Records whose title is actually about this topic. Use a country filter if the list is still too broad.
Records
Bill· HRH.R. 3363 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Medicaid Psychiatric Hospital Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act with respect to reimbursement for specified emergency care and services of private institutions for mental diseases that are subject (under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Medicaid (EMTALA) Program) to certain requirements for examination and treatment for emergency medical conditions. Requires the Medicaid program to reimburse such institutions for care and services required to stabilize an emergency medical condition, the treatment for which is within the range of services that such institution typically provides, of an individual between ages 21 and 65 who came or was transferred to the institution.
Bill· HRH.R. 3359 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Prevention, Awareness, and Research Auto-Immune Disease Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide grants through the Centers for Disease Control to conduct public and professional awareness activities regarding autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. Provides grants through the Health Resources and Services Administration for the education of health care providers on potential links between autoimmune diseases and cognitive and mood disorders such as depression. Establishes a research program where qualified physicians agree to conduct research concerning autoimmune diseases in exchange for student loan repayment.
Bill· HRH.R. 3355 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Nursing Home Staffing Act of 2003 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate standards for minimum nurse staffing levels in nursing facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments. Reinstitutes (Boren amendment) payment methodology, providing for payment of Medicaid services through the use of rates determined pursuant to the criteria under State Medicaid plan requirements as in effect on August 1, 1997. Establishes safe harbor rates. Provides a permanent 1.50 percent increase of the Medicaid Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for a State beginning with FY 2004. Authorizes inclusion of: (1) financial accountability requirements in the survey and certification process with respect to facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments; and (2) professionals trained in financial accounting and auditing in the multidisciplinary survey teams of professionals under Medicare and Medicaid.
Bill· HRH.R. 3350 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2003
Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Act or the PREEMIE Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to expand and coordinate research relating to preterm labor and delivery and infant mortality. Establishes within NIH two networks: a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network and a Neonatal Research Unit Network. Requires the Director of the CDC to study and report on the relationship between prematurity, birth defects, and developmental disabilities as well as review the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey. Requires the Director of NIH to contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences for a study on the health and economic consequences of preterm birth. Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration to assess the current national core performance and outcome measures under the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant with the goal of expanding them to include known risk factors of low birthweight and prematurity such as smoking by pregnant women. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants for a demonstration project to improve the provision of information on prematurity to health professionals and other health care providers and the public. Funds grants for projects to support the informational and emotional needs of families during the stay of an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (nicu). Establishes an Interagency Coordinating Council on Prematurity and Low Birthweight.
Bill· SS. 1756 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2003
Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Stability and Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize appropriations from the U.S. Treasury to the Combined Fund to: (1) pay any benefit or administrative costs of unassigned beneficiaries of the Combined Fund remaining after the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund transfers; and (2) eliminate any annual deficit in any premium account of the Combined Fund as certified by the Trustees of the Combined Fund. Requires an annual audit of the Combined Fund by the Comptroller General. Provides for the appointment of two trustees by the Secretary of the Treasury to the board of the Fund. Makes other related revisions, including: (1) modifying premiums; (2) providing for refunds to certain operators; and (3) reductions in annual health benefit premiums to the Fund in the event of a surplus. Redefines a coal wage agreement as: (1) the 1988 agreement, meaning the collective bargaining agreement between the settlors which became effective on February 1, 1988; and (2) the coal wage agreement, meaning the 1988 agreement and any predecessor to the 1988 agreement.
Bill· HRH.R. 3332 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2003
Medicare Safety Net Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to add a new part D (Safety Net Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Program for Indigent, Uncovered Beneficiaries). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Medicare Safety Net Outpatient Prescription Drug Program under which an eligible beneficiary who voluntarily enrolls in such program is provided: (1) access to negotiated prices for costs before catastrophic threshold; (2) catastrophic coverage under the program; and (3) a prescription drug account and a public contribution into such account. Creates within the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund the Safety Net Prescription Drug Account for making payments to operate this new program. Excludes from calculation of the best price for covered outpatient drugs any prices charged which are negotiated by the Secretary under this program. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for verification of eligibility for benefits under the new part D program. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs to direct the Secretary to promulgate regulations permitting individuals who are not pharmacists or wholesalers to import prescription drugs into the United States without regard to recordkeeping and other requirements currently applicable to pharmacists and wholesalers.
