will link the motor carrier safety information network system of DOT and similar State systems with the motor vehicle registration and licensing systems of the States; (2) which agree to adopt or have adopted the recommendation of the National Governors' Association with respect to police accident reports for truck and bus accidents; (3) and to other persons for research, development, demonstrations, and information systems designed to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and which will be beneficial to all U.S. jurisdictions; and (4) to assist in educating the motoring public on its shared responsibility with operators of commercial motor vehicles for highway safety. Authorizes the Secretary to pay for the development, printing, and publication of manuals or other materials used in training roadside inspectors of commercial motor vehicles. Prohibits any State, effective January 1, 1994, from requiring a motor carrier holding a certificate or permit (certificate) issued under this title to: (1) file and maintain such certificate; (2) register motor vehicles operated under such certificate; (3) display or carry on any vehicle a decal, stamp, cab card, or other means of identification evidencing the lawfulness of any transportation or service provided under such certificate; or (4) pay a fee with respect to any such activities. Specifies that nothing in this title shall be construed as limiting the authority of a State to require a motor carrier from filing and maintaining proof of insurance or qualification as a self-insurer. Provides for reimbursements to States for specified loss revenues in FY 1992, subject to certain requirements. Bars States from allowing on the IS and those classes of qualifying Federal-aid primary system highways as designated by the Secretary any commercial motor vehicle with two or more cargo carrying units (not including the truck tractor), whose cargo carrying units are of a length greater than were authorized by State statute or regulation and were being lawfully operated on the IS and such classes of highways on or before June 1, 1991, with specified exceptions. Makes separate requirements for Wyoming. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) additional State restrictions; (2) the publication of State laws governing such vehicles; and (3) State certifications (of such vehicles which are permitted), review of certifications, and related requirements. Directs: (1) the Secretary to initiate a rulemaking (within 60 days) and issue a final regulation (within two years) establishing minimum training requirements for operators of LCVs; (2) the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the safety of LCVs; (3) the Secretary to conduct a study comparing the effects of driving LCVs and driving other truck-trailer combination vehicles on drivers, including driver fatigue; and (4) the Secretary to conduct tests with respect to the operations of LCVs. Sets forth reporting requirements. Requires the Secretary to establish a working group to: (1) establish procedures for resolving disputes among States participating in the International Registration Plan (the interstate agreement for the apportionment of vehicle registration fees paid by motor carriers, developed by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) and among States participating in the International Fuel Tax Agreement (the interstate agreement for the collection and distribution of fuel use taxes paid by motor carriers, developed under the auspices of the National Governors' Association); (2) provide technical assistance to States participating in the Plan or in the Agreement; and (3) make grants to States and appropriate persons to facilitate participation in the Plan and in the Agreement. Sets forth reporting requirements. Specifies that, after September 30, 1996, no State: (1) other than a State which is participating in the Plan shall establish, maintain, or enforce any law or regulation which limits the operation of any commercial motor vehicle within its borders which is not registered under the laws of the State if the vehicle is registered under the laws of any other State participating in the Plan; and (2) shall establish, maintain, or enforce any law or regulation which has fuel use tax reporting requirements which are not in conformity with the Agreement, and which provides for the payment of a fuel use tax unless such law or regulation is in conformity with the Agreement with respect to collection of such a tax by a single base State and proportional sharing of such taxes charged among the States where a commercial motor vehicle is operated. Authorizes: (1) and directs the Attorney General, upon the request of the Secretary, to institute a civil action for injunctive relief to assure compliance with such vehicle registration requirement; and (2) the court to issue a mandatory injunction (and directs the court to issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent injunction, upon a proper showing) to assure such compliance. Authorizes appropriations. Permits a motor carrier to establish a rate and related rule equal to the rate charged for the transportation of one individual when that rate is for the transportation of: (1) a totally blind individual and an accompanying guide or a dog trained to guide the individual; (2) a disabled individual and accompanying attendant or animal trained to assist the individual, or both, when required because of the disability; or (3) a hearing-impaired individual and a dog trained to assist the individual. Title V: Intermodal Transportation - Declares it to be Government policy to encourage and promote a national IT system in the United States. Includes among the duties of the Secretary to coordinate Federal policy on IT and initiate policies to promote efficient IT in the United States. Requires: (1) the Secretary to establish within DOT an Office of Intermodalism, headed by a Director; and (2) the Director to develop and maintain an IT data base (and make information from such data base available to private individuals and public agencies), be responsible for coordinating Federal research on IT and for carrying out research needs identified by the Director, and provide technical assistance to States and MPOs in urban areas having a population of 1,000,000 or more in collecting data relating to IT to facilitate the collection of such data. Directs the Secretary to make grants to not more than six States for the purpose of developing model State IT plans, including systems for collecting data relating to IT, subject to specified requirements. Requires the Secretary to: (1) enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Public Administration to continue a study of options for organizing DOT to increase the effectiveness of program delivery, reduce costs, and improve intermodal coordination among surface transportation-related agencies; and (2) report to the Congress on the findings of the study and recommend appropriate organizational changes by January 1, 1993. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out specified priority IT projects. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1997. Sets forth provisions with respect to allocation percentages, the Federal share (80 percent), delegation to the States, and advance construction. Title VI: Research - Part A: Programs, Studies, and Activities - Revises Federal highway research provisions to authorize the Secretary to: (1) engage in research, development, and technology transfer activities on motor carrier transportation and all phases of highway planning and development; (2) make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or any State agency, authority, organization, or person, to carry out the authority granted by this title; (3) make grants for research fellowships for any purpose for which research is authorized by this title; and (4) undertake on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development (R&D) with non-Federal entities. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into specified cooperative R&D agreements, with a Federal share of up to 50 percent, or higher if there is a substantial public interest or benefit. Specifies that such agreements shall recognize all directly related costs to the non-Federal partners, including personnel, travel, and hardware development. Specifies that funds to carry out collaborative research shall be derived from certain administrative funds. Earmarks at least 15 percent of such funds for long-term projects. Directs the Secretary to develop an integrated national plan for surface transportation R&D, including: (1) provisions for appropriate funding levels and a schedule with milestones, preliminary cost estimates, appropriate work scopes, personnel requirements, and estimated costs and goals for the next three years for each area of R&D; (2) a ten-year projection of long-term R&D; and (3) recommendations for appropriate sources or mechanisms for surface transportation R&D funding, taking into account the recommendations of the Research and Development Coordinating Council of DOT. Requires that: (1) the initial plan be submitted to the Congress by January 15, 1992; (2) the plan be reviewed and updated, with recommendations submitted to the Congress, annually; (3) the plan focus on those surface transportation systems needed for future urban, suburban, and rural areas in the next decade; and (4) a primary component of the plan be cooperation with industry in carrying out this title and in strengthening the manufacturing capabilities of U.S. firms to produce products for surface transportation systems. Mandates that: (1) all surface transportation R&D within DOT be included in, and evaluated in accordance with, the plan; (2) the plan provide for the development of a range of technologies, within the shortest time possible, needed to produce convenient, safe, affordable modes of transportation to be available for public use beginning in the mid-1990's, and for maintaining a long-term advanced R&D program to provide for next general surface transportation systems; and (3) the Secretary consult with and, where appropriate, use the expertise of other Federal agencies and their laboratories. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct necessary systems research for a lightweight, rubber-tired multiple-unit system for a short haul passenger transportation system; (2) expand surface transportation infrastructure R&D, including bridge materials, non-destructive testing, robotic road repair machinery, highway materials, and construction equipment R&D; and (3) implement Strategic Highway Research Program results and continue long-term pavement performance tests. Requires that: (1) one and one-half percent of specified State apportionments be reserved for State research and planning purposes; and (2) States use 25 percent of such funds for research, development, and technology transfer purposes. Expands the scope of research conducted under Federal highway provisions to include public transportation and intermodal systems planning, design, construction, and maintenance. Revises provisions with respect to the National Highway Institute (NHI) to: (1) remove the limitation on training to public sector employees working on Federal-aid highways; (2) give NHI specific authority to cooperate with national or international organizations to develop, conduct, and administer training to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals engaged in highway work of interest to the United States eligible for participation in NHI training programs; (3) authorize an expansion of the scope of NHI programs to include management, relocation assistance, safety, and motor carrier activities; (4) require private agencies and individuals to pay the full cost of any education and training received by them; and (5) authorize NHI to collect fees for service and use such fees to improve the exchange of highway technology with national and international entities. Specifies that not to exceed one-quarter of one percent of funds apportioned shall be available for expenditure by the State highway department for payment of not to exceed 80 (currently, 75) percent of the cost of tuition and direct educational expenses in connection with the education and training of State and local highway department employees. Sets forth provisions with respect to NHI funding. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) carry out a transportation assistance program to provide highway and transportation agencies, in urbanized areas of 50,000 to 1,000,000 population and in rural areas, with access to modern highway technology; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts for specified education and training, technical assistance, and related support services. Requires the Secretary to provide technical and financial support for local technical assistance program centers. Authorizes such centers to provide technical assistance to local rural transportation agencies for the purpose of identifying a rural priority local road and bridge system. Directs the Secretary to engage in activities to inform the domestic highway, transit, and IT communities of technological innovations developed outside the United States that could significantly improve transportation in the United States, promote U.S. transportation expertise internationally, and increase transfers of U.S. transportation technology to foreign countries. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) cooperation with other entities; and (2) funding. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish and implement an applied research and technology program to accelerate the testing, evaluation, and implementation of technologies designed to improve the durability, efficiency, environmental impact, productivity, and safety of highway, transit, and IT systems; (2) issue guidelines on the selection of foreign and domestic technologies to be tested and test locations, and for the scientific collection and evaluation of appropriate test data; (3) carry out projects to assess the state of technology, feasibility, and costs and benefits, with respect to heating the decks of bridges; (4) carry out a project in New Jersey to demonstrate the environmental and safety benefits of elastomer modified asphalt; (5) carry out a program in Missouri to demonstrate the durability and construction efficiency of high performance blended cement; (6) carry out projects to assess the state of technology with respect to thin bonded overlay and surface lamination of pavement, and the feasibility, costs, and benefits associated with the repair, rehabilitation, and upgrading of highways and bridges with overlay; (7) carry out a program to demonstrate the safety and durability of all weather pavement markings; (8) provide technical assistance to States and localities in carrying out projects under this title; and (9) report annually to specified congressional committees. Specifies that highway technologies testing projects carried out under this title shall be carried out on highways on the Federal-aid system. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the Federal share (80 percent); and (2) funding. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to study the vulnerability of highways, tunnels, and bridges on the Federal-aid system to earthquakes and develop and implement cost-effective methods of retrofitting such highways, tunnels, and bridges to reduce such vulnerability; (2) conduct the program in cooperation with the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University of Buffalo; (3) expend specified funds to carry out this Act; and (4) report to specified congressional committees. Requires the Secretary, in required biennial reports regarding future highway needs of the nation, to provide the means to relate and compare the conditions and service measures used in different years when such measures are changed. Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (UMTA) to include transportation safety as an area of responsibility for university transportation centers. Directs the Secretary to make grants to: (1) Morgan State University to establish a national center for transportation management, research, and development; (2) the New Jersey Institute of Technology to establish and operate a center for transportation and industrial productivity; (3) Monmouth College, West Long Branch, New Jersey, for modification and reconstruction of a specified building; and (4) the University of Arkansas to establish a national rural transportation center. Sets forth provisions with respect to program coordination, evaluation, funding, and obligation limitations. Directs the Secretary to make grants to: (1) San Jose State University to establish and operate an institute for national surface transportation policy studies; (2) Northwestern University to establish and operate an infrastructure technology institute; (3) the University of South Florida and a consortium of Florida A and M, Florida State University, and Florida International University for an urban transit institute; and (4) the University of Minnesota, Center for Transportation Studies, for an intelligent vehicle-highway concepts institute. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a National Council on Surface Transportation Research. Directs the Council to: (1) investigate and study current surface transportation research and technology developments in the United States and internationally; and (2) identify gaps and duplication in current surface transportation research efforts, determine R&D areas which may increase efficiency, productivity, safety, and durability in the nation's surface transportation systems, and develop a national surface transportation R&D plan for immediate implementation. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish an independent surface transportation research advisory committee. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to: (1) enter into an agreement with the NAS to conduct a study on the adequacy of data collection procedures and capabilities of DOT; (2) begin a comprehensive study of the most appropriate and accurate methods of calculating State level of effort in funding surface transportation programs; (3) conduct a study to evaluate State procurement practices; and (4) conduct a study of occupational injury and fatality statistics for street and highway construction workers. Sets forth reporting requirements. Includes within the definition of "new model bus" under the UMTA (and, thus, within the scope of testing requirements under such Act) any model using alternative fuels. Amends the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 to require that braking performance and emissions tests be conducted on new bus models. Provides funding for expansion of the bus testing center and for establishment of a revolving loan fund to fund operation and maintenance of such facility. Amends the UMTA to require the Secretary to make grants to Rutgers University to establish a national transit institute to develop and administer training programs of instruction for Federal, State, and local transportation employees engaged, or to be engaged, in Federal-aid transit work. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) funding; and (2) provision of training to States and local governments. Directs the Secretary to promote and undertake R&D related to basic highway vehicle science. Includes among the purposes of DOT to stimulate technological advances in transportation (as under current law) through R&D or otherwise. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to require the Secretary to: (1) convene a conference of domestic motor vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers, Federal laboratories, and motor vehicle users to explore ways in which cooperatively they can improve the competitiveness of the U.S. motor vehicle industry by developing new technologies which will enhance the safety and energy savings, and lessen the environmental impact, of domestic motor vehicles; and (2) publish and submit the results of such conference to the President and specified congressional committees. Establishes a National Award for the Advancement of Motor Vehicle Research. Part B: Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems Act - Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a program to research, develop, and operationally test intelligent vehicle-highway systems (IVHS) and promote implementation of such systems as a component of the nation's surface transportation systems; (2) consult with specified officials from other Federal agencies in carrying out such program; (3) develop and implement standards and protocols to promote the widespread use and evaluation of IVHS; (4) promote compatibility, to the extent practicable, among IVHS technologies implemented throughout the States (and authorizes the Secretary to use the services of existing standards-setting organizations); (5) establish guidelines and requirements for the evaluation of field and related operational tests; and (6) establish and maintain a repository for technical and safety data collected as a result of federally sponsored projects and make such information (except for proprietary information and data) readily available, upon request, to all users at an appropriate cost. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) delegate responsibility to an appropriate entity not within DOT, subject to specified requirements; and (2) utilize one or more advisory committees. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop, submit to the Congress, and commence implementation of a plan for the IVHS program within one year; and (2) develop a completely automated highway and vehicle system which can become a prototype from which future fully automated IVHS can be developed, including research in human factors to ensure the success of the man-machine relationship. Specifies that: (1) the goal of such program is to have the first fully automated roadway in operation by the end of 1997; and (2) such system shall accommodate installation of equipment in new and existing motor vehicles. Sets forth reporting requirements, including a report addressing the nontechnical constraints and barriers to implementation of the IVHS program (such as antitrust, privacy, staffing, and liability concerns). Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) provide planning and technical assistance and information to State and local governments seeking to use and evaluate IVHS technologies (and requires the Secretary to assist State and local officials in developing plans for areawide traffic management control centers, necessary law pertaining to establishment and implementation of such systems, and plans for infrastructure for such systems and in conducting other activities necessary for the IVHS program); and (2) make grants to State and local governments for feasibility and planning studies for development and implementation of IVHS, and for operational tests. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) priorities in operational testing; (2) eligibility of traffic management entities to receive Federal assistance; and (3) authority of States and local entities to use funds to implement IVHS-related activities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) designate transportation corridors in which application of IVHS will have particular benefit and, through financial and technical assistance, assist in the development and implementation of such systems; (2) allocate, in providing funding for such corridors, not less than 50 percent of the funds made available to eligible State or local entities for application of IVHS in between three and ten corridors with specified characteristics, such as traffic density at least 1.5 times the national average for such class of highway, severe or extreme nonattainment for ozone under the CAA, and complexity of traffic patterns; and (3) allocate the balance of such funds where the application of such systems and associated technologies will demonstrate benefits related to improved operational efficiency, reduced regulatory burden, improved commercial productivity, improved safety, or enhanced motorist and traveler performance. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study to evaluate technology which is designed for installation on a commercial motor vehicle to provide the vehicle operator with a warning if a turn, lane change, or other intended movement will place the vehicle in the path of an adjacent object or vehicle; and (2) report to specified congressional committees. Provides for the funding of the IVHS corridors program and other IVHS activities. Requires that at least five percent of such funds be available for innovative, high-risk operational or analytical tests that do not attract substantial non-Federal commitments but are determined to have significant potential to achieve long-term goals established by the plan. Sets the Federal share for activities under this part at 80 percent of the cost, with exceptions. Part C: Advanced Transportation Systems and Electric Vehicles - Authorizes an eligible consortium to submit to the Secretary a proposal for receiving grants made available under this part for electric vehicle and advanced transportation R&D. Sets forth provisions with respect to proposal contents, grant authority, extension of deadlines, eligibility criteria, services to be performed by such consortium, and funding. Title VII: Extension of Highway-Related Taxes and Trust Fund - Surface Transportation Revenue Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1999 (currently, 1995) provisions with respect to: (1) taxes on heavy trucks and trailers sold at retail, tires and tread rubber, and highway use, and the HTF financing rates on gasoline and diesel fuel; and (2) exemptions relating to farm use, certain tax-free sales, termination of exemptions for highway use tax, gasoline used on farms and for certain nonhighway purposes, advance repayment of increased diesel fuel tax, fuels not used for taxable purposes, and other exemptions. Extends: (1) provisions with respect to floor stocks refunds and installment payments on highway use tax; and (2) deposits into, and certain transfers from, the HTF. Extends and expands expenditures from the HTF. Expands mass transit account purposes. Bars the Secretary of Transportation from imposing any condition on the use of funds transferred under provisions of this Act for highway use tax evasion projects to the IRS. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, at least 60 days before the beginning of each fiscal year (after FY 1992) for which such funds are to be transferred, to submit a report to specified congressional committees detailing increased enforcement activities to be financed with such funds. Sets forth provisions with respect to budget compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to the William Gorgas Center for Geographic Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to establish an endowment, the income from which must be used only to fund biomedical training and research for scientists and physicians from: (1) developing nations, to be conducted at the Center; and (2) the Center, to be conducted in developing nations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1991
