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Bill· SS. 2149 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance): (1) a special enrollment period without a late payment penalty for certain military retirees and their dependents living near closed military medical facilities who wish to enroll in Medicare part B; and (2) payment by the Department of Defense for increases in premiums due to such special enrollment period.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 216 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Senate that any Senate health care reform measures passed should contain provisions that maintain that early detection and preventive screening for breast and cervical cancers not be artificially limited by Federal mandates.
Bill· HRH.R. 4499 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Access to Medical Treatment Act - Permits any individual to be treated by a health care practitioner with any method of medical treatment that such individual desires or the legal representative of such individual authorizes if: (1) the practitioner agrees to treat the individual; and (2) the administration of such treatment falls within the practitioner's scope of practice. Authorizes health care practitioners to provide any method of treatment to such an individual if: (1) there is no evidence that the treatment is a danger to the individual; (2) in the case of treatment that is the administration of a food, drug, or device that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the individual has been informed that the treatment has not been approved and the food, drug, or device contains a warning to that effect; (3) the individual has been informed of the nature of the treatment; (4) there have been no claims, including advertising and labeling claims, made with respect to the efficacy of such treatment; and (5) the individual desires such treatment and has been provided and has signed a written statement that such individual has been fully informed with respect to such information. Requires a practitioner, after administering such treatment and discovering it to be a danger to an individual, to submit a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Authorizes the introduction or delivery into interstate commerce of medication or equipment for use in accordance with this Act. Prohibits a licensing board from denying, suspending, or revoking the license of a health care practitioner solely because such practitioner provides treatment described by this Act.
Bill· SS. 2143 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Value Added Tax Title II: Surplus Revenues Deficit and Debt Reduction and Health Care Financing Act of 1994 - Title I: Value Added Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a five percent tax on taxable transactions (such tax to be known as a value added tax). Describes taxable transactions as the sale, import, or export of certain property or services. Sets forth rules for the administration of such tax. Title II: Surplus Revenues - Establishes the Deficit Reduction and Health Care Reform Trust Fund. Appropriates to such Fund 80 percent of the revenues from the value added tax to reduce the public debt and 20 percent to carry out Federal health care reform programs.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 434 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that any law enacted pertaining to the reform of our Nation's health care system should apply to Members of Congress and all Federal employees enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, including any individual who is appointed or elected to a position in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch.
Bill· HRH.R. 4469 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Establishment of State Multicare Programs; Tax Changes Subtitle A: Establishment of State Multicare Programs Subtitle B: Federal Contribution Toward Multicare Plan Premiums; Tax Law Changes Title II: Requirements for Multicare Plans Subtitle A: General Requirements Subtitle B: Multiple Employer Health Benefits Protections Subtitle C: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements Title III: States Without State Multicare Programs; Federal Health Care Programs; National Reinsurance Pool Subtitle A: Multicare Plans in States Without State Multicare Programs Subtitle B: Federal Health Care Programs Subtitle C: National Reinsurance Mechanism Title IV: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform Subtitle B: Other Requirements and Programs Title V: Administrative Cost Savings Subtitle A: Standardization of Claims Processing Subtitle B: Electronic Medical Data Standards Title VI: Removing Restrictions on Managed Care Title VII: Modification of the Operation of the Antitrust Laws to Hospitals Multiple Choice Health Care Act of 1994 - Multicare Act of 1994 - Title I: Establishment of State Multicare Programs; Tax Changes - Subtitle A: Establishment of State Multicare Programs - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to each State to establish a State multicare program for the offering of competing multicare plans in the State. (Sec. 101) Requires supplemental increases in grant amounts to States in proportion to a reduction in Federal payments for Medicaid acute care services and programs under title IV (Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children and for Child-Welfare Services) and title XVI (Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled) of the Social Security Act, the Food Stamp Act, and other Federal welfare law. Restricts use of such supplemental increases to: (1) financing the State reinsurance mechanism; or (2) providing additional subsidies for poor and near poor individuals. (Sec. 102) Requires each State multicare program to provide a mechanism for certifying, according to specified criteria, at least two competing open enrollment multicare plans in all areas of the State. (Sec. 103) Requires each State multicare program to provide a mechanism for open season enrollment of State residents (with certain exceptions) in multicare plans. Authorizes a State to require: (1) each eligible individual in the State to be enrolled in such a plan; and (2) such a plan to be a multicare plan operated directly by the program. Prohibits a State from denying approval of a plan as a multicare plan because it does not have open enrollment and limits enrollment to individuals associated with an employer or association. Requires each State multicare program to provide for distribution to eligible individuals of comparative value information. (Sec. 104) Requires: (1) the HHS Secretary to develop a national list of services a multicare plan may cover, and publish treatment practice guidelines; and (2) each State multicare program to establish a State-specific list of covered health care services, which may or may not include services on the national list. Authorizes a State multicare program to decrease, for catastrophic protection, the amount of the cost-sharing limit otherwise permitted for multicare plans. (Sec. 105) Requires each State multicare program to establish procedures to ensure continuity of coverage for eligible individuals residing in each State. (Sec. 106) Requires each State multicare program to: (1) provide for a contribution, determined according to specified formulae, toward the premium cost of the enrollment of each eligible non-exempt individual enrolled in a multicare plan; and (2) include a mechanism for providing additional financial assistance to poor and near poor individuals to help them purchase multicare coverage. (Sec. 108) Requires each State multicare program to include a reinsurance mechanism, governed by a commission appointed by the State chief executive and meeting specified criteria, for high risk individuals enrolled or enrolling in plans offered in the State. Specifies options for such a mechanism, including additional payments from the common fund to plans for individuals whose costs exceed a particular threshold. (Sec. 109) Requires each State multicare program to establish procedures for consumer education and assistance, especially for individuals eligible for State health care subsidies. (Sec. 110) Requires each State multicare program to assure plan compliance with consumer rights under title II of this Act. (Sec. 111) Requires each State multicare program to provide for assurances that any State income tax laws treat employer payments for health care premiums and employee or dependent expenses as wage payments. (Sec. 112) Requires each State multicare program to provide for distribution on State and local levels of information on the average prices of common health care services. Subtitle B: Federal Contribution Toward Multicare Plan Premiums; Tax Law Changes - Sets forth formulae for determination of an annual Federal contribution toward multicare plan premiums. (Sec. 122) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate: (1) the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided health care coverage; and (2) the deductions for medical care and for the health insurance costs of the self-employed. Title II: Requirements for Multicare Plans - Subtitle A: General Requirements - Sets forth general multicare plan requirements for enrollment and continuity of coverage, covered services, premiums and cost-sharing, catastrophic protection, participation in a reinsurance system, data collection, medical malpractice reform and administrative cost savings, and specified consumer rights. Subtitle B: Multiple Employer Health Benefits Protections - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide a limited exemption under preemption rules for multiple employer plans providing health benefits subject to certain Federal standards. Relieves such exempted multiple employer plans providing medical care benefits of certain restrictions on preemption of State law. Treats such plans as employee welfare benefits plans. Sets forth exemption procedures, eligibility requirements (including rules for franchise networks), and additional requirements applicable to such exempted plan arrangements (including notice, reporting, filing, and actuarial requirements). Requires certain disclosures by such arrangements to participating employers. Requires such arrangements to maintain certain reserves. Sets forth procedures for corrective actions, expiration, suspension, or revocation of exemption, and review of actions by the Secretary of Labor. (Sec. 212) Revises ERISA provisions relating to scope of preemption rules, treatment of single employer arrangements, and treatment of certain collectively bargained arrangements. (Sec. 215) Treats employee leasing health care arrangements as multiple employer welfare arrangements, except for those employee leasing arrangements which are multiple employer health plans. Sets forth special rules for employee leasing health care arrangements which are multiple employer welfare arrangements. (Sec. 218) Provides for Federal-State cooperation in responsibility for multiple employer welfare arrangements. Allows delegation of enforcement authority to States, authorizing the Secretary to maintain concurrent authority. Directs the Secretary to provide certain enforcement assistance and ensure that only one State will be recognized as the primary domicile State which authority has been delegated pursuant to an agreement with respect to any particular multiple employer welfare arrangement. Subtitle C: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements -Amends ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act (with respect to certain State and local employees) to repeal COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) continuation coverage requirements for employee-related group health plans. Makes such repeals applicable to health plans offered in a State by an employer as of the first date that a State multicare program is in effect in that State. Title III: States Without State Multicare Programs; Federal Health Care Programs; National Reinsurance Pool - Subtitle A: Multicare Plans in States Without State Multicare Programs - Authorizes the HHS Secretary, in the case of a State without an approved State multicare program, to provide for: (1) operation through the Department of HHS of such a program in the State; and (2) the approval and offering of multistate plans in the State. Subtitle B: Federal Health Care Programs - Authorizes the HHS Secretary to negotiate an agreement (containing specified terms) with a State multicare program to provide Medicare-eligible persons with access to multicare plans. (Sec. 322) Entitles Federal employees eligible for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP), instead of enrolling in the FEHBP, to elect to have the Federal Government contribution toward the FEHBP applied toward enrollment under a multicare plan. Allows the HHS Secretary to approve as a multicare plan a FEHBP plan which participates in a multicare reinsurance mechanism and meets the other requirements for an approved multicare plan. (Sec. 323) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress his or her recommendations on how (and the extent to which) the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), the health care programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Indian Health Service may be integrated with the multicare program established under this Act. (Sec. 324) Specifies consumer rights for individuals in Federal health care programs. Subtitle C: National Reinsurance Mechanism - Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a national reinsurance mechanism, governed by a commission appointed by the Secretary, for use by self-insured closed multicare plans operating in three or more States that have not elected to participate in State reinsurance mechanisms. Allows such plans a one-time election between the national reinsurance mechanism and a State mechanism. Title IV: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Applies this title to any medical malpractice liability claim or action brought in any State or Federal court, except a claim or action: (1) arising from a vaccine- related injury or death already covered by the Public Health Service Act; or (2) in which the plaintiff's sole allegation is of an injury arising from the use of a medical product. Preempts State law to the extent it differs from this subtitle. Declares that nothing in this subtitle shall be construed as establishing any Federal question jurisdiction over medical malpractice liability actions. (Sec. 411) Sets a statue of limitations for medical malpractice liability claims of two years after an alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered, but in no event more than four years after the alleged injury occurred (or in the case of a minor, no later than the tenth birthday). (Sec. 412) Declares that no medical malpractice liability action may be brought in any State court unless the underlying claim has been initially resolved under an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system certified by the HHS Secretary. Limits the scope of judicial review of such an ADR decision. Mandates application of Federal ADR in malpractice claims against the United States. Requires Federal agencies to report regularly to the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research (Administrator) on issues in controversy consisting of medical malpractice claims resolved under agency ADR proceedings. Requires pre-trial settlement conferences on any medical malpractice liability actions which reach court. (Sec. 415) Limits to $250,000 the total amount of noneconomic damages awardable to a plaintiff and family for losses resulting from the injury which is the subject of a medical malpractice liability action. Limits punitive damages to twice the total compensatory damages. Requires periodic payments of any award of more than $100,000 in damages for expenses in the future, unless the court determines that periodic payments are not in the plaintiff's best interests. Sets forth specified mandatory offsets to damages for any payments made under Federal, State, or private programs. Limits attorney's contingency fees, but allows award of such fees and other specified costs to the prevailing party. (Sec. 417) Declares that: (1) the liability of each defendant in such an action shall be several only and not joint, and limited to the defendant's percentage of responsibility; and (2) a defendant may not be found to have acted negligently unless his or her conduct was not reasonable. Makes it an affirmative defense to any allegation of negligence that the defendant followed the appropriate practice guideline sanctioned by the HHS Secretary. (Sec. 420) Declares that, in the case of a medical malpractice liability action relating to obstetric services, if the defendant health care professional did not previously treat the plaintiff for the pregnancy, the trier of fact may not find that the defendant committed malpractice and may not assess damages against him or her unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. States that a health care professional shall be considered to have previously treated an individual for a pregnancy if the professional: (1) is a member of a group practice whose members previously treated the individual for the pregnancy; or (2) is providing services during labor or the delivery of the baby pursuant to an agreement with another professional. (Sec. 421) Specifies the extent to which this subtitle preempts State law. (Sec. 431) Sets forth basic requirements for a State's ADR system. Requires the HHS Secretary to certify a State system if it meets such requirements. (Sec. 433) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to Congress on the State ADR systems operated according to this subtitle. Subtitle B: Other Requirements and Programs - Amends title XI (General Provisions and Peer Review) of the Social Security Act to authorize appropriations for sanctioning practice guidelines for purposes of an affirmative defense in medical malpractice liability actions. Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) develop a standard reporting form for State ADR systems to use in transmitting information to the Administrator; and (2) study and report to Congress on the effect of the use of medical practice guidelines on the incidence of and the costs associated with medical malpractice. (Sec. 442) Declares that a State agency responsible for the conduct of disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner may enter into agreements (meeting specified requirements) to permit State or county professional societies of such type of practitioner: (1) to participate in practitioner licensing; and (2) to review any health care malpractice claim or allegation, or other information concerning the practice patterns of any such practitioner. Title V: Administrative Cost Savings - Subtitle A: Standardization of Claims Processing - Directs the HHS Secretary to adopt (taking into account the recommendations of specified task forces) standards relating to: (1) data elements for use in paper and electronic claims processing; (2) uniform claims forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. Sets forth requirements for application of such standards, and their periodic review and revision. Subtitle B: Electronic Medical Data Standards - Directs the HHS Secretary to promulgate electronic medical data standards meeting specified criteria for hospitals and other providers. Sets a deadline for each hospital with a Medicare participation agreement to meet such standards. (Sec. 513) Authorizes the heads of appropriate Federal agencies, as of January 1, 2000, to require health care providers to present and transmit data elements electronically according to such standards. (Sec. 515) Directs the HHS Secretary to establish an advisory commission to monitor and advise about the standards established under this subtitle and operational concerns about their implementation. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Removing Restrictions on Managed Care - Preempts provisions of State law restricting: (1) reimbursement rates or selective contracting; (2) differential financial incentives; and (3) utilization review methods. (Sec. 601) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Title VII: Modification of the Operation of the Antitrust Laws to Hospitals - Declares that it shall not be unlawful under the antitrust laws for two or more hospitals to engage in conduct solely for the purpose of negotiating a proposed agreement to share expensive medical services or high technology equipment. (Sec. 702) Requires the HHS Secretary to issue waivers to exempt from the operation of the antitrust laws conduct engaged in by hospitals to carry out any such agreements which meet specified criteria.
Bill· SS. 2140 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Access to Medical Treatment Act - Permits any individual to be treated by a health care practitioner with any method of medical treatment that such individual desires or the legal representative of such individual authorizes if: (1) the practitioner agrees to treat the individual; and (2) the administration of such treatment falls within the practitioner's scope of practice. Authorizes health care practitioners to provide any method of treatment to such an individual if: (1) there is no evidence that the treatment is a danger to the individual; (2) in the case of treatment that is the administration of a food, drug, or device that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the individual has been informed that the treatment has not been approved and the food, drug, or device contains a warning to that effect; (3) the individual has been informed of the nature of the treatment; (4) there have been no claims, including advertising and labeling claims, made with respect to the efficacy of such treatment; and (5) the individual desires such treatment and has been provided and has signed a written statement that such individual has been fully informed with respect to such information. Requires a practitioner, after administering such treatment and discovering it to be a danger to an individual, to submit a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Authorizes the introduction or delivery into interstate commerce of medication or equipment for use in accordance with this Act. Prohibits a licensing board from denying, suspending, or revoking the license of a health care practitioner solely because such practitioner provides treatment described by this Act.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 193 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Designates May 1995 as Multiple Sclerosis Association of America Month.