Bill· SS. 1747 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to regulate all contact lenses as medical devices.
Bill· HRH.R. 3317 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Guard and Reserve Fairness Act - Requires the Secretary of Defense, during a period in which active-duty personnel are being deployed for not less than one year, to limit the deployment period of reserve personnel to the length of the corresponding active component reduced by the period of time between the date of the entry of the reserve personnel onto active duty and their date of deployment. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide to employers, as a general business credit, an active-duty reserve component employee credit. Directs the Secretary to expand the Central Command Rest and Recuperation Leave program for Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom to provide travel and transportation allowances to military personnel granted leave to travel at U.S. expense between the deployment location and the permanent station or home of record of the member. Increases basic educational assistance amounts under the Montgomery GI Bill. Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay the applicable premium to continue in force any qualified health plan coverage for a reserve member (and his or her dependents) while the member is serving on active duty pursuant to a call or order issued during a war or national emergency declared by the President or Congress. Requires the continuation of COBRA coverage during such period. Prohibits simultaneous coverage under both the qualified health plan and TRICARE (a Department of Defense managed health care program). Makes members of the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve eligible for either the Prime or Standard option of the TRICARE Program, allowing for either self- or self-and-family coverage. Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide at least one open enrollment period each year for such members; and (2) charge applicable premiums, deductibles, and copayments for such coverage. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress evaluating the adverse financial effects of deployments of greater than six months on members of the reserves and the feasibility and cost of developing a targeted compensation program to offset some or all of those adverse effects.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 303 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) national and community organizations and health care providers should be recognized for their role in promoting obesity awareness; (2) the Federal Government has a responsibility to raise awareness about obesity's medical complications, and to increase funding for related research, prevention, and treatment, including activities aimed at children and adolescents; and (3) a National Obesity Awareness Month should be established.
Bill· SS. 1734 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Prevent Prematurity and Improve Child Health Act of 2003 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States new options to cover: (1) low-income pregnant women; and (2) low-income legal immigrant pregnant women and children under Medicaid and SCHIP. Extends coverage under Medicaid of prescription drugs and counseling services to tobacco cessation medications to help pregnant women enrolled in the program quit using tobacco. Requires coverage of tobacco cessation counseling services for pregnant women, and exempts such services from cost-sharing charges. Covers tobacco cessation medications and counseling for pregnant women, also, under the Maternal and Child Health Services program under SSA title V. Gives States the option under Medicaid to: (1) provide family planning services and supplies to individuals with incomes that do not exceed a State's income eligibility level for medical assistance; and (2) extend the postpartum period for provision of family planning services and supplies. Gives States the option to provide wrap-around SCHIP coverage to children who have other health coverage.
Bill· HRH.R. 3293 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Prevent Prematurity and Improve Child Health Act of 2003 -Amends title XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to give States the option to expand or add coverage of certain pregnant women under Medicaid and SCHIP and to provide optional coverage of legal immigrants under such programs. Extends coverage under Medicaid of prescription drugs and counseling services to tobacco cessation medications to help pregnant women enrolled in the program quit using tobacco. Requires coverage of tobacco cessation counseling services for pregnant women, and exempts such services from cost-sharing charges. Covers tobacco cessation medications and counseling for pregnant women, also, under the Maternal and Child Health Services program under SSA title V. Gives States the option under Medicaid of: (1) providing family planning services and supplies to individuals with incomes that do not exceed a State's income eligibility level for medical assistance; and (2) extending the postpartum period for provision of family planning services and supplies. Gives States the option of providing wrap-around SCHIP coverage to children who have other health coverage. ........................................
Bill· HRH.R. 3299 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act - Requires each participating manufacturer of a covered outpatient drug to make such drugs available for purchase by any qualified Federal health care provider, by each pharmacy, and by each provider of services, physician, practitioner, and supplier under the Medicare program at a price that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, negotiates with the manufacturer. Provides that the amount of a covered outpatient drug that a participating manufacturer shall make available for purchase is equal to the sum of the aggregate amounts of the covered outpatient drug dispensed by pharmacies to Medicare beneficiaries plus those dispensed through qualified Federal health care providers. Requires that, in conducting negotiations with participating manufacturers, the Secretary take into account the goal of promoting the development of breakthrough drugs. Requires the United States to exclude from Government contracting and subcontracting, for a period of time, a manufacturer of drugs or biologicals that does not comply with this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish a mechanism (such as an ombudsman) for the resolution of disputes between Medicare beneficiaries and prescription drug resellers and drug manufacturers in order to protect such beneficiaries and to ensure that: (1) prescription drug resellers are not artifically increasing prices charged to Medicare beneficiaries (above those negotiated under this Act) in places (such as rural areas) where there is less competition; and (2) such resellers are not colluding on prices in areas with more potential significant competition.