Higher Education Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise and reauthorize its various programs. Title I: Partnerships for Educational Excellence - Revises HEA title I and renames it Partnerships for Educational Excellence (replaces the current title I, Postsecondary Programs for Nontraditional Students). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for the following title I programs: (1) part A, Urban Community Service; (2) part B, Urban and Rural College, University, and School Partnerships; (3) part D, Articulation Agreements; and (4) part E, Manufacturing Engineering Education. Establishes as part A of title I a Urban Community Service program to provide incentives to urban institutions (including academic, private, and civic bodies) to work together to devise and implement solutions to the most pressing and severe problems in their communities. Requires applications for such urban community service program grants to contain a plan agreed to by the members of a consortium that includes a public or private four-year institution of higher education (and, where possible and appropriate, a community college) in partnership with an urban school system, a local government, a private business, or a nonprofit institution. Allows the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to waive this consortium requirement for applicants with an appropriate integrated and coordinated plan. Gives priority to applications that: (1) include plans agreed to by a consortium of several members of the specified categories; and (2) propose to conduct joint projects supported by other local, State, and Federal programs. Requires grant funds to be used for planning, applied research, training, resource exchanges, technology transfers, delivery of services, or other activities to design and implement programs to assist urban communities to meet and address their most pressing problems. Includes the following problem areas among those for which such activities are authorized: (1) urban poverty and its alleviation; (2) health care including delivery and access; (3) under-performing school systems and students; (4) problems faced by the elderly in urban settings; (5) crime prevention and alternative interventions; (6) urban housing; (7) urban infrastructure; (8) economic development; and (9) other problem area which the participants agree are of high priority for that urban area. Establishes as part B of title I an Urban and Rural College, University, and School Partnerships program to encourage partnerships of urban institutions of higher education (or consortia of such institutions) and secondary schools and school systems serving low-income and disadvantaged urban or rural students to support programs to improve school retention and graduation rates, student academic skills, opportunities to continue education beyond high school, and prospects for productive employment. Requires an urban or rural institution of higher education (or consortium), to be eligible for such a university-school partnership grant, to enter a written partnership agreement with a local education agency (LEA). Allows such partnership to include businesses, labor organizations, professional associations, community-based organizations, or other public or private agencies or organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to university-school partnerships to support the authorized program activities. Requires that grant preference be given to: (1) programs to serve predominantly low-income neighborhoods; (2) partnerships to run programs during the regular school year and during the summer; and (3) programs to serve educationally disadvantaged students, potential dropouts, pregnant adolescents, and teen-aged parents. Requires maintenance of fiscal effort by LEAs participating in such partnership agreements. Requires such grant applications to assure: (1) establishment of a partnership governing body including one representative from each participant; (2) a gradually declining specified Federal share of project costs; and (3) use of such Federal grant funds to supplement and not supplant non-Federal funds. Sets forth title I part C administrative provisions to provide for: (1) peer review panels for part A or B grant applications; and (2) multiyear disbursement of Urban Community Service program grant funds, under specified conditions. Establishes as part D of title I an Articulation Agreements program of grants for articulation agreements and planning between partnerships of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education. (Current part D provisions for the Student Literacy Corps are revised and transferred to part B of title XI of HEA by this Act.) Directs the Secretary to make such grants to States to make awards to articulation partnerships between qualified institutions, on the basis of either a competition or a formula determined by the State. Provides for allocation of such grant funds to States: (1) by a formula based on the relative total amount of student assistance received under HEA title IV by students attending institutions in the State, if the authorization of appropriations for such grants program equals or exceeds a specified amount; or (2) if such authorized amount is less than the specified amount, by competitive grants which the Secretary is authorized to make to States. Sets forth requirements for State and local applications, articulation agreements, and State administrative costs limitations. Requires States to give priority to grant applications for programs which: (1) encourage teacher education; (2) have, as one partner participating in the agreement, an entity meeting a specified requirement for the tech-prep education program consortia (i.e. a local or intermediate educational agency or area vocational education school serving secondary school students, or a secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs) under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act; (3) contribute their own institutional resources; (4) are not subject to a student loan default reduction agreement under title IV (Student Assistance) of HEA; or (5) encourage articulation in subject areas of national importance as determined by the Secretary. Sets forth requirements for annual State program reports and for program evaluation by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report to the Congress by January 31, 1996, on the results of such evaluation; and (2) disseminate findings relating to the most successful programs. Reserves limited amounts for such purposes. Establishes as part E of title I a Manufacturing Engineering Education program. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of grants to institutions of higher education to support enhancement of existing and establishment of new programs in manufacturing engineering education. Requires consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Requires the Secretary and the NSF Director to enter into an agreement to coordinate such grant program with similar NSF programs, and for NSF assistance in administering and managing such grant program. Sets forth requirements for programs of engineering supported by such grant awards. Requires such programs to be conducted at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. Sets forth components for such consolidated and integrated multidisciplinary programs. Requires significant involvement of industry in such programs. Sets forth requirements for grant proposals. Bases grant awards on merit competition. Sets forth minimum criteria for selection. Title II: Academic Library and Information Technology Enhancement - Revises HEA title II and renames it Academic Libraries in an Electronic Networked Environment (currently Academic Library and Information Technology Enhancement). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for the following title II programs: (1) part A, College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants; (2) part B, Library Education, Research, and Development; (3) part C, Improving Access to Research Library Resources; and (4) part D, Strengthening Library and Information Science Programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Directs the Secretary to ensure that title II programs are administered by appropriate library experts. Transfers to title II part A program of the College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants (currently part D) and eliminates current part A provisions for College Library Resources. Revises such College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants program to add provisions emphasizing the accessing and sharing of library and information resources through technology. Requires the Secretary to give priority, in awarding certain such grants, to institutions of higher education seeking assistance for projects which assist developing institutions of higher education in linking one or more institutions of higher education to resource sharing networks. Increases the required minimum grant amount and sets a maximum amount for certain grants. Revises and renames title II part B as Library Education, Research, and Development (currently Library Training, Research, and Development). Requires the Secretary to consult with appropriate library and information science professional organizations to determine: (1) critical needs under provisions for grants and contracts for library education and human resources development, and (2) priorities for awarding grants for research and demonstrations. Revises provisions for library education and human resource development to include assistance for training for library and information science, particularly in areas of critical needs such as recruitment and retention of minorities. Requires that stipends for certain fellowships and traineeships be for those who demonstrate need and are working toward a graduate degree. Revises provisions for research and demonstration projects to include those related to education in library and information science and to enhancement of library services through use of new technology. Revises title II part C and renames it as Improving Access to Research Library Resources (currently Strengthening Research Library Resources). Eliminates provisions which precluded part C grant recipients from receiving certain other title II grants. Adds a new title II part D program for Strengthening Library and Information Science Programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Directs the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, historically black colleges and universities and library organizations or agencies which have nationally approved programs in library and information science to educate and train African Americans and other ethnic minorities, particularly in areas of critical needs. Requires that at least 75 percent of such funds be used to establish or maintain graduate fellowships or traineeships. Allows the remainder to be used for: (1) costs of courses of study or staff development, including short-term or regular session institutes; and (2) establishing, developing, or expanding programs of library and information science, including new techniques of information transfer and communication technology. Title III: Institutional Aid - Revises and reauthorizes HEA title III (Institutional Aid). Revises title III part A (Strengthening Institutions) provisions relating to award of grants, eligible institutions, and duration of grants. Requires part A grant applications to describe measurable goals for the institution's financial management and academic program and include a plan for achieving such goals. Requires continuation applications to demonstrate progress made toward achievement of such goals. Revises title III part B (Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to add to authorized uses of part B grants: (1) development offices to improve contributions from alumni and the private sector; (2) programs of teacher education, including preparation for certification, to qualify students to teach in public elementary or secondary schools in the State; and (3) community outreach programs to encourage elementary and secondary students to develop the academic skills and interest to pursue postsecondary education. Increases the minimum allotment for each part B institution. Requires part B grant applications to describe measurable goals for the institution's financial management and academic programs and include a plan for achieving such goals. Includes as eligible for part B grants specified independent professional and graduate institutions, as well as any other part B institution offering a professional or doctoral degree program that the Secretary determines is deserving of such a grant. Provides that only certain of such specified institutions shall receive such funding if the total funding does not exceed a specified amount. Revises title III part C and renames it Endowment Challenge Grants for Institutions Eligible for Assistance under Part A or Part B (currently Challenge Grants, etc.). Repeals the Challenge Grant Program, but reauthorizes the Endowment Challenge Grant Program. Defines eligible institutions for purposes of such program. Revises conditions under which the Secretary may make an endowment challenge grant to an eligible institution. Revises selection criteria. Requires part C grant applications to include a description of the long- and short-term plans for raising and using the funds under part C. Requires a set-aside of 30 percent of part C funds for challenge grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, under specified conditions. Revises title III part D general provisions relating to application for assistance. Repeals provisions for special payments rules and for challenge grant program applications. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title III Institutional Aid programs under: (1) part A, Strengthening Institutions; (2) part B, Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and (3) part C, Endowment Challenge Grants. Requires that 25 percent of specified excess funds under part A be allocated among eligible institutions at which at least 60 percent of the students are Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, or Pacific Islanders, or any combination thereof. Title IV: Student Assistance - Part A: Grants to Students in Attendance at Institutions of Higher Education - Subpart 1: Federal Pell Grants - Revises and reauthorizes programs under HEA title IV (Student Assistance). Revises and renames the Pell Grants program under title IV part A subpart 1 as the Federal Pell Grants program (later redesignates the provisions as subpart 2). Increases the maximum award amount for Pell Grants to $4,500 in academic year 1993-1994, with further increases based on the Consumer Price Index for academic years 1994-1995 through 1998-1999. Revises the formula for determining the amount of a Pell Grant award to a student. Sets forth payment schedules based on the expected family contribution and tuition costs, for various types of students. Modifies the prohibition against Pell Grant awards to students attending on a less than half-time basis, to allow such awards for not more than five semesters (or their equivalent). Revises provisions relating to the period of eligibility for Pell Grants. Includes as eligible for Pell Grants students in programs of study abroad that are approved for credit by the institution. Revises provisions relating to the eligibility index. Makes the Pell Grant program an entitlement. Gives every student who qualifies for a Pell Grant a contractual right against the United States for the amount of such grant to which they are entitled. Provides that Pell Grant recipients shall not be considered to be individual grantees for purposes of specified Federal law. Repeals specified provisions for a separate need analysis formula for Pell Grants. (Later in this Act, a single new need analysis formula and system is established for all title IV student aid programs, including Pell Grants. Subpart 2: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants - Revises and renames the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants program under title IV part A subpart 2 as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants program (supplemental grants) (later redesignates the provisions subpart 3). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the supplemental grants program. Includes students in programs of study abroad that are approved for credit by the institution among those eligible for supplemental grants. Requires institutions in the supplemental grants program to agree that the Federal share of awards will not exceed 75 percent, unless the Secretary determines that a larger Federal share is required to further the purpose of the program. Requires institutions to assure that selection procedures will be designed to award supplemental grants, first, to students with exceptional need (i.e. the greatest financial need). Requires that a reasonable proportion of an institution's supplemental grants allocation be made available to certain nontraditional students (i.e. less than full-time, age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students), if such allocation is directly or indirectly based in part on the financial need of such students. Revises provisions relating to transfer of funds. Requires reduction of an institution's allocation for the next fiscal year by the amount returned, if this is more than ten percent of its allocation. Authorizes waiver of such reduction if it is contrary to the interest of the supplemental grants program. Subpart 3: State Student Incentive Grants - Revises title IV part A subpart 3 provisions for the program of Grants to States for Student Incentives (State student incentive grants program) (later redesignates these provisions as subpart 4). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such program. Includes, as eligible for grants from States under such program, eligible students participating in programs of study abroad approved for credit by the institutions. Increases to $5,000 (currently $2,500) the maximum amount for any such grants for full-time attendance at an institution of higher education and for campus-based community service work learning study jobs. Revises conditions for State allotments and expenditures under such program. Repeals the requirement for a reasonable proportion of a institution's allocation being made available to less than full-time students under such program. Subpart 4: Federal Early Outreach and Student Services Programs - Revises and renames subpart 4 of part A of title IV as Federal Early Outreach Services Programs (the current subpart 4, Special Programs for Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, is repealed in name, but reauthorized and revised under subpart 4 Chapter 1 provisions for Trio Programs). (Also transfers such subpart 4 to subpart 1 of part A of title IV and then redesignates subparts 1, 2, 3 as 2, 3, 4.) Sets forth chapter 1, TRIO Programs, i.e. the revised and reauthorized Special Programs for Students for Disadvantaged Backgrounds. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such programs. Adds to program goals motivation and preparation of such students for doctoral programs. Adds requirements for: (1) a peer review application process; (2) inflation adjustments; (3) minimum grant levels for specified programs; (4) duration of grants and contracts; (5) notice of application status; (6) early notification and technical training for potential providers of special programs and projects; (7) unlimited number of applications by an entity; and (8) coordination with other programs for disadvantaged students. Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) members of groups underrepresented in higher education are represented as readers of TRIO programs applications; and (2) each such application is read by at least three reviewers not employed at the Department of Education. Sets forth requirements for documentation of status as a low-income individual, for purposes of TRIO programs eligibility. Revises provisions for the Talent Search program (one of the TRIO programs). Sets forth an expanded list of permissible services which talent search projects may offer, in addition to tutoring, including counseling, mentoring, and parent workshops. Lowers the minimum age and elementary education completion levels for participant eligibility to 11 years of age and five years of school completed (currently 12 and six, respectively, while retaining the maximum age level of 27 years). Revises provisions for the Upward Bound program (one of the TRIO programs). Adds to the list of permissible services which upward bound projects may offer mentoring programs involving elementary or secondary school teachers college faculty, students, or any combination thereof. Requires any assisted upward bound project which has received two or more years of program funding to include in its core curriculum: (1) instruction in mathematics through precalculus; (2) at least one laboratory science; (3) at least one foreign language; and (4) instruction in composition and literature. Revises provisions for Student Support Services (one of the TRIO programs). Adds requirements for design goals of support services projects, including increased rates of college retention, graduation, and transfers from two- to four-year institutions, and institutional climates supportive of low-income and first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities. Adds to permissible services for such projects mentoring programs involving school teachers, college faculty and/or students. Revises provisions for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (under TRIO programs provisions). Adds to permissible services: (1) mentoring programs involving elementary or secondary school teachers, college faculty, and/or students; and (2) exposure to cultural events and academic programs not usually available to disadvantaged students. Allows costs for summer room and board, summer tuition, and transportation to summer programs to be paid in addition to the maximum annual amount for a student stipend. Eliminates provisions which: (1) conditioned program funding on specified minimum funding for other programs; and (2) set program funding limits. Revises provisions for Educational Opportunity Centers (under TRIO programs provisions). Expands the list of permissible services which such centers may offer, in addition to tutorial and counseling services, including public information campaigns, assistance in course selection, financial aid application, and entrance exam preparation, alternative education guidance for dropouts, career workshops, monitoring programs and special programs for students of limited English proficiency. Revises provisions for Staff Development Activities (for training for staff and leadership personnel for projects under TRIO Programs). Requires such training to be offered annually for new directors of such projects as well as annually specified topics and other topics chosen by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to make Outreach Grants to institutions of higher education, community-based organizations, and other public and private nonprofit organizations to provide outreach information to potential providers of programs and projects authorized under Federal Early Outreach and Student Services Programs (the new subpart 1) that could serve groups underrepresented in such programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make Project Evaluation grants and contracts to institutions of higher education and other public and private organizations to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the various programs authorized under TRIO programs provisions (chapter 1); and (2) disseminate results of on-going evaluations to similar programs as well as to other individuals concerned with the postsecondary access and retention of low-income, first-generation students. Establishes National Liberty Scholarships and Partnerships Programs (as chapter 2 of the new subpart 1). Authorizes the Secretary to establish such programs through matching payments to States for: (1) State financial aid programs that award grants to low-income students who attain a high school diploma or its equivalent to guarantee them the financial assistance necessary to attend an institution of higher educaiton; and (2) a partnership program (provided by States in cooperation with local educational agencies, postsecondary institutions, and community organizations) of additional counseling, outreach, and supportive services for elementary, middle, and secondary students at risk of dropping out of school and for students and their parents regarding college financing options. Requires State plans for such financial aid program to provide for: (1) at least one-half of program costs from non-Federal funds; (2) all qualified students to be designated as eligible; and (3) first preference for payments of specified other grant funds to students eligible for grants under this program. Requires State plans for such partnership program to provide for matching the Federal grant with funds from non-Federal sources which will supplement and not supplant funds for existing State and local programs. Requires States, in order to receive such financial aid program payments, to establish or maintain a financial assistance program that awards grants to students in accordance with specified requirements. Requires that the maximum amount of such a grant be established by the State, but prohibits such amount from being less than 75 percent of the average cost of attendance for an in-State student in a four-year program at public institutions in such State. Defines "qualified student" for purposes of such financial aid program as one who: (1) is less than 22 years old at time of first grant award; (2) is receiving a Pell Grant for the academic year of the award or would be eligible for such Pell Grant but for their attendance on a less than half-time basis; (3) receives a high school diploma or equivalent in 1993 or thereafter; and (4) is enrolled in an authorized degree program in the State (States may opt to offer grant program portability for recipients at institutions in other participating States). Requires a State to demonstrate, under the partnership program, that it has increased the aggregate amount of its expenditures to provide comprehensive mentoring, counseling, outreach and supportive services. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for determining which types of services programs may be counted for such purpose. Lists examples of acceptable activities. Allows the State to include in such program participating of businesses, religious organizations, community groups, postsecondary educational institutions, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and other entities deemed appropriate by the Secretary. Sets forth requirements for Federal matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership programs, with additional payments for limited administrative expenses. Bases State allotments under this Act on their relative allocations under provisions for grants for local educational agencies in counties with especially high concentrations of children from low-income families under the Elementary and Secondary Education of 1965. Prohibits any State from using more than 50 percent of its allotment for the comprehensive counseling, outreach, and support services partnership program. Sets forth reallotment provisions. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for grants for matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership program. Establishes Model Program Community Partnership Counseling Grants (as chapter 3 of the new subpart 1). Directs the Secretary to award grants to develop model programs for: (1) counseling students, at an early age, about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities, in ways designed or customized for use in specific geographic, social, and cultural environments; or (2) stimulating community partnerships with schools by providing tutoring, mentoring, work experiences, and other support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal for all students. Gives priority to model programs directed at areas with a high proportion of minority, economically disadvantaged, or at-risk students. Sets forth requirements for: (1) either tailoring to a specific environment or community partnership with local businesses, labor organizations, or community groups; and (2) measurement of goals and outcomes. Directs the Secretary to collect, and disseminate through the National Diffusion Network, information on: (1) successful programs for counseling students about college and for early intervention to help them stay in school and pursue postsecondary education; and (2) model programs for counseling students in specific environments and for community partnership support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such model program grants and such dissemination activities. Establishes the Presidential Achievement Awards Scholarships program (as chapter 4 of the new subpart 1), to award scholarships to Pell Grants recipients who: (1) have participated in a preparatory program for postsecondary education; and (2) demonstrate academic achievement. Allows Presidential Achievement Scholars to receive a Presidential Achievement scholarship for each year the student receives a Pell Grant and meets specified requirements for eligibility. Bases eligibility in the first year of postsecondary education on the student's receiving a Pell Grant and having: (1) participated for at least 36 months in an early intervention program meeting certain requirements; (2) completed secondary education, including three years of mathematics, two years of science, and four years of English; and (3) earned at least a 2.5 grade point average in the final two years of high school. Bases eligibility after the first year on the student's receiving a Pell Grant and: (1) having received a Presidential Achievement Award in a previous academic year; and (2) maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Sets such scholarship amount at 25 percent of the student's Pell Grant amount (with reductions for the amount by which the scholarship combined with any other assistance exceeds the cost of attendance). Sets forth provisions for award procedures, payment of scholarships, and awards cermonies. Establishes a program of Technical Assistance for Teachers and Counselors (as chapter 5 of the new subpart 1). Directs the Secretary to award two-year technical assistance grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to obtain specialized training for guidance counselors, teachers, and principals to counsel students about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities. Gives priority to LEAs serving school districts with significantly high proportions of students who do not continue on to higher education and who are educationally disadvantaged. Sets forth planning, evaluation, and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such technical assistance grants. Establishes a National Student Savings Demonstration Program (as chapter 6 of the new subpart 1), to: (1) test the feasibility of a national program to encourage families to save for their children's college education, and thereby reduce the loan indebtedness of college students; and (2) help determine the most effective means of achieving such purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to award a demonstration grant to not more than five States to conduct such a student savings program. Provides for a Federal match of not more than $50 per child. Gives priority to States proposing programs that establish accounts for a child prior to the age of compulsory school attendance in that State. Gives special consideration to States that: (1) permit employers to use pretax income in making contributions to a child's account; and (2) provide assurances that interest earned in such accounts shall be exempt from State taxes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for such program. Sets forth provisions for Public Information (as chapter 7 of the new subpart 1), including a database, information lines, and public advertising. Directs the Secretary to award a contract to establish and maintain: (1) a computerized database of all public and private financial assistance programs, to be accessible to schools and libraries through modems or toll-free telephone lines; and (2) a toll-free information line, including access by telecommunications devices for the deaf, to provide individualized financial assistance information to parents, students, and others, including referrals to postsecondary clearinghouse for individuals with disabilities. Directs the Secretary to encourage private nonprofit organizations to work with video producers to develop and deliver public service announcements and paid advertising messages that encourage economically disadvantaged, minority, or at-risk individuals to seek higher education and financial assistance counseling at public schools and libraries. Allows such announcements and messages to be specially designed for students of limited English proficiency. Requires the Secretary to keep the Congress informed of such advertising efforts and to recommend any additional legislative authority that will serve such purposes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1998 for such Public Information programs. Subpart 5: Amendments to Subparts 5 through 8 of Part A - Revises provisions for Special Programs for Students Whose Families Are Engaged in Migrant and Seasonal Farmwork (Migrant Programs) (subpart 5 of part A of title IV of HEA), including the high school equivalency program (HEP) and the college assistance migrant program (CAMP). Includes under program eligibility provisions, for HEP recruitment services and CAMP outreach and recruitment services, certain persons who have participated under specified programs for migrants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or the Job Partnership Training Act. Extends the ordinary grant period to five years (currently three). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for Migrant Programs. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (subpart 6 of part A of title IV of HEA). Repeals provisions for certain definitions under such program. Repeals provisions for Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education (subpart 7 of part A of title IV of HEA), including: (1) certain cost-of-education payments to institutions of higher education based on numbers of students receiving Pell Grants; and (2) a veterans education outreach program. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for Special Child Care Services for Disadvantaged College Students (subpart 8 of part A of title IV of HEA). Part B: Federal Family Education Loans - Revises and renames HEA title IV part B as the Federal Family Education Loan Program (currently the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program). Refers to the program under this part as the Federal Stafford Student Loan Program (currently known as the Stafford or Guaranteed Student Loan- GSL-program) and to loans made under this part as Federal Stafford Loans. Limits the authorization to guarantee new loans under the part B (Stafford Loan) program, by making such guarantee authority contingent on timely rulemaking. Prohibits issuance of any such new loan guarantees after June 30, 1994, if the Secretary does not issue final regulations implementing the changes made this Act. (Under part D of this Act a Federal Direct Loans program replaces the Stafford or GSL program, with a phase-in process beginning in July 1994 and terminating GSL authority by the end of June 1996.) Revises Stafford or GSL program provisions to add provisions relating to guaranty agency funding and solvency, including requirements for: (1) information collection; (2) standards; (3) management plans; (4) penalties for failure to submit acceptable plans; (5) reports; and (6) confidential treatment of information. Revises payment rules for the GSL (and the FISL or federally-insured student loan) programs to: (1) require graduated or income-sensitive schedules upon borrower request; and (2) eliminate the special minimum payment rule for married couples. Adds special rules to cover approved study abroad, for purposes of student loan disbursement and amounts. Revises provisions relating to applicable interest rates. Revises provisions for agreements for Federal payments to reduce student interest rates. Prohibits eligible institutions with a cohort default rates of 20 percent or higher from providing loan applications directly to their students (who must therefore obtain an application from the lender). Provides for proration of GSL loan program amounts eligibility to course load. Requires a minimum payment of at least the interest due and payable. Revises provisions for deferments. Revises provisions relating to exclusion of forebearance from repayment period calculation. Revises provisions relating to consequences of institutional eligibility limitation, suspension, and termination actions. Requires participation agreements between the guaranty agency and each eligible institution. Requires notice to borrowers of any sale or other transfer of the loan to another holder. Allows requests for GSL program student loan repayment deferments by students engaged in graduate or postgraduate fellowship-supported study abroad (such as Fulbright grant recipients) to be approved until completion of the fellowship period. Adds requirements for conflict-of-interest restrictions on guaranty agency officers and employees. Authorizes guaranty agencies to enter into agreements under which State licensing boards will, upon request, furnish guarantee agencies with the addresses of student borrowers. Revises the time period during which a guaranty agency may file a claim for reimbursement. Limits additional review claims by exceptional performance lenders and loan servicers to cases of fraud or other purposeful misconduct in obtaining such designation. Revises provisions relating to subrogation. Requires guaranty agencies to submit lists of defaulted borrowers to institutions of higher education to check on the lists' accuracy, prior to filing reinsurance claims. Revises forbearance provisions. Provides for references to third party servicers. Sets forth special rules for exceptional performance in loans collection by eligible lenders and loan services. Revises provisions for cost of lender participation promotion to refer to eligible (rather than commercial) lenders. Provides for coordination of repayment of Stafford loans and Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS). Revises provisions relating to capitalization of interest. Revises provisions for parent (PLUS) loans with respect to: (1) copayable checks; (2) disbursement; (3) limitation of deferral; and (4) capitalization of interest. Revises provisions for consolidation loans with respect to: (1) use of consolidation to avoid default; (2) extension of the consolidation eligibility period; (3) consolidation of loans of married borrowers; (4) interest during deferral; (5) repayment periods; and (6) gradual and income-sensitive repayment. Revises loan proceeds disbursement rules to: (1) prohibit institutions from penalizing students because of delayed disbursement; and (2) allow weekly or monthly disbursement, with the borrower's permission. Adds provisions for unsubsidized Stafford loans for middle-income borrowers. Authorizes insured loans under the part B program for borrowers who do not qualify for Federal interest subsidy payments. Entitles any student meeting the definition of student eligibility under title IV general provisions to borrow an unsubsized Stafford loan. Sets forth provisions for: (1) determination of loan amount; (2) loan limits; (3) payment of principal and interest without subsidy payments to reduce interest costs; (4) reinsurance premium; and (5) single application form. Establishes an extended collection demonstration program. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with guaranty agencies to establish up to nine demonstration programs designed to reduce defaults through extended efforts on delinquent student loans originally guaranteed by such agencies. Sets forth provisions for: (1) selection of participants; (2) eligibility of loans for inclusion in the program; (3) lender eligibility to participate; (4) extended collection period; and (5) reports, regulations, and applicability of other terms, conditions, and benefits. Terminates such demonstration program on September 30, 1995. Directs the Secretary to use at least a minimum specified amount of part B-Funds for default reduction activities, including program reviews, audits, debt management programs, training activities, and other management improvement activities. Revises part B administrative provisions relating to: (1) authority to regulate services; and (2) limitation, suspension, and termination. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for: (1) standardization and simplification of student loan forms and procedures; and (2) standardization of data reporting. Directs the Secretary to: (1) undertake a program to encourage private and public employers to assist borrowers in repaying student loans under title IV, including options for payroll deduction and loan repayment matching under employee benefit packages; (2) publicize repayment models deserving recognition; and (3) make recommendations to appropriate congressional committees on changes to the tax code or other statutes that could encourage such efforts. Adds provisions relating to the consequences of guaranty agency insolvency. Revises requirements for student loan information by eligible lenders to include statements that the loan must be repaid and that the borrower's loan repayment obligation is distinct from the school's obligation to the borrower. Revises definition for the student loan insurance program. Repeals a separate definition of institution of higher education. Defines both institution of higher education and eligible institution as under title IV general provisions. Repeals a definition of vocational school. Revises the definition of eligible lender. Prohibits a cohort default rate above 15 percent. Requires use of proceeds from special allowance payments and interests payments from borrowers for need-based grant programs, except for reasonable reimbursement for direct administrative expenses. Defines third party servicer. Revises provisions for the Secretary's repayment of loans of bankrupt, deceased, or disabled borrowers to extend such treatment to borrowers: (1) who are unable to complete the program due to the closure of the institution; or (2) whose eligibility to borrow under part B GSL programs was fraudulently certified by the eligible institution. Provides that the Secretary shall pursue any claim available to such borrower against the institution (as well as discharge their liability by repaying the amount owed). Provides that the period of attendance at the institution which closed and at which the student was unable to complete the course of study shall not count against the student's period of eligibility for additional title IV assistance. Provides that borrowers whose loans have been discharged under these repayment provisions shall not be precluded from receiving additional title IV assistance. Directs the Secretary to report to credit bureaus on such repaid loans. Permits a certain special allowance to also be given on unsubsidized Stafford loans. Phases out origination fees under part B student loan programs, and eliminates discounting. Allows the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) (the Association) to charge interest on any loan on the same basis as national banks located in: (1) the District of Columbia; and (2) the State in which the lender is located. Part C: Federal Work-Study Programs - Revises and renames HEA title IV part C as Federal Work-Study Programs (currently Work-Study Programs). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for part C work-study programs. Provides for reallocation of excess allocations as a consequence of failure to award work-study program funds, under specified conditions. Allows institutions to use work-study program funds to pay eligible students to engage in mentoring activities. Increases from $200 to $300 the amount of work-study program compensation in excess of need that a student may receive. Includes students who are age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students (as well as less-than-full-time students) among those for whom a reasonable proportion of an institution's work-study program funds must be available. Revises Federal share provisions. Adds provisions for approved study abroad eligibility for work-study programs. Requires work-study program grant agreements to provide assurances that employment made available from such program funds may be used to support programs for supportive services to students with disabilities. Sets forth provisions for carry-back authority. Increases the maximum amount of its work-study grant allotment which an institution may use for a community services job location and development program for its students. Establishes a work colleges program. Transfers to Part D of title XI current provisions for: (1) work study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families; and (2) student community service job location and development. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 to carry out to work colleges program. Requires such funds to be allocated to qualifying institutions, in lieu of allocations under other specified work-study program provisions, upon application, for eligible students as defined under student aid provisions. Requires an institution receiving such a work colleges program allocation to expend an equal amount of matching funds from non-Federal sources for such program. Authorizes institutions to use such work colleges program funds for: (1) supporting qualified students' educational costs through self-help payments or credits provided under the institution's work-learning program within the limits of student aid program provisions; (2) promoting work-learning-service experience as a tool of postsecondary education, financial self-help, and community service-learning opportunities; (3) administering, developing, and assessing comprehensive college work-learning programs, including community based work-learning alternatives that expand opportunities for community service and career-related work; and (4) developing programs that develop sound citizenship and personal values, encourage student persistence, and make optimum use of college work-study dollars in HEA title IV aid in education and student development. Allows funds allocated to the institution under HEA title IV provisions for supplemental educational opportunity grants, work-study programs, and direct student loans to be transferred for use under the work colleges program to provide flexibility in strengthening the self-help-through-work element in financial aid packaging. Requires postsecondary institutions, in order to be eligible to participate in the work colleges program, to: (1) be public or private nonprofit institutions with stated commitments to service; (2) have comprehensive work-learning-service program for at least two years; (3) requires service by all resident students through a comprehensive work-learning program as an integral part of the institution's educational philosophy; and (4) provide through the institutional work program an opportunity for the students to contribute to the overall educational program and the welfare of the community as a whole. Part D: Federal Direct Loans - Establishes a Federal Direct Loans program as part D of title IV of HEA. (Eliminates the current part D, Income Contingent Direct Loans Demonstration Project.) (Provides that such Federal Direct Loans program shall replace the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) and the Perkins Direct Loan programs which shall be phased out.) Directs the Secretary to carry out such Federal direct loan program (the program) for qualified students at institutions of higher education during the period beginning on July 1, 1994. Directs the Secretary to make program payments for any fiscal year to: (1) each institution of higher education having a program agreement; and (2) the designated lending agent if such an institution designates one. Requires such payments to be made on the basis of the estimated needs of the institution's students, considering their demand and eligibility for subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans under the program. Sets forth program payment rules, in general and for initial payments. Declares that an institution with an approved application and agreement with the Secretary shall be deemed to have a contractual obligation (entitlement) from the United States for making the program payments specified in that application. Sets forth requirements for such applications of and agreements with institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary to make program agreements for the academic year beginning July 1: (1) 1994, with a first cohort of 450-500 institutions; (2) 1995, with a second cohort of 950-1,000 institutions in addition to the first cohort; and (3) 1996, with a third cohort of any institutions desiring to participate. Provides for allowing institutions to designate lending agents to receive advances of program payments. Sets forth types of entities eligible to be designated lending agents. Entitles an institution to a payment for each fiscal year during which it makes student loans under such an agreement in lieu of reimbursement for its expenses in administering its student loan program during such year. Sets forth formulas for determining such payments. Requires each institution to use such payments first to carry out specified HEA provisions relating to administrative expenses and then for such additional administrative costs as that institution determines necessary. Deems an institution with such program agreement to have a contractural right to such payments. Provides for student eligibility for, and the amount of, subsidized and unsubsidized loans under the program. Limits program eligibility, among other criteria, to qualified students carrying at least one-half the normal academic workload and maintaining good standing. Allows subsidized loans under the program to be made only to students who meet the basic requirements but also demonstrate financial need for such a loan. Makes qualified graduate and professional students and qualified undergraduate independent students eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program in specified amounts. Makes qualified undergraduate dependent students eligible for unsubsidized loans under the program, if the financial aid administrator determines after review that exceptional circumstances will likely preclude the student's parents from borrowing under the program. Prohibits students from being eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program until they have obtained a high school diploma or equivalent. Declares that, if an institution's cohort default rate is 30 percent or more for the most recent fiscal year for which data is available, no undergraduate student at that institution may borrow unsubsidized loans under the program. Directs the Secretary to afford any such institution an opportunity to present evidence contesting the accuracy of the calculation of such rate. Makes parents of qualified dependent students eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program in any amount, subject to specified restrictions based on cost of attendance and amount of other unsubsidized loans and student aid. Provides for determining subsidized loan amounts, based on cost of attendance, other types of student aid received, and expected family (or independent student self-help) contribution. Sets annual and aggregate limits for subsidized loans to first-year, undergraduate, and graduate or professional students. Provides for determining unsubsidized loans to students or parents, based on cost of attendance and other types of student aid. Sets forth annual and aggregate limits for unsubsidized loans for first-year, undergraduate, and graduate or professional students. Sets forth terms of loans under the program. Provides for deferments of repayment during specified periods of education or service. Allows borrowers to accelerate without penalty repayment of the whole or any part of the loan. Sets forth additional and separate terms for subsidized loans and for unsubsidized loans under the program. Sets forth requirements for multiple disbursement of student loans. Sets forth loan repayment rules, including minimum repayment amounts. Requires if a borrower so requests, that repayment be made in accordance with a graduated or income contingent schedule established by the Secretary. Allows the Secretary and the borrower to agree to increase the specified repayment period, but prohibits it from extending beyond 20 years. Directs the Secretary to notify the student borrower, at the beginning of the repayment period, of the availability of the flexible repayment program. Provides for interest rates on: (1) unsubsidized loans (the bonds equivalent rate of 52-week Treasury bills, plus three and one-quarter percent) (but not exceeding 12 percent); and (2) and subsidized loans (eight percent). Directs the Secretary to report such interest rates to the Congress for any fiscal year in which they are not sufficient to recover specified costs to the Government. Sets forth requirements for consolidation loans. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements to provide loans to consolidate eligible student loans whose outstanding indebtedness is at least $10,000. Sets forth terms and conditions of consolidation loans, including annual interest rates of at least eight percent. Directs the Secretary to establish repayment terms, including graduated and income contingent repayment schedules. Provides for administration of the program. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a central data system to maintain records on all loans made under the program; and (2) default prevention programs. Provides for funding of the program through the sale of Government obligations. Sets forth the duties of the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to such sale and funding. Sets forth various amendments to phase out the Stafford Student Loan Program (GSL) by June 30, 1996. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and thereafter for administrative expenses necessary for carrying out title IV student aid programs, including expenses for staff personnel and compliance activities. Part E: Federal Perkins Loans - Revises and renames part E of title IV of HEA as Federal Perkins Loans (currently named Direct Loans to Students in Institutions of Higher Education or Perkins Loans). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for contributions by the Secretary to Perkins Loans program student loan funds. Adds provisions for eligibility for study abroad. Provides for reduction of allocation as a consequence of failure to award funds. Revises Perkins loan program provisions for capital contributions by institutions. Requires an institution to match the Federal capital contribution if the institution is granted permission to participate in an Expanded Lending Option and has a default rate not more than seven and one-half percent. Requires all other institutions to contribute an amount at least one-third of the Federal amount. Adds requirements for institutions to disclose specified information to any credit bureau with which the Secretary has a specified agreement. Revise loan limits under the Perkins Loan program. Provides for a reasonable proportion of a institution's Perkins Loans to be made to nontraditional students, including less-than-full-time, age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students. Revises minimum monthly payments for loans made after a specified date. Provides for adjustment of excessive loan awards. Adds a deferment of Perkins loan repayment for family service agency employees who provide or supervise services to high-risk children from low-income communities and their families. Allows requests for deferment of Perkins loan repayment by students in graduate or post-graduate fellowship-supported study abroad (such as Fulbright grant recipients) until completion of the fellowship period. Authorizes the Secretary to grant an institution special repayment authority to compromise, within specified limits, on the repayment of defaulted Perkins loans, under specified conditions, to encourage repayment and protect U.S. interests. Revises provisions for cancellation of Perkins loans for certain public service. Adds special rules for determining the list of schools with specified percentages of educationally disadvantaged students at which full-time teaching service in any subject may qualify for such cancellation, and for continuing eligibility even if the school is no longer on such list. Adds provisions for such cancellation for full-time service as: (1) a teacher of infants, toddlers, children or youth with disabilities in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system, or as a professional provider of early intervention services; (2) nurse or medical technician providing health care services; or (3) family service agency employee providing or supervising services to high-risk children from low-income communities and their families. Revises an excess capital rule. Establishes the Perkins Loan Revolving Fund, to be available to the Secretary to make payments under part E. Provides that specified funds be deposited in such Fund. Provides for gradual termination of the Perkins Loan program, to be replaced by the Federal Direct Loans program. Prohibits any institution which has a Federal Direct Loans program agreement with the Secretary from receiving funds or making new loans under the Perkins Loan program. Requires deposit in an endowment fund of any collections of Perkins loans after an institution has begun distributing Federal Direct Loans. Requires the proceeds of such endowment fund to be awarded to student at that institution under specified provisions for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. Part F: Need Analysis - Revises HEA title IV part F provisions for Need Analysis. Establishes a new single need analysis formula to be used in the calculation of financial need for all title IV Student Assistance programs (thus replacing the current separate formulas for Pell Grants and for other title IV programs). Bases such new formula on the current formula used for the Stafford (GSL) and the "campus-based" aid programs including supplemental grants and work-study programs. Revises provisions for amount of need. Eliminates provisions for a minimum student contribution. Revises provisions for cost of attendance. Revises provisions for expected family contribution: (1) in general; (2) for dependent students; (3) independent students without dependent children; and (4) independent students with dependent children. Revises provisions relating to the Secretary's authorization to prescribe specified updated need analysis tables and to propose modifications in the need analysis methodology. Revises provisions for the simplified needs test to provide for a by-pass and consideration as having a zero family contribution for those with family adjusted gross incomes less than or equal to the earned income tax credit. Retains provisions relating to: (1) the discretion of student financial aid administrators; (2) disregard of student aid in other Federal programs; and (3) Native American students. Revises definitions for need analysis provisions under title IV. Includes, under the definition of independent student, one who is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year. Part G: General Provisions - Revises definitions for title IV (Student Assistance) in general. Excludes from the definition of institution of higher education, for purposes of title IV program eligibility, any institution which: (1) offers more than 50 percent of its courses by correspondence (also excludes correspondence courses from student eligibility); or (2) has filed for bankruptcy, if there is a judicial determination of fraud involving Federal funds. Sets forth certain eligible program requirements for proprietary institutions of higher education. Revises the definition of academic and award years. Sets forth certain eligible program standards for length of time of specified types of programs. Sets forth provisions for: (1) time limitations on, and renewal of, eligibility; (2) conditional certification of institutional eligibility; (3) branches; and (4) changes of ownership. Revises provisions relating to a master calendar. Revises provisions for forms and regulations for title IV student aid programs. Requires the common financial reporting form to be produced, distributed, and processed by the Secretary. Prohibits charging any parent or student a fee for the collection, processing, or delivery of financial aid through use of such a form. Requires institutions to pay the costs of other forms and their processing if they require or encourage students to use any form other than one approved by the Secretary. Requires use of the approved common form for purposes of title IV programs. Makes all data collected for the multiple data entry process the exclusive property of the Secretary. Prohibits such data from being transferred to a third party by an approved contractor without the Secretary's expressed written approval. Directs the Secretary to develop a streamlined reapplication process. Revises provisions for toll-free student aid information to include: (1) accessiblity for telecommunication devices for the deaf; and (2) referrals to a postsecondary clearinghouse for individuals with disabilities. Revises provisions for student eligibility for title IV student aid programs. Includes programs of study abroad approved for credit by the eligible institution among programs in which a student may receive such aid. Prohibits a student who is incarcerated from being eligible to receive a loan under title IV. Revises provisions for ability-to-benefit programs to include a State-prescribed determination process approved by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to verify all applications for aid through the use of any means available, including exchange of information with other Federal agencies. Revises provisions for loss of student eligibility for violation of loan limits to allow students who inadvertently exceed such borrowing limit to repay the excess amount prior to being certified for further title IV assistance. Sets forth provisions for the Secretary's verification of social security numbers provided by students to eligible institutions. Sets forth provisions for data base matching with the Selective Service. Provides for eligibility for title IV assistance for students in study abroad programs approved for credit by their home institutions. Provides that students enrolled in courses of instruction at eligible institutions of higher education that are offered in whole or part through visual telecommunications devices or mediums and lead to recognized associate, bachelor, or graduate degrees shall not: (1) be considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses (which are not eligible for student assistance); and (2) have their eligibility to participate in HEA title IV student assistance programs restricted or reduced solely on the basis of their enrollment in such courses offered through visual telecommunications. Prohibits the Secretary, for award years prior to enactment of this Act, to take any action against a student or eligible institution arising out of a prior award of student assistance if the institution demonstrates that its course of instruction would have been in conformance with such provisions. Revises statute of limitations provisions to provide that, with respect to any loan made part B GSL programs, a lender, holder, guaranty agency, or the Secretary shall not be subject to any claim or defense asserted by a borrower which is attributable to an act or failure to act by an educational institution attended by the borrower (unless the lender is an eligible institution). Establishes requirements for institutional refunds, refund policies, disclosures of policy. Revises provisions for information dissemination activities. Requires the institution to inform prospective student borrowers that study abroad programs approved for credit by the institution are eligible for student aid. Requires borrowers to provide certain information during the exit interview, regarding their expected permanent address, employer, next of kin, and corrections in the institution's records relating to their identification and location. Requires the institution to forward such information to the lender and guaranty agency. Establishes requirements for institutional information to students and prospective students regarding campus security policy and crime statistics. Sets forth provisions for campus security policy development. Revises provisions for a National Student Loan Data System to include requirements for: (1) common identifiers; and (2) integration of databases. Directs the Secretary to establish a centralized Student Loan Data System for use by schools, borrowers, holders, and guarantors in: (1) confirming borrower, internship, and residency status; and (2) identifying the current holder and servicer of a loan. Sets forth requirements for information in such system and restricted access, and deadlines for planning and implementation. Revises provisions for training in financial aid and student supportive services. Sets forth grant limitations. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such training programs. Revises provisions for title IV program participation agreements. Requires institutions to disclose to prospective student relevant State licensing requirements for any job for which the course of instruction is designed. Prohibits institutions from: (1) making incentive payments to persons or entities engaged in student recruiting or admission or awarding of assistance; (2) employing or using any individual or organization that has committed fraud involving Federal funds; or (3) denying Federal aid to any eligible student because of participation in approved study abroad. Requires institutions: (1) acknowledge specified entities' information-sharing authority; (2) develop Default Management Plans under specified conditions; (3) comply with any specified maximum growth rates or percentages of aid recipients; and (4) complete specified surveys and collect and transmit specified information. Revises provisions relating to hearings and availability of records. Requires financial responsibility standards to: (1) be based on annual independent financial audit reports on institutions; and (2) require of every institution a letter of credit or other irrevocable bond to cover all potential liabilities to students and to the Secretary, for funds under title IV and cover all loan obligations discharged to students under specified provisions. Requires compliance audits of third party servicers. Authorizes emergency actions by the Secretary against any or all institutions under the substantial control of any individual or entity that is determined to have committed violations of any title IV program requirements or has been suspended or debarred by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide specified audit information to any appropriate Federal or State agency with responsibilities with respect to student assistance. Establishes a Quality Assurance Program. Authorizes the Secretary to select institutions for voluntary participation in such program based on criteria including demonstrated institutional performance and considering current quality assurance goals. Allows participating institutions to develop and implement their own systems to verify student financial aid application data. Exempts participating institutions from title IV reporting or verification requirements, and allows them to substitute such quality assurance reporting as the Secretary deems necessary. Sets forth conditions for removal from the program. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) select institutions for voluntary participation as experimental sites to provide recommendations on the impact and effectiveness of proposed regulations or new management initiatives; and (2) exempt such institutions from any title IV requirements or regulations that would bias experimental results. Directs the Secretary to assign to each participant (including institutions, lenders, and guaranty agencies) in title IV programs a single identification number. Increases the percentage of specified program funds which may be involved in certain inter-program transfers. Revises provisions for administrative expenses payments to require a reasonable proportion of an institution's funds to be available for financial aid services during times and in places to accommodate specified types of nontraditional students. Revises title IV provisions for criminal penalties. Increase the amount of fines for specified violations. Adds provisions relating to extent of liability for financial losses to the Federal Government, student aid recipients, and other proram participants and civil and criminal penalties, arising from material inaccuracy of information submitted by institution to the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to require: (1) financial guarantees from an institution participating or seeking to participate in a title IV program, and/or from one or more individuals exercising substantial control over such institution; and (2) the assumption of personal liability by one or more such individuals, in accordance with specified provisions. Revises provisions for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to eliminate outdated provisions for a special institutional lender study. Sets forth provisions relating to the investigating and arrest authority and powers of designating employees of the Office of Inspector General, Department of Education. Establishes procedures for performance based regulatory relief for that satisfy specified criteria in title IV program participation. Requires regional meetings and negotiated rulemaking in developing regulations implementing amendments made to HEA title IV by this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for such purposes. Part H: Program Integrity - Establishes a new part H of title IV of HEA, Program Integrity. Sets forth requirements for State postsecondary approving agency programs for conduct or coordination of review and approval of institutions of higher education for purposes of title IV eligibility. Sets forth requirements for: (1) agreements with such State agencies; (2) Federal reimbursement of such State agency costs; (3) State agency functions, including criteria for review; (4) State standards, subject to disapproval by the Secretary, with differential standards for approval under specified conditions; (5) disapproval authority and procedures; (6) consumer complaints; and (7) enforcement mechanisms. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 and succeeding fiscal years for Federal reimbursement of State approving agency costs for such program integrity review and approval functions, in an amount not to exceed one percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for title IV student financial assistance programs. Part I: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to specified provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991. Title V: Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Development - Revises HEA title V (Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Development). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for: (1) the new part A, State and Local Programs for Teacher Excellence; (2) part B, Teacher Scholarships and Fellowships (currently part D), including subpart 1 Paul Douglas Teacher Corps-Scholarships, and subpart 2 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Program; and (3) part C, National Programs, including subpart 1 National Mini Corps Program, subpart 3 Partnerships for Innovative Teacher Education, subpart 4 Teacher Opportunity Corps, subpart 5 National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment, and subpart 6 Midcareer Teacher Training for Nontraditional Students (currently part A). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for the part C subpart 7 Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification and Licensure. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998 for the part C subpart 2 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Establishes, as the new part A of title V, State and Local Programs for Teacher Excellence. Provides for: (1) funds to State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and institutions of higher education to update and improve the skills of classroom teachers and school administrators; and (2) a comprehensive examination of State requirements for teacher preservice and certification. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to SEAs to improve the quality of teaching. Provides for allotment to States based on school-age population. Requires the SEA to allocate at least 50 percent of the State allotment to LEAs based on relative enrollments in their public schools and requiring any LEA receiving less than a specified minimum to form a consortium with other LEAs). Allows the SEA to reserve up to 25 percent of the State allotment for specified grants to institutions of higher education for teacher training programs. Directs the SEA to reserve not more than 25 percent of the State allotment to distribute to institutions of higher education for purposes of specified State uses of funds including assessment of teacher education programs, establishment of State Academies for Teachers and for School Administrators, and other teaching improvement activities. Requires the State to distribute such allotment funds to LEAs on a competitive basis if the appropriation for part A is less than a specified minimum amount. Sets forth requirements for State and local applications. Requires LEAs to use part A funds for inservice training of teachers. Allows LEAs to use such funds for: (1) programs to recruit individuals into teaching; (2) business partnerships for employee-teacher exchange and internship programs; and (3) other teaching improvement activities. Requires SEAs to use part A funds to conduct an assessment of teacher education programs within the State. Allows SEAs to use such funds for: (1) establishing State Academies for Teachers; (2) establishing State Academies for School Leaders; and (3) other teaching improvement activities. Requires each SEA receiving part A funds to undertake a study of teacher education programs and State laws and regulations relating to such programs, including standards or requirements for teacher certification and licensure. Sets forth deadlines for study results and reports. Sets forth provisions for competitive awards for and authorized activities of, State Academies for Teachers and State Academies for School Administrators. Sets forth provisions for applications by institutions of higher education for part A grants by SEAs. Requires SEAs to award such grants on a competitive basis to such institutions having departments, schools, or colleges of education, for: (1) institutional technical assistance to LEAs for inservice training; (2) innovations and improvements in teacher education programs within the institution to better meet LEAs needs for well-prepared teachers; (3) integrating the instruction of academic and vocational teacher education programs; (4) activities to encourage individuals, especially from minority groups, to pursue careers in education; and (5) implementing new requirements for teacher education programs, when the State study of such programs is completed. Requires part A funds to supplement, not supplant, regular non-Federal funds. Revises, and transfers to part B of title V of HEA, provisions for Teacher Scholarships and Fellowships (currently part D). Revises, extends, and renames subpart 1 as the Paul Douglas Teacher Corps Scholarships program (currently Paul Douglas, or Congressional, Teacher Scholarships program). Bases allocation among States on school-age population. Requires State agencies to make particular efforts to attract, and give priority consideration to, ethnic and racial minority students, students with disabilities, or other individuals historically underrepresented in teaching (as well as students from low-income disadvantaged backgrounds). Requires special consideration, in selecting teacher corps members, to be given to individuals who intend to teach: (1) students with disabilities (or provide related services for them); (2) limited English proficient students; (3) preschool age children; or (4) in curricular or geographic areas where there is a demonstrated shortage of qualified teachers. Retains and extends the subpart 2 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Program, a national fellowship program for outstanding teachers. Establishes title V part C provisions for National Programs. Establishes, as subpart 1, the National Mini Corps Program. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education to establish program partnerships with LEAs. Provides for program services for individuals who are: (1) first-generation college students or low-income individuals as defined under TRIO special programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; or (2) migrant or seasonal farmworkers, or the children of such farmworkers, who meet qualifications for attendance at a college or university. Provides for certain program services, also, for children who are: (1) migrant children; or (2) eligible to receive services for educationally disadvantaged children with special needs under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 1). Requires the program to provide: (1) such individuals enrolled or planning to enroll in institutions of higher education with advice, training, and instructional services to help in being role models for such children; (2) such children with outreach and recruitment services to encourage them to enroll in teacher education programs; (3) such individuals enrolled in such an institution with support and instructional services to enable them to provide direct instructional services to such children, in coordination with SEA or LEA goals; (4) designation of college coordinators at participating institutions to train, supervise, and assign such individuals in cooperation with SEAs and LEAs in which such children have been identified; and (5) support for other activities related to encouraging such individuals to enter the teacher profession and provide a link to the community. Sets forth requirements for institutional applications, grant awards, and uses of funds. Establishes, as subpart 2 of part C, provisions for a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (the Board). Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to the Board from specified appropriations authorized for FY 1994 through 1998. Sets forth terms and conditions for such funding. Prohibits any funds from being made available to the Board after FY 1995 (except as authorized for FY 1994 through 1998). Requires the Board to consult at least twice annually with the Committee (i.e. the Fund for Improvement and Reform of Schools and Teaching Board) on design and execution of its overall research and development strategy, including compliance with merit review and open competition requirements. Requires funds for the Board under this Act to be used only for research and development of teacher assessment and certification procedures for elementary and secondary school teachers. Requires that priority be given to such activities relating to teaching: (1) the subject areas of mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literacy (including reading, writing, and analytical ability); and (2) special educational populations, including limited English proficient children, gifted and talented children, children with disabilities, and economically and educationally disadvantaged children. Sets the Federal share of the cost of such Board activities at 50 percent. Requires the Board to report annually to the appropriate committees of the Congress. Requires the Secretary of Education, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the National Research Council to review and comment on the Board's report and to report to such congressional committees on the Board's compliance with these provisions. Establishes, as subpart 3 of part C, provisions for a new Partnerships for Innovative Teacher Education program. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and contracts with State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and consortia of such institutions and agencies to plan, establish, and operate teaching schools to develop and put into practice the best knowledge about teaching. Provides that planning and implementation grant awards shall be for a term one year, with a total of five years of implementation grants under specified conditions. Provides for applications, priorities, uses of funds by award recipients, and authorized activities of such teaching schools. Sets the Federal share at 50 percent for planning grants and 33 1/3 percent for implementation grants. Establishes, as subpart 4 of part C, provisions for a Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC), to encourage institutions of higher education to offer educational programs and financial assistance to enable paraprofessionals working in shortage area schools serving disadvantaged students to become certified teachers. Directs the Secretary to allocate TOC program grant funds to States according to the same formula under which States receive ESEA chapter 1 funding for education of disadvantaged children. Requires TOC grant program agreements to include provisions for administration and recordkeeping by the State education or higher education agency. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to support TOC programs at institutions of higher education. Sets forth State grant application requirements and general criteria for State grants, including: (1) involvement of institutions of higher educaiton and shortage area schools or school districts; (2) full creditability to a baccalaurate program leading to teacher certification; (3) a program evaluation system; and (4) appropriate credit for paraprofessional classroom experience as practice or student teaching. Requires any paraprofessional who receives student financial assistance under the TOC program to agree to act as a paraprofessional in a shortage area school for at least one year for each year of such assistance, within ten years after completing the the postsecondary education. Requires repayment of all or part of such assistance, plus interest and reasonable collection costs, if the recipient fails to comply with this service requirements, except in specified circumstances. Requires that such student financial assistance supplement, but not supplant, other Federal or State assistance for which the student would otherwise qualify. Requires TOC program grants to be for a term of at least five years, subject to availability of appropriations. Allows States to use TOC program funds for: (1) student financial assistance to paraprofessionals to pay part or all of the costs of attendance in postsecondary education programs required for teacher certification; (2) instructional and supportive services for such paraprofessionals during participation in such programs; and (3) payment of child care expenses to attend postsecondary classes required for teacher certification. Establishes, as subpart 5 of part C, a National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment. Directs the Secretary, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), to study the feasibility of establishing: (1) a clearinghouse to operate a national teacher job bank; and (2) regional clearinghouses. Directs the Secretary, through OERI, to contract with one or more State entities, nonprofit organizations, or higher education institutions to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing a Teacher Job Bank Clearinghouse to help: (1) public and private education agencies locate qualified applicants for teaching-related positions; and (2) individuals locate teaching-related jobs or training necessary to enter the teaching profession. Sets forth requirements for applications and authorized uses of funds. Retains and extends, and transfers to subpart 6 of part C of title V, provisions for Midcareer Teacher Training for Nontraditional Students (currently part A of title V). Alternative Routes to Teacher and Principal Certification and Licensure Act of 1991 - Establishes, as subpart 7 of part C of title V of HEA, Alternative Routes to Teacher and Principal Certification and Licensure. Establishes program of assistance for alternative routes to teacher certification or licensure, to improve the supply of qualified elementary and secondary school teachers and principals by assisting State programs to help talented professionals who have demonstrated high competence in a subject area and wish to pursue education careers to meet State certification licensing requirements, with special emphasis on minority group member participation. Sets forth requirements for allotments, State applications, and uses of funds. Repeals this subpart as of July 1, 1995. (Authorized appropriations for this subpart for FY 1993.) Title VI: International Education Programs - Revises title VI of HEA, International Education Programs. Revises provisions for part A, International and Foreign Language Studies. Revises provisions for graduate and undergraduate language and area studies, to add to authorized uses of program grants the establishing and maintaining of linkages with overseas institutions of higher education and other organizations that may contribute to specified educational objectives of the program or center. Authorizes the Secretary to make additional grants to comprehensive language and area centers for programs of linkage or outreach: (1) between foreign language, area studies, and other international fields and professional schools and colleges; (2) with two-and four-year colleges and universities; (3) with departments or agencies of State and Federal governments; (4) with the news media, business, professional, or trade associations; and (5) carried out by summer institutes in foreign area and other international fields. Revises provisions for stipends. Revises provisions for language resource centers. Revises provisions for undergraduate international studies and foreign language programs. Limits program grants to not more than 50 percent of project costs. Replaces model grant provisions with provisions for grants to strengthen programs of demonstrated excellence to ensure their self-sustaining maintenance and growth and enhance their capacity-building and dissemination functions. Authorizes the Secretary to also make grants for programs of national significance for undergraduate international studies and foreign language education purposes. Retains and extends provisions for intensive summer language institutes. Revises provisions for research, studies, and annual reports. Revises provisions for assistance in acquiring and making available periodicals published outside the United States to add provisions for other research materials published outside the United States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such assistance (in addition to other funds authorized for part A). Requires the Secretary, in awarding grants under part A International and Foreign Language Studies, to ensure that an appropriate portion of such funds are used to support undergraduate education. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title VI part A, International and Foreign Language Studies. Revises title VI part B provisions for Business and International Education Programs. Revises provisions both for centers for international business education and for education and training programs to add to authorized users of such center and program grants: (1) establishment of linkages overseas with institutions of higher education and other organizations that contribute to such centers' and programs' educational objectives, and (2) summer institutes in international business, foreign area, and other international studies designed to carry out specified purposes. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title VI part B, Business and International Education Programs, including Centers for International Business Education and Education and Training Programs. Revises title VI part C general provisions to eliminate provisions for an Advisory Board. Adds a definition of critical languages. Provides that amendments to title VI establishing new programs or expanding existing programs pursuant to this Act shall not be funded in FY 1993 through 1997 unless and until the Congress enacts appropriations for pre-1992 title VI programs enacted prior to this Act at a level no less than their, FY 1992 funding. Establishes a new part D of title VI, the Institute for International Public Policy (the Institute), which shall, conduct a program to significantly increase the numbers of African Americans and other minorities in the foreign service of the United States. Authorizes the Institute to be established through grant or contract between the Secretary and an eligible recipient (a consortia of institutions eligible for title III part B assistance for historically Black colleges and universities, other institutions of higher education serving substantial numbers of African American and other minority students, and institutions of higher education with nationally recognized programs in training foreign service professionals). Requires each consortia to designate a host institution for the Institute. Sets forth the components of the academic program of the Institute, including a junior year abroad, academic year and summer internships, a masters degree program, and fellowships for full-time study for students who agree to enter the U.S. foreign service. Requires appointment of a Board of Visitors for the Institute. Sets forth matching requirements and provisions for gifts and donations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for the Institute. Title VII: Construction, Reconstruction and Renovation of Academic Facilities - Revises title VII of HEA, Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic Facilities. Revises title VII program purposes, and makes a priority on renovation optional rather than mandatory. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the following title VII programs: (1) part A, Grants for the Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Undergraduate Academic Facilities; (2) part B, Grants for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Graduate Academic Facilities; (3) part C, Loans for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic, Housing, and Other Educational Facilities (consolidates the current parts C and F); and (4) part D, Grants to Pay Interest on Debt. Revises title VII part A provisions for Grants for the Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Undergraduate Academic Facilities. Limits the total payment of under part A for any fiscal years to institutions of higher education in any State to not move than 12 1/2 percent of part A appropriations. Directs the Secretary to use a national peer review panel in making part A grants to institutions. Retains provisions for cost limitations and use for maintenance. Retains part B provisions for Grants for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Graduate Academic Facilities. Consolidates loan programs under current part C and part F provisions into a new part C, Loans for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic, Housing, and Other Educational Facilities. Sets forth provisions for such Federal assistance in the form of loans, use of funds, and a revolving loan fund. Limits to not more than 12 1/2 percent of part C funds in the form of loans the amount which may be made available to educational institutions within any one State. Directs the Secretary, in awarding part C loans, to give priority to loans for renovation or reconstruction of: (1) graduate or undergraduate academic facilities; and (2) older graduate or undergraduate academic facilities that have gone without major renovation or reconstruction for an extended period. Provides for a portion of funds obtained pursuant to specified provisions under title IV of the Housing Act of 1950 to be available for part C purposes. Retains part D provisions for Grants to Pay Interest on Debt, and part E provisions for the College Construction Loan Insurance Association. Eliminates provisions for part G, Special Programs. Establishes a new part F, Historically Black College and University Capital Financing. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into insurance agreements to provide financial insurance to guarantee full payment of principal and interest on qualified bonds to facilitate capital financing for historically Black colleges and universities (eligible institutions). Requires the Secretary to designate a qualified bonding authority that agrees to assume specified responsibilities, including using bond proceeds to make loans to eligible institutions for capital projects. Limits the aggregate principal amount of outstanding bonds insured under this Act together with any accrued unpaid interest thereon. Limits the specified portions of such aggregate amount which may be used for loans to eligible institutions that are, respectively, private or public. (Provides, for such purposes, that Lincoln University of Pennsylvania and Howard University in Washington, D.C., are public institutions.) Sets forth duties and powers of the Secretary under this part F, including procedures for designation of the bonding authority. Establishes, within the Department of Education, the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Advisory Board. Provides for minority business enterprise utilization under this part F. Repeals title VII part J (I) provisions for the Agriculture, Strategic Metals, Minerals, Forestry, and Oceans College and University Research Facilities and Instrumentation Modernization Program. Title VIII: Cooperative Education - Revises title VIII of HEA, Cooperative Education. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for cooperative education programs under title VIII. Limits eligibility to apply for new administration grants under title VIII to those institutions of higher education which have not received funds for the administration of the cooperative education program for the preceding ten years. Revises provisions for Federal share and applications. Title IX: Graduate Programs - Revises title IX of HEA, Graduate Programs. Directs the Secretary to provide for coordinated administration and regulation of assisted graduate programs to ensure that they are carried out in a manner most compatible with academic practices. Directs the Secretary to appoint administrative and technical employees with the appropriate educational background to assist in program adminstration. Revises and renames part A, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Women and Minority Participation in Graduate Education (currently, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minority Participation in Graduate Education). Adds provisions for women (as well as for individuals from minority groups underrepresented in graduate education) under such part A program. Adds provisions for information collection under such part A program. Revises title IX part B provisions. Renames part B as Postbaccalaureate Opportunity and Harris Fellowship Programs (currently Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowships). Provides for a subpart 1 program of Postbaccaulaureate masters and professional education of women and minorities underrepresented in such education. Provides for a subpart 2 program, the Patricia Roberts Harris Graduate Fellowship Program, to provide, through institutions of higher education, grants to assist the doctoral education for women and individuals from underrepresented groups. Provides for individual stipends comparable with National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Revises title IX part C provisions for the Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program. Authorizes up to 600 new fellowships per year (currently limited to 450 per-year). Revises provisions for individual stipends (to be comparable with National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships). Sets the institutional assistance payment at $10,000, to be adjusted annually for inflation. Revises title IX part D provisions for Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need. Provides for institutional commitments to provide stipends to complete graduate study to include students pursuing a doctoral degree after having completed a masters degree program. Provides for individual stipend comparable to National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Provides for an added institutional assistance payment of $10,000, to be adjusted for inflation. Revises title IX part E provisions for Assistance for Training in the Legal Profession. Requires such assistance to be for minority and other low-income, disadvantaged college graduates to successfully pursue a law degree and service in the legal profession. Requires such assistance to be through and annual grant on contract with the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO). Sets forth authorized services for part E legal training projects. Requires the Secretary, by grant or contract on a biennial basis, with CLEO, to cover all or part of costs of specified activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for specified authorized services provided by part E legal training projects. Revises title IX part F provisions for Law School Clinical Experience Programs. Authorize grant use to cover costs of continuing (as well as establishing or expanding) such programs. Increases the maximum amount any law school may receive under part F in any fiscal year (from $100,000 to $250,000). Establishes, as a new part G of title IX, a program of Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minorities to Enter the Higher Education Professorate. Directs the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education or to nonprofit organizations associated with such institutions with a demonstrated record of enhancing minority access to graduate education), in consortia with historically black colleges and universities and other institutions with significant enrollments of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. States that such grants shall enable such institutions to: (1) identify talented candidates for and recipients of baccalaureate degrees and faculty who wish to enter or continue in the higher education professorate; and (2) provide such students and faculty with stipends and fellowships to assist them in obtaining a doctoral degree and returning to an institution of higher education to teach. Designates such fellowships as the Faculty Development Fellowships. Sets forth application and selection requirements. Requires each Faculty Development Fellowship recipient to agree to teach at an institution of higher education for two years for every one year of fellowship assistance, or else repay the fellowship. Sets forth repayment procedures and exceptions. Transfers to part H of title IX provisions for Authorization of Appropriations (currently part G). Extends for FY 1993 through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the following title IX programs: (1) part A, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Women and Minority Participation in Graduate Education; (2) part B, subpart 1, Postbaccalaureate Opportunity Fellowships; (3) part B, subpart 2, Patricia Roberts Harris Graduate Fellowship Program; (4) part C, Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program; (5) part D, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need; (6) part F, Law School Clinical Experience Programs; and (7) part G, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minorities to Enter the Higher Education Professorate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998 for part E, Assistance for Training in the Legal Profession (under part E, this Act also authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for specified authorized services provided by part E legal training projects). Title X: Postsecondary Improvement Program - Revises title X of HEA, Postsecondary Improvement Program. Authorizes the Secretary to make planning grants to institutions of higher education for the development and testing of innovative techniques in postsecondary education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such planning grants. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for HEA title X part A, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (the Fund) (to which such planning grant provisions are added). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for part B, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Programs. Retains the current division of such funds as follows: (1) 50 percent for the Minority Science Improvement Program; (2) 33 1/3 percent for Science and Engineering Access Programs; and (3) 16 2/3 percent for the Special Services Projects progam. Redesignates the current part C of title X of HEA, Innovative Projects for Community Services and Student Financial Assistance, as part C of a new title XI of HEA (Student Community Service). Establishes a new part C of title X of HEA, Special Projects in Areas of National Need. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education, consortia thereof, and other public agencies and nonprofit institutions for innovative projects concerning one or more areas of particular national need in postsecondary education identified by the Secretary and the Director of the Fund. Sets forth application requirements. Requires areas of national need to initially include, but not be limited to: (1) international exchanges; (2) campus climate and culture; and (3) evaluation and dissemination. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such grants Title XI: Student Community Service - Establishes a new title XI of HEA, Student Community Service, which consolidate current and new HEA community service programs. Some elements of the current title XI, Partnerships for Economic Development and Urban Community Service, are contained in revised forms under the new title I of HEA, as amended by this Act.) Establishes, as part A of title XI, Higher Education Innovative Projects for Community Service, to support innovative projects to encourage students to participate in community service activities while attending institutions of higher education (such provisions are revised and transferred from the National and Community Service Act of 1990). (The current part A of title XI of HEA is Partnerships for Community Development.) Authorizes the Secretary (after consultation with the Commission on National Service, to insure coordination of activities, to make part A grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education (including consortia of such institutions) working in partnership with other public agencies and nonprofit organizations, to: (1) enable institutions to create or expand community service activities to their students; (2) encourage community service projects designed and initiated by students; (3) encourage student participation in community service activities that engender social responsibility and commitment to the community; (4) encourage students to assist in teaching individuals with limited basic skills or an inability to read and write; and (5) provide for training teachers, prospective teachers, related education personnel, and community leaders in the skills necessary to develop community service acitivites. Requires, with respect to proposed community service activities, consideration of: (1) the particular needs of a community; (2) the grantee's ability to actively involve a major part of the community; and (3) whether the community will benefit substantially. Sets the Federal share at not more than 50 percent. Sets forth application requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such part A program. Establishes a new part B of title XI, Student Literacy Corps and Student Mentoring Corps (the current part D of title I of HEA provides for a Student Literacy Corps). Authorizes the Secretary to make part B grants to institutions of higher education for up to four years to carry out literacy corps programs and/or mentoring corps programs in public community agencies in the communities in which the institutions are located. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such grant funds. Sets forth application requirements for such programs. Sets forth provisions for technical assistance and coordination arrangements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such part B programs. Sets forth, as part C of title XI, provisions for Innovative Projects for Community Services and Student Financial Independence (currently such provisions are under part C of title X). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such part C projects. Sets forth, as part D of title XI, provisions for Community Service-Learning. Transfers and revises such provisions, which are currently under title IV part C, for: (1) work-study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families; and (2) community service job location and development programs for students at institutions of higher education. Establishes, as part E of title XI, Grants for Sexual Offenses Education and prevention programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make such part E program grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education, on a competitive basis. Requires program grants, in general, to be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of sexual offenses. Sets forth authorized activities. Requires that at least 25 percent ofprogram funds be available for grants for model demonstration programs, to be coordinated with local rape crisis centers, for: (1) development and implementation of quality rape prevention and education curricula; and (2) local programs to provide services to student sexual offense victims. Requires, under conditions for institutional eligibility for part E grants, written policies that: (1) prohibit all forms of sexual offenses; and (2) require disclosure to the victim of any sexual offense the outcome of any campus police investigation or campus disciplinary proceedings brought pursuant to the victim's complaint against the alleged perpetrator. Gives priority to grant applicants who do not have an established campus education program regarding sexual offenses. Sets forth requirements for part E grant applictions and grantee performance reports. Directs the Secretary to: (1) promulgate regulations for such program; and (2) report on such program to congressional committees responsible for issues relating to higher education and crime. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1995 for such part E grants for sexual offenses education and prevention programs. Repeals provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 relating to Higher Education Innovative Projects for Innovative Eduction (such provisions are transferred in a revised form to part A of title XI of HEA by this Act, as described above). Title XII: General Provisions - Revises title XII of HEA, General Provisions. Revises HEA definitions, including that of institution of higher education, and adds, definitions with cross-reference to other laws. Revises antidiscrimination provisions to declare that nothing in HEA shall be construed to limit any individual's rights or responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or any other law. Adds requirements for institutional disclosures of foreign gifts. Requires such disclosure reports to be made to the Secretary and to be open to public inspection. Provides for court orders to enforce such disclosure requirements. Title XIII: Indian Higher Education Programs - Part A: Tribally Controlled Community Colleges - Amends the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 to extend the authorization of appropriations: (1) from FY 1992 through 1996, for technical assistance contracts, grants to tribally controlled community colleges, and a renovation program and construction of new facilities; and (2) from FY 1993 through 1997, for the tribally controlled community college endowment program grants and economic development program. Amends the Navajo Community College Act to extend the authorization of appropriations from FY 1993 through 1997 for construction grants. Part B: Higher Education Tribal Grant Authorization Act - Higher Education Tribal Grant Authorization Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary, for purposes of this part B of title XIII) to make grants to Indian tribes (tribes) to permit them to provide financial assistance to individual Indian students for the cost of attendance at institutions of higher education. Provides that such grants shall come from appropriations for supporting higher education grants for Indian students under the authority of the Snyder Act. Prohibits the Secretary from placing any restrictions not expressly authorized by this part on the use of funds provided to an Indian tribe under this part. Provides that this Act shall not affect any Federal trust responsibilities. Prohibits any termination, modification, suspension, or reduction of grants under this part which is only for the convenience of the administering agency. Allows any tribe to qualify for such a grant by filing: (1) a notice of intent to administer such a student assistance program, if such tribe obtains funds for educational purposes similar to those authorized in this part pursuant to a contract under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) (contracting tribe); or (2) an application for such a grant, if the tribe does not have such an ISDEAA contract (noncontracting tribe), under guidelines for programs under ISDEAA. Presumes an Indian tribe which has qualified for such a grant to continue to be eligible for such a grant for each succeeding fiscal year, unless the Secretary revokes such eligibility for a specified cause, involving failure to submit annual financial statements and program descriptions to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or biennial financial audits to the Secretary, or independently evaluated failure to comply with standards relating to eligible students, programs, or institutions of higher education, satisfactory progress, or allowable administrative costs, as determined under ISDEAA contracts. Sets forth procedural safeguards relating to such revocations, including written notice, opportunity and technical assistance to make corrections, and hearing and appeals applicable under ISDEAA. Directs the Secretary to continue to determine the amount of program funds to be received by each grantee under this part by the same method used for determining such distribution in FY 1991 for tribally-administered and BIA-administered programs of grants to individual Indians to defray postsecondary expenses. Provides for additional amounts to cover program administrative costs, determined for: (1) contracting tribes, by the method used by the grantee during the preceding ISDEAA contract period; and (2) noncontracting tribes, by the ISDEAA regulations governing such determinations, as in effect at the time of the grant application. Provides for a single grant to each grantee during any fiscal year, combining such program and administrative funds. Requires the grant to be maintained in a separate account. Requires the tribes to use such grants to make grants to individual Indian students to meet, on the basis of need, any educational expense of attendance in a postsecondary education program (as determined under ISDEAA contracts), to the extent such expense is not met through other sources or cannot be defrayed through the action of any State, Federal, or municipal Act (except that nothing in these provisions is to be interpreted as requiring any priority in consideration of resources). Allows use of such grants also for program administrative costs, within the specified limits. Bars use of grant funds for study at a divinity school or department or for any religious worship or sectarian activity. Sets forth provisions for grant payments. Requires that interest or any other income on grant funds: (1) be used only for the same purposes as the grants; (2) be the property of the tribe or tribal organization; and (3) not be taken into account by Federal officers or employees in determining whether to provide assistance, or the amount of assistance, under any Federal law. Sets forth requirements relating to investments and deposits of such funds. Provides that such funds shall not be considered for purposes of underrecovery or overrecovery determinations by any Federal agency for any other funds. Directs the Secretary to report biennially to the Congress on the programs established under this part, including specified items. Requires that: (1) grant applications, and application modifications, be reviewed and approved by personnel under the direction and control of the Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs; and (2) required reports be submitted to such personnel. Requires that specified provisions of the ISDEAA be applicable to grants provided under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations relating to discharge of duties specifically assigned to the Secretary by this part. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing regulations in all other matters relating to the details of planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of grants under this part. Provides that regulations issued under these provisions shall not have the standing of a Federal statute for purposes of judicial review. Sets forth procedures for retrocession of programs assisted under this part. Makes any such retrocession requested by a tribe effective on a date specified by the Secretary not more than 120 days after such request, or such later date as may be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary and the tribe. Requires the Secretary, if such program is retroceded, to provide any tribe served by such program at least the same quantity and quality of services. Requires the tribal governing body requesting the retrocession to specify whether the retrocession shall be to: (1) a contract administered by the tribe, or a tribal entity, under the authority of the ISDEAA; or (2) a BIA-administered program. Part C: Critical Needs for Tribal Development Act - Critical Needs for Tribal Development Act - Authorizes an eligible Indian tribe or tribal organization to require any applicant for federally funded higher education assistance to enter into a critical area service agreement, as a condition of receipt of such assistance. Requires such tribe or tribal organization that implements such critical area service agreements to designate particular occupational areas as critical areas for the economic or human development needs of the tribe or its members, and to notify the Secretary of the Interior in writing of such designated critical areas. Establishes guidelines and procedures to implement such critical area service agreements. Part D: Institute of American Indian Native Culture and Arts Development - Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1986 (of which title XV is the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Culture and Art Development Act is referred to as the Act for purposes of this part) to revise provisions relating to the Institute of American Indian Native Culture and Arts Development (the Institute) and its Board of Directors (the Board). Requires that Board members represent diverse fields of expertise, including finance, law, and fine arts higher education administration. Directs the President to carry out through the Board the publication of announcements of expiration of terms and the solicitation of nominations from Indian tribes and organizations to fill vacancies. Authorizes the Board to: (1) make recommendations based on nominations received; (2) make recommendations of its own; and (3) review and make comments on individuals being considered by the President for whom no nominations have been received. Grants the Board the power to recommend the continuation of Board members, in order to maintain stability and continuation, in accordance with specified procedures. Revises general powers of the Board. Authorizes the Board to: (1) enter into joint development ventures with public or private commercial or noncommercial entities for development of facilities to meet a specified required plan (provided that such ventures are related to and further the Institute's mission); and (2) designate annually a portion (up to ten percent) of specified appropriated funds for investment on a short-term basis to maximize yield and liquidity. Requires that interest and earnings on specified amounts received and invested by the Institute be expended to carry out the Act. Revises provisions for basic compensation rates for Institute staff to require these to be set at rates comparable to those of similar institutions of higher education (or, as at present, at civil service rates for individuals with comparable qualifications). Revises Institute functions to eliminate certain requirements relating to a Center for Culture and Art Studies, Center for Research and Cultural Exchange, and Museum of American Indian and Alaska Native Arts. Makes the Board responsible for establishing the policies and administrative organization relating to the administrative organization relating to the administrative control and monitoring responsibilities for all Institute subdivisions, administrative entities, and departments, with the specific responsibilities of each to lie solely within the discretion of the Board or its designee. Requires the Board to establish, within the Institute, departments for the study of culture and arts and for research and exchange, and a museum. Directs the Board to establish areas of competency for such departments. Authorizes the Institute to develop a policy or policies to extend preference to Indians in its program admissions and enrollment, employment, and contracts, fellowships, and grants. (Currently authorizes the Institute to simply extend such preference.) Revises provisions relating to transfer of functions, including certain provisions for forgiveness of amounts owed and hold harmless provisions. Eliminates requirements for an annual report by the Institute President. Revises provisions relating to the Institute's headquarters to refer to the Board, rather than the Secretary of the Interior. Provides that the Institute shall not be subject to any requirement for non-Federal matching funds as a condition for Federal assistance. Revises provisions for the Institute's endowment program. Allows the Institute to use funds from any non-Federal governmental source (as well as from any private or tribal source) to comply with a contribution requirement. Directs the Board to prepare a master plan on the short- and long-term facilities needs of the Institute, including specified types of evaluations, impact projections, periodic reviews, and needs prioritization. Requires transmittal of such plan to the Congress within 18 months after enactment of this part. Part E: Tribal Development Student Assistance Revolving Loan Program - Tribal Development Student Assistance Act - Establishes a student assistance revolving loan program for Native Americans, to be administered by tribes or tribal organizations. Requires that funds received under a grant under this part or recovered under specified provisions of this part be identified and accounted for separately from any other tribal or Federal funds received from the Federal Government. Requires that all funds in such account be used for the purposes of this Act. Makes the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary, for purposes of this part) responsible for establishing requirements for receipt, investment, and accounting of such funds to safeguard any financial interests of the Federal Government. Requires such funds to be: (1) invested by the tribe or tribal organization only in obligations of the United States or in obligations or securities guaranteed or insured by the United States; or (2) deposited only in accounts that are insured by an agency or instrumentality of the United States. Provide that any interest or investment income that accrues to any of such funds after they have been distributed to a tribe or tribal organization to make loans under this part shall be: (1) the property of the tribe or tribal organization; and (2) not taken into account by any Federal officer or employee in determining whether to provide to provide assistance, or the amount of assistance, under any provision of Federal law. Directs the Secretary to make grants under this part to: (1) tribes or multitribal organizations not serviced by current federally funded postsecondary institutions authorized for economic development grants; and (2) tribes or multitribal organizations which lack sufficient numbers of professionally trained tribal members to support established or ongoing economic development activities. Requires any tribe or tribal organization which receives such grant funds to make such funds available by loan to Native American students who have successfully completed 30 hours of postsecondary education and who are eligible for readmission to a postsecondary institution. Sets forth terms of such student loans, including: (1) being subject to repayment over a period of not more than five years; (2) not bearing interest; and (3) being subject to forgiveness for services to the tribe under specified provisions. Requires that calculation of the student's cost of attendance include all costs as determined by the tribe for purposes of fulfilling the policy of this part. Requires any student seeking such a loan to apply for and accept the maximum financial aid available from other sources. Prohibits such loans from being considered in needs analysis under any other Federal law, and from penalizing students in determining eligibility for other funds. Sets forth requirements for a written agreement between the tribe or tribal organization and the eligible recipient for service fulfillment or loan repayment. Requires the recipient to commit to: (1) perform, for each academic year of assistance under this part, one calendar year of service to the tribe or tribal organization in an occupation related to the course of study pursued and an economic or social tribal development plan (commencing not later than six months after the student ceases to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload); or (2) repay to the tribe or tribal organization the full amount of the loan, in monthly or quarterly installments within five years (with such recovered funds to be reported annually to the Secretary and invested in the account). Sets forth provisions for: (1) limitations and conditions on such service; (2) waivers or suspensions of such service agreements; (3) pro rata reductions for partial service; and (4) annual certification of individuals' service by the tribe to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an application process for making grants to eligible entities; (2) take into account in reviewing applications the number of students with partial completion identified by the applicant, relative to the total number of tribal members who would be benefitted by the provision of services; and (3) attempt to achieve geographic and demographic diversity in such grants. Directs the Secretary, subject to the availability of funds and acceptable applications, to make five four-year grants to tribes or tribal organizations. Requires that the amount of administrative costs associated with such grants be negotiated by the Secretary with successful applicants and made a part of the grant agreement. Authorizes appropriations for this part for FY 1993 through 1997. Title XIV: Miscellaneous - Part A: Studies -Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to conduct, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), a two-year study of programs to increase the accessibility of postsecondary education for nontraditional students. Requires an interim and final report on such study to specified congressional committees. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to evaluate the coordination of Federal student assistance programs with other benefit programs funded in whole or part with Federal funds. Requires particular attention to: (1) the effect of receipt of student aid on reduction or denial of other program benefits to such students; and (2) the attendance cost elements funded in whole or part by Federal student assistance programs for students eligible for other Federal programs, and the inclusion of room and/or board costs in such attendance costs. Requires a report on such study to appropriate congressional committees within three years. Directs the Secretary to conduct an annual special purpose survey of factors associated with participation of low-income, disadvantaged, and minority students in various types of postsecondary education. Requires such survey data to permit comparisons with other groups that have characteristically participated at higher rates than at-risk students. Requires consultation with the Congress and the elementary, secondary, and higher education community in developing such annual survey. Sets forth required inclusions in such survey. Requires the Secretary, in the event of significant findings related to underparticipation rates of at-risk and other students, to submit a plan containing policies and program modifications for ensuring the participation of at-risk students. Directs the Secretary, through OERI, to evaluate the effectiveness of postsecondary assistance guaranty programs for disadvantaged children that, in exchange for the child's commitment to achieving a satisfactory elementary and secondary education, promise the child the financial resources needed to pursue a postsecondary education. Requires such study to sample the types of such guarantee programs available, which may include supportive services, mentoring, study skills, and counseling for student participants. Requires dissemination of study findings. Requires an interim and a final report to specified congressional committees. Directs OERI to conduct a two-year study to: (1) assess information currently collected on graduate education; and (2) identify what additional information should be generated to guide the Department of Education in supporting graduate education. Requires consultation with other agencies and organizations involved in graduate education policies and programs. Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate staffing requirements of the U.S. Department of Education's Center for International Education, including specified considerations. Requires consultation with institutions of higher education which have participated in specified international education programs under HEA and the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, and with national organizations of such institutions. Requires a report to the Congress within one year on such evaluation results. Part B: National Clearinghouse for Postsecondary Education Materials - Authorizes the Secretary to award a three-year grant or contract to establish a National Clearinghouse for Postsecondary Education Materials in accessible form, including audio and digital for students with disabilities. Sets forth authorized uses of such grant or contract funds. Sets forth a declining Federal share of program cost for each year of the award. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such clearinghouse.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from changing current regulations respecting the use of voluntary contributions, provider-paid taxes, and intergovernmental transfers toward a State's share of expenditures under Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act). Voids any previously issued regulations that make changes regarding the use of such contributions, taxes, and transfers. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for the adjustment of any payments to States to restore any payments reduced as a result of such a regulation; and (2) notify State chief executive officers of such prohibition and adjustment. Designates direct spending under this Act as an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Exempts such spending from being counted toward sequestration under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1991