Bill· HRH.R. 4463 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Health Care Reform Assessment Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to seek to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (or another nonprofit, nongovernmental organization or consortium of institutions) to study and report on the impact of health care reform legislation at the national, regional, and State levels. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the purpose of the study (to develop a detailed framework to assess the impact of health care reforms on national goals, such as assuring security of coverage, promoting simplicity of administration, achieving health care savings, encouraging individual responsibility, improving quality of care, promoting choice, and improving health status); and (2) reporting requirements (including recommendations regarding appropriate indicators of national progress towards meeting such goals, appropriate study designs, data elements and public and private sources of information for measuring such indicators, the nature, scope, and frequency of reports that would best serve in evaluating health reform efforts, overall cost estimates associated with obtaining and evaluating this information, and ways that health care reform assessment findings could be used by various groups). Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to seek to enter into such agreement to develop and report on baseline information to measure access to, and quality and cost of, health care and the individual and public health status of permanent residents of the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 2129 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Judicial Proceedings Title II: Limitations on Disclosure of Protected Health Information Health Care Privacy Protection Act - Title I: Judicial Proceedings - Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for knowingly: (1) obtaining protected health information relating to an individual; or (2) disclosing protected health information to another person. Sets penalties with respect to a person who, for purposes not authorized under the Health Security Act: (1) requires the display or use of, or uses, a health security card; or (2) requires the disclosure or use of, or uses, the unique identifier number. Title II: Limitations on Disclosure of Protected Health Information - Permits a health information trustee to disclose protected health information to: (1) an officer, employee, or agent of the trustee only for a purpose that is compatible with and related to the purpose for which the information was collected or received; and (2) a person other than an officer only for a purpose that is authorized under this Act. Limits every disclosure of protected health information by a health information trustee to the minimum amount of information necessary. (Sec. 203) Authorizes a health information trustee to disclose protected health information pursuant to an authorization executed by the individual who is the subject of the information if specified requirements are met. Prohibits (with exceptions) such trustee from requesting that an individual provide to any person such an authorization on a day on which: (1) the trustee provides health care to such individual; or (2) in the case of a trustee that is a health facility, the individual is admitted into the facility as a resident or inpatient. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) time limits on authorizations; (2) revocation or amendment of authorizations; (3) model authorizations; (4) effect of authorization on privileges; (5) additional requirements of trustee, including maintaining a copy of the authorization; and (6) subpoenas. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the disclosure of protected health information, subject to specified restrictions: (1) in connection with treatment and payment; (2) to a health oversight agency for a purpose authorized by law; and (3) for use in an action against or investigation of an individual relating to receipt of health care or health care payment or involving a fraudulent health claim. (Sec. 206) Sets forth provisions regarding the disclosure of protected health information: (1) to next of kin; (2) to others (directory information); and (3) to assist in the identification of a dead person. (Sec. 207) Establishes requirements with respect to the reporting of protected health information: (1) to a public health authority; (2) in emergency circumstances; (3) for judicial and administrative purposes; (4) for use in a health research project; (5) to a law enforcement agency; and (6) pursuant to subpoena or warrant. (Sec. 216) Requires a health information trustee to maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to: (1) ensure the integrity and confidentiality of protected health information created or received by the trustee; and (2) protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information. (Sec. 217) Sets forth: (1) provisions permitting inspection of protected health information by a health care provider or health benefit plan, with exceptions; and (2) procedures for the amendment of protected health information. (Sec. 220) Directs the Attorney General to promulgate standards with respect to the creation, transmission, receipt, and maintenance, in electronic form, of each written document required or authorized under this title. (Sec. 221) Sets forth provisions regarding the rights of incompetents and minors. (Sec. 223) Grants immunity to: (1) a health information trustee for permissible disclosures and for good faith reliance on a certification by a government authority or other person; and (2) members of an institutional review board and the parent institution under specified circumstances. (Sec. 226) Establishes civil penalties to be imposed upon health information trustees who violate this Act. Permits aggrieved individuals to bring civil actions for relief.
Bill· HRH.R. 4444 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Congressional Compliance With Certain Generally Applicable Laws Title II: Other Congressional Reforms Title I: Congressional Compliance With Certain Generally Applicable Laws - Equity for Congress Act - Makes applicable to the Congress the following Federal laws: (1) with respect to employment, title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the National Labor Relations Act, sections 1977 and 1977A of the Revised Statutes, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; (2) with respect to conduct regarding matters other than employment, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; (3) with respect to information in its possession, the Privacy Act of 1974; and (4) specified provisions of the Federal judicial code relating to independent counsel. Amends the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Rules of the House of Representatives to require a three-fifths' vote in each House before it considers legislation that creates a requirement of general applicability but exempts the Congress from such provisions. Title II: Other Congressional Reforms - Applies the Freedom of Information Act to the Congress. Establishes the Freedom of Information Access Office in the Congress in order to assure that Members of Congress comply with the provisions of such Act. Declares that any law enacted pertaining to the reform of our Nation's health care system should apply to Members of Congress. Limits the total of amounts appropriated for the legislative branch for FY 1995 to the total for FY 1994. Requires each Member of Congress and congressional employee to pay for parking on the Capitol grounds and at any other Government location in the same amount as officers and employees of the executive branch. Subjects official travel performed by Members and employees of the Congress to the same guidelines as to mode and cost of travel that applies to the executive branch. Requires: (1) any barber shop or beauty shop on the Capitol grounds to be operated by contract with a private sector entity; and (2) the cost of each office move for a Member of Congress to be paid from an official allowance made available to the Member. Prohibits an elevator operator from being employed for any elevator in the Capitol, House of Representatives office building, or Senate office building. Prohibits a Member of Congress or congressional employee from: (1) using preferential parking at any airport; or (2) accepting any gift or ticket from a registered lobbyist. Makes the annuities and other retirement benefits of Members and employees of the Congress the same as the annuities and other retirement benefits of the executive branch. Prohibits a Member of Congress or congressional employee from using any limousine service that is paid for from official funds. Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House to: (1) prohibit proxy voting by any committee or subcommittee member; and (2) make all House committee and subcommittee attendance and voting records available to the public. Prohibits: (1) appropriated funds from being used to purchase U.S. Capitol Historical Society calendars for the Congress; and (2) a Federal, State, or local department or agency from providing any service or assistance for a Member or employee of the Congress that is not provided for all citizens, except for assistance in support of the constituent or legislative responsibilities of such Member or employee.
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 367 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1994
Requires the Congress to bestow a Congressional Medal of Appreciation of Public Spirit to the courageous citizen who made public certain concealed documents concerning tobacco company knowledge that tobacco products are addictive and health-threatening.
Bill· SS. 2122 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Title II: Standards for Long-Term Care Insurance Title III: Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Private Insurance Title IV: Improved Public Safety Net for Long-Term Care Public/Private Long-Term Care Partnership Act of 1994 - Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow qualified individuals to deduct from income long-term care service expenses exceeding 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. Includes among such services necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, and personal care performed in either a residential or nonresidential setting. (Sec. 101) Limits such deduction to individuals incapacitated during any period to the extent they are unable without substantial assistance to perform at least two activities of daily living (ADLs) (including eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence), or who suffer from a moderate cognitive impairment. Requires a licensed professional or qualified community care case manager to determine the degree of incapacitation. (Sec. 102) Allows a medical expense deduction of premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance meeting specified requirements. Makes any employer-paid premiums deductible by the employer as a business expense. Excludes from an employee's taxable income any premiums paid under an employer provided long-term care insurance policy. (Sec. 103) Excludes from an individual's gross income any benefits paid under such a policy, to the extent they do not exceed $150 per day, adjusted for inflation. Exempts private long-term care insurance from COBRA continuation of coverage requirements. Treats long-term care as a qualified benefit in a cafeteria plan. (Sec. 105) Excludes from taxable income as an amount paid by reason of death any accelerated death benefit distributed to an individual taxpayer on the life of an insured who is terminally ill. Title II: Standards for Long-Term Care Insurance - Requires long-term care insurance policies to meet specified National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) consumer protection standards. Applies to such policies certain additional requirements relating to nonforfeiture rights, rate stabilization, minimum rate guarantees, limits and notification of increases on premiums and reimbursement mechanisms. (Sec. 202) Imposes a penalty of $100 per day per policy on long-term care issuers failing to meet specified additional responsibilities. (Sec. 203) Declares that nothing in this subtitle shall be construed as preventing a State from applying standards providing greater protection of long-term care insurance policyholders. (Sec. 204) Directs NAIC to promulgate standards for the use of uniform language and definitions in long-term care insurance policies. Title III: Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Private Insurance - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program designed to educate individuals on the risks of incurring catastrophic long-term care costs and the coverage options available to insure against such risk. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with respect to Medicaid Estate Recoveries, to repeal the mandate that States require asset protection programs for individuals who buy qualified long-term care insurance to recover assets upon a beneficiary's death. Requires the Secretary to disapprove any State plan amendment providing for an asset protection program unless the State requires all participating insurers to file certain reports and information. (Sec. 303) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit individuals over 59 1/2 years old to receive tax-free distributions from an individual retirement account (IRA) or individual retirement annuity for the purchase of a long-term care policy. Allows individuals, regardless of age, to receive without penalty such distributions for the purchase of such a policy. Prohibits any medical expense deduction for any premiums paid from such distributions. Title IV: Improved Public Safety Net for Long-Term Care - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to expand eligibility for nursing facility residents determined to be medically needy. (Sec. 403) Increases from $30 to $50 the amount of funds an individual residing in a nursing facility is able to retain for personal needs. Provides for Federal reimbursement to State funds for any reductions attributable to such increased personal needs allowance. (Sec. 404) Allows States, in determining Medicaid eligibility, to disregard the first $8,000 of resources of an unmarried inpatient of a nursing facility or intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. (Sec. 405) Requires that a resident of a nursing facility or intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded receive, at the time of Medicaid application and periodically thereafter, information on the range of home and community-based services available in the State. (Sec. 406) Authorizes each State with an approved State plan to establish a program furnishing covered home and community-based services (not provided by other Federal or State programs) to eligible individuals with disabilities. Defines such individuals as: (1) those unable without substantial assistance to perform at least two ADLs; (2) those with moderate cognitive or mental impairment; (3) those with severe or profound mental retardation; and (4) severely disabled children under age six. Provides for a phased-in income eligibility schedule for individuals with assets of under $8,000. Allows States to impose nominal cost-sharing charges on individuals with family incomes exceeding 100 percent of the official poverty line. Prescribes a formula for Federal matching funds. (Sec. 407) Directs the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress annually on: (1) the effectiveness of State programs furnishing home and community-based services to individuals with disabilities; and (2) the development of the market for long-term care insurance. (Sec. 408) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on the feasibility and cost of including long-term care services for chronically ill individuals in a standard benefit package offered under a reformed health care system. (Sec. 409) Establishes a Chronic Care Commission to submit to the Congress legislative recommendations to simplify and improve chronic care services for chronically ill individuals. (Sec. 410) Directs the HHS Secretary to conduct up to seven demonstration projects under which qualified entities test the effectiveness of various approaches to financing and providing integrated acute and long-term care services to chronically ill individuals and individuals with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 214 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1994
Urges the Congress to enact health care reform that guarantees everyone health care as good as the best health care that will be available to Members of Congress.
Bill· HRH.R. 4431 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1994
Free Health Clinic Expansion Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to nonprofit private health clinics that do not impose charges for the provision of health services if the clinic agrees that the grant will not be expended for any purpose other than the renovation of facilities and the purchase of equipment for providing health services through the clinic. Limits each grant to a maximum of $4 million. Sets the following conditions for grant awards: (1) the clinic gives priority to the provision of primary care; (2) the clinic does not impose any charges; (3) the clinic's services are available only to individuals who are without health insurance and whose income does not exceed 125 percent of the official poverty line; (4) none of the health care providers of the clinic receives compensation for the provision of services through the clinic; (5) not more than one individual among the clinic staff receives compensation for the provision of services to the clinic; and (6) the clinic agrees to continue operating in accordance with such conditions. Considers an individual to be without health insurance if the individual is not covered under: (1) any health insurance policy or plan; and (2) any Government program that entitles the individual to receive health services.
Bill· HRH.R. 4427 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1994
Better Pharmaceuticals for Children Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to regulate the effective date of the approval of certain new drug applications (including abbreviated new drug applications) when pediatric studies of the drug are involved.
Bill· HRH.R. 4425 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Construction Authorization Title II: Health Care Planning and Programs Title III: Medical Facilities Acquisition Title IV: State Home Program Title V: Miscellaneous Title I: Construction Authorization - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out the major medical facility (MMF) projects and leases for the Department of Veterans Affairs for which funds are requested in the President's budget for FY 1995, with the exception of the construction of research additions at Huntington, West Virginia, and Portland, Oregon. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out additional MMF projects, in specified amounts, and additional MMF projects for which funds were appropriated in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1994. Authorizes FY 1995 appropriations for such purposes. Title II: Health Care Planning and Programs - Directs the Secretary to: (1) prescribe a specific, detailed statement of the mission of, and the clinical programs to be operated at, each Department health care facility; (2) review current Department health care missions; and (3) report on mission implementation timetables. (Sec. 202) Extends through FY 1997 (currently FY 1994) the pilot program for determining noninstitutional alternatives to nursing home care. Extends eligibility for such pilot program to all veterans eligible for nursing home care. (Currently, there are further requirements of being treated for, or having a certain degree of, a service-connected disability.) Extends certain report deadlines under the Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse Pay Act of 1990. Title III: Medical Facilities Acquisition - Specifies additional information to be included within a prospectus of a proposed medical facility to be acquired by the Department for use in providing veterans' medical care. (Sec. 302) Directs the Secretary to review the Department methodology for establishing the priority for major construction projects under consideration. Requires such methodology to be revised to give additional weight to projects intended to expand long-term care and ambulatory care programs. Requires a report. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary to submit semiannually to the veterans' committees a report showing the current Department priorities for major medical construction projects, with the highest 20 projects specifically identified. (Sec. 304) Includes within the definition of a major medical facility project a project for providing additional ambulatory care involving a total expenditure of more than $5 million. Title IV: State Home Program - Directs the Secretary to pay to each State a per diem amount for each veteran receiving adult day health care in a State home if the veteran is eligible to receive such care in a Department facility. Provides the rate for such care and increases the per diem rate for domiciliary, nursing home, and hospital care (currently authorized). (Sec. 402) Includes the construction of adult day health care facilities in the provision by the Department of financial assistance to States for the construction of medical facilities for veterans. Title V: Miscellaneous - Designates specified veterans' research advisory committees that the Secretary may not terminate unless determined to be no longer needed, with a 120-day prior notification of such a finding to the veterans' committees by way of a report. (Sec. 502) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for the operation of child care centers at Department facilities. Provides a priority for such services to employees of the Department, followed by employees of other Federal departments and agencies. Allows the Secretary to provide child care services to members of the public when necessary to assure the center's financial success. Directs the Secretary to establish reasonable charges for such services with the proceeds to be used by such centers for staffing and other expenses. Outlines related authority of the Secretary with respect to establishing and operating such centers. (Sec. 503) Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter into contracts for the provision of utilities to the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Hospital in San Antonio, Texas; (2) during the period from February 28 through June 1, 1994, contract with facilities in the Republic of the Philippines other than the Veterans Memorial Medical Center to furnish hospital care and medical services to veterans for nonservice-connected disabilities if such veterans are unable to defray the cost of such care; and (3) undertake an administrative reorganization of the Department medical center in Sepulveda, California, without regard to a required waiting period.