Bill· HRH.R. 3297 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Counterfeit Drug Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, upon a finding of reasonable probability that a drug intended for human use would cause serious health consequences or death, to issue an order requiring the appropriate person (including the manufacturers, importers, distributors, or retailers of the drug) to: (1) cease distribution of the drug; (2) notify health professionals of the order and instruct such professionals to cease administering or prescribing the drug; and (3) amend the order to include a recall if necessary. Provides a criminal fine and/or imprisonment for a person who knowingly caused a prescription drug to be adulterated or misbranded and sells or trades the drug, or who purchased or traded for the drug knowing or having reason to know that the drug was knowingly adulterated or misbranded. Provides additional funding for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections and investigations. Modifies provisions pertaining to criminal penalties for committing certain prohibited acts involving food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics to: (1) make a violation punishable by a fine in accordance with Federal criminal law, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both; (2) make a second violation, or a violation committed with intent to defraud or mislead, punishable by a fine in accordance with Federal criminal law, imprisonment for not more than three years, or both; and (3) make a violation of provisions pertaining to prescription drug marketing punishable by a fine in accordance with Federal criminal law, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both.
Bill· HRH.R. 3291 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
SCHIP Territorial Allocation Equity Act of 2003 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to provide for the allocation of SCHIP allotments to territories in the same manner as for States.
Bill· SS. 1730 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2003
Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, and the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, to require certain group health plans, and health insurance issuers providing coverage under a group plan, to ensure specified minimum coverage regarding: (1) breast cancer mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissections; and (2) secondary consultations by specialists. Prohibits: (1) changing coverage terms and conditions based on a participant's or beneficiary's decision to request less than the minimum coverage; and (2) certain penalties or incentives to providers or specialists. Amends: (1) the Public Health Service Act to apply the same requirements to health insurance issuers in the individual market; and (2) the Internal Revenue Code, as amended by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, to apply those requirements to group health plans.
Bill· SS. 1729 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2003
Medication Errors Reduction Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to eligible hospitals and skilled nursing facilities for costs related to purchasing, leasing, developing, and implementing standardized clinical health care informatics systems designed to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events and health care complications resulting from medication errors. Gives special consideration to eligible entities serving a large number of Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) eligible individuals. Reserves a certain percentage of grant funds for rural hospitals. Terminates grant authority on September 30, 2013.
Bill· SS. 1726 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2003
Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Act or the PREEMIE Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to expand and coordinate research relating to preterm labor and delivery and infant mortality. Establishes within NIH two networks: a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network and a Neonatal Research Unit Network. Requires the Director of the CDC to study and report on the relationship between prematurity, birth defects, and developmental disabilities as well as review the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey. Requires the Director of NIH to contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences for a study on the health and economic consequences of preterm birth. Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration to assess the current national core performance and outcome measures under the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant with the goal of expanding them to include known risk factors of low birthweight and prematurity such as smoking by pregnant women. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants for a demonstration project to improve the provision of information on prematurity to health professionals and other health care providers and the public. Funds grants for projects to support the informational and emotional needs of families during the stay of an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (nicu). Establishes an Interagency Coordinating Council on Prematurity and Low Birthweight.
Law· HRH.R. 3288 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2003
Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make a technical amendment to the definition of qualifying State used for purposes of giving certain States operating under waivers of specified State plan requirements the authority to use up to 20 percent of their FY 1998 through 2001 SCHIP allotments, for fiscal years in which they are available, for paying the costs of covering under Medicaid (SSA title XIX) certain low-income children whose family income meets an income eligibility standard under such waivers of at least 185 percent of the poverty line. Extends the meaning of qualifying State to include waivers first implemented, and 185 percent-of-the-poverty-line eligibility standards operating, on several specified dates to allow additional States (New Mexico, Maryland, Hawaii, and Rhode Island) to use such portion of their unspent SCHIP funds for covering such children under Medicaid.