USHealth Program Act of 1991 - Title I: Provision And Expansion Of Hospital, Medical, And Preventive Services To Cover All Americans Either Through A USHealth Program Or Qualified Employer Health Plans - Subtitle A: Coverage of Elderly, Disabled, Retired, and Other Non-Employed Individuals Through a USHealth Program - Part 1: Eligibility - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish the USHealth Program (Program) for the provision of hospital as well as long-term care and certain preventive benefits to U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. residents. Provides for incorporating into the Program for hospital care: (1) aliens who are employed with a foreign government or an international organization and reside in the United States; and (2) foreign visitors. Provides for low-income assistance under the Program. Repeals provisions of various other benefit programs rendered superfluous by the comprehensive nature of the Program. Makes conforming amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. Provides transitional Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) coverage of pregnant women and infants up to 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Increases to 100 percent the Federal medical assistance percentage for additional populations covered. Part 2: Benefits - Revises the scope of benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance). Lists under such part Program benefits which comprise: (1) inpatient hospital services; (2) medical and other health services; (3) comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility services and home intravenous drug therapy services; (4) alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation services; (5) outpatient mental health services; and (6) home health services. Changes payment provisions. Expands covered medical and other health services under Medicare to include the following preventive services as Program benefits: (1) prenatal care; (2) well-child care; (3) screening mammographies; (4) screening pap smears; (5) family planning services and supplies furnished to individuals of child-bearing age who desire such services and supplies; (6) colorectal cancer screening services; (7) counseling to modify risk factors for heart disease, cancer, and stroke, including dietary measures, weight reduction, smoking restriction, and physical conditioning; and (8) such other health services as the USHealth Board finds are cost-effective in the prevention of disease or illness. Directs the USHealth Board to establish: (1) frequency schedules for the provision of certain preventive services listed above; and (2) standards for entities furnishing preventive service under Medicare who otherwise are not qualified to provide other services under Medicare. Includes prescription drugs within such expanded coverage as Program benefits. Sets forth certification standards for comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility services, outpatient physical therapy services, outpatient speech pathology services, and home intravenous drug therapy services. Eliminates all mandatory benefits under the Medicaid program. Part 3: Payments For Services - Sets forth payment rules for inpatient hospital services, medical and other health services generally, prescription drugs, and home intravenous drug therapy services, which include no co-payments for inpatient hospital services. Directs the USHealth Board to: (1) establish a program to assure appropriate prescribing and dispensing practices; (2) prepare and update annually a guide for physicians concerning wholesale prices of commonly prescribed drugs; (3) establish a fee schedule for home intravenous drug therapy services; and (4) adjust Medicare payment rates for inpatient hospital services and physicians' services to reflect changes in the population served and other special circumstances. Requires the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission to conduct a study concerning appropriate adjustments in payments for inpatient hospital services to account for reduced hospital costs resulting from Medicare payment of prescription drugs and home intravenous drug therapy services. Provides protection against out-of-pocket expenses which exceed specified individual and family catastrophic limits. Prohibits service providers from imposing charges when a catastrophic limit has been reached. Details provisions with respect to the treatment of health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Repeals Medicare payment rules for outpatient mental health services. Subtitle B: Coverage of Employed Individuals Through Qualified Employer Health Plans - Part 1: General Provisions - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXI (Access to Health Insurance For Health Services Through Employment) under which employers are required to enroll their employees and dependents in a qualified employer health plan or in the Program. Sets forth rules for the enrollment of full- and part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, including rules applicable in cases of families with more than one worker and where both employers offer enrollment under a qualified employer health plan. Phases in implementation of enrollment requirements according to a schedule based on the size of the employer. Sets forth enforcement provisions. Outlines requirements for qualified employer health plan premiums and cost-sharing, including limitations on the amount that may be charged for premiums. Gives qualified employer health plans the option of electing Program rules governing payments for services. Sets forth the requirements for standards to certify a health plan provided by an employer or sold to an individual as a qualified health plan, including: (1) requirements that plan benefits must at least mirror the Medicare part A health services provided under the Program; (2) requirements respecting limits on pre-existing condition exclusions and coverage standards for such required plan benefits; and (3) disclosure and other requirements to protect consumers. Prohibits certain State benefit and coverage rules under a qualified health plan. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a full deduction for health insurance costs of the self-employed and to make such deduction permanent. Part 2: Insurance Reform - Subpart A: General Reforms - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title XXVII (Group Health Insurance Standards) under which insured and self-insured employment-related health plans must be ascertained as meeting certain standards established below in order to be, respectively, issued or offered. Provides sanctions for plans that fail to meet such standards, including possible loss of their qualified status. Requires the USHealth Board to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to develop specific standards to implement the requirements in the remaining paragraphs below which such plans must be ascertained as meeting. Provides that if NAIC fails to develop such standards or if the Board finds that such standards do not implement such requirements, the Board shall develop such standards. Requires that such plans may not discriminate on the basis of health status for certain services. Requires that pre-existing condition exclusions under such plans be treated in the same manner as is mandated under the Social Security Act for qualified health plans. Requires any carrier which offers such a plan to register with the applicable State regulatory authority. Requires that such carriers offer the same plans to all employers within their individual service areas. Details separate requirements with respect to HMOs. Specifies that a carrier may not offer or issue to an employer such a plan with a term of less than 12 months. Requires guaranteed renewability with some exceptions. Lists notice and other requirements applicable to renewals, including the requirement that the period of renewal for each employer plan be for a period of not less than 12 months. Provides an exception to the requirements in this paragraph for self-insured carriers and self-insured employment-related health plans. States that such requirements do apply to reinsurance carriers and employment-related reinsurance plans offered to such carriers or underwriting such self-insured plans. Requires that the premiums for all employer plans of the same entity shall be: (1) established based on a single cohesive rating system which is applied consistently for all employer groups and is designed not to treat groups, after a certain period, differently based on health or risk status; and (2) actuarially certified each year. Requires employer health plan premiums to be community-rated for a given geographical area. Disallows adjustments to premium rates based on age and gender of covered individuals. Requires a Program reimbursement election before employer health plan premium rates may be adjusted otherwise. Requires employer health plans to permit enrollment of individuals based on specified beneficiary classes. Provides an exception to the requirements in this paragraph for self-insured carriers and self-insured employment-related health plans. States that such requirements do apply to reinsurance carriers and employment-related reinsurance plans offered to such carriers or underwriting such self-insured plans. Prescribes a basic benefit package for employer health plans, with exceptions for employment-related reinsurance plans, self-insured plans, and HMO plans. Sets forth miscellaneous disclosure and recordkeeping requirements for employer health plans. Subpart B: Encouraging Establishment of Managed Care - Adds a new part 3 (Favorable Treatment of Network Plans and Utilization Review Programs) to new title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act added above to provide for favorable treatment of network plans and utilization review programs. Subpart C: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements - Repeals COBRA continuation requirements under the Public Health Service Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Title II: Provision of Long-Term Home and Community-Based Care, Nursing Home Care, And Other Benefits For All Americans Through the USHealth Program - Adds a new part B (Long-Term Care Protection And Certain Preventive Benefits) to Medicare under which U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. residents are eligible for long-term care, without regard to age or disability status, and certain preventive benefits. Sets forth provisions respecting long-term care protection under new part B. Details eligibility criteria for long-term care which include requirements that only those individuals applying for benefits who have been determined by a Screening Agency to be limited in daily living activities or so cognitively impaired as to require ongoing supervision will be eligible for: (1) home and community-based services; (2) respite care; and (3) nursing facility services. Provides that the duration of such services shall be unlimited as long as the Case Management Agency determines, through its periodic review of a patient, that the patient continues to require such services. Requires that the determination of the need of an individual for such services shall be made by the Case Management Agency. Places limitations on coverage for respite care. Directs the USHealth Board to contract with States or other entities to act as Long-Term Care Screening Agencies for the State. Makes such agency responsible for assessing the eligibility of individuals for such services. Directs the USHealth Board to contract with a State or private nonprofit organization to establish and administer a Long-Term Care Case Management Agency for each designated area of a State. Requires such agency to: (1) provide case management services for eligible individuals directly or through contracts with home care or home health agencies; (2) develop a care plan for each individual determined to be eligible by a Screening Agency or approve such a plan which has been developed by a qualified service provider; (3) maintain a registry of qualified providers of home and community-based care and nursing facilities in the State; and (4) assist individuals in choosing qualified providers to carry out the care plan and in locating alternative providers if the individual becomes dissatisfied with the provider initially chosen. Requires a State, in addition to the USHealth Board, to monitor the performance of all designated Case Management Agencies and assure the fiscal stability of such agencies. Requires services provided to eligible individuals pursuant to a plan of care to be provided by qualified service providers. Lists service providers qualified to provide home and community-based services. Sets forth payment rules for home and community-based services and nursing facility services. Sets forth requirements for the certification of providers of such long-term care services. Establishes the Home and Community-Based Care Advisory Council to: (1) assist the USHealth Board in assuring the prompt and efficient implementation of long-term care protection under new part B; (2) regularly review the implementation of such protection; and (3) recommend to the Board and to the Congress any necessary modifications to such protection with respect to home and community-based services. Sets forth home- and community-based provider quality assurance requirements and case management agency quality assurance requirements. Directs the USHealth Board to develop and implement a standard and extended survey of home care agencies certified to receive payments for such long-term care services provided under new part B. Sets forth provisions respecting certain preventive benefits under new part B. Entitles U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. residents to the following preventive benefits: (1) routine physical checkups; (2) routine eye care (including the dispensing of corrective lenses); (3) dental care; and (4) hearing care. Specifies the specific items and services which comprise each such benefit. Sets forth special rules for children. Directs the USHealth Board to provide for a program for the certification of the safety and efficacy of hearing aids for which payment may be made under new part B. Sets forth payment rules, including rules prohibiting the application of deductibles or co-payments to payments for such preventive benefits. Directs the USHealth Board to make grants to: (1) educational institutions for programs to train individuals in the provision of home- and community-based care and nursing facility services; (2) State approved programs to develop and conduct programs to train individuals in the provision of home health aide services; and (3) accredited university schools of nursing to develop model consumer training programs to provide information and training about the delivery of home care services for caregivers as well as general information about the home- and community-based care service system. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Directs the Board to assist public or private nonprofit entities in meeting the costs of planning, developing, and operating centers for long-term care planning and technical assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the USHealth Board to conduct long-term home care demonstration projects for seriously mentally ill individuals and family caregivers. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Low-Income Assistance - Adds a new part C (Assistance For Low-Income Individuals) to Medicare under which low-income U.S. citizens and permanent U.S. residents who are enrolled under part A or under a qualified employer health plan or are entitled to benefits under part B may apply for assistance to limit or eliminate their financial obligations for premiums, deductibles, and co-payments. Title IV: USHealth Program Administration - Subtitle A: USHealth Administration - Adds a new part D (USHealth Administration) to Medicare to establish, as an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, a USHealth Administration, to be governed by a USHealth Board, to administer the USHealth Program created under this Act. Abolishes the Health Care Financing Administration. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous - Repeals provisions regarding the use of public agencies or private organizations to facilitate payment to providers of services. Permits States to be carriers for administration of part A benefits. Makes miscellaneous conforming changes in carrier provisions. Adds additional administrative provisions to part A relating to prescription drugs. Directs the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to provide for the appointment of a Prescription Drug Payment Review Commission to report annually to the Congress on methods of determining payment for prescription drugs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct various studies with respect to prescription drugs, including a study on the possible inclusion of experimental drugs under the Program, and to report to the Congress on the results of each such study. Requires General Accounting Office studies on wholesale prescription drug prices and the costs to pharmacies of doing business. Directs the USHealth Board to develop a standard prescription drug claims form. Subjects home intravenous drug therapy services to review by peer review organizations. Revises administrative provisions under Medicare regarding home intravenous drug therapy services. Makes miscellaneous and technical changes with respect to HMO coverage and payment. Sets forth special rules for frail elderly demonstration projects and similar projects. Title V: Quality Assurance And Cost Containment - Subtitle A: Quality Assurance - Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require contracts with peer review organizations to provide that: (1) major organizational efforts be devoted to quality assurance activities; and (2) quality assurance activities be conducted with respect to all the different types of health and long-term care covered by Medicare or through a private payor. Revises the definition of the term "peer review organization" to require such an entity to include representatives of providers of services for which quality assurance activities are conducted. Provides funding for increased quality assurance activities. Requires each utilization and quality control peer review organization to establish and staff a quality assurance board that will monitor the quality of care provided under Medicare in the area served by the organization. Amends the Medicare program to: (1) prohibit payments to health care providers which are not licensed and certified by the State; (2) direct the USHealth Board to promulgate a consumers' bill of rights which shall recognize specified rights as rights of consumers which may be asserted by the consumer or his or her representative or guardian; (3) revise the hospital discharge planning process to require a discharge planning process which meets guidelines and standards to be established by the USHealth Board that guard against early inappropriate hospital discharges and ensure a timely and smooth transition to the most appropriate type of and setting for post-hospital care; and (4) require HMOs to make outpatient mental health services available to their clients and ensure that quality assurance activities include such services. Amends the Peer Review program to require peer review organizations to monitor hospitals' compliance with discharge planning process requirements. Subtitle B: Cost-Containment - Sets forth a formula to determine the overall annual health care amount allowed to be spent under the Program. Directs the USHealth Board to conduct negotiations each year with representatives of the classes of health care providers in order to allocate overall spending among the different classes of providers. Requires a report to the Congress on negotiation results along with a specification of the amount to be allocated to each class of provider. Requires the Board to adjust each year the payment rates by each class of provider. Title VI: Financing - Amends the Medicare program to: (1) set forth rules for determining the premiums to be charged individuals and employers for enrollment under part A; (2) specify the early year premiums for aged and disabled part A enrollees and set forth rules for determining the premiums for later years; and (3) revise procedures for collecting part B premiums to provide for the collection of delinquent premiums. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the limit on wages and self-employment income subject to social security and railroad retirement taxes; and (2) increase the health insurance tax rate. Requires State maintenance of effort payments. Redesignates the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund as the USHealth Program Trust Fund. Provides for off-budget treatment of the Fund. Extends the borrowing authority of the Fund. Dedicates additional specified revenues to the support of the Program. Repeals the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund and transfers the funds in, and obligations of, such Fund to the USHealth Program Trust Fund. Repeals the separate authorization of appropriations to cover Government contributions and provide a contingency reserve applicable to the former Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Title VII: Rural And Central City Demonstration Projects And Expansion Of Primary Care And Public Health Delivery Capacity - Directs the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to provide for additional research and demonstration projects into how Medicare could be changed to better cover care for beneficiaries residing in rural areas and in central city areas of large cities. Requires an annual report to the Congress on the progress of such projects. Extends the authorizations for the following programs or services under the Public Health Service Act through the year 2000: (1) immunization programs; (2) tuberculosis prevention and control programs; (3) lead poisoning prevention programs; (4) programs (and projects) for the prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases; (5) migrant and community health center services; (6) homeless programs; (7) public housing programs; (8) family planning services; and (9) early intervention services for individuals with HIV disease. Directs the USHealth Board to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities for projects to plan and develop primary care centers and public health clinics which will serve medically underserved populations. Directs the USHealth Board, every five years, beginning with 1994, to submit to the Congress a report on the impact of this Act in meeting the following Goals for the Nation stated in "Health People, 2000": (1) to increase the span of healthy life for Americans; (2) to reduce health disparities among Americans; and (3) to achieve access to preventive services for all Americans. Requires each report to include such recommendations with respect to changes in the benefits and payment policies under this Act as will best promote achievement of national health promotion and disease prevention goals and objectives.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1991
Drug Abuse Treatment and Primary Health Services Amendments Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for drug abuse treatment and primary health services for individuals undergoing the treatment, their sexual partners, and their children. Requires grantees to provide counseling and testing regarding the human immunodeficiency virus. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Medical Care Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Grants to States for Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for the implementation and evaluation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems. Sets forth eligibility requirements for States seeking such grants. Directs the Secretary to award not less than ten such grants each fiscal year, with exceptions. Requires the Secretary to: (1) designate each State receiving such a grant as a model ADR State (making such State eligible for a two-year extension); and (2) disseminate information on the ADR systems implemented by such States to other States, health care professionals and providers, and other interested parties. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and promulgate standards and regulations necessary to carry out the grant program, including qualification standards that States must meet to receive grants and regulations establishing State data gathering requirements; (2) take into account, in developing qualification standards, specified factors such as the effectiveness of such systems in supporting access to health care, encouraging improvements in the quality of care, resolving claims promptly, and providing predictable outcomes; (3) provide States with technical assistance; and (4) report to the Congress, within four years of the first grant, describing and evaluating the ADR systems implemented. Title II: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims - Specifies that, with respect to any health care liability action brought in a Federal or State court and any medical malpractice claim or medical product liability claim subject to an ADR system: (1) no person may be required to pay more than $100,000 in a single payment in damages (whether for economic or non-economic losses) for expenses to be incurred in the future, but shall be permitted to make periodic payments (as determined by the court); (2) the total amount of damages that may be awarded to an individual and the family members of such individual for non-economic losses may not exceed $250,000; (3) the total amount of damages received by an individual shall be reduced by any other payment that has been or will be made to the individual to compensate such individual for the injury that was the subject of the action or claim; (4) a claimant's attorney's fees may not exceed 25 percent of the first $150,000 of any award or settlement, or 15 percent of any additional amounts, paid to the claimant; (5) the total amount of punitive damages that may be assessed may not exceed twice the total amount of the damages awarded to compensate the claimant for losses resulting from the injury; and (6) the liability of each defendant for non-economic losses shall be several only and not joint, and each defendant shall be liable only for the amount of non-economic losses allocated to the defendant in direct proportion to the defendant's percentage of responsibility. Establishes a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice and product liability claims, beginning on the earlier of the date on which the injury that is the subject of the action was discovered or the date it should reasonably have been discovered. Specifies that, in the case of a medical malpractice or product liability claim relating to services provided during labor or the delivery of a baby, if the claimant was not previously treated for the pregnancy by the defendant health care professional or provider a court may not find that the defendant committed malpractice and assess damages against the defendant unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Bars a defendant from being found to have committed malpractice unless the defendant's conduct at the time of providing the health care services was not reasonable, except where the claimant asserts that the defendant is liable under a strict liability theory. Bars the award of punitive damages with respect to any medical product liability claim alleged against a medical product producer if the drug or device that is the subject of the claim: (1) was subject to approval or premarket approval under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with respect to the safety or performance of the drug or device or the adequacy of the packaging or labeling; (2) was approved by FDA; or (3) is generally recognized as safe and effective pursuant to conditions established by FDA and applicable regulations. Makes an exception in the case of withheld information, misrepresentation, or illegal payment to an FDA official for purposes of securing approval of the drug or device. Provides for a separate proceeding to determine punitive damages. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the admissibility of evidence; and (2) criteria for determining the amount of punitive damages. Provides that the U.S. district courts shall not have jurisdiction over health care liability actions based on Federal questions or based on specified provisions concerning commerce and antitrust regulations. Specifies that this title preempts State law only to the extent that State law: (1) permits the recovery by a claimant or the assessent against a defendant of a greater amount of damages; (2) permits the awarding of a greater amount of attorneys' fees; (3) establishes a longer period during which medical malpractice or product liability claims may be initiated; or (4) establishes a less strict standard of proof for determining whether a defendant has committed malpractice. Title III: Encouraging Establishment of Community and Migrant Health Center Risk Retention Group - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to encourage the establishment of a nationwide risk retention group (RRG) for community and migrant health centers receiving assistance under such Act. Defines an RRG for purposes of this title as an entity defined in the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986 that: (1) provides professional liability insurance and other types of profitable insurance approved for issuance by the Secretary to community and migrant health centers; (2) provides insurance that applies to all claims filed against a community or migrant health center after the entity initiates insurance coverage and to claims arising from acts that occurred prior to the initiation of coverage if the claims are not covered by other insurance; and (3) meets such other requirements as the Secretary may establish.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Implementation Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase the conversion factor for physicians' services for each of the years after 1993 through 1996 by one-fourth of the percentage by which the conversion factor may have been decreased due to an adjustment for asymmetry in 1992; (2) prohibit the Secretary, in determining the conversion factor for 1992, from assuming that changes in the volume and intensity of physician services in response to the implementation of the new payment system for such services would increase the estimated aggregate physician expenditures by more than one percent; (3) make any reduction to the conversion factor due to assumed volume and intensity changes equally applicable to the adjusted historical payment base; (4) permit separate payment to physicians for interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) provided during office vists; (5) direct the Secretary to: (a) establish separate fee schedule amounts for the interpretation of EKGs; (b) adjust the relative values in the fee schedule for physician visits to reflect separate payments for EKG interpretation; (c) establish EKG practice guidelines for dissemination to physicians along with other educational information relating to EKG use; (d) develop a profile for EKG use by physicians; and (e) study EKG utilization and costs for a report to the Congress; and (6) make the new payment system for physicians nonapplicable to services furnished on or after January 1, 1992, by a physician who was in his or her first, second, or third year of practice in 1991 and to whom the payment rules under the new system did not apply in that year. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing final regulations before July 1, 1993, which change the methodology for determining: (1) the amount of time that may be billed for anesthesia services; and (2) the amount paid for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services. Requires the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment to conduct a study and report to the Congress on whether payments for anesthesia services should be based on a particular unit of time according to the medical procedure with respect to which the service is furnished. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study and report to the Congress with respect to payment for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services and payment for multiple surgical procedures; and (2) provide for pilot projects for developing Medicare volume performance standards other than at the national level. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the pilot projects.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