Bill· SS. 2109 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Access to Community Health Care Act of 1994 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow community health centers to provide: (1) services at schools and other appropriate locations; and (2) specified enabling and outreach services. (Sec. 2) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants (including planning and development grants) to one or more community health centers receiving medically underserved population grants, or to one or more federally qualified health centers, to support development of a community health service network or plan. Requires such a network or plan to be governed by individuals a majority of whom are registered network or plan patients, or representatives of entities providing health services under grants, or a combination of such individuals. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for planning, developing, and operating health networks and plans that will provide or enhance the provision and accessibility of specified services to medically underserved populations and health professional shortage areas in the network or plan's service area. Requires a network or plan, as a condition of grant approval, to assure significant community involvement, including: (1) a board of governors one-third of whom are registered patients or representatives of entities providing health services under grants, or a combination of both; or (2) a patient advisory board. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary to make and guarantee loans to grant-receiving entities for: (1) acquisition, modernization, expansion, conversion, or construction of facilities with respect to medically underserved populations; (2) major equipment purchases; (3) establishment of reserves required for furnishing services on a prepaid basis; and (4) other necessary capital costs. Sets forth preferences and priorities in the making of such loans and loan guarantees. Establishes a Loan and Loan Guarantee Fund (Fund) in the Treasury. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to preserve tax-exempt status for any State or local bonds guaranteed by the Fund. (Sec. 4) Allows migrant health centers to provide: (1) services at schools and other appropriate locations; and (2) specified enabling and outreach services. Authorizes a homeless health services grant to include the acquisition, modernization, or expansion of existing buildings, or construction of new buildings. Authorizes appropriations for migrant and homeless health centers. (Sec. 5) Authorizes additional appropriations for the National Health Service Corps. (Sec. 6) Sets forth preferences for certain health professions program and nurse training program applicants. Revises specified requirements with respect to payment for direct and indirect costs of graduate medical education. (Sec. 7) Amends title XI (General Provisions and Peer Review) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to specified safeguards (including freedom of choice of care and services provider) for rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers in Medicaid demonstrations. (Sec. 8) Amends SSA title XI to exempt from specified criminal penalties for acts involving Medicare and State health programs any remuneration paid by or to a Federal grant recipient or subrecipient in connection with an arrangement for goods or services procurement, if certain requirements are met. Requires, among other things, that such an arrangement will: (1) result in the savings of Federal grant funds or increased revenues to the recipient or subrecipient that will be used to increase the availability of or improve services to a medically underserved population; and (2) not result in private inurement to any current employees or members of the Board of Directors of the recipient or subrecipient, or to agents involved in recommending or negotiating the arrangement. Exempts from such criminal penalties any arrangement failing to meet such requirements which is approved by the Secretary because it will produce substantial benefit to a medically underserved population that outweighs any failure to meet those requirements.
Bill· HRH.R. 4414 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Time-Limited Transitional Assistance Title II: Make Work Pay Subtitle A: Health Care Subtitle B: Earned Income Tax Credit Subtitle C: Child Care Subtitle D: AFDC Work Disregards Subtitle E: AFDC Asset Limitations Title III: The Work First Program Subtitle A: AFDC Subtitle B: Targeted Jobs Tax Credit Title IV: Family Responsibility and Improved Child Support Enforcement Subtitle A: Enhancement of Ability to Identify and Locate Noncustodial Parents Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment Subtitle C: Improvement of Child Support Order Establishment Process Subtitle D: Child Support Enforcement Title V: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability Subtitle A: Federal Role Subtitle B: State Role Title VI: Program Simplification Subtitle A: Increased State Flexibility Subtitle B: Coordination of AFDC and Food Stamp Programs Subtitle C: Fraud Reduction Title VII: Financing Subtitle A: Ineligibility of certain Aliens for certain Social Services Subtitle B: Other Provisions Relating to Aliens Subtitle C: Limitation on Emergency Assistance Expenditures Subtitle D: Family Day Care Homes Program Improvements Subtitle E: Collection of Certain State and Local Taxes on Out-of-State Sales Title VIII: Effective Date Independence for Families Act of 1994 - Title I: Time-Limited Transitional Assistance - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require States opting below to have work first programs to make ineligible for AFDC any family with a member who has participated in such work program for two years; (2) condition eligibility for AFDC on participation in job search activities except during unsubsidized full-time private sector employment; (3) provide transitional child care for families cut off AFDC after two years; and (4) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Service (Secretary) to establish a database of work first and community service programs participants for use by States opting to have work first programs. Title II: Make Work Pay - Amends SSA titles XIX (Medicaid) and IV part A (AFDC), as well as the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and other specified Federal law, to make various specified changes with regard to, among others, extended Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients, increased AFDC earned income disregards, limited AFDC income and resource disregards of savings for education, first time home or automobile purchase, microenterprise initiatives, increased child care funding and transitional benefits for two parent families, and refundable tax credits for dependent care and other expenses connected with gaining employment in order to enable AFDC recipients to become self-sufficient. (Sec. 229) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Child Care Development and Block Grant Act should be reauthorized to allow States greater flexibility to use their funds to strengthen child care; and (2) States should institute a child care voucher system to enable families on AFDC to purchase child care services, create Consumer Information Centers for providing information on eligible child care providers, and loosen their regulations to allow for reimbursement of certain provider costs. Title III: The Work First Program - Amends SSA title IV to: (1) replace the current Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program under part F with a new Work First Program that allows participating States to establish work programs similar to those operated by Riverside County, California and the State of Oregon; (2) add a new part G (Community Service Program); (3) include a work supplementation component under each such program that provides for subsidized private sector or State or local government jobs; (4) give States the option of having such programs; and (5) require States exercising such option to provide participants with the necessary case management services to ensure integrated benefits and services provided under such programs. (Sec. 311) Amends IRC to provide for an increase in the minimum period of employment required to receive a targeted jobs tax credit. Title IV: Family Responsibility And Improved Child Support Enforcement - Amends SSA title IV parts A and D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to make specified changes with regard to AFDC recipient cooperation in establishing paternity of illegitimate children, locate services for enforcing child support orders, parenting services for new fathers, and distribution of child support proceeds. (Sec. 411) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) certain actions pursuant to a child support order, such as the denial of visitation rights, should be treated as irrelevant in actions brought to enforce other provisions of the order; (2) the Secretary should investigate accessing certain Federal data banks not linked to the Parent Locator Service; (3) the national network established under this title for handling locate requests should be used to access State records only through the agency administering the State part D plan; (4) social services should be provided in hospitals to women whose pregnancy results from rape or incest; and (5) States should implement methods for verifying locate information and develop programs like the State of Wisconsin's program for noncustodial parents unable to meet support obligations. (Sec. 421) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to: (1) study and develop a national child support guideline if one proves advisable; and (2) submit a report on the study's results to the President and the Congress. (Sec. 431) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a system for enabling child support information to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends IRC to require employers to: (1) deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages; (2) pay withholdings to the appropriate payee; and (3) include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form. Makes various other specified changes to SSA title IV part D involving: (1) State procedures for comparing information in the national registry of child support orders (NR) established under this title with information obtained above from W-4 form reporting, and for imposing monetary penalties on employees who fail to report support obligations; (2) development of uniform withholding orders; (3) garnishment of certain Federal benefits and seizure of lottery winnings and other payouts to satisfy support arrearages; (4) State reporting of support obligations to credit bureaus; and (5) liability of grandparents for financial support of children of their minor children. Title V: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability - Amends SSA title IV part A (AFDC) with respect to Federal and State roles in reducing teenage pregnancy and promoting family stability; by: (1) requiring States to deny AFDC for additional children (except those born as a result of rape or incest) of AFDC families unless the State plan explicitly provides for such additional children; and (2) providing for unmarried minors who are pregnant or who have children to live under adult supervision in order to receive AFDC. (Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary of Education to establish a task force to reduce teenage pregnancy. (Sec. 511) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children should be educated about the risks of early parenthood; (2) reproductive family planning and education should be made available to potential parents; and (3) States should use SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) funds to provide comprehensive services to high-risk youth and work with schools for early identification and referral of such children. Title VI: Program Simplification - Amends SSA titles IV part A and XI, as well as the Food Stamp Act of 1977, to give States increased flexibility in providing AFDC benefits (including restoring those wrongfully terminated) through, among other means, use of electronic benefit transfers, quicker action on waiver requests, and coordination with food stamp rules. (Sec. 631) Expresses the support of the Congress for certain efforts by the Social Security Administration to reduce fraud and abuse in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program under SSA title XVI. (Sec. 632) Requires the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of issuing a single counterfeit-resistant ID card to replace the current social security card and any health security card issued under health reform legislation. Title VII: Financing - Amends the SSA, the IRC, and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to make certain aliens ineligible for AFDC, SSI, Medicaid, food stamps, and the earned income tax credit. (Sec. 711) Sets forth special rules concerning aliens and general public assistance. (Sec. 714) Authorizes appropriations for financial assistance to States for assistance to resident aliens. Specifies the annual allocation of such Federal financial assistance for each State and the District of Columbia through FY 1988. (Sec. 721) Amends SSA title IV part A (AFDC) to revise: (1) the definition of "emergency assistance to needy families with children"; and (2) the limitation on State expenditures for such assistance. (Sec. 731) Amends the National School Lunch Act to: (1) modify family and group day care home reimbursement provisions under the child and adult care food program; and (2) provide grants to States for making grants to family and day care homes. Tax Fairness for Main Street Business Act of 1994 - States that the Congress: (1) recognizes that some States will be adversely affected by provisions of this Act which deny immigrants certain public assistance; (2) pledges to help those States offset the potential cost shift; and (3) encourages States, in authorizing them below to require out-of-State companies to collect sales taxes on certain purchases, to use increased revenues resulting from such collections to offset such cost shift and design assistance programs addressing special needs of immigrants. (Sec. 744) Authorizes a State or local jurisdiction to require certain out-of-State businesses to collect sales taxes on tangible personal property sold to residents of the State or local jurisdiction. (Sec. 745) Provides an in-lieu fee rate where local taxes are not uniform. (Sec. 746) Prohibits a State from requiring out-of-State businesses to file reporting returns more than once every calendar quarter. (Sec. 749) Requires a State to establish toll-free information services to provide such businesses with necessary forms and instructions. Title VIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 4410 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Subtitle A: Tax Incentives for Purchase of Health Care Coverage Subtitle B: Medical Care Savings Accounts Subtitle C: Expansion of COBRA Continuation Coverage Title II: Insurance Reform Subtitle A: Employer Insurance Protections Subtitle B: Guaranteeing Portability of Health Insurance for Individuals Subtitle C: Assuring Health Insurance Coverage for Uninsurable Individuals Title III: Medicaid Reform Title IV: Medical Charge Disclosure Bipartisan Health Security Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986- Subtitle A: Tax Incentives for Purchase of Health Care Coverage - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals a refundable credit of 30 percent of the amount paid for: (1) the purchase of health care coverage for the taxpayer, the spouse, and dependents; and (2) contributions to a medical care savings account if the individual is covered under a high deductible health plan or by a health maintenance organization. Repeals the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Subtitle B: Medical Care Savings Accounts - Provides for the establishment of medical care savings accounts. Makes the account beneficiary the owner of the account and includes distributions in the beneficiary's gross income. Sets forth uses and limitations for such accounts. Excludes health benefit payments made by employers from employment taxes. (Sec. 112) Allows the transfer of unused amounts in flexible spending accounts of cafeteria plans to medical savings accounts. Subtitle C: Expansion of COBRA Continuation Coverage - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act to make the continuation coverage requirements for group health plans inapplicable to employers of fewer than four employees (currently, 20 employees). Extends the required period of coverage to 36 months (currently, 18 months). Title II: Insurance Reform - Subtitle A: Employer Insurance Protections - Prohibits a health benefit insurer that provides or offers a small group health benefit plan from: (1) cancelling or non-renewing an individual small employer group because of high claims costs or the health of the group; or (2) refusing to provide coverage to such a group based solely on the nature of the employer's business or industry. Places limitations on increases in premium rates and variations in premiums across and within classes of businesses. (Sec. 202) Provides for continued health benefit coverage for individuals who change employers. (Sec. 204) Imposes an excise tax on the failure of an insurer or group health plan to meet the requirements of this title. Makes such tax nondeductible. Subtitle B: Guaranteeing Portability of Health Insurance for Individuals - Provides continued coverage and portability protections for eligible individuals or families applying for an individual health benefit plan. Subtitle C: Assuring Health Insurance Coverage for Uninsurable Individuals - Requires each State, beginning in 1997, to establish, administer, and fund a high-risk health insurance pool that assures the availability of qualified health insurance coverage to uninsurable individuals. Provides funding for such high-risk programs through: (1) premiums, with limitations; (2) surcharges for avoidable health risks, such as smoking; and (3) other means specified under State law. Title III: Medicaid Reform - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to grant States the authority to provide an eligible individual the option to receive medical assistance through enrollment in a private health plan. Title IV: Medical Charge Disclosure - Requires providers of medical services to visibly post maximum charges and costs for services.
Bill· SS. 2102 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Family Cancer Screening and Research Partnership Act of 1994 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Cancer Institute to provide matching research awards for breast, cervical, and prostate cancer treatment research. Authorizes grants for breast, cervical, and prostate screening for low-income or geographically isolated persons. Authorizes appropriations.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 424 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Members of Congress should have the opportunity to offer, debate, and vote on an amendment striking any employer mandate in any legislation to reform our health care system.