Bill· HRH.R. 3284 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Border Economic Recovery Act for Health and the Environment - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to authorize appropriations. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 with respect to funding for State-furnished emergency health services for undocumented aliens in the United States-Mexico border area ("border area"). Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, with respect to the special supplemental nutrition program, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize partnerships for increased coordination of food and nutrition assistance for residents of colonias in the border area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase funding for grants and loans for water and waste facilities in communities whose residents face significant health risks. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to selected colleges in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to provide community resource centers to serve colonias. Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to funding of: (1) tuberculosis prevention activities in the border area; and (2) interdisciplinary, community-based linkages and centers addressing unmet health care needs in such area and in the State of Florida. Authorizes funding for the Border Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (concerning youth substance abuse prevention in the border area). Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) conduct cancer screenings in the border area and report diagnosis information to the appropriate State cancer registry; (2) expand a diabetes study; and (3) support community-based sexually transmitted disease control programs. Provides funding for the Department of HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative, reserving specified amounts for border area activities. Provides funding for: (1) the Materials Corridor Partnership Initiative; (2) the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy; (3) environmental infrastructure projects carried out by the International Boundary and Water Commission (and requires a long-range water supply strategic plan); (4) the U.S. contribution to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation; (5) innovative water conservation programs; (6) the International Consortium for the Environment established at Brooks Air Force Base; (7) the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission for environmental infrastructure projects; and (8) grants for high-priority projects carried out through the North American Development Bank's Border Environmental Infrastructure Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 3282 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Healthy America Commission Act of 2003 - Establishes the Healthy America Commission to study and report on the societal costs of preventable disease, including: (1) costs to the Federal government and health care system; (2) incentives for behavioral change; and (3) a cost-benefit analysis for a broad series of disease prevention initiatives.
Bill· HRH.R. 3273 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide that aliens and non-immigrants shall be eligible for State and local public assistance for primary and preventive care.
Bill· HRH.R. 3260 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Veterans' Extended Health Care Services and Business Enhancements Act of 2003 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to: (1) extend through 2008 the period for the provision of veterans' noninstitutional extended-care services and required nursing home care; (2) remove a provision requiring a person to have been detained or interned for at least 90 days in order to qualify for outpatient dental care as a former prisoner of war; (3) allow any Under Secretary within the Department of Veterans Affairs (currently only the Under Secretary for Health) to provide business plans for the use within the Department of enhanced-use leases; (4) remove other statutory requirements with respect to the enhanced-use lease program; (5) allow the Secretary of Defense to make purchases through the Department's revolving supply fund; (6) provide for coverage under the tort claims laws for employees of Department nonprofit research corporations; (7) extend through 2008 the authority to establish such corporations; (8) revise due dates of certain required reports; and (9) designate the Department medical center in Prescott, Arizona, as the Bob Stump Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Bill· SS. 1710 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2003
Children's Health Insurance Accountability Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish standards for the health quality improvement of children in managed care plans and other health plans. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and of Labor to coordinate their application of such standards with respect to group health plans under PHSA and ERISA, respectively. Directs the Secretary of HHS to report on: (1) the unique characteristics of patterns of illness, disability, and injury in children; (2) the development of measures of quality of care and outcomes related to the healthcare of children; and (3) the access of children to primary mental health services and the coordination of managed behavioral health services. Requires the General Accounting Office (GAO) to report on: (1) the structure and performance of non-governmental health plans, Medicaid managed care organizations, and specified plans and programs under the Social Security Act, serving children with special health care needs; (2) the structure and performance of non-governmental plans in serving children as compared to Medicaid managed care organizations; (3) the emphasis that private managed care health plans place on primary care and the control of services as it relates to care and services provided to children with special health care needs; and (4) health plan activities that address the unique health needs of adolescents.
Bill· SS. 1717 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2003
Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to enter into contracts with qualified cord blood stem cell banks to assist in the establishment, provision, and maintenance of a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network of at least 150,000 units of human cord blood stem cells. Lists the purposes of qualifying donor banks and requirements qualifying donor banks must meet. Directs the Secretary, through the Administrator, to establish as part of the Network a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Registry. Sets forth the functions of the Registry, which shall include: (1) operating a system for identifying, acquiring, and distributing donated units or cord blood; (2) maintaining a database with certain information, including the clinical outcomes of all transplantations related to the Network; and (3) providing transplant physicians and other health care professionals with the ability to search for donor matches.
Bill· SS. 1704 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to States to establish systems of individualized mental health treatment and family support services for children who are in custody or in danger of entering the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires eligible States to: (1) have laws or policies in effect that ensure that children receive appropriate mental health services so that parents do not have to relinquish legal custody of such children; (2) provide matching funds; (3) establish infrastructure for interagency cooperation and cross system financing; and (4) expand public health insurance programs to cover these services after the grant expires. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children and youths as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
Bill· HRH.R. 3243 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to States to establish systems of individualized mental health treatment and family support services for children who are in custody or in danger of entering the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires eligible States to: (1) have laws or policies in effect that ensure that children receive appropriate mental health services so that parents do not have to relinquish legal custody of such children; (2) provide matching funds; (3) establish infrastructure for interagency cooperation and cross system financing; and (4) expand public health insurance programs to cover these services after the grant expires. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children and youths as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 292 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should act immediately to adopt and implement the recommendations in the final report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, "Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America" through legislation or other appropriate action to help ensure affordable, accessible, and high quality mental health care for all Americans.
Bill· SS. 1694 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Health Care for Veterans of Project 112/Project SHAD Act of 2003 - Makes a veteran who participated in a test conducted by the Department of Defense Deseret Test Center as part of a program for chemical and biological warfare testing from 1962 through 1973 (including the program designated as Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) and related land-based tests) eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care through the Department of Veterans Affairs for any illness, notwithstanding that there is insufficient medical evidence to conclude that such illness is attributable to such testing. Terminates such eligibility after December 31, 2005.
Bill· SS. 1693 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Health Care Tax Credit Expansion Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make individuals receiving unemployment compensation eligible for the 65 percent credit for health insurance costs.
Law· SS. 1680 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Defense Production Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to: (1) extend its expiration date and authorization of appropriations through FY 2008; (2) include in its declaration of policy that its authorities should be used to ensure the national security of the United States and its infrastructure against hostile attack and against other man-caused and natural hazards; (3) make permanent its provisions indemnifying persons for any act resulting from compliance with a rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant to such Act; and (4) define ''critical infrastructure" as systems and assets, whether physical or cyber-based, so vital to the United States that their degradation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on national security, national economic security, and/or national public health or safety. Authorizes the President to take action to correct an industrial resource shortfall for radiation-hardened electronics to the extent that such action does not cause the aggregate outstanding amount of all such actions for industrial resource shortfalls to exceed $200 million. Requires a report from the Secretary of Defense to specified congressional committees on the state of the domestic industrial base for, and Department of Defense requirements, intentions, and plans for, radiation-hardened electronics. Authorizes the President: (1) in allocating resources or requiring priority in the performance of contracts to promote the national defense, to directly assist a private sector critical infrastructure owner or operator in furtherance of critical infrastructure protection or restoration; and (2) to obtain information in order to perform industry studies assessing capabilities of the U.S.industrial base to support the national defense. .
Bill· SS. 1684 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
Bill· HRH.R. 3202 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Reservist Health Care Continuity Act - Requires employers to continue health care coverage for National Guard and reserve personnel called to active duty (and their dependents) for the lesser of: (1) an 18-month period or the day after the person fails to return to such employment, in the case of an employer with 20 or fewer employees; or (2) the period of such absence or the day after the person fails to return to such employment, in the case of an employer with more than 20 employees. Requires the Secretary of Defense to reimburse employers for the employer share of any premiums for such health care coverage for each month during such military service.
Bill· HRH.R. 3203 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Diabetic Foot Complication and Lower Extremity Amputation Reduction Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible multidisciplinary health care programs for education, screening, and treatment respecting diabetic foot complications and lower extremity amputations.
Bill· SS. 1666 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2003
Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to award grants to support comprehensive State diabetes control and prevention programs. Requires the Secretary to promote and coordinate diabetes research, including data collection and the development of best practices, early detection and prevention programs, and a national diabetes laboratory. Gives priority to programs which reduce disparities in diabetes prevention and care for high-risk or underserved populations. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to award competitive grants to apply the best practices identified by the Secretary for diabetes prevention and control. Gives priority to programs to reduce disparities in prevention and control for high-risk or underserved populations. Requires the Director to: (1) develop and update scientifically validated quality measures for assessing and improving clinical services related to diabetes; (2) establish a Diabetes Quality Improvement Program; and (3) incorporate diabetes in the annual quality and disparities reports. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee, to: (1) coordinate a national diabetes education program; and (2) develop and update a strategic research plan for diabetes. Requires the expansion of research programs concerning diabetes in underserved populations and minority groups and in children and youths. Requires the development or enhancement of data collection on the prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children, including the support of long-term epidemiological studies in children. Authorizes a report on diabetes by the Surgeon General.
Bill· HRH.R. 3189 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Early Medicare Access and Affordability Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to add part D (Purchase of Medicare Benefits by Certain Individuals Age 62-to-65 Years of Age) (Medicare buy-in) entitling to the same Medicare benefits as an individual entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) an enrolled individual age 62 to 65 who: (1) would be eligible for such benefits if 65; but (2) is not eligible for benefits under a Federal health insurance program or a group health plan. Provides for monthly premiums, and creates the Medicare Early Access Trust Fund to hold them. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide access to Medicare benefits to displaced workers age 55-to-62 and their spouses. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to provide for COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) continuation benefits for certain retired workers who lose retiree health coverage. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to require State Medicaid plans to provide for Federal Medicare-cost sharing premium assistance for certain low-income individuals enrolled under the part D program.
Bill· HRH.R. 3194 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Diabetes Self-Management Training Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for the recognition of certified diabetes educators as Medicare providers for purposes of diabetes outpatient self-management training services. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on: (1) the barriers, if any, that exist in rural areas to successfully becoming a recognized diabetes education program, including the difficulty of rural health care professionals in becoming certified diabetes educators; and (2) whether individuals with diabetes who live in rural areas have barriers to accessing diabetes self-management training.
Bill· HRH.R. 3192 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Medicaid/SCHIP Optional Coverage for Young Adults Act of 2003 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of providing SCHIP and Medicaid coverage, with an enhanced matching rate, to low-income youth up to age 23. Directs the Secretary to provide for grants to small and rural States in order to enable them to implement expansions of eligibility for children and young adults under SSA titles XIX and XXI.
Bill· SS. 1647 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2003
Hearing Health Accessibility Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for direct access to qualified audiologists for Medicare beneficiaries and the coverage of audiology services as a Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) medical service.
Bill· SS. 1641 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2003
QI-1s Medicare Cost-Sharing Extension Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to extend Medicare cost-sharing for certain qualifying individuals (QI-1s).
Bill· SS. 1629 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Children's Compassionate Care Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to: (1) provide training in pediatric palliative care and related services; (2) implement or expand pediatric palliative care programs for children with life-threatening conditions; (3) expand the number of physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, and appropriate allied health professionals and specialists with pediatric palliative clinical training and research experience; (4) enhance pediatric palliative care and care for children with life-threatening conditions in general pediatric or family practice residency training programs through the development of model programs; and (5) fund research in pediatric pain and symptom management that will utilize existing facilities of the National Institutes of Health. Provides for Medicare and private sector pediatric palliative care demonstration projects.
Bill· HRH.R. 3127 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Pediatric Palliative Care Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to: (1) provide training in pediatric palliative care and related services; (2) implement or expand pediatric palliative care programs for children with life-threatening conditions; (3) expand the number of physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, and appropriate allied health professionals and specialists with pediatric palliative clinical training and research experience; (4) enhance pediatric palliative care and care for children with life-threatening conditions in general pediatric or family practice residency training programs through the development of model programs; and (5) fund research in pediatric pain and symptom management that will utilize existing facilities of the National Institutes of Health. Provides for Medicare and private sector pediatric palliative care demonstration projects.
Bill· HRH.R. 3100 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Health Care for Working Families Act of 2003 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to establish a new title II, Health Benefits for Employees and Their Families. Requires each large employer to: (1) offer to each of its employees the opportunity to enroll in a qualifying health benefit plan that provides coverage for the employee and the employee's family; (2) contribute to the cost of such plan; and (3) withhold the employee share of the plan premium from the employee's wages. Defines a large employer as one that employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees (including contract workers) on business days during the preceding calendar year, and employs at least 50 employees on the first day of the plan year. Defines a qualifying health benefit plan as one that: (1) provides benefits for health care items and services actuarially equivalent to or greater in value than those offered as of January 1, 2004, under the Blue Cross-Blue Shield (BC-BS) Standard Plan provided under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP); and (2) meets applicable requirements under the Public Health Service Act. Sets the minimum required contribution by an employer at the same portion of the total premium as the Federal Government pays for such BC-BS Standard Plan under FEHBP. Requires any employee covered under a Federal health insurance program (including Medicare, Medicaid, FEHBP, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services), with certain exceptions, to accept an employer's offer of health insurance coverage and agree to payroll withholdings, or request the Federal health insurance program to pay the employee share of the premium. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a health insurance issuer that offers employee health insurance coverage to an employer to ensure that it complies with requirements of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3094 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Veterans Timely Access to Health Care Act - Makes the standard for access to care for a veteran seeking primary care from the Department of Veterans Affairs 30 days from the date the veteran contacts the Department. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe an appropriate standard for waiting times at Department health-care facilities as measured from the time a visit is scheduled until the time the veteran is seen. Directs the Secretary to periodically review the performance of Department health-care facilities in meeting such standards. Authorizes the Secretary to contract for health care services in non-Department facilities in a case in which the Secretary is unable to meet access standards. Prohibits such contracting-out with respect to a Department geographic service area that has a compliance rate in meeting such standards of 90 percent or more. Requires quarterly reports from the Secretary to the congressional veterans' committees on the Department's experience with respect to waiting times.
Bill· HRH.R. 3090 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Medicare Occupational Therapy Coverage Eligibility Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the need-based condition on eligibility for Medicare coverage of home health services with respect to occupational therapy (thus providing for eligibility for occupational therapy coverage of home health services without such condition).
Bill· HRH.R. 3081 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2003
Protecting Medicare Investments for Seniors Everywhere Act (ProMISE Act) - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) additional reimbursements for Medicare providers in low-reimbursement States (where the Medicare reimbursement ratio of the adjusted average State per capita cost for part A and partr B benefits to the U.S. per capita cost is under 95 percent); and (2) a financial incentive program of bonus payments to providers in States with high quality, low-cost health care.
Bill· SS. 1605 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2003
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the following major medical facility projects, in specified amounts: (1) construction of a health care facility at a location selected by the Secretary in East Central Florida, as part of the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) initiative; (2) improvements at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to bring that facility into compliance with the CD-54 Natural Disasters Directive; and (3) construction of a health care facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the CARES initiative.
Bill· HRH.R. 3063 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2003
Children's Mental Health Screening and Prevention Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Education, and the Attorney General to jointly make ten three-year demonstration grants to implement evidence-based preventive-screening tools to detect mental illness and suicidal tendencies in school-age youth and to refer those youth in need of assessment or treatment. Makes eligible to receive such a grant, as a demonstration facility, any facility that serves at-risk youth or performs outreach to school-age youth, including any elementary school, secondary school, school-based health center, juvenile justice facility, foster care setting, homeless shelter, youth drop-in center, youth outreach organization, youth residential treatment center, or State or local mental health organization. Requires applicants to form multidisciplinary project implementation committees and to agree to certain information collecting and reporting requirements.
Bill· HRH.R. 3061 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2003
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the following major medical facility projects, in specified amounts: (1) construction of a health care facility at a location selected by the Secretary in East Central Florida, as part of the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) initiative; (2) improvements at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to bring that facility into compliance with the CD-54 Natural Disasters Directive; and (3) construction of a health care facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the CARES initiative.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 277 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should continue to devote resources to researching treatment options for women with ovarian cancer, and support community groups that promote awareness about the disease.
Law· HRH.R. 3038 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2003
Health Care Safety Net Amendments Technical Corrections Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Health Care Safety Net Amendments of 2002 to make technical and conforming amendments respecting: (1) health centers; (2) rural health outreach; (3) telehealth; (4) mental health services via telehealth; (5) health professional shortage areas; and (6) National Health Service Corps personnel, scholarships, and loan repayment. Authorizes grants to State professional licensing boards for State cooperation to reduce statutory and regulatory barriers to telemedicine.