Designates the week of October 19 through 27, 1991, as National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug Free America.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from taking any action to recover amounts that were paid by the United States under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to the hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts, Baltimore, Maryland, and Seattle, Washington, that, during the period from October 1, 1986, to December 31, 1989, were deemed to be facilities of the uniformed services under the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1982, for items or services provided during that period.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Health Professions Education Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Services Act to require giving priority, in providing financial assistance under title VII (Health Research and Teaching Facilities and Training of Professional Health Personnel) of the Act, to applicants that have trained or can be expected to train health or allied health professionals who provide primary health services to a substantial number of medically underserved individuals. Sets forth additional requirements applicable to schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine and residency programs. Sets limits on the total principal amount for specified fiscal years for the Federal loan insurance program under certain provisions relating to the training of health personnel. Modifies requirements regarding: (1) when repayment must begin; (2) the premium charged; and (3) default rate limits for institutions, lenders, and holders, including allowing rate limits and penalties to be applied differently for different health professions. Establishes in the Division of Student Assistance of the Health Resources and Services Administration the Office on Student Loan Debt Collections. Prohibits funds which are returned to the Secretary of Health and Human Services from a student loan fund for disadvantaged individuals from being used for any other purpose. Authorizes appropriations for scholarships for health professions students of exceptional financial need. Allows scholarships under specified provisions to be used only for students who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and (currently, or) for whom school costs would constitute a severe financial hardship. Authorizes appropriations. Bars from entering into a contract individuals who have been faculty members at a school during a specified length of time before the application for a contract under provisions relating to loan payment for individuals who serve on the faculty of health professions schools. Reduces the percentage of principal and interest of an individual which may be repaid by the program. Authorizes appropriations for grants to establish departments of family medicine. Repeals the authorization after the specified fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for area health education centers and area health education and training centers. Adds schools of osteopathic medicine to the definition of "health professions school" for provisions relating to programs of excellence in health professions education for minorities. Authorizes appropriations. Allows grants and contracts for traineeships and fellowships in general internal medicine and general pediatrics to be used for internship and residency programs (currently, for residency programs) for medical students, interns, residents, or practicing physicians (currently, for residents). Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for residency programs in the general practice of dentistry and for family medicine training programs. Requires that educational assistance grants to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds be equitably: (1) geographically distributed; and (2) allocated among the various racial and ethnic populations. Authorizes appropriations. Replaces provisions authorizing grants and contracts for training in preventive medicine with similar provisions transferred from provisions relating to special projects. Authorizes appropriations. Removes provisions authorizing grants: (1) for two-year schools of medicine or osteopathy; and (2) for faculty and curriculum development and clinical training sites. Authorizes grants and contracts for health professions research relating to: (1) the impact of student indebtedness on specialty choice and practice location; (2) the impact of minority health professional programs in majority schools on recruitment, retention, and practice choices of minority health personnel; (3) the effects of graduate medical education payments on the distribution of physician specialties; or (4) the effectiveness and variation of State licensing authorities in identifying problem providers and undertaking disciplinary actions. Authorizes appropriations for the remaining provisions relating to special projects and for the health professions research. Authorizes appropriations relating to: (1) training with respect to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); and (2) oral health care for patients with AIDS. Adds references to schools that offer graduate programs in medical social work to provisions authorizing grants and contracts for: (1) educational assistance to individuals with disadvantaged backgrounds; and (2) training faculty to teach students to care for the health care needs of individuals with AIDS. Adds references to medical social workers to provisions allowing the collection of certain data about health professionals. Authorizes grants and contracts, under existing provisions relating to geriatric medicine and geriatric dentistry, for training optometrists to teach geriatric optometry. Modifies recipient requirements and training options. Authorizes appropriations for geriatric education centers and geriatric training. Replaces provisions relating to special projects with provisions authorizing grants and contracts for projects to: (1) meet the objectives established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the health status of the U.S. population for the year 2000; (2) recruit individuals for education in health specialties as necessary to meet the objectives; and (3) improve access to community-based health programs. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth priorities for grants for traineeships under existing provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Requires, in providing grants and contracts under existing provisions relating to allied health personnel, special consideration to needs regarding the supply of physical therapists, occupational therapists, and clinical laboratory technologists. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants and contracts to: (1) develop and operate postgraduate (currently, doctoral) programs for advanced specialty training of allied health professionals who plan to teach and conduct research; and (2) provide financial assistance for traineeships or fellowships to students in such programs. Requires special consideration regarding physical therapists, occupational therapists, and clinical laboratory technologists. Authorizes appropriations. Makes programs that specialize in training marriage and family therapy eligible for grants and contracts under existing provisions relating to health care for rural areas. Removes provisions mandating a study of manpower training needs in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations to carry out remaining rural health care provisions. Removes provisions: (1) establishing a loan repayment program for allied health personnel; (2) mandating grants for Lister Hill scholarships (requiring the practice of family medicine in a health professional shortage area); (3) authorizing grants for departments of family medicine; (4) establishing a retention program for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in health professions schools; (5) authorizing grants and contracts for educational assistance to disadvantaged individuals in allied health training; and (6) authorizing appropriations for FY 1989 through 1991 to carry out provisions relating to the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Removes provisions authorizing grants for: (1) continuing education for nurses; (2) geriatric training; and (3) facilitation of agreements between nursing students and health facilities for the repayment of educational loans. Replaces provisions authorizing grants for training to develop curricula regarding baccalaureate degrees in nursing with provisions authorizing grants for training for paraprofessional nursing personnel to become licensed vocational or practical nurses. Removes provisions authorizing: (1) grants and contracts relating to geriatric nursing; and (2) grants for innovative hospital nursing practice models. Authorizes appropriations for remaining provisions relating to nursing education special projects. Revises authorities for grants and contracts for advanced nurse education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Revises authorities for grants and contracts for nurse practitioner and nurse midwife programs. Removes authority to make grants and contracts for traineeships relating to such programs. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for special projects relating to nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Removes authority to make grants for: (1) post-baccalaureate fellowships for faculty of schools of nursing; and (2) traineeships for nurses in masters' degree and doctoral degree programs for practice as nurse administrators, nurse educators, and nurse researchers. Revise priorities in, and authorizes appropriations to carry out, remaining provisions relating to traineeships for the education of professional nurses. Requires special consideration, in making grants for traineeships for registered nurses to become nurse anesthetists, to programs providing experience in rural hospitals and rural clinics. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for nursing student loan repayment in return for service in certain health facilities. Requires that returned Federal capital contributions to nursing student loan funds be available under provisions relating to such loan repayment (currently, under provisions relating to undergraduate education of professional nurses). Removes provisions authorizing grants for scholarships for the training of professional nurses. Allows grants and contracts under existing provisions relating to geriatric education centers to be made to schools of nursing as well as to schools of allied health. Mandates a study regarding the shortage of clinical laboratory technologists in the United States. Establishes the Advisory Council on Medical Licensure to take specified actions, including giving advice regarding the establishment and operation of a system of verifying and maintaining information on the qualifications of individuals to practice medicine. Mandates a study of at least ten States regarding licensure of domestic and foreign medical graduates.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Rural Health Innovation Demonstration Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize competitive grants for the development of networks among rural and urban health care providers to preserve and share health care resources and enhance the quality and availability of health care in rural areas. Allows the networks to be statewide or regional. Specifies the services for which grant amounts must be used. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes competitive grants to develop and administer cooperatives in rural areas that will establish an effective case management and reimbursement system designed to support the economic viability of essential public or private health services, facilities, health care systems, and health care resources. Involves the cooperative in matters such as third party reimbursement, employee health insurance, malpractice insurance, and managed care and practice standards. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes competitive grants to develop and implement a plan for mental health outreach programs in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to enable rural communities to provide stipends to physicians, nurses, or other health professional trainees to encourage such individuals to continue to provide health care services in such communities. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to area health education centers.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is inappropriate for the Federal Government to take actions that have the effect of preempting the tax decisions of State governments. Protects the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prohibit Federal payments under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) relating to State Medicaid expenditures that are made from revenues derived from provider-specific taxes. Urges the Secretary to drop the proposed rule implementing his decision.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Working Americans Access to Health Care Act of 1991 - Title I: Increase in Small Employer Access to Affordable Health Insurance - Provides for the development by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) of model standards regarding certain requirements of this Act. Allows more stringent State standards. Preempts State law concerning a small employer health benefit plan that meets portions of those standards relating to initial writing, premium increases, and market reentry. Requires each small employer carrier to offer a MedEquity plan, defined as: (1) providing only basic benefits; (2) being guaranteed issue; (3) meeting initial writing, premium increase, and market reentry standards; and (4) providing for cost containment. Sets forth special rules for health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Requires each MedEquity plan to: (1) accept every small employer that applies; (2) enroll every full time employee that applies and their spouse and dependents. Sets forth special rules for HMOs. Provides for development by NAIC of models for cost containment features in MedEquity plans, including a managed care plan. Requires each State to specify the model that will be applied to MedEquity plans in the State. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) initial writing of policies (including regarding pre-existing conditions, premiums, disclosures of rating practices, actuarial certification, requirements to register with the State, and minimum participation); and (2) renewal (including renewability, premium increases, and market reentry). Provides for development by NAIC of models for reinsurance mechanisms for individuals and small employers. Requires establishment in each State of one or more mechanisms. Allows each State insurance commissioner to require each employer health benefit plan to be registered with that official. Defines "small employer" as having three to 49 employees. Title II: Equalization Tax Benefits for Self-Employed Persons Under Certain Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the percentage of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals which are deductible. Removes provisions ending, on a specified date, such deductibility. Allows the deductions only if the insurance meets MedEquity standards. Title III: Managed Care Rights - Preempts State law relating to reimbursement rates, selective contracting, differential financial incentives, and utilization review methods. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the benefits and cost effectiveness of managed care. Title IV: Study and Report - Mandates a report to the Congress on the impact of this Act on access to health care, the number of employees of small employers without health coverage, small employer health plan costs, and MedEquity plan effectiveness.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Enrollment Improvement and Protection Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to include in the annual mailing to Medicare beneficiaries: (1) a clear and simple explanation of the availability of and the requirements to qualify for Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) payment of their premiums, deductibles, and copayments under Medicare; (2) the toll-free telephone number to be established by the Secretary for information on such assistance; and (3) an initial application for such assistance. Directs the Secretary to develop a poster containing the information listed above and distribute it to service providers in order to publicize the availability of such assistance. Amends the Medicaid program to direct the Secretary to: (1) establish a process for using local Social Security Administration offices for the distribution and receipt of applications for such assistance; (2) transmit such applications to the appropriate State agency; (3) develop a form to be available at such offices which individuals may use to request additional information on or an application for such assistance; and (4) distribute such form to entities receiving grants for programs to provide services to older individuals. Requires States to provide for a process for receiving, distributing, and processing applications for such assistance and for responding to requests for information on or applications for such assistance. Allows individuals who qualified during a certain period for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs to temporarily apply for retroactive payment of any medical costs incurred but not paid under a State plan required to provide for making Medicaid payment of Medicare costs available to Medicare beneficiaries. Allows States, in determining the income level for individuals who seek to qualify for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs, to exclude expenses for medical care incurred by the individual that are not reimbursed under a public program of the State or political subdivision thereof, a health plan, or Medicare. Directs the Secretary to establish a grant program to provide outreach services to enable individuals who are entitled to receive Medicaid payment of Medicare costs to receive such assistance. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Designates the week of October 19 through 27, 1991, as National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug Free America.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurance oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State or locality with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Authorizes grants to enhance the capacity of health personnel in the area of breast cancer mortality prevention. Allows grant funds to be used to establish a breast cancer mortality prevention regional training center and develop a training curriculum. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the armed forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under JTPA in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments. Title VI: Deficit Reduction Requirement - Sets forth the congressional funding that provisions contained in titles I through V of this Act would lead to a reduction in the deficit. Declares that the Congress designates all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases) provided by such titles (for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under specified provisions of the Balance Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires, as a condition for any provisions of this Act to take effect, that the President: (1) make a determination and notify the Congress that this Act would reduce the deficit cumulatively for FY 1991 through 1996; and (2) submits a written designation of all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases provided by titles I through V of this Act (for all fiscal years)) as emergency requirements under such specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the armed forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under JTPA in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurances oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Infertility Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with regard to any treatable sexually transmitted disease that can cause infertility in women if treatment is not received for the disease, to make grants for specified activities, including counseling, screening, treatment, referrals, outreach, public information and education, training for health care providers, and data collection. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for ensuring the quality of screening for such diseases. Limits grants to three years, with annual approval by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research on improving the delivery of services under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Nurse Education Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to remove provisions allowing certain expenditures relating to: (1) special projects in nurse education; (2) training of nurses in geriatrics; (3) innovative hospital nursing practice models; (4) advanced nurse education; (5) the education of nurse practitioners in geriatrics; (6) traineeships for nurse practitioners and nurse midwives; (7) post-baccalaureate fellowships for faculty of nursing schools; (8) traineeships for nurses in doctoral programs, nurse administrators, nurse educators, and nurse researchers; and (9) undergraduate education of professional nurses. Authorizes appropriations for related remaining provisions. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) special projects to increase nursing education for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds; (2) traineeships for nurse anesthetists; and (3) loan repayment programs for nurses providing service in certain health facilities. Reallocates certain returned funds to such loan repayment programs rather than to programs for the undergraduate education of professional nurses. Includes schools of nursing as eligible for grants and contracts relating to geriatric education centers.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Retirement and Health Planning Act of 1991 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and carry out demonstration projects to assist up to three States through Federal grants in establishing and improving health and retirement information, counseling, and assistance programs for individuals age 55 or older. Requires each State which receives such a grant to report annually to the Congress on the number of individuals served by the program and the savings to the State and to such individuals resulting from implementation of the program. Directs the Secretary to evaluate such projects annually in a report to the Congress on project efficacy in meeting the health and retirement needs of participants. Requires such report to determine whether retirement and health planning could decrease Federal costs of health and assistance programs and improve the quality of life. Details the criteria for issuing such grants, as well as procedures for applying for them.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Infertility Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with regard to any treatable sexually transmitted disease that can cause infertility in women if treatment is not received for the disease, to make grants for specified activities, including counseling, screening, treatment, referrals, outreach, public information and education, training for health care providers, and data collection. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for ensuring the quality of screening for such diseases. Limits grants to three years, with annual approval by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research on improving the delivery of services under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Medicaid Community and Facility Habilitation Services Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Community Habilitation and Supportive Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to authorize States to cover community habilitation and supportive services for individuals with mental retardation or related conditions without regard to whether or not such individuals have been discharged from a nursing or habilitation facility. Defines "community habilitation and supportive services" as services which assist individuals in developing and maintaining the skills necessary to function successfully in a home or community-based setting. Requires that community habilitation and supportive services be provided to each client in accordance with an individual service plan prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by an interdisciplinary team on the basis of a comprehensive functional assessment of a client's needs conducted before his or her receipt of services and at least annually thereafter. Requires that such services meet minimum requirements, to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, regarding client rights and service quality. Makes the requirements imposed on habilitation facilities (under title II of this Act) regarding patient's rights and facility safety and sanitation applicable to residential settings in which community habilitation and supportive services are provided. Requires that residential settings: (1) disclose persons having an ownership or control interest in the setting; and (2) exclude a person from such interest if he or she has been excluded from the Medicaid program or had an interest in a residential setting repeatedly found to have provided substandard care. Requires a habilitation facility which converts to a residential setting to continue to provide continuous active treatment to residents who required such treatment at the time of conversion. Requires a residential setting to document a client's receipt of medical services. Makes the: (1) Secretary responsible for certifying that State providers of community habilitation and supportive services and residential settings in which such services are provided comply with Medicaid requirements; and (2) States responsible for certifying that other providers of and residential settings for such services comply with Medicaid requirements. Requires each State to: (1) conduct periodic educational programs for the staff and clients in residential settings for community habilitation and supportive services regarding requirements imposed on such setting; and (2) provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of such providers and residential settings, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse and of misappropriation of client property by providers. Requires that such providers and settings be certified annually. Bases residential setting certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a protocol for conducting surveys; and (2) conduct sample surveys of residential settings, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a setting or a review of the provider when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Prohibits the use of surveyors who have an interest in the provider or setting being surveyed or have not completed a training and testing program approved by the Secretary. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against providers or settings concerning violations of this Act's requirements. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding providers and settings and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; and (2) the State agency responsible for the protection and advocacy system for the developmentally disabled and the guardians of clients be notified of a provider's or setting's noncompliance with this Act's requirements. Gives State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units access to provider or setting survey and certification information. Requires that when the Secretary or State determines that a provider's or setting's deficiencies immediately jeopardize client health and safety, immediate action be taken to remove the jeopardy and correct the deficiencies or the provider's or setting's participation in Medicaid be terminated. Directs the Secretary and States to apply certain other remedies where the health and safety of clients are not immediately jeopardized. Requires the imposition of civil money penalties against providers and settings which are, or are found to have been, out of compliance with any of this Act's requirements. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to community habilitation and supportive service requirements. Eliminates the restriction of the Medicaid waiver for community habilitation services to individuals who have been discharged from a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on the extent to which providers and residential settings are complying with this Act's requirements and on the number and type of enforcement actions taken by the Secretary and the States. Title II: Quality Assurance for Habilitation Facility Services - Defines a "habilitation facility" as an institution primarily engaged in providing health or habilitation services to individuals with mental retardation or related conditions and not primarily for the care and treatment of mental diseases. Sets forth requirements for habilitation facilities, including requirements that such facilities: (1) promote maintenance or enhancement of the quality of life, independence, productivity, and integration into the community of each client; (2) provide continuous active treatment which is coordinated and monitored by a qualified mental retardation professional; (3) provide such treatment in accordance with an individual program plan prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by an interdisciplinary team of professionals on the basis of an assessment of a client's developmental and behavioral management needs conducted upon the client's admission and at least annually thereafter; (4) not admit any new client with mental retardation or a related condition on or after January 1, 1993, unless the State mental retardation or developmental disability authority has determined on the basis of an evaluation performed independently of the facility that the individual requires habilitation facility services; (5) provide physician services 24 hours a day, annual physical examinations, licensed nursing services, comprehensive dental diagnostic and treatment services, routine and emergency drugs and biologicals, professional program services to implement each client's active treatment plan, and meal services; (6) require a physician's supervision of each patient's care, have a physician available to furnish emergency medical care, and maintain clinical records on all clients; (7) protect specified client rights, including the right to appeal a transfer or discharge and receive post-discharge preparation and planning services; (8) provide applicants and residents with information regarding the Medicaid program and not require applicants to waive their rights to such benefits or have a third party guarantee payment to the facility as a condition of their admission; (9) protect a client's personal funds upon the client's authorization and teach clients to manage their funds to the extent of their capabilities; (10) adopt certain measures to preserve facility safety and sanitation; and (11) meet such other conditions which the Secretary deems necessary for client health and safety. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to habilitation facility requirements. Makes the Secretary responsible for certifying that State habilitation facilities comply, and States responsible for certifying that other habilitation facilities comply, with Medicaid habilitation facility requirements. Requires each State to: (1) conduct periodic educational programs for habilitation facility staff and clients regarding the requirements imposed on such facilities; and (2) provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of habilitation facilities, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse and of misappropriation of client property by facility staff. Bases habilitation facility certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and test a protocol for conducting surveys; (2) establish minimum qualifications for surveyors and train them in survey and certification techniques; and (3) conduct sample surveys of habilitation facilities, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys, and reduce Federal payments for State Medicaid administrative costs if such State surveys prove inadequate. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a facility when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against a facility and monitor the compliance of a facility with this Act's requirements if the facility was previously found out of compliance or the State or Secretary has reason to question its compliance. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding habilitation facilities and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; (2) the State agency responsible for the protection and advocacy system for the developmentally disabled and the guardians of facility clients be notified of a facility's noncompliance with this Act's requirements; and (3) survey results be posted in a place that is readily accessible to clients. Gives State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units access to facility survey and certification information. Requires that when the Secretary or a State determines that a habilitation facility's deficiencies immediately jeopardize residents' health and safety, immediate action be taken to remove the jeopardy and correct the deficiencies or such facility's participation in Medicaid be terminated. Directs the Secretary and States to apply certain other remedies where the health and safety of facility residents are not immediately jeopardized. Authorizes the imposition of civil money penalties against facilities found to be in compliance with this Act's requirements but to have been out of compliance previously. Provides that if a facility is out of compliance with any of this Act's requirements three months after having been found out of compliance with such requirements or on three consecutive annual surveys, Medicaid payments for newly admitted residents shall be denied, civil monetary penalties assessed and collected, and, in the latter case, on-site monitoring of the facility's compliance shall be established. Provides that when a facility is found to have deficiencies relating to the facility's physical plant that do not immediately jeopardize the health or safety of its clients, the State may submit to the Secretary a written plan for permanently reducing the number of certified beds in such facility within 36 months of such finding and providing services, including community habilitation and supportive services, to clients who thereby cease to receive facility services. Requires that Medicaid-eligible clients be given the option of retaining facility services. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on the extent to which habilitation facilities are complying with this Act's requirements and the number and type of enforcement actions taken by States and the Secretary. Title III: Appropriate Placement for Individuals with Mental Retardation or Related Condition - Requires that State mental retardation or developmental disability authorities conduct preadmission and annual reviews of habilitation facility applicants and residents with mental retardation or related conditions to determine whether they require facility services or community habilitation and supportive services. Directs that such preadmission and annual reviews be conducted in accordance with criteria to be developed by the Secretary. Requires States to provide community habilitation and supportive services for facility clients who need such services but no longer need habilitation facility services. Requires States to establish an appeals procedure for individuals adversely affected by such preadmission and annual reviews. Eliminates existing utilization review and penalty provisions directed at the provision of services in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. Title IV: Payment for Community Habilitation Services and Habilitation Facility Services - Covers the reasonable and adequate costs of community habilitation and supportive services and habilitation facility services. Prohibits Medicaid reimbursement of providers or facilities for civil monetary penalties imposed pursuant to this Act. Title V: Employee Protections and Miscellaneous - Provides employment protections for employees affected by habilitation facility closures or capacity reductions occurring after this Act's enactment. Authorizes States to assign specific management functions relating to the provision of Medicaid services to individuals with mental retardation or related conditions to State agencies responsible for developmentally disabled individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Declares that the Senate recommends that all health insurance plans cover mammography screening as part of basic coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Health Access and Affordability Today Act of 1991 - Title I: Improvements in Access to Health Care - Subtitle A: Improvements in Medicaid Eligibility - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to mandate Medicaid eligibility for eligible persons with incomes below 133 percent of a State-adjusted poverty level. Allows each State Medicaid plan to elect to make eligible for medical assistance: (1) students in schools at which at least 70 percent of the students are eligible for assistance under specified programs; and (2) a younger sibling of the students being made eligible by these provisions. Mandates availability under these provisions of assistance for medical services required to terminate a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. Adjusts payments to States. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate references to the health insurance credit in provisions relating to: (1) the earned income credit; and (2) deductions for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Subtitle B: Improvements in Access to Providers Under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on any health care provider (payable by a hospital, nursing facility, or individual provider) who discriminates against or denies treatment to any individual covered under title XIX (Medicaid) or parts A (Hospital Insurance) or B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Sets forth circumstances in which a hospital or nursing facility shall be treated as discriminating. Applies certain deficiency procedures to these provisions. Sets forth requirements regarding minimum Medicaid payment rates. Subtitle C: Improving Access of All Workers to Employer Health Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the providing of a group health plan unless: (1) all employees are eligible to participate in the plan (or another group plan of the employer meeting these requirements); and (2) the employer-provided benefit received by all employees is either the same dollar amount or the same percentage of the value of the coverage provided to each employee under the plan. Provides for part-time employees, small employers, and plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. Subtitle D: Improved Provision of Services through Community Health Centers - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to add physicians coming to the United States to provide full-time medical services in a medically underserved area to the list of nonimmigrant aliens excluded from the definition of "immigrant." Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) health professions schools should require clinical experience in outpatient facilities that are principal sources of primary health services for medically underserved populations and offer courses that prepare students to practice at such facilities; (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should issue, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should cooperate in the issuance of, specified regulations regarding assignment of members of the National Health Service Corps; and (3) the Secretary should ensure the equitable allocation of assignments among urban and rural areas. Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a grant for the establishment of a nationwide risk retention group to provide professional liability insurance and other approved types of profitable insurance to the migrant and community health centers. Requires all centers receiving funds under specified provisions and centers and clinics under certain other provisions to become members in the group. Makes all professional staff members of such centers eligible to obtain the insurance offered by the group. Authorizes appropriations for the grant and for capitalization of the group. Subtitle E: Continuation of Access through College and University Health Plans - Prohibits any State or the District of Columbia from establishing or enforcing any law or regulation that prevents a college or university health plan from offering students enrolled in the plan continuation coverage after graduation. Title II: Improvements in Affordability of Health Care - Preempts State laws and regulations dealing with: (1) health insurance under a health benefit plan; or (2) managed care. Mandates adoption of a specified standard (known as the X12 Standard) for electronic data interchange of health care related transactions as a standard under: (1) titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; (2) the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); and (3) veterans health programs and the Federal employees health benefit program under specified provisions of Federal law. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow deduction of the full amount (currently, 25 percent of the amount) of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Removes provisions ending the deduction on a specified date. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive programmatic restrictions in title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act that hinder implementation of managed care plans under Medicare. Mandates a study of fraud in the health care industry and its impact on health care costs. Establishes the National Advisory Council on Access to Health Care. Requires data collection on: (1) rates and patterns of use of health services, collected through data on hospital discharges, including medical records and hospital bills; and (2) State efforts in health care reform. Authorizes the provision of funds to selected States to demonstrate innovative approaches of using existing data systems to evaluate State-based health care reform efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Medicaid Financial Incentive for State Comprehensive Reform Package to Improve Access to Health Care and Reduce Costs of Health Care - Deems the Federal medical assistance percentage, if a State complies with this title, to be 100 percent of the expenditures attributable to: (1) individuals eligible for assistance only because of this title; or (2) the amount by which payments for medical assistance are increased by specified provisions relating to minimum Medicaid payment rates. Requires a State to enact a small employer health insurance market reform program including: (1) guaranteed access by each small employer group to private health insurance coverage, with a reinsurance mechanism mandated; (2) coverage of whole groups, with neither the employer nor the insurer able to exclude a high risk individual; (3) renewability of coverage; (4) continuity of coverage when an employee changes jobs or when an employer changes carriers; (5) rate and rate change limits; and (6) disclosure of rating practices and annual rating certification. Requires a State to enact laws requiring juveniles riding motorcycles to wear helmets, front seat passengers to wear a safety belt, and children under the age of four to be in a child restraint system. Requires a State to establish an alternative dispute resolution system for health care negligence and provide for malpractice liability reforms at least as stringent as specified requirements regarding future damages, collateral payment, noneconomic losses, attorney's fees, and statutes of limitations. Requires a State to establish one or more managed care plans for the provision of Medicaid services. Authorizes waiver of Medicaid programmatic restrictions that hinder implementation of managed care plans. Requires that there be in operation in a State a qualified pooling association, defined as an organization which: (1) is a nonprofit corporation; (2) permits health insurers, hospital and medical service plan corporations, health maintenance organizations, and employers and other health financing entities to be members; (3) makes specified levels of health insurance available, without regard to health, to all State residents not eligible for benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; (4) charges a pool premium rate; and (5) assesses pool losses equitably among members. Specifies the levels of insurance covered. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to exclude such pools from provisions preempting State law.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Public Health Clinic Prudent Pharmaceutical Purchasing Act - Amends title III (General Powers and Duties) of the Public Health Service Act to provide for rebates from drug manufacturers to entities receiving financial assistance under the Act in an amount equal to the rebate amount under provisions of title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act relating to payment for covered outpatient drugs. Defines "drug" to include a drug as defined under the Social Security Act and any over-the-counter drug or birth control device. Prohibits reducing grants to the entities as a result of the rebates. Prohibits the entities from reselling a drug for which it has received a rebate.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Children and Pregnant Women Health Insurance Act of 1991 - Title I: Requiring Employers To Provide Health Insurance Coverage For Pregnant Women And Children - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) add a new title XXI under which employers are required to either enroll their employees and family members in a qualified employer health plan or provide information to the State in which such individuals reside for enrollment instead in the new universal State health insurance plan (the State plan) created below. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a premium tax on employers who fail to enroll their employees and family members in a qualified employer health plan and on such employers' employees, with employers paying as their portion of such tax 3.2 percent of each individual employee's wages and employees paying as their portion one percent of their wages for coverage provided under the State plan; (2) impose an excise tax (set at $100 per day) on those employers who fail to provide to the applicable State the information for enrollment under the State plan; and (3) set forth special rules and exceptions applicable in the imposition of such premium and excise taxes. Sets forth, under new title XXI of the Social Security Act, the rules for the enrollment of full- and part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, including rules applicable in cases of families with more than one worker and where both employers offer enrollment under a qualified employer health plan. Phases in implementation of enrollment requirements and tax payments beginning on January 1, 1993 for employers with more than 100 employees. Requires that as of January 1, 1996 all employers must provide coverage or pay the premium tax for coverage under the State plan. Allows the qualified employer health plan under which the employer must provide coverage to be either a private health plan or a self-insured plan, dependent upon the employer's size. Outlines requirements for qualified employer health plan premiums and cost-sharing, including limitations on the amount that may be charged for premiums. Sets forth in the next two paragraphs below the requirements for which the Secretary must develop standards to certify a health plan as a qualified employer health plan. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish procedures for the periodic review and recertification of plans as qualified employer health plans; and (2) terminate the certification of any such plan that no longer meets such requirements. Requires employers to provide their employees and family members with a health benefit package that at least mirrors the services mandated under the State plan. Outlines plan requirements respecting: (1) treatment of employee families; (2) period of coverage; (3) health plan cards; (4) limits on pre-existing condition exclusions and coverage standards for required health services; (5) limits on cost-sharing; (6) payment rates; (7) coordination and portability of health insurance coverage; (8) notification of premium subsidies for low-income individuals and other disclosures for consumers; (9) expense accounting; (10) grievance procedures; (11) certain physician incentive plans; (12) enrollee financial protection; and (13) use of uniform claims forms. Prohibits certain State benefit and coverage rules under a qualified employer health plan. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title. Makes the provisions of this title inapplicable to an employee who is not a resident of one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Title II: Provision of Health Insurance For Pregnant Women And Children Through State Children And Pregnant Women Health Plans - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXII under which each State is required to establish and maintain a health insurance plan (the State plan) under which pregnant women and children and other individuals lawfully residing in the State who have not already been enrolled as a result of their connection to the work force or are not already covered under a qualified employer or Federal health plan are eligible to enroll for the health and other services outlined below. Requires each State to also establish and maintain a program under which low-income individuals enrolled in any of the health plans mentioned above will be eligible to apply for assistance to limit or eliminate their financial obligations for premiums, deductibles, and co-payments, depending upon the type of plan in which such individuals are enrolled. Provides that if a State fails to establish and maintain the plan mandated above under new title XXII, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish and maintain one for it and the State shall be liable to the Secretary for a specified portion of the amount the Secretary determines the State would have been required to expend to establish and maintain such a health insurance plan. Sets forth provisions detailing the application process for enrollment under the State plan. Requires the State plan to provide for a coverage period that mirrors the coverage period specified for qualified employer health plans. Requires individuals who are eligible to enroll in the State plan but have not applied for enrollment by January 1, 1996 to be automatically enrolled on a retroactive basis and subjected to a penalty of twice any premiums otherwise due. Requires the State plan to provide for payments for the following services: (1) specified preventive care services, including routine immunizations and prenatal care, for children and pregnant women, furnished in accordance with applicable periodicity schedules to be established by the Secretary and without application of deductibles or co-payments; (2) specified major medical services, subject to such deductibles and co-payments as the State may impose in accordance with specified limitations; (3) specified extended medical services, including mental health services, provided only in accordance with a plan of care and subject to such deductibles and co-payments as the State may impose in accordance with specified limitations; (4) outreach services to link low-income enrolled individuals with such required health services without application of deductibles or copayments; and (5) at the option of the State, social services without application of deductibles or co-payments. Directs the Secretary to establish standards with respect to such required health services for application under new titles XXI and XXII of the Social Security Act. Prohibits a State from imposing any limitation on the amount, duration, or scope for such required health services. Allows individuals covered under the State plan to choose any qualified plan provider or practitioner to obtain such required health services. Incorporates the use of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payment rates for reimbursing providers for required health services and requires the Secretary to adjust such rates to take into account differences in the Medicare population and the population receiving benefits under State or qualified employer plans. Provides that in the case of required health services for which payment may not be made under Medicare, the Secretary shall establish payment rules similar to those used under Medicare for application under State plans. Requires each State to establish adequate payment rates with respect to outreach and social services. Sets the maximum annual deductible and co-payment amount for major medical services and extended medical services. Sets an overall annual limit on cost-sharing for such medical services. Applies new title XXI qualified employer health plan requirements relating to the treatment of family members, coverage period, health plan cards, and coordination and portability of health care coverage to State plans in the same manner as they apply to qualified employer plans. Sets forth provisions for: (1) determining the amount of premiums to be charged individuals not connected to the work force and individuals who are employed on a part-time, seasonal, or temporary basis; and (2) collecting current and delinquent premium payments. Creates in the Treasury the Federal Children and Pregnant Women Health Insurance Trust Fund (the Fund) to receive the funds generated from the premium and excise taxes imposed above as well as from other specified revenues dedicated to the support of the State plan. Outlines provisions regarding Fund transfer payments in the case of multiple employers. Requires each State plan to provide for submission of claims based on uniform forms developed by the Secretary. Requires that payments from the Fund to reimburse States for health and other service and administrative expenditures be made in accordance with rules similar to those used for reimbursement under Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act). Details the assistance mentioned above to be provided to low-income individuals and the application process to obtain such assistance. Sets forth administrative provisions applicable to the State plan, including provisions authorizing States, subject to the approval of the Secretary, to conduct demonstration projects to: (1) improve the delivery and quality of health care services under new title XXII; and (2) increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the methods for paying for such services. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title. Makes the provisions of this title inapplicable to an individual who is not a resident of one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Amends the Medicaid program to provide for coordination between State plans and Medicaid plans. Title III: Health Insurance Reform For Small Employers - Amends the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code to, respectively: (1) add a new title XXIII under which health insurance plans provided by small employers (small employer plans) must be ascertained as meeting the standards established below in order to be issued, avoid loss of their qualified status under new title XXI, and escape disqualification from State plan administration under new title XXII; and (2) impose an excise tax (set at 50 percent of all gross health plan premiums received during the taxable year) on the issuer of a small employer plan which fails to meet such standard, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to: (1) develop specific standards to implement the requirements set forth in the next paragraph below which small employer plans must be certified by the Secretary as meeting if the State has not established a regulatory program for applying such standards to such plans (program); and (2) report to the Secretary on such development. Provides that if NAIC fails to develop and report on such standards or the Secretary finds that such standards do not implement such requirements, the Secretary must develop such standards. Specifies additional program elements. Subjects programs to periodic review by the Secretary for determining their compliance with such elements and in applying such NAIC standards. Requires periodic program audits by the General Accounting Office. Requires any carrier which offers a small employer plan to register with the applicable State regulatory authority. Requires that such carriers offer the same plans to all small employers within their individual service areas. Details separate requirements with respect to the treatment of health maintenance organizations. Prohibits a carrier from offering to, or issuing with respect to, a small employer a small employer plan with a term of less than 12 months. Requires that small employer plans be guaranteed renewable, with specified exceptions. Details notice and other requirements applicable to renewals, including the requirement that the period of renewal for each small employer plan shall be for a period of not less than 12 months. Declares that no small employer plans may discriminate on the basis of health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability of an individual. Requires that the premiums for all small employer plans of the same entity be: (1) established based on a single cohesive rating system which is applied consistently for all employer groups and is designed not to treat groups differently based on health or risk status; and (2) actuarially certified each year. Requires small employer plan premiums within a block of business to be community-rated for a given geographical area. Sets limits on premium reference rate variation among blocks of business, with specified exceptions. Allows a small employer plan carrier, for purposes of establishing premiums for small employer plans with similar coverage, to establish blocks of business only on the basis of specified criteria. States that no small employer plan may be issued unless it: (1) provides for a minimum benefit package that mirrors the health services required under new title XXII; (2) prohibits cost-sharing with respect to such benefits in excess of allowable limits; and (3) includes such additional items and services as the carrier can demonstrate will facilitate appropriate hospital discharges or avoid unnecessary hospitalization. Sets forth miscellaneous disclosure and recordkeeping requirements for small employer health plans. Makes this title inapplicable outside the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Health Information and Health Promotion Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations to carry out specified provisions relating to health information and health promotion.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately perceding 12 weeks is at least five percent; and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the Armed Forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 30MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for rellocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Title VI: Deficit Reduction Requirement - Set forth the congressional finding that provisions contained in titles I through V of this Act would lead to a reduction in the deficit. Declares that the Congress designates all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases) provided by such titles (for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires, as a condition for any provisions of this Act to take effect, that the President: (1) make a determination and notify the Congress that this Act would reduce the deficit cumulatively for FY 1991 through 1996; and (2) submits a written designation of all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases provided by titles I through V of this Act for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under such specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Silvio O. Conte Disabilities Prevention Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants and contracts for the prevention of disabilities and the prevention of secondary conditions resulting from disabilities, including through demonstrations and interventions, surveillances and studies, public education, and training health professionals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the President to waive specified conflict of interest statutes with respect to an individual if the President determines and certifies in writing that, in order to deal with an emergency that threatens public health or safety, national security, or national defense preparedness: (1) it is in the public interest to grant the waiver; (2) the services of the individual are critically needed for the benefit of the Government; and (3) the need for the individual's services outweighs the potential for a conflict of interest. Makes such waiver effective for a period of not more than 90 days, subject to renewal, with exceptions. Requires that: (1) a copy of each certification made under this Act be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, unless the President determines that public availability of such certification would jeopardize national security; and (2) the Director make a copy of such certification available to the public (but authorizes the Director to withhold from disclosure any information which would be exempt from disclosure under provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act). Bars the President from delegating the waiver authority provided under this Act. Repeals provisions which authorize the President to grant a waiver of restrictions with respect to the disqualification of former executive branch officers and employees and their partners where in the public interest and when critically needed for the benefit of the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Medicare EKG Payment Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) reestablish separate payment for the interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) that are ordered or performed during an office visit or consultation with a physician; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish separate fee schedule amounts for EKG interpretations and to adjust the relative values established for office visits to or consultations with a physician to reflect the establishment of such separate fee schedule amounts. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish practice guidelines for the use of EKGs for dissemination along with other educational information relating to the use of EKGs to physicians; (2) develop a profile of the use of EKGs by physicians; and (3) conduct a study and report to the Congress on the utilization and costs of EKGs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Drug Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 1991 - Adds a new title XXI to the Social Security Act: Addiction Treatment Services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make no fewer than ten five-year grants to organizations for establishing and operating a comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment program (CDAAT Program). Requires that no less than 50 percent of a CDAAT Program's participants be individuals whose family gross income does not exceed 200 percent of the Federal poverty line and that any charges for services be based upon an individual's ability to pay for such services. Directs grantees to arrange for a participant's receipt of a preliminary needs assessment, case management services, and treatment which is designed to reduce or eliminate physical or psychological dependence on controlled substances, alcohol, or prescription drugs and includes psychotherapy or counseling as an integral part of the treatment. Requires that family or marriage counseling and training in social or vocational skills be included as Program services where available on a reasonable cost basis and essential to the achievement or maintenance of successful treatment. Requires an evaluation unit to compile information on CDAAT Program participants and treatment services provided to such participants and transfer such information each quarter to the grantee and the Secretary at the grantee's expense. Provides payments to grantees on the basis of their actual costs during the first two years of the Program and pursuant to a prospective payment system during the three remaining years of the Program. Creates the Addiction Treatment Services Trust Fund and appropriates to it amounts which are attributable to this Act's increase of excise taxes on alcohol and certain tobacco products. Requires an annual estimate of the fund's surplus or deficit. Provides for the use of copayment and reductions in payment limits and the use of the annual or cumulative surpluses to eliminate any deficits. Establishes in the fund a separate cumulative account of surpluses and deficits. Provides for confidentiality of records of patients under this title. Prohibits the use of records for criminal investigative or prosecutorial purposes except under court order. Makes special provision for coordination of regulations regarding records of veterans suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Requires grantees to submit annual reports on the effectiveness of their CDAAT Programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase alcohol and tobacco excise taxes. Directs the Secretary to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the clinical and cost effectiveness of various drug and alcohol addiction treatment methods and services. Requires a study and report to the Congress on the costs and benefits of expanding CDAAT Programs to provide funding for treatment services for nicotine addiction. Directs the Secretary to establish a national uniform drug and alcohol abuse data collection system within one year of this Act's enactment.