Bill· SS. 2093 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Water Program Funding Title II: Toxic Pollution Prevention and Control Title III: Nonpoint Pollution Control and Watershed Planning Title IV: Municipal Pollution Control Title V: Permit Program and Enforcement Title VI: Program Management Title VII: Wetlands Title VIII: Coastal Protection Title IX: Innovative Technology Title X: Interstate Water Quality Programs Water Pollution Prevention and Control Act of 1994 - Title I: Water Program Funding - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to expand the list of projects for which State water pollution control revolving fund monies are available. (Sec. 101) Authorizes States to: (1) reduce amounts required for matching contributions to capitalization grants for water pollution control revolving funds by an amount equal to the amount of technical assistance provided to publicly owned treatment works or subsurface sewage disposal systems that serve 10,000 or fewer individuals; and (2) forgive an amount of loan principal for disadvantaged communities with respect to loans for water pollution control activities. Revises the allotment formula for revolving funds and extends the authorization of appropriations for such funds through FY 2000. Increases amounts authorized to be appropriated for FY 1996 through 2000 subject to certain on-budget deficit estimates. Reserves funds for a grant to implement a plan for the elimination of discharges to Onondaga Lake, New York. (Sec. 102) Extends the authorization of appropriations for specified pollution control programs through FY 2000. Title II: Toxic Pollution Prevention and Control - Adds to the list of requirements for effluent limitation guidelines that the Administrator: (1) in determining the best practicable control technology and best measures available, give highest priority to source reduction measures; (2) identify control measures to limit the release of pollutants associated with wastewater to other environmental media; and (3) prohibit specific control measures that are likely to have a significant adverse effect on any environmental medium. (Sec. 201) Revises provisions concerning pretreatment standards to require the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for the introduction of pollutants (currently, pollutants which are not susceptible to treatment or would interfere with the operation of the treatment works) into publicly owned treatment works. (Sec. 202) Directs the Administrator to publish a water quality criteria plan every five years. Requires the initial plan to contain at least eight sediment quality criteria. Directs the Administrator to: (1) require pesticide registrants to provide information sufficient to publish criteria unless the pesticide will not enter water in more than de minimis amounts; and (2) ensure that information necessary to publish criteria for chemical substances that are the subject of a premanufacture notice pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act is submitted unless certain conditions are met. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance concerning contaminant levels in finfish and shellfish for use by States in the issuance of finfish and shellfish consumption advisories to protect recreational and subsistence fishers. Prohibits sediment quality criteria published under this Act from being: (1) used as a standard for determining appropriate cleanup levels or for whether cleanup should be undertaken; or (2) deemed an applicable requirement for remediation unless the Administrator determines criteria appropriate for such use. Requires States to report triennially to the Administrator on the designated uses of waters. Deems all waters for which a use has not been designated to be designated as fishable and swimmable, unless a State establishes an alternative use. Directs States to adopt pollutant specific standards for any pollutant for which criteria are published if the discharge of such pollutant could interfere with designated water uses. Requires States to implement antidegradation policies. Directs States to implement programs to protect outstanding national resource waters. Requires permitting authorities to conduct antidegradation reviews for a water prior to issuing a permit to a point source authorizing any new or expanded discharge of a pollutant. (Sec. 203) Directs the Administrator to review and revise the list of toxic pollutants subject to this Act at least every five years. Authorizes persons to petition the Administrator to establish effluent standards. Requires the Administrator to offer to enter into arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to study the effects of pollution found in navigable waters on the development of aquatic life, wildlife, or humans. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish a list of substances anticipated to cause significant and widespread adverse effects on the development of aquatic life, wildlife, or humans; (2) publish a comprehensive strategy to control, prevent, and remediate water pollution or sediment contamination associated with listed substances; and (3) report to specified congressional committees on an estimate of the costs and benefits of each action proposed under the strategy. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the Administrator to impose pretreatment requirements on industrial users that introduce pollutants into publicly owned treatment works. Prohibits the introduction of hazardous wastes into publicly owned treatment works unless certain conditions are met. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for: (1) toxic reduction action plans (one of the conditions to be met if introducing hazardous wastes) to be implemented by certain commercial users that are not subject to categorical pretreatment standards and that introduce toxic pollutants or hazardous wastes into treatment works; and (2) technical assistance to small communities to assist in minimizing the introduction of toxic pollutants and hazardous wastes from commercial sources into treatment works. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations revising the definition and applicability of certain local limits under Federal regulations as may be necessary to protect health and the environment with respect to hazardous wastes discharged to publicly owned treatment works. Requires revised limits to address all points from which hazardous wastes may be released from a treatment works to the environment. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on actual discharges of hazardous wastes to treatment works to determine quantities, the sources of the discharges, the releases from various release points, and resulting threats to health and the environment. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes a publicly owned treatment works to apply to the Administrator for the designation of the treatment works as a publicly owned industrial treatment works. Provides for approval of the application if: (1) greater than 75 percent of the wastewater received is from one or more industrial sources; (2) the works was specifically designed to treat pollutants associated with such sources; (3) the works consistently complies with applicable effluent limitations that are as stringent as those that would apply if the works were an industrial facility; (4) sludge from the works meets requirements for beneficial reuse; and (5) the works has imposed controls on all pollutants received from such sources as necessary to protect health and the environment. (Sec. 205) Amends the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 to require facilities that are subject to toxic chemical release reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 and whose reports total releases and transfers of toxic chemicals in excess of 200,000 pounds annually to prepare pollution prevention plans. Deems small businesses to be in compliance with such requirement if they retain a pollution prevention opportunities assessment manual and checklist. Requires facilities to include pollution prevention progress reports with each annual filing of toxic chemical release reports. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish an integrated pollution prevention information network; (2) develop industry-specific pollution prevention opportunities assessment manuals and checklists for industrial categories with respect to which the lack of information is an impediment to pollution prevention by small businesses; and (3) establish a program to promote local voluntary programs to prevent pollution and promote energy conservation. (Sec. 206) Requires the Administrator to establish an integrated| permit pilot program at up to ten demonstration sites that: (1) combines all applicable Federal environmental requirements (with exceptions) into a single integrated permit; and (2) provides the sites the opportunity to demonstrate innovative and alternative methods of compliance with such requirements. Permits the Administrator, with the consent of the State in which a demonstration site is located, to temporarily waive Federal environmental statutory and regulatory requirements (with exceptions, including limitations of emissions) for such sites. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance grants to applicant organizations and local communities in the vicinity of demonstration sites. Requires demonstration projects to terminate within ten years of this Act's enactment. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Nonpoint Pollution Control and Watershed Planning - Requires States to conduct and report to the Administrator on programs to monitor the quality of navigable waters and aquatic sediment. (Sec. 301) Establishes the Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality to coordinate Federal and State water and sediment quality monitoring programs. (Sec. 302) Revises provisions concerning State assessments of nonpoint source pollution. Requires States to submit to the Administrator every five years a list of navigable waters that cannot, without additional action to control nonpoint source pollution, be anticipated to attain or maintain: (1) water and sediment quality standards; and (2) in the case of a parameter with respect to which no water or sediment quality standard is in effect, water and sediment quality that supports the designated use. Authorizes States to include within such list other waters that are: (1) threatened with impairment; (2) outstanding national resource waters; or (3) groundwater threatened with nonpoint source pollution. Requires States to delineate land areas of the watersheds of listed waters. Revises requirements for State nonpoint source management programs. Requires such programs to be submitted for approval every five years. Authorizes States to select alternative management practices that are not identified in the national program guidance if such practices are as effective in controlling nonpoint source pollution. Permits alternative requirements with respect to specific sources with the Administrator's approval and subject to other conditions. Considers approved coastal nonpoint pollution control programs to meet the requirements for such programs. Requires the Administrator to implement programs for States that fail to do so. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for nonpoint source management programs, taking into account certain regional variations and land and water management practices. Authorizes the Administrator to list new sources in the guidance if they are likely to contribute to pollution preventing the attainment of water or sediment quality standards. Authorizes sources located in watershed areas of listed waters to implement site-specific water quality plans in lieu of management measures outlined in the national guidance. Provides that certain existing plans implemented under conservation compliance and agricultural water protection programs under the Food Security Act of 1985 satisfy site-specific plan requirements subject to certain conditions. Requires the Administrator to establish a formula for the allocation of sums based on certain factors related to nonpoint source pollution. Sets forth limitations on funding. Withholds up to 50 percent of funds from States that fail to implement nonpoint source programs. Authorizes (current law requires) the Administrator to make grants to States for groundwater protection activities that will advance nonpoint source pollution control. Extends the authorization to carry out nonpoint source programs through FY 2000. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants: (1) for certain education and outreach activities regarding nonpoint pollution source control; and (2) to the CleanMarina Program to support the reduction of pollution from marina facilities and recreational boating activities. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for the implementation of nonpoint source water pollution control measures on Federal lands and for the prevention of water pollution resulting from highway construction. Directs the Administrator to review and approve each plan for the construction of an animal waste management facility. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance and education concerning the design of such facilities. Requires the Administrator to publish guidelines for the design, operation, and management of publicly owned subsurface sewage organizations. (Sec. 303) Authorizes State Governors to designate waters and associated land areas as watershed management units. Makes certain watershed planning activities eligible for assistance. Authorizes State Governors to submit watershed management plans to the Administrator for approval. Makes approved plan activities eligible for Federal assistance. Provides for extensions of discharge permits in watershed planning units, subject to certain conditions. Title IV: Municipal Pollution Control - Requires permits issued for discharges from combined storm and sanitary sewers to conform with combined sewer overflow control policy under Federal regulations published by the Administrator in January 1993. (Sec. 401) Authorizes the issuance of permits for compliance with a long-term control plan for a term of up to 15 years. (Sec. 402) Applies permit requirements to stormwater discharges associated with commercial activity. Exempts sources of discharges composed entirely of stormwater from municipal storm sewer systems, with certain exceptions, from permit requirements (currently, such exemption is only available prior to October 1, 1994). Provides that permits issued for discharges from municipal storm sewers composed entirely of stormwater shall not require compliance with numeric effluent limitations and water quality standards shall not be applied as effluent limitations. Authorizes the Administrator to issue a consolidated permit for discharges from a storm sewer system owned by a municipality and the stormwater discharges from industrial or commercial sources owned by the same municipality. Requires the Administrator to establish permit requirements for stormwater discharges from commercial and light industrial sources. Directs the Administrator to list each municipal storm sewer system the discharge from which is the sole or principal cause for the failure of receiving waters affected by the discharge to achieve a designated use or other water quality standard. Requires such systems to obtain discharge permits. Requires a revised list at least every five years. Authorizes the Administrator to exempt certain commercial and light industrial stormwater discharges from permit requirements. (Sec. 403) Requires EPA to be the primary coordinator for all Federal policies related to municipal, commercial, residential, and industrial water conservation. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Army Corps of Engineers, to provide technical assistance and take specified actions to encourage water conservation. Directs the Secretary to establish a national clearinghouse on water conservation. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Permit Program and Enforcement - Requires fees for discharge permits to be used for point source elements of the water quality program and sewage sludge use and disposal and pretreatment programs. Establishes a Federal Water Pollution Control Permit Fund. (Sec. 502) Requires a permit applicant, in the case of a new discharge resulting from facility construction, to apply for a permit prior to the commencement of construction. Modifies permit application requirements. (Sec. 503) Revises enforcement and penalty provisions. Title VI: Program Management - Requires the Administrator to conduct research with respect to the harmful effects on the health and habitat of fish, shellfish, and wildlife caused by water pollutants. (Sec. 601) Authorizes appropriations for research programs. (Sec. 603) Establishes employee protection provisions to apply to cases where employees refuse to perform duties that would constitute violations of the Clean Water Act. (Sec. 606) Increases the amount required to be reserved for assistance to Indian tribes for the construction of treatment works and nonpoint source pollution control programs. Permits State revolving funds to be used for assistance to Indian tribes. Requires the Administrator to issue permits for discharges to navigable waters on Federal Indian reservations unless the Indian tribe has been delegated permit issuance authority. (Sec. 607) Requires the Administrator to establish a national water quality education program as well as specified volunteer awards programs related to water pollution control. (Sec. 608) Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) an Arid West Water Quality Research Project; and (2) an Arid West Water Quality Research Board. Requires the project to: (1) be located at the EPA monitoring laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada; (2) develop data for water quality criteria documents for species and environments appropriate for ephemeral and effluent-dependent streams; and (3) conduct additional research. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to convene a working group to: (1) recommend revisions to methodology used to develop water quality criteria to include criteria appropriate for ephemeral and effluent-dependent streams; and (2) make recommendations for additional scientific research and other information needed for the development of water quality criteria that can be adapted by States to reflect special regional and site-specific characteristics, especially with respect to the arid West. Direct the Administrator to: (1) revise such methodology in accordance with the recommendations; and (2) publish at least two criteria documents addressing such streams. Requires the Administrator to promote the environmentally beneficial use of reclaimed water and the development of appropriate water quality criteria and standards for ephemeral and effluent-dependent streams: (1) that have a limited ability to maintain traditional water resources; and (2) with respect to which the discharge of reclaimed water to otherwise arid or semiarid environments can also support limited aquatic and riparian habitat that would otherwise not exist. Authorizes States to establish an alternative use for ephemeral and effluent-dependent streams if such streams cannot attain current designated uses because of natural, ephemeral, intermittent, or low flow conditions or water levels. Permits revised or new interim water quality criteria for such streams. (Sec. 610) Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Army Corps of Engineers, to establish a grant program to provide assistance to States and political subdivisions for the construction of environmental education facilities. Requires facilities to be used to enhance public awareness of the importance of aquatic, marine, and other natural resources and to serve as a clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 611) Requires certain water pollution control plans prepared by States, localities, and other nonfederal entities pursuant to the Clean Water Act to evaluate the acquisition of lands or interests as a means of meeting the goals of such plans. Permits the use of funding under the Clean Water Act for such acquisitions if: (1) the lands or interests are acquired from willing sellers and held in perpetuity in public ownership; and (2) the plan finds the acquisition to be effective and appropriate. Makes acquired lands available for public recreational purposes to the extent possible considering the environmental sensitivity and suitability of the lands. (Sec. 612) Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) an Environmental Financial Advisory Board to provide expert advice on issues affecting the costs and financing of environmental activities at the Federal, State, and local levels; and (2) Environmental Finance Centers in each of the ten Federal regions. Authorizes the Centers to: (1) provide training of State and local officials; (2) publish materials relating to financing of environmental infrastructure; (3) conduct conferences and advisory panels on specific environmental finance issues; (4) establish information services; (5) generate case studies and reports; (6) develop surveys of financial issues and needs of State and local governments; (7) identify financial programs and alternative financing mechanisms for training purposes; (8) hold public meetings; and (9) collaborate and exchange information. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 613) Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct a comprehensive research program concerning U.S. lakes; and (2) appoint a Lake Research Advisory Committee. Requires States to designate the use of each publicly-owned lake consistent with the following uses: (1) public drinking water supply; (2) swimming and related body contact recreation; and (3) resource protection. Directs the Administrator to publish: (1) water quality criteria for freshwater lakes; and (2) guidance to assist States in the adoption of lake water quality standards for contaminants for which criteria documents have been published. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the clean lakes program through FY 2000. Revises requirements for lake water quality demonstration programs. Adds to the priority list for such programs China Lake, Maine, Flathead Lake, Montana, and Candlewood Lake, Connecticut. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress on phosphates in detergent products. Directs the Administrator to implement a national education program on lake quality and protection. Provides for a Lake Watch Program and a Lake Watch Award. Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to require the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to undertake a program to prevent the dissemination of Eurasian Milfoil (Myriophyllum Spicatum), a type of aquatic weed. Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the importation of such species into the United States. (Sec. 614) Applies certain Federal wage standards to contract employees working on projects (currently, treatment works) financed under the Clean Water Act. (Sec. 615) Requires the Administrator to consult with any Federal agency having jurisdiction over food processing activities prior to the promulgation of any requirements for an effluent guideline, new source performance standard, pretreatment standard, process change, or use restriction which will affect food processing activities to ensure that the guideline, standard, change, or restriction will not adversely affect food safety or the integrity and wholesomeness of a food product. (Sec. 616) Revises provisions concerning training grants and contracts to require the Administrator to implement a national program to train individuals in the operation of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment works and other water pollution control facilities. Provides for grants to institutions of higher education and State agencies to support such programs. Requires chief operators of publicly owned treatment works that have discharge permits and such additional personnel as may be designated by a State to be certified as proficient. Directs the Administrator to issue certification guidelines. Authorizes appropriations for training and scholarship programs. Title VII: Wetlands - Prohibits the Administrator and the Secretary of the Army from taking private property for public |use without just compensation. (Sec. 702) Prohibits the issuance of revisions to or clarifications of the guidelines for identifying and delineating wetlands under the Clean Water Act until the National Academy of Sciences has completed a specified wetlands study. Provides for the continued use of the 1987 Corps of Engineers wetlands delineation manual until such guidelines are issued. Requires wetlands located on agricultural and associated nonagricultural lands to be delineated by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with a specified January 1994 memorandum. Directs the Secretary to delineate wetlands on rangelands using the 1987 manual. Authorizes the Administrator to issue guidelines to identify and delineate wetlands. Earmarks funding for: (1) wetlands delineation training programs; and (2) assistance to private landowners who lack financial capacity to identify or delineate wetlands in order to apply for dredge or fill permits or avoid impacts to wetlands. Provides for a public information program on Federal regulations, permitting requirements, and wetlands delineation. (Sec. 704) Sets forth permit decision deadlines and administrative appeal procedures, including procedures for landowners to appeal regulatory jurisdiction determinations. (Sec. 705) Authorizes the issuance of general permits on a State, regional, or nationwide basis for any category of activities involving discharges of dredge or fill material if the activities are similar in nature and will cause only minimal adverse environmental effects when performed separately and cumulatively. (Sec. 706) Exempts prior converted croplands and certain waters and activities from regulation under dredged and fill permit provisions. (Sec. 707) Provides for the establishment of mitigation banks (wetlands restoration projects that provide compensation credits to offset foreseeable wetlands losses from future discharges of dredged or fill material into navigable waters if compensatory mitigation is not practicable). (Sec. 710) Authorizes funding to States for wetlands conservation and watershed management planning. Requires the Administrator to carry out a wetlands and watershed management research program. Establishes a committee to coordinate Federal, State, and local government wetlands policies. Provides for the development of a National Cooperative Wetlands Restoration Strategy. Requires the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator to establish a wetlands restoration pilot program. (Sec. 711) Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States to administer wetlands programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Coastal Protection - Extends the authorization of appropriations for the national estuary program through FY 2000. Revises requirements for estuary management conferences and conservation plans and provisions regarding research and grants. Adds Charlotte Harbor, Florida, to the list of estuaries to be given priority consideration. (Sec. 802) Directs the Administrator to revise water quality for pathogens. Requires the Administrator to revise the aquatic life criteria for each pollutant with respect to which such criteria for freshwater have been published and revise such criteria to address aquatic life in marine waters. Directs each State with coastal recreation waters to adopt water quality standards for pathogens. Requires the Administrator to establish numeric water quality standards for marine waters that: (1) are not located within the jurisdiction of a State; and (2) are located within 200 miles seaward of the landward boundary of the territorial seas. (Sec. 803) Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish a national program to provide information, education, and technical assistance to owners of land bordering marine water; (2) establish the Ocean Watch Program to encourage nonprofit citizens groups to engage in activities to assess and protect marine and ocean waters; and (3) provide an annual Ocean Watch Award. (Sec. 804) Make it unlawful to discharge sewage: (1) into certain designated waters; and (2) that has not been treated by a marine sanitation device. Makes the construction of marine pumpout stations provided for in plans approved under the Clean Vessel Act of 1992 eligible for State revolving fund assistance. Makes it unlawful for the owner or operator of a marina that has a docking or mooring capacity for more than 500 vessels: (1) beginning on January 1, 2000, to fail to provide pumpout stations and waste reception facilities for marine sanitation devices unless a plan developed under the Clean Vessel Act of 1992 expressly waives such requirement; and (2) to fail to comply with a plan pursuant to such Act. Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to carry out an information and education program to encourage compliance with marine sanitation device requirements and foster understanding concerning water quality and pollution prevention. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 805) Revises provisions concerning the issuance of permits with respect to ocean discharges. Prohibits permits for such discharges if: (1) a discharge may cause or contribute to the violation of water and sediment quality standards; or (2) discharge alternatives were not adequately evaluated. Directs the Administrator to: (1) biennially list marine waters that do not and are not likely to support the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and allow for recreational activities in and on the waters; and (2) take actions to prevent the further degradation of water and sediment quality of a priority marine water. (Sec. 806) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to provide financial assistance to local governments for the construction of facilities for the control of overflows from combined storm and sanitary sewers to marine waters. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 807) Directs the Administrator to publish regulations specifying methods to be used by States to monitor coastal recreation waters, during periods of use by the public, for compliance with standards. Requires notification of local governments and the public of water quality standards violations. Directs the Administrator to: (1) issue guidance on uniform assessment and monitoring procedures for floatable materials in coastal recreation waters; and (2) specify the conditions under which the presence of floatable materials constitutes a threat to public health and safety. Authorizes grants to States for carrying out such requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for a research program to develop better indicators for detecting harmful bacteria and viruses in coastal recreation waters. Title IX: Innovative Technology - Requires the Administrator to establish a program to demonstrate practices, methods, technologies, or processes that may be effective in the prevention and control of sources of water pollution or aquatic habitat degradation or loss. Authorizes grants for such projects. Permits the Administrator, as part of such program, to: (1) enter into cooperative agreements with State permitting authorities and the managers of Federal facilities for the demonstration of innovative and alternative approaches for the prevention and control of point and nonpoint sources of water pollution at properties owned by the Federal Government; and (2) select proposals for funding agreements for projects to demonstrate comprehensive and innovative technologies for the prevention, control, or remediation of acid, metal-contaminated, or other mine water pollution that results from active, inactive, or abandoned hard rock mining operations. (Sec. 901) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the Administrator, with State consent, to temporarily waive permit limitations for certain point sources for purposes of encouraging the development and testing of certain innovative production or pollution prevention processes, pollution control technologies, or recycling methods. Limits waivers to 90 days and provides for extensions. (Sec. 903) Provides for limited waivers from national categorical pretreatment standards under certain conditions for facilities that apply innovative production or pollution prevention processes, pollution control technologies, or recycling methods. Limits waivers to 90 days and provides for extensions. (Sec. 904) Directs the Administrator to establish a program to verify, evaluate, and disseminate: (1) performance and cost information on technologies, processes, techniques, and management measures appropriate for controlling water pollution; and (2) information on the properties and toxicity of substitute chemicals. Requires the Administrator to establish and update a list of technologies and alternative chemicals verified under the program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 905) Authorizes States to submit programs to assist small business sources of water pollution to the Administrator for approval. Requires the Administrator to establish a small business source assistance program within EPA. Title X: Interstate Water Quality Programs - Establishes a Gulf of Mexico Program to: (1) protect the coastal and marine waters and natural habitats of the Gulf; (2) protect human health and the food supply; and (3) ensure the recreational use of the Gulf in ways consistent with the economic well being of the region. (Sec. 1001) Establishes a Gulf of Mexico Commission to make recommendations to the President on Program goals. Provides for a Management and Restoration Plan for the Gulf. Requires the Commission to report to the Congress on the environmental quality of the Gulf and impact of Gulf environmental problems on economic conditions. Authorizes grants to Gulf States to further the implementation of the Plan. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1002) Directs the Administrator to develop a Great Lakes testing manual that implements the national guidance for the disposal of sediment material into U.S. waters. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress on the general condition of Confined Disposal Facilities (CDFs) located in the Great Lakes basin and to identify each facility that is causing or is at risk of causing an exceedance of water or sediment quality standards or interfering with protection of designated uses. Directs the Administrator to publish a ranking of at least 15 priority harbors within the Great Lakes system for development of long-term sediment management strategies for harbor maintenance. Makes it unlawful, with respect to such harbors, to discharge sediment dredged from the harbors at any location in the open waters of the Great Lakes or any CDF or to establish, expand, or modify any CDF that receives sediment from the harbors unless specified conditions are met. Requires the Administrator and the Secretary of the Army to jointly issue guidelines for the development of sediment management strategies for such harbors. Provides for sediment management working groups for each site subject to routine navigational dredging. Requires all dredging and disposal operations to be consistent with such strategies. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop tributary sediment models for each major river system that deposits sediment into a Great Lakes federally authorized commercial harbor, channel harbor, channel maintenance project site, or area of concern; (2) develop an analytical method to project the effectiveness of sediment source reduction approaches; and (3) use such method to conduct sediment load reduction analyses to estimate the effectiveness of such approaches. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Great Lakes National Program Office to conduct demonstration projects of promising technologies to remedy contaminated sediments. Replaces provisions concerning the Great Lakes Research Office to establish a Great Lakes Research Council. Revises provisions regarding Lakewide Management Plans to require the Administrator to publish the final plans for: (1) Lake Michigan and Lake Superior by January 1, 1995; and (2) Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario by January 1, 1998. Raises the ceiling on, and extends the authorization of, appropriations for a health research report regarding the Great Lakes. Directs the Administrator to seek the cooperation of Canada in developing a binational program to restore and protect water and sediment quality within the watershed area of Lake Superior. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Great Lakes program through FY 2000. (Sec. 1003) Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) continue the Chesapeake Bay Program; and (2) maintain a Chesapeake Bay Program Office. Establishes a Chesapeake Bay Federal Agencies Committee to coordinate Federal activities relating to the restoration of the Bay. Requires Federal agencies to report to the President on activities planned and undertaken, and resources provided, to meet responsibilities under the Program. Directs Federal agencies that own or operate facilities within the Bay watershed to assess the facilities to ensure compliance with the Program and include a plan for addressing such impacts in the report to the President. Requires the Administrator to establish a habitat restoration program in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Authorizes technical and financial assistance to public and nonprofit agencies to carry out such program. Directs the Administrator to develop a basinwide toxic reduction strategy, as well as research and monitoring to improve understanding of intermedia transfers of toxic pollutants and the ultimate fate of the pollutants within the Bay ecosystem. Authorizes financial assistance for specified activities. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Program through FY 2000. (Sec. 1004) Requires the Administrator to continue the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Watershed Program and to establish a Tri-State Implementation Council to implement the management plan developed for the Program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1005) Establishes a Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. Authorizes grants to the Council and to the St. Croix International Waterway Commission. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1006) Directs the Administrator to establish a Mississippi River Program within EPA to carry out specified activities to protect and restore the Mississippi River. Establishes the Mississippi River Program Office. Requires the Administrator and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to report on the environmental quality and and ecosystem health of the Mississippi River and the impact on economic viability, human health, and ecological health of plants and animals. Directs the Administrator to design a strategy for developing a monitoring program to assess the environmental quality of such ecosystem. Requires the Governors of the Mississippi River States, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator to form a Mississippi River States Council to: (1) assist in collecting assessment and monitoring data; (2) ratify a Management, Protection, and Restoration Plan and (3) facilitate coordination on issues related to restoration of environmental quality. Authorizes grants for the development and implementation of the Plan. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1007) Extends the authorization for, and raises the ceiling on, appropriations to implement the Long Island Sound program. Designates the Connecticut River and the watershed of such river in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut as a multistate watershed. Requires the New England Interstate Water Pollution Commission to coordinate State and interstate management efforts. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1008) Directs the Administrator to make grants to maintain the Narragansett Bay Project and to implement a comprehensive conservation and management plan. Authorizes grants to carry out the Project. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1009) Requires the Administrator to establish an Executive Council of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary Restoration Program to coordinate the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1010) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Lake Champlain program.
Bill· SS. 2096 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improving Private Health Insurance Subtitle A: Federal and State Roles Subtitle B: Health Plan Requirements Subtitle C: Improved Health Plan Delivery Title II: Tax and Reinforcement Provisions Subtitle A: General Tax Provisions Title III: Financing and Reforming Federal Programs Subtitle A: Medicare Subtitle B: Health Discount and Medicaid Reform Subtitle C: Increase in Tax on Tobacco Products Title IV: Improving Access in Rural Areas Title V: Other Health Care Cost Reduction Measures Subtitle A: Medical Liability Reform Subtitle B: Antitrust Provisions Subtitle C: Administrative Cost Savings Health Care Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Improving Private Health Insurance - Subtitle A: Federal and State Roles - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish by regulation a process by which each State shall submit a health reform program for the Secretary to determine and certify whether it complies with the requirements of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to review such a program from time to time to certify continued compliance. (Sec. 102) Requires each State to ensure that health plans offered to individual residents meet this Act's requirements. Requires the Secretary of Labor to ensure that health plans established under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) meet certain requirements for accountable health plans under this Act. Requires the HHS Secretary to ensure that health plans in a State meet certain requirements of this Act if the State's health reform program is not certified or is decertified. (Sec. 103) Sets forth requirements any State health reform program must contain to be certified under this Act, including requirements for: (1) health plan market areas; (2) interstate coordination; (3) health plan regulation; (4) the absence of benefit mandates and managed care requirements; (5) small business purchasing pools; (6) health discount programs; and (7) medical liability reform. Requires the HHS Secretary to ensure that State health reform programs are consistent with: (1) a nationwide private health insurance system; (2) cost control based on cost-conscious consumers and fair competition among health plans; and (3) freedom for residents to choose and pay for health care providers and health insurance as they wish. Authorizes the Secretary to allow States to propose alterations of the framework of this Act if they are consistent with such principles, do not increase the Federal budget deficit, and meet other specified requirements. Prohibits the Secretary from certifying any State health reform program that proposes to create a single payer health insurance plan in any portion of the State. Mandates limits to Federal spending for health discounts to a certain level for States with no certified health reform program. Subtitle B: Health Plan Requirements - Sets forth requirements for certified health plans, including: (1) no more than six months exclusion of coverage for treatment of preexisting conditions; (2) specified small group market standards (among them guaranteed eligibility, renewability, and availability); and (3) parity coverage of severe mental illnesses. (Sec. 112) Sets forth additional requirements for accountable health plans (AHPs). Requires an AHP to: (1) provide all medically necessary and effective health benefits for a fixed premium for each enrollee for a specified period of time; and (2) collect and report to the plan's enrollees and the general public objective measures of the quality of the plan's health care, the impact of its health care on the health status of enrollees, and enrollee satisfaction with its cost, quality, and service. Allows an AHP to apply for a limit on enrollment in certain circumstances. Prohibits an AHP from denying, limiting, or conditioning plan coverage or benefits on the basis of an individual's health status, claims experience, or expected use of services. Requires an AHP, in the small group (under 51 employees) market, to charge a standard premium for all eligible individuals in a market area, adjusting only for age and family status. Requires an AHP to: (1) maintain a system of continuous quality assurance and improvement meeting specified criteria; and (2) comply with a prescribed process by which it shall provide the appropriate regulatory authority (in an electronic form) with certain standardized information on quality, health outcomes, and enrollee satisfaction. Requires an AHP to: (1) comply with specified market conduct standards; (2) comply with specified medical liability reform and administrative cost reduction requirements; (3) maintain procedures for hearing and resolving enrollee grievances; (4) meet certain financial solvency standards; and (5) participate (if not self-insured under ERISA) in State health discount programs for poor and low-income individuals and employees. Requires any health plan offering services that must be obtained from participating providers to make available an alternative insurance plan (which may charge a higher premium) that provides for a point of service option under which: (1) an enrollee may select any licensed health care provider to obtain services; and (2) the plan shall pay such provider at least half the services' cost. (Sec. 113) Directs the HHS Secretary to issue regulations establishing: (1) a standard benefits package meeting certain coverage and cost-sharing arrangement requirements; and (2) an alternative benefits package that may be necessary for determining health discounts for low-income eligible individuals and employees. Subtitle C: Improved Health Plan Delivery - Requires each small group purchasing pool in a health plan market area in a State to provide a process for eligible employees of eligible small employers, and eligible individuals not entitled to health discounts, to have the opportunity to select annually from among competing AHPs offering the standard benefits package (and, for poor eligible employees, the nominal cost-sharing benefits package) at an adjusted community rate for the coverage period. Specifies pool requirements and prohibitions. (Sec. 122) Requires each employer to: (1) offer each eligible employee enrollment in an AHP with a standard benefits package serving the employee's residential (or employment) area, both on an individual and a family basis and, if required, the alternative point of service insurance plan; (2) provide, at the employee's option, for deduction of premiums from wages or other compensation; and (3) make available, if the employer is an eligible small employer, an AHP providing the nominal cost-sharing benefits package. Sets forth civil money penalties for failure to offer coverage or provide for wage deduction. Title II: Tax and Enforcement Provisions - Subtitle A: General Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that gross income of an employee does not include employer-provided coverage under an accountable health plan or a certified health plan. Includes in such gross income excess employer contributions to the health plans. (Sec. 202) Allows a business expense deduction for the costs of such health plans. Makes permanent the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Increases such deduction to 100 percent of expenses (currently, 25 percent of expenses). Makes such deduction applicable to an accountable health plan or a certified health plan. Title III: Financing and Reforming Federal Programs - Subtitle A: Medicare - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to replace current provisions for payments to health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans with provisions generally allowing Medicare beneficiaries enrolled under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) an annual choice of enrolling under certain conditions in: (1) any of the various competing Medicare health plans certified as meeting specified requirements and under contract with the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Medicare market area established where they reside; (2) an employer-sponsored health plan; or (3) the Medicare fee-for-service coverage otherwise provided under SSA title XVIII. Allows such individuals to choose supplementary benefits offered by either a Medicare supplemental policy or any of the plans above. (Sec. 302) Amends SSA title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to provide for the establishment of competitive acquisition areas within which the Secretary will award contracts under certain conditions to providers for furnishing fee-for-service items and services in such area. Directs the Secretary to use a competitive process to contract with centers of excellence for cataract surgery, coronary artery by-pass surgery, and other services determined appropriate for individuals enrolled in the fee-for-service option. Describes the payment basis for such services. Makes various specified technical changes with regard to Medicare physician, hospital, and skilled nursing facility payments, including changes involving secondary payer situations and payments for physician services furnished by high-cost hospital medical staffs. Directs the Secretary to discontinue Medicare payments to hospital service providers for reasonable costs relating to unrecovered costs associated with unpaid deductibles and co-payments incurred under Medicare. Imposes co-payments for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests and certain home health visits. Provides for reduced payments for home health services and hospital outpatient services. (Sec. 303) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the annual recapture of a portion of an individual's subsidized Medicare health plan premium for high-income and certain other individuals enrolled above. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to take specified actions providing for Medicare administrative simplification, including consolidating the fee-for-service administration. Subtitle B: Health Discount and Medicaid Reform - Requires each State, to obtain certification, to include in its health reform plan a State administered program under which eligible persons shall receive premium assistance ("health discounts") for purchasing health care coverage from AHPs. (Sec. 312) Requires a State health discount program to allow each eligible individual who otherwise meets entitlement criteria to: (1) select from among competing AHPs in his or her residential market area based on the price and quality of the competing AHPs; and (2) use the discount to which such individual is entitled only to offset the AHP premium charged for the benefits package selected. Specifies general program requirements, including a formula for determining benchmark monthly premiums and discounts. Authorizes a State to contract with small group purchasing pools to administer portions of the health discount program. (Sec. 313) Declares that health discounts shall be financed with: (1) available Federal spending; (2) required State Medicaid maintenance of effort spending and State matching amounts; and (3) optional State supplementation. Prescribes formulae for the first two financing sources. (Sec. 321) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to terminate on December 31, 1994, the authority to furnish acute care services to Medicaid-eligible individuals. Excepts qualified Medicare beneficiaries from this termination. Requires each State plan to include as a mandatory benefit the payment of premiums for qualified Medicare beneficiaries to Medicare health plans. Subtitle C: Increase in Tax on Tobacco Products - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. (Sec. 332) Imposes a civil penalty on any person who sells, relands, or receives tobacco products labeled for export. Restricts the importation of previously exported tobacco products. (Sec. 333) Imposes an excise tax on the manufacture or importation of roll-your-own tobacco. Title IV: Improving Access in Rural Areas - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend authorized appropriations for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps for FY 1995 through 1998. (Sec. 403) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for primary health services providers who practice in frontier, rural, and urban underserved areas for a mandatory period. Excludes from gross income National Health Service Corps loan repayments. Title V: Other Health Care Cost Reduction Measures - Subtitle A: Medical Liability Reform - Directs the HHS Secretary to develop and publish medical liability reform standards that States must meet to be certified, including standards for binding alternative medical injury claims dispute resolution systems. Specifies limits on liability damages that may be awarded. Requires an AHP to identify clearly for plan purchasers the individuals or entity that will be responsible for any such liability. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary, by certain deadlines, to issue regulations to: (1) establish the criteria and procedures for determining whether a State has met the medical liability reform standards set by this subtitle; and (2) establish the criteria for certifying medical practice guidelines. Subtitle B: Antitrust Provisions - Directs the President to provide for the development and publication of guidelines on the application of antitrust laws to AHPs. Requires the Attorney General to establish a review process under which an AHP (or organization that proposes to establish an AHP) may obtain a prompt opinion from the Department of Justice on the AHP's conformity with the antitrust laws. Specifies that if the Department determines that an AHP conforms with the antitrust laws, it shall not be liable under such laws regarding the development and operation of the AHP, as reviewed by the Department. (Sec. 512) Provides for the issuance of certificates of public advantage by the Attorney General to eligible health care collaborative efforts which, if followed, exempt such efforts from antitrust liability. Subtitle C: Administrative Cost Savings - Directs the Secretary to establish data and transaction standards, conventions, and requirements that permit the electronic interchange of any health care data necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the health care system, including standards for: (1) financial and administrative transactions; (2) quality measurement indicators; and (3) patient care records. (Sec. 522) Declares that no AHP may be certified unless it complies with such standards.
Bill· HRH.R. 4378 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Programs of Health Care Financing Administration Subtitle A: Medicare Program Subtitle B: Other Programs Title II: Programs of Public Health Service Title III: Antitrust Provisions Title IV: Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals Rural Hospital Survival Act of 1994 - Title I: Programs of Health Care Financing Administration - Subtitle A: Medicare Program - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act regarding guidelines for determining a national adjusted DRG (diagnosis-related group) prospective payment rate to instruct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to compute, for rural hospital discharges, beginning FY 1995, the portion of the average standardized amount attributable to wages and wage-related costs. States that the portion of such amount not attributable to wages and wage-related rural hospital costs shall be equal to such portions of such amount for hospitals in another urban area. Requires the Secretary to adjust the proportion of hospitals' costs taking into account only costs attributable to wages and salaries, employee benefits, and professional fees. (This eliminates payment differentials between urban and rural hospitals.) Expresses the sense of the Congress that payment reductions made to providers under Medicare should be adjusted to reduce their disproportionate impact upon providers in rural areas. Subtitle B: Other Programs - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to extend through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for rural health transition grants. Title II: Programs of Public Health Service - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and private entities for demonstration projects for: (1) telecommunications which make medical advice and technologies available to rural area health professionals; and (2) increased access of rural populations to primary health services. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Antitrust Provisions - Provides antitrust exemption guidelines for certain rural hospitals. Title IV: Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals - Establishes the Advisory Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals to analyze and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the impact on such hospitals of governmental regulations and paperwork.
Bill· HRH.R. 4377 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Incentives Regarding Rural Health Care Title II: Public Health Service Programs Regarding Rural Health Care Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Subtitle B: Other Programs Regarding Rural Health Care Title III: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program Title IV: Treatment of Student Loans for Health Professionals Rural Health Professional Shortage Act of 1994 - Title I: Tax Incentives Regarding Rural Health Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any payment made on behalf of a taxpayer by the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Permits a deduction for medical education loan interest incurred by health professionals serving in medically underserved rural areas. Provides a credit for a qualified primary health services provider providing primary health services full time to individuals residing in a rural health professional shortage area and who: (1) is not receiving a National Health Service Corps Scholarship or a loan repayment under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program; (2) is not fulfilling service obligations under such Programs; and (3) has not defaulted on such obligations. Provides for an increase in the amount which may be expensed as depreciable business assets in the case of rural health care property. Title II: Public Health Service Programs Regarding Rural Health Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add additional criteria for use in determining health professional shortage areas by including in the criteria the number of individuals paying for health services through Medicare or Medicaid and the number of individuals who have no health insurance, as well as the number of physicians who will accept Medicare and Medicaid patients. (Sec. 202) Requires that at least five percent of appropriations for the National Health Service Corps be used for special loans for former Corps members to enter private practice in health professional shortage areas. (Sec. 211) Provides increased funding for the Scholarship Program and the Loan Repayment Program. (Sec. 212) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give priority in making scholarships to individuals from rural backgrounds who are likely, after their service, to serve in a rural health professional shortage area. (Sec. 221) Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Primary Health Care Funds for the purpose of making loans to assist individuals with the costs of attending professions schools if the individuals agree to provide primary health services in an underserved rural area. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 231) Requires a State, in order for the State to receive a grant for an Office of Rural Health, to undertake activities to recruit and train physicians to serve in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations for such Offices. (Sec. 232) Authorizes and increases appropriations through FY 1997 for area health education center programs. Title III: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the geographic adjustment factor, beginning in 1999, with respect to payment amounts for physicians' services; (2) exempt rural hospitals from anti-kickback penalties for certain incentives provided to a physician, if the incentives are contingent upon the physician practicing in the area; and (3) extend the incentive payment for physicians' services furnished in a shortage area to certain nonphysician providers. Title IV: Treatment of Student Loans for Health Professionals - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to defer certain student loan repayments for a borrower who is serving in an internship or residency program in a health facility located in a rural area.
Bill· HRH.R. 4370 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
AIDS Cure Act - Requires the President to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a project to develop a cure for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Prohibits the program from being administered by any officer or employee of the National Institutes of Health. Requires the Governing Council established in this Act to ensure that the project: (1) pursues comprehensive basic science investigations, based on diverse theories and schools of thought which elucidate the pathogenesis of AIDS; and (2) identifies, based on this work, all promising curatives and oversees their timely and adequate testing. Establishes a Governing Council to set policy and oversee research priorities, ethical standards, conflict of interest rules, and hiring of researchers and administrators. Establishes a coordinating committee to facilitate communication among the different scientists working on the project, evaluate the progress of its work, and convene the entire staff on a regular schedule (or when necessary) to evaluate the progress of the project as a whole, identify gaps in research, reevaluate its direction, and consider newly developed theories emanating from both within and outside the project. Requires the Secretary to convene a one-time national AIDS Congress solely to make recommendations to the President for selecting the Governing Council. Grants the Secretary extraordinary powers in carrying out such project, including the power to exercise the right of eminent domain to obtain samples of potential curatives and data on their development. Vests power in the Congress to reauthorize the project after five years of operation.
Resolution· SCONRESS.Con.Res. 69 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation that is enacted should contain provisions that ensure that qualified poison control centers are adequately compensated; and (2) a national commission should be established to study the delivery and funding of poison control services.
Law· SJRESS.J.Res. 185 (103rd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Designates October 1994 as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 184 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Designates September 18 through 24, 1994, as Iron Overload Diseases Awareness Week.
Bill· HRH.R. 4350 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to declare that the Secretary of Health and Human Services is not authorized to require a State plan for medical assistance to ensure the provision of necessary non-emergency medical transportation services. Denies Federal payment for such services.
Bill· HRH.R. 4365 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Amends title XI of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, to repeal the requirement that employers report certain employee information to the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 246 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to provide for national health care reform should: (1) prohibit the denial of health insurance coverage to, or limitation of coverage or benefits for, any individual or family on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; (2) prohibit charging an unreasonable amount for such coverage and benefits on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; and (3) include among the individuals and families protected by such prohibitions those who wish to acquire health insurance coverage and benefits from an entity other than their current health care provider.
Bill· SS. 2077 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1994
Community Improvement Volunteer Act of 1994 - Provides for waivers of the prevailing-wage-setting requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act with respect to volunteers who perform services under the Library Services and Construction Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, or migrant health centers or community health centers provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Prohibits approval of any expense, benefit, or fee being paid to such volunteers which has the effect of undermining labor standards by creating downward pressure on prevailing wages in the local construction industry. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report to the appropriate congressional committees on such waivers for volunteers on such projects and make recommendations with respect to other Davis-Bacon-related Acts that could be addressed to permit volunteer work.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 417 (103rd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1994
Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on S. 636 (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1993).
Bill· SS. 2067 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1994
Reorganizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) position of Director of Indian Health Service as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Health. Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to reorganize the Indian Health Service as an agency of HHS, moving it from the Public Health Service.
Bill· SS. 2059 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Procurement Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations Subtitle B: Other Matters Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Title III: Operation and Maintenance Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations Subtitle B: Other Matters Title IV: Military Personnel Authorizations Subtitle A: Active Forces Subtitle B: Reserve Forces Subtitle C: Military Training Student Loads Title V: Military Personnel Policy Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy Subtitle B: Reserve Component Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances Subtitle B: Retired Pay and Survivor Benefits Title VII: Health Care Provisions Subtitle A: Health Care Management Subtitle B: Personnel Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title VIII: Department of Defense Organization and Management Subtitle A: Department of Defense Subtitle B: Professional Military Education Subtitle C: Education Matters Subtitle D: Other Matters Title IX: General Provisions Subtitle A: Financial Matters Subtitle B: Civilian Employee Pay Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title X: Matters Relating to Allies, Other Nations, and International Organizations Title XI: Peacekeeping and Related Matters Title XII: Counterproliferation Title XIII: Acquisition Reform National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 - Title I: Procurement - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force for aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, shipbuilding and conversion, and for other procurement. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for: (1) defense-wide procurement; (2) the Defense Inspector General; (3) the Defense Health Program; and (4) the chemical demilitarization program. Subtitle B: Other Matters - Repeals the current requirement for a separate budget request for the procurement of reserve equipment. Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the armed forces for research, development, test, and evaluation (R&D). Title III: Operation and Maintenance - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the armed forces and specified activities and agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD) for operation and maintenance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for DOD working capital and revolving funds. Repeals Federal provisions: (1) expressing certain limitations on the use of the Defense Business Operations Fund (Fund); and (2) relating to charges for goods and services provided through the Fund. Allows funds collected from the operation of the Naval Academy laundry to be used for expenses of such operation. Subtitle B: Other Matters - Revises the required date for submission to the Congress of a future-years mission budget of DOD from the date of submission of the President's budget to within 60 days of such date. (Sec. 312) Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to waive the live-fire survivability testing of F-22 aircraft if such testing would be unreasonably expensive or impractical, as long as he certifies such to the Congress. (Sec. 313) Deletes certain information required with respect to a report on the ballistic missile defense mission. (Sec. 314) Repeals provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 concerning advance review and approval of developmental tests of limited defense systems and the independent monitoring of such tests. Adds certain methods of test and evaluation with respect to theater missile defense interceptors. (Sec. 316) Authorizes the President to provide global disaster relief in response to manmade or natural disasters. (Sec. 317) Removes a $400,000 fiscal year limit on funds authorized to be used by the Defense Inspector General for emergency and extraordinary expenses. Title IV: Military Personnel Authorization - Subtitle A: Active Forces - Provides for the authorized end strengths for active-duty forces as of FY 1995. Subtitle B: Reserve Forces - Sets forth the authorized end strengths for reserve personnel as of FY 1995 and for certain reserves on active duty in support of the reserves. Subtitle C: Military Training Student Loads - Sets forth the authorized FY 1995 military training student loads. Title V: Military Personnel Policy - Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy - Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to approve officers serving on certain successive selection boards. (Sec. 503) Provides that when the Senate has confirmed some officers on a promotion list but not others: (1) the confirmed appointments may be made; and (2) the Secretary may make appropriate adjustments in the date of rank and effective date of pay for those appointments confirmed later. Revises provisions relating to the enlistment of certain limited duty Navy and Marine Corps officers and to the retention of such officers who are within two years of qualification for retirement pay. Makes permanent (currently terminates as of the end of FY 1995) the authority for the temporary promotion of certain Navy lieutenants. Subtitle B: Reserve Component Matters - Revises the composition of the Reserve Forces Policy Board. (Sec. 512) Provides certain additional and expanded reserve personnel call-up authority for the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation when the Coast Guard is not under the jurisdiction of the Navy. (Sec. 514) Limits the duration of force reduction transition period annual payments to between one and five years as specified by the Secretary concerned (currently, five years). Subtitle C: Other Matters - Repeals a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 requiring a specified reduction, by the end of FY 1996, in the number of U.S. military personnel assigned to permanent duty outside the United States. Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits - Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances - Waives any FY 1995 military pay increase tied to increases in the General Schedule of Compensation for Government employees. Increases by 1.6 percent, effective on January 1, 1995, the rates of basic pay, basic allowance for subsistence, and basic allowance for quarters for members of the armed forces. (Sec. 602) Revises the calculation of retired pay of commissioned officers who did not serve satisfactorily in the grade held at retirement. (Sec. 603) Extends specified expiring authorities for certain special pay and bonus programs within the regular and reserve armed forces. Subtitle B: Retired Pay and Survivor Benefits - Removes the 60-day limit on the amount of unused accrued military leave that may be paid to survivors of military personnel killed while on active duty or dying after retirement from military service. (Sec. 612) Provides disability coverage for certain officer candidates who are granted excess leave. (Sec. 613) Requires forfeiture of any military annuity or retired pay in the case of former or current military personnel convicted of espionage. (Sec. 614) Provides for the crediting of certain reserve service in the computation of retired pay of former military personnel. Title VII: Health Care Provisions - Subtitle A: Health Care Management - Amends the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary and the Coast Guard to receive from the Secretary of Health and Human Services information from the Medicare and Medicaid coverage data bank concerning responsibility for the payment of health care items and services furnished to beneficiaries of military personnel. (Sec. 702) Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse military health personnel for any professional license required for performing duty at a civilian health care facility as part of a resources exchange program. Subtitle B: Personnel Matters - Increases from $6,000 to $15,000 the incentive special pay for certain registered nurse anesthetists. Extends through FY 1998 the authority for certain nurse bonuses. Reduces from five to three the maximum years for a military member to be maintained on the temporary disability retired list. Subtitle C: Other Matters - Allows a person placed in the home of a member or former member of the armed forces for adoption to be considered a dependent for purposes of eligibility for certain health benefits. (Sec. 722) Repeals a Federal provision prohibiting DOD funds from being used to perform abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger. (Sec. 723) Authorizes medical and dental care for abused dependents of military personnel who are discharged from service. Title VIII: Department of Defense Organization and Management - Subtitle A: Department of Defense - Revises provisions concerning the order of succession in the military departments. (Sec. 802) Directs the Secretary of Defense (currently, the Secretary of the Army) to prepare mileage tables used for transportation allowance purposes. (Sec. 803) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to: (1) extend through FY 1996 the authority of the Secretary to commemorate World War II; and (2) make permanent the authority for DOD to share equitably the costs of claims under international armaments programs. (Sec. 805) Redesignates the: (1) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology; and (2) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. (Sec. 807) Repeals the requirement that the DOD Comptroller be the Chief Financial Officer of DOD. Redesignates the Comptroller as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). Subtitle B: Professional Military Education - Authorizes the Secretary to hire civilian faculty members for the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University. Subtitle C: Education Matters - Makes general revisions to the Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act. (Sec. 823) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for the elementary and secondary education of dependents of federally employed personnel and military personnel when the appropriate educational programs are not available through local education agencies in the United States. Subtitle D: Other Matters - Expands DOD authority to receive voluntary services. Repeals a Federal provision prohibiting the use of DOD appropriations to contract for fire fighting or security guard functions at any military facility. (Sec. 833) Provides a two-year statute of limitations with respect to claims for unpaid minimum wages, overtime, or liquidated damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Title IX: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Financial Matters - Exempts routine administrative adjustments to Federal pay from certain employee due process requirements (such as 30 days' prior notification). (Sec. 902) Amends the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 to revise the method of the payment of interest on contractor claims. Subtitle B: Civilian Employee Pay Matters - Extends specified expiring authorities with respect to: (1) reduction in force notification requirements under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993; and (2) Federal employee provisions relating to separation pay, the restoration of certain accumulated leave, and the continuation of health benefits for DOD employees involuntarily separated due to a reduction in force. (Sec. 912) Provides travel, transportation, and relocation expenses for DOD employees who are separated from employment and selected for service with the Postal Service. (Sec. 913) Limits severance pay for certain civilian employees who move from an appropriated to a nonappropriated fund position. Subtitle C: Other Matters - Authorizes members and units of the National Guard to provide transportation and other support services to certain youth organizations, including the Boy and Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, and YWCA. (Sec. 922) Prohibits anyone from using the words "Defense Mapping Agency" or its initials, seal, or other imitation except with the written permission of the Secretary. Provides for enforcement. Prohibits claims or actions against the United States based upon the preparation or dissemination by such Agency of any navigational aid. (Sec. 924) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to reimburse the Civil Air Patrol for the cost of maintaining a staff at its national headquarters. Provides for the employment of retired Air Force officers with the Patrol, with continuation of all retired pay benefits. (Sec. 925) Prohibits funds appropriated to DOD from being used for research involving humans as experimental subjects, unless conducted within regulations prescribed by the Secretary. (Sec. 926) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct military-to-military contacts and comparable activities designed to promote the democratic orientation of the defense establishments and military forces of other countries. (Sec. 927) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the purchase of sealift vessels for the Ready Reserve. Allows for the transfer of funds for such purposes. Title X: Matters Relating to Allies, Other Nations, and International Organizations - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire, from the United Nations or other such organizations of which the United States is a member, logistic support for forces deployed outside the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cross servicing agreements with such organizations for the provision of logistic support, supplies, and services. Includes such organizations within current methods of payment for acquisitions and transfers, as well as limitations on amounts that may be obligated or accrued by the United States for the acquisition of supplies. Title XI: Peacekeeping and Related Matters - Authorizes the President to provide appropriate assistance to international peacekeeping and peace enforcement activities, and to make contributions on behalf of the United States for operations conducted by the United Nations. Requires reimbursement. Establishes in the Treasury the Contributions for International Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement Activities Fund for deposit of reimbursed amounts, as well as appropriated amounts. Provides an annual reporting requirement. Authorizes appropriations. Title XII: Counterproliferation - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to: (1) extend through FY 1995 the authority of the Secretary to provide assistance to support international nonproliferation activities; (2) extend through FY 1995 required quarterly reports concerning such assistance; (3) replace the On-Site Inspection Agency with DOD with regard to activities in support of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq; (4) include among such financially assisted activities the dismantlement and destruction of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as their delivery systems and related technologies; and (5) repeal fiscal year and funding limitations with regard to such assistance. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 to: (1) repeal certain reporting requirements and funding limitations; and (2) extend permanently the authority for studies relating to U.S. counterproliferation policy. Authorizes FY 1995 appropriations for conducting counterproliferation activities. Title XIII: Acquisition Reform - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into transactions other than contracts and agreements to carry out basic, applied, and advanced research projects through the Advanced Research Projects Agency. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 to: (1) allow the Secretaries of the military departments (currently, only the Secretary of Defense) to maintain lists of plants equipped to manufacture arms or ammunition; (2) ensure the Government's rights in technical data when providing the services of Government laboratories and equipment; and (3) allow the President to order through the Secretaries of the military departments (currently, only the Secretary of Defense) products or materials to be used for industrial mobilization purposes. Provides for the public sale of vessels stricken by the Secretary of the Navy from the Naval Vessel Registry due to being unfit for service. Allows such vessels to be transferred to a State or local government or other entity or used for experimental purposes.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 208 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Senate with respect to mammography screening to detect breast cancer in women ages 40 to 49.
Bill· HRH.R. 4329 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1994
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to establish a registration renewal procedure. Requires active ingredients, for purposes of such procedure, to be classified as follows: (1) in group one if first contained in a pesticide initially registered before November 1, 1984; (2) in group two if first contained in a pesticide initially registered after October 31, 1984, but before this Act's enactment; or (3) in group three if first contained in a pesticide initially registered after this Act's enactment. (Sec. 2) Sets reapplication dates for active ingredients as follows: (1) 12-14 years after the issuance of a reregistration eligibility decision document for the active ingredient for those in group one; (2) ten to 13 years after this Act's enactment for those in group two; and (3) 12 years after the date of initial registration of a product containing the active ingredient for those in group three. Sets subsequent reapplication dates for active ingredients at 12 years after the preceding expiration date. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assess fees from registrants to cover costs associated with registration review. Permits the Administrator to cancel a registration for nonpayment. Establishes a registration renewal fund in the Treasury. Allows the continued use, distribution, or sale of existing stocks of an expired pesticide subject to conditions specified by the Administrator. (Sec. 3) Revises pesticide export provisions to prohibit the export of a pesticide that contains an active ingredient if virtually all uses of the active ingredient in the United States have been prohibited. Permits such exports where an export would be prohibited only because registration applications have been voluntarily withdrawn or cancelled by an applicant if the Administrator is unaware of any information indicating that use of the pesticide could pose adverse health or environmental risks. Authorizes such exports to a specified importing country if: (1) the pesticide is not subject to a prohibition for any human health related reason; and (2) the country has informed the Administrator that it wishes to import the pesticide and is aware that U.S. uses of the pesticide are prohibited. Requires the Administrator to prohibit, by order, persons from exporting a pesticide to a foreign country if such country has informed the Administrator or an international agency of which the United States is a member, that the country does not wish to import the pesticide and certifies that it: (1) is not producing or importing and will not produce or import the pesticide for use in the country; and (2) does not wish to import the pesticide because of human health or environmental concerns. Provides for withdrawal of such order if the country is not in compliance with such certification. Prohibits the export of a pesticide unless: (1) there is a tolerance or an exemption from certain tolerance requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) governing residues of each ingredient in the pesticide in at least one food; (2) there is a practical method for detecting residues in or on foods and the Administrator has an appropriately certified pesticide reference standard; or (3) the Administrator determines that the pesticide is not likely to be used in a manner resulting in residues in or on imported foods. Prohibits the export of a pesticide if any ingredient has not been and is not the subject of any registration unless the Administrator determines that: (1) for each active ingredient, there is a tolerance greater than zero or an exemption from the tolerance requirement under the FDCA; or (2) residues of the pesticide on food have been permitted or the pesticide has been approved for use in at least three countries that evaluate pesticides prior to marketing in accordance with internationally recognized scientific standards and on the basis of an independent scientific review of health and environmental risks; and (3) the country of import participates in the United Nations Environment Program-Food and Agriculture Organization system for exchange of information on pesticides in international trade. Permits persons to petition the Administrator to withdraw authorization to export such pesticides. Authorizes the Administrator to permit the export of a small quantity of a pesticide to a foreign country solely for research and development purposes, but not test marketing. Prohibits such export if the pesticide contains an active ingredient which has been prohibited for virtually all uses, with exceptions. Requires exporters, in the case of unregistered pesticides other than those containing active ingredients that are banned in the United States, to obtain signed statements from foreign purchasers acknowledging that they understand that the pesticide is not registered for use, and cannot be sold, in the United States. Prohibits the export of a pesticide or a device unless it complies with requirements of this Act and the label of the pesticide is written in an official language of the country of use and, to the extent not in conflict with the country's requirements, contains all health, safety, environmental, and other related information required to be included on labeling in the United States. Requires pesticide exporters to comply with the product stewardship provisions of the 1994 International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Permits the Administrator to prohibit noncomplying exporters from exporting for up to 180 days. Requires persons who distribute or sell pesticides for export to submit distribution or sale records to the Administrator as prescribed. Authorizes the assessment of fees on pesticide registrants to carry out export requirements and establishes a fund in the Treasury. Permits the Administrator to use a specified amount to provide countries technical assistance in certain pesticide safety, management, and training programs, alternative methods of pest control, and other related activities. Gives priority for assistance to developing countries that are major sources of food imported into the United States. Requires persons who export pesticides or produce pesticides for export to submit to the Administrator information regarding: (1) unreasonable environmental effects of the pesticides; and (2) the regulatory status of the pesticides in other countries that would affect exports. (Sec. 4) Revises the procedure for the cancellation, denial of registration, or change in the classification of pesticides. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, by order and without a hearing, to cancel a pesticide registration or deny a registration application if the Administrator has revoked a tolerance regulation or denied a petition to establish a tolerance regulation for residues in or on food that could result from the use of the pesticide unless such use is unlikely to result in food that is adulterated. (Sec. 6) Revises procedures for suspension of pesticide registrations and removes certain provisions requiring hearings. (Sec. 7) Authorizes the Administrator, if the risks associated with the use of a pesticide can be reduced by a change in the labeling, packaging, or composition of the pesticide, to issue a notice requiring registrants to make such change. Prohibits such change if it will prohibit or make uses of the pesticide economically unfeasible. Authorizes registrants to object to such changes and requires the Administrator to respond by withdrawing, modifying, or affirming the changes. Authorizes the Administrator to suspend a registration if a registrant fails to comply with a notice. Permits the continued sale or distribution of such pesticides for a limited period by persons other than the registrant. Authorizes the Administrator to require the recall of pesticides sold or distributed in violation of requirements. (Sec. 8) Requires the Administrator, if credible scientific evidence indicates that the use of a pesticide is likely to pose a significant risk to humans or the environment and additional information should be developed to reduce uncertainties regarding the risk, to restrict, reduce, or eliminate the use or production of the pesticide or evaluate other actions necessary to address the risk. (Sec. 9) Directs the Administrator to develop criteria for the designation of reduced risk pesticides. Permits registrants or registration applicants to request the Administrator to designate a pesticide as a reduced risk pesticide. Extends the period of exclusive use for data submitted to support the application for the original registration of a pesticide if the Administrator approves at least three minor uses of the pesticide or the pesticide has been designated as a reduced risk pesticide prior to the expiration of the period of exclusive use. Permits the Administrator to conditionally register a biological pesticide or a mixture of such pesticides not contained in any currently registered pesticide prior to the development of data necessary to determine whether a pesticide meets registration requirements. Conditions such registrations on a determination that use of the pesticide will not cause any adverse environmental effects and is in the public interest. Requires the Administrator to give priority to registration applications in the following order: (1) registration of pesticides that would meet pest control needs that are currently being addressed through emergency pesticide uses authorized under FIFRA (these uses exempt Federal or State agencies from requirements as dictated by emergency circumstances); (2) applications likely to reduce the risk of adverse environmental effects from the use of currently registered pesticides subject to cancellation proceedings; (3) applications for reduced risk pesticides; and (4) applications for minor use pesticides. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture to review the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences' report, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children," and conduct surveys to document dietary exposure to pesticides among infants and children and perform other research as necessary to implement the recommendations. Revises provisions regarding pest control strategies to make it a goal to support research and development of methods that reduce health and environmental risks, including alternative pest control strategies. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator to implement a process for coordinating environmental risk reduction through identification of pesticides that pose significant risks and for which development of use reduction programs and research on safer alternative means of pest control should be high priority for research programs. Requires the Administrator to provide an annual list to the Secretary of agricultural use pesticides: (1) for which the Administrator is considering certain regulatory actions (e.g., cancellations, denials of registrations) that would affect their availability, including agricultural commodities and pests affected; (2) which otherwise pose significant health and environmental risks; and (3) for which there exists significant instances of pest resistance. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review all available alternatives to the pesticides listed; and (2) develop a research and technology transfer plan for each pest-commodity combination on the list for which there are insufficient alternative pest control techniques that present less risk. Allocates funding to carry out such objectives. Expands provisions regarding integrated pest management to require the Secretary to implement research, demonstration, and education programs to support goals for adoption of integrated pest management. Directs the Secretary to implement pesticide use reduction goals in selected ecosystems. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Administrator, subject to specified conditions, to delay action to delete a minor food or feed use for which a registrant has not agreed to timely submit data necessary for reregistration. Authorizes appropriations for the development of public health data in cases where the Administrator determines that further study is needed on public health pesticides to support continued registration. (Sec. 11) Adds reregistration fee provisions. (Sec. 12) Permits a restricted use pesticide to be applied only by or under the direct supervision of a certified applicator or subject to other restrictions if the Administrator determines that the pesticide or its uses may cause adverse environmental effects without additional regulatory restriction. (Sec. 13) Revises judicial review procedures. (Sec. 14) Sets time limitations on claims for indemnity payments from the United States to persons suffering losses from cancelled pesticides. (Sec. 17) Expands current pesticide recordkeeping requirements. Revises enforcement authorities. Bars Federal contracts with persons convicted of offenses under FIFRA if such a contract is to be performed at any facility at which the violation giving rise to the offense occurred. Continues such prohibition until the condition giving rise to the conviction has been corrected. Requires the Administrator to treat Indian tribes as States under FIFRA. (Sec. 18) Provides protection to whistleblowers.
Bill· HRH.R. 4314 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1994
Safe Drinking Water Reform Act of 1994 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into agreements with States having primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) for public water systems to make capitalization grants to be deposited in drinking water treatment revolving funds. (Sec. 3) Permits such funds to be used only for providing financial assistance to public water systems for expenditures that will facilitate compliance with national primary drinking water regulations. Allocates 15 percent of amounts in such funds solely for assistance to systems which regularly serve fewer than 10,000 individuals. Permits assistance to systems not owned by governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, or Indian tribes based on public health and financial needs and repayment ability. Sets forth requirements for agreements, including that no financial assistance will be provided to a public water system if expenses could be avoided or significantly reduced by consolidation of such system with another system. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for public water system expenditures to Indian tribes and Alaskan Native villages which are ineligible for funding under this section. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Replaces provisions concerning State wellhead protection areas with those requiring State Governors to adopt and submit State Source Water Assessment Programs. Provides for local source water assessment programs as well. Authorizes the Administrator, if a State fails to submit an approved program, to: (1) withhold drinking water capitalization grants; and (2) delineate drinking water protection areas. Permits States with primacy and approved source water assessment programs to apply to the Administrator for approval of State Drinking Water Pollution Prevention Programs. Authorizes States with approved pollution prevention programs to establish tailored monitoring ("monitoring relief") for public water systems whose source waters are covered by local drinking water pollution prevention programs. Permits monitoring relief for a specific contaminant only if monitoring demonstrates that the contaminant is not present in the water supply or, if present, is consistently at levels substantially below the maximum contaminant level (MCL). Prohibits monitoring relief with respect to microbiological contaminants or contaminants caused in part by the treatment or distribution of drinking water. Permits requirements for pollution prevention programs for systems serving fewer than 3,300 persons to vary based on State criteria. Establishes funding for source water and pollution prevention programs. (Sec. 5) Adds to the list of conditions which a public water system must meet to qualify for an exemption from an MCL or treatment technique that the system's source waters are within a drinking water protection area with a local pollution prevention program. Repeals certain procedural requirements regarding exemptions and bases exemptions on a specified analysis of the local pollution prevention program. (Sec. 6) Requires the Administrator to publish an MCL and a national primary drinking water regulation for cryptosporidium. (Sec. 7) Authorizes States with primacy to grant variances from MCL or treatment technique requirements to community water systems that: (1) serve fewer than 3,300 persons; and (2) cannot comply with regulations through restructuring or obtaining alternate drinking water supplies. Permits such variances only if they would protect public health. Makes variances effective for five years and permits renewals for additional five-year periods subject to compliance. (Sec. 9) Directs the Administrator to publish regulations specifying minimum standards for certification of operators of public water systems, laboratories conducting tests, and additional designated personnel. Requires the Administrator, whenever a new national primary drinking water standard is promulgated, to publish information simultaneously on available technologies to meet such standard in the case of public water systems serving 50,000, 10,000, and 3,300 persons, respectively. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to maintain a national drinking water occurrence data base, using monitoring data on the occurrence of both regulated and unregulated contaminants in public water systems. (Sec. 11) Requires the Administrator to review and revise the list of unregulated contaminants every five years. Limits such list to a maximum of 40 contaminants. (Sec. 12) Revises provisions which require the Administrator to establish MCL goals and regulations for at least 25 contaminants every three years. Requires the Administrator to publish a list of at least 15 unregulated contaminants that present the greatest public health concern, with additional lists of at least 12 contaminants every four years until such contaminants have been listed or rejected. Provides for MCL goals and regulations for such contaminants. Requires primary drinking water regulations to be reviewed at least once every five (currently, three) years. Authorizes the Administrator to remove a contaminant from the list and repeal the national standard if the contaminant is known not to occur in public water systems or has not been demonstrated to have adverse health effects. (Sec. 13) Extends the authorization of appropriations for public water system supervision programs through FY 2000. Requires States with primacy to: (1) submit implementation and funding plans to the Administrator on a triennial basis; and (2) establish State Drinking Water Protection Funds to be composed of fees from community water systems. Directs the Administrator to establish permit fee programs in States without primacy. Establishes the Public Drinking Water System Supervision Fund. Authorizes appropriations for grants to States for source water assessment, pollution prevention, and viability programs. (Sec. 14) Requires States to implement State Drinking Water System Viability Programs to assure the capability of public water systems to comply with this Act. Directs States, as a condition of a full capitalization grant, to establish programs for assessing long-term technical, managerial, and financial capabilities of community public water systems to comply with this Act. Places restrictions on grants until such programs are established. (Sec. 16) Requires the Administrator to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation: (1) requiring all public water systems to routinely inspect distribution systems where they are located in proximity to sewer system lines to detect contamination from leakage in the lines and protect against contamination; and (2) prohibiting any system from recycling into drinking water supplies any untreated material which has been discharged from the system's drinking water filtration devices.
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 362 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1994
Designates March 20 through 26, 1995, as National Long-Term Care Administrators Week.
Bill· SS. 2050 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1994
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to establish a registration renewal procedure. Requires active ingredients, for purposes of such procedure, to be classified as follows: (1) in group one if first contained in a pesticide initially registered before November 1, 1984; (2) in group two if first contained in a pesticide initially registered after October 31, 1984, but before this Act's enactment; or (3) in group three if first contained in a pesticide initially registered after this Act's enactment. (Sec. 2) Sets reapplication dates for active ingredients as follows: (1) 12-14 years after the issuance of a reregistration eligibility decision document for the active ingredient for those in group one; (2) ten to 13 years after this Act's enactment for those in group two; and (3) 12 years after the date of initial registration of a product containing the active ingredient for those in group three. Sets subsequent reapplication dates for active ingredients at 12 years after the preceding expiration date. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assess fees from registrants to cover costs associated with registration review. Permits the Administrator to cancel a registration for nonpayment. Establishes a registration renewal fund in the Treasury. Allows the continued use, distribution, or sale of existing stocks of an expired pesticide subject to conditions specified by the Administrator. (Sec. 3) Revises pesticide export provisions to prohibit the export of a pesticide that contains an active ingredient if virtually all uses of the active ingredient in the United States have been prohibited. Permits such exports where an export would be prohibited only because registration applications have been voluntarily withdrawn or cancelled by an applicant if the Administrator is unaware of any information indicating that use of the pesticide could pose adverse health or environmental risks. Authorizes such exports to a specified importing country if: (1) the pesticide is not subject to a prohibition for any human health related reason; and (2) the country has informed the Administrator that it wishes to import the pesticide and is aware that U.S. uses of the pesticide are prohibited. Requires the Administrator to prohibit, by order, persons from exporting a pesticide to a foreign country if such country has informed the Administrator or an international agency of which the United States is a member, that the country does not wish to import the pesticide and certifies that it: (1) is not producing or importing and will not produce or import the pesticide for use in the country; and (2) does not wish to import the pesticide because of human health or environmental concerns. Provides for withdrawal of such order if the country is not in compliance with such certification. Prohibits the export of a pesticide unless: (1) there is a tolerance or an exemption from certain tolerance requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) governing residues of each ingredient in the pesticide in at least one food; (2) there is a practical method for detecting residues in or on foods and the Administrator has an appropriately certified pesticide reference standard; or (3) the Administrator determines that the pesticide is not likely to be used in a manner resulting in residues in or on imported foods. Prohibits the export of a pesticide if any ingredient has not been and is not the subject of any registration unless the Administrator determines that: (1) for each active ingredient, there is a tolerance greater than zero or an exemption from the tolerance requirement under the FDCA; or (2) residues of the pesticide on food have been permitted or the pesticide has been approved for use in at least three countries that evaluate pesticides prior to marketing in accordance with internationally recognized scientific standards and on the basis of an independent scientific review of health and environmental risks; and (3) the country of import participates in the United Nations Environment Program-Food and Agriculture Organization system for exchange of information on pesticides in international trade. Permits persons to petition the Administrator to withdraw authorization to export such pesticides. Authorizes the Administrator to permit the export of a small quantity of a pesticide to a foreign country solely for research and development purposes, but not test marketing. Prohibits such export if the pesticide contains an active ingredient which has been prohibited for virtually all uses, with exceptions. Requires exporters, in the case of unregistered pesticides other than those containing active ingredients that are banned in the United States, to obtain signed statements from foreign purchasers acknowledging that they understand that the pesticide is not registered for use, and cannot be sold, in the United States. Prohibits the export of a pesticide or a device unless it complies with requirements of this Act and the label of the pesticide is written in an official language of the country of use and, to the extent not in conflict with the country's requirements, contains all health, safety, environmental, and other related information required to be included on labeling in the United States. Requires pesticide exporters to comply with the product stewardship provisions of the 1994 International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Permits the Administrator to prohibit noncomplying exporters from exporting for up to 180 days. Requires persons who distribute or sell pesticides for export to submit distribution or sale records to the Administrator as prescribed. Authorizes the assessment of fees on pesticide registrants to carry out export requirements and establishes a fund in the Treasury. Permits the Administrator to use a specified amount to provide countries technical assistance in certain pesticide safety, management, and training programs, alternative methods of pest control, and other related activites. Gives priority for assistance to developing countries that are major sources of food imported into the United States. Requires persons who export pesticides or produce pesticides for export to submit to the Administrator information regarding: (1) unreasonable environmental effects of the pesticides; and (2) the regulatory status of the pesticides in other countries that would affect exports. (Sec. 4) Revises the procedure for the cancellation, denial of registration, or change in the classification of pesticides. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, by order and without a hearing, to cancel a pesticide registration or deny a registration application if the Administrator has revoked a tolerance regulation or denied a petition to establish a tolerance regulation for residues in or on food that could result from the use of the pesticide unless such use is unlikely to result in food that is adulterated. (Sec. 6) Revises procedures for suspension of pesticide registrations and removes certain provisions requiring hearings. (Sec. 7) Authorizes the Administrator, if the risks associated with the use of a pesticide can be reduced by a change in the labeling, packaging, or composition of the pesticide, to issue a notice requiring registrants to make such change. Prohibits such change if it will prohibit or make uses of the pesticide economically unfeasible. Authorizes registrants to object to such changes and requires the Administrator to respond by withdrawing, modifying, or affirming the changes. Authorizes the Administrator to suspend a registration if a registrant fails to comply with a notice. Permits the continued sale or distribution of such pesticides for a limited period by persons other than the registrant. Authorizes the Administrator to require the recall of pesticides sold or distributed in violation of requirements. (Sec. 8) Requires the Administrator, if credible scientific evidence indicates that the use of a pesticide is likely to pose a significant risk to humans or the environment and additional information should be developed to reduce uncertainties regarding the risk, to restrict, reduce, or eliminate the use or production of the pesticide or evaluate other actions necessary to address the risk. (Sec. 9) Directs the Administrator to develop criteria for the designation of reduced risk pesticides. Permits registrants or registration applicants to request the Administrator to designate a pesticide as a reduced risk pesticide. Extends the period of exclusive use for data submitted to support the application for the original registration of a pesticide if the Administrator approves at least three minor uses of the pesticide or the pesticide has been designated as a reduced risk pesticide prior to the expiration of the period of exclusive use. Permits the Administrator to conditionally register a biological pesticide or a mixture of such pesticides not contained in any currently registered pesticide prior to the development of data necessary to determine whether a pesticide meets registration requirements. Conditions such registrations on a determination that use of the pesticide will not cause any adverse environmental effects and is in the public interest. Requires the Administrator to give priority to registration applications in the following order: (1) registration of pesticides that would meet pest control needs that are currently being addressed through emergency pesticide uses authorized under FIFRA (these uses exempt Federal or State agencies from requirements as dictated by emergency circumstances); (2) applications likely to reduce the risk of adverse environmental effects from the use of currently registered pesticides subject to cancellation proceedings; (3) applications for reduced risk pesticides; and (4) applications for minor use pesticides. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture to review the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences' report, "Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children," and conduct surveys to document dietary exposure to pesticides among infants and children and perform other research as necessary to implement the recommendations. Revises provisions regarding pest control strategies to make it a goal to support research and development of methods that reduce health and environmental risks, including alternative pest control strategies. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator to implement a process for coordinating environmental risk reduction through identification of pesticides that pose significant risks and for which development of use reduction programs and research on safer alternative means of pest control should be high priority for research programs. Requires the Administrator to provide an annual list to the Secretary of agricultural use pesticides: (1) for which the Administrator is considering certain regulatory actions (e.g., cancellations, denials of registrations) that would affect their availability, including agricultural commodities and pests affected; (2) which otherwise pose significant health and environmental risks; and (3) for which there exists significant instances of pest resistance. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review all available alternatives to the pesticides listed; and (2) develop a research and technology transfer plan for each pest-commodity combination on the list for which there are insufficient alternative pest control techniques that present less risk. Allocates funding to carry out such objectives. Expands provisions regarding integrated pest management to require the Secretary to implement research, demonstration, and education programs to support goals for adoption of integrated pest management. Directs the Secretary to implement pesticide use reduction goals in selected ecosystems. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Administrator, subject to specified conditions, to delay action to delete a minor food or feed use for which a registrant has not agreed to timely submit data necessary for reregistration. Authorizes appropriations for the development of public health data in cases where the Administrator determines that further study is needed on public health pesticides to support continued registration. (Sec. 11) Adds reregistration fee provisions. (Sec. 12) Permits a restricted use pesticide to be applied only by or under the direct supervision of a certified applicator or subject to other restrictions if the Administrator determines that the pesticide or its uses may cause adverse environmental effects without additional regulatory restriction. (Sec. 13) Revises judicial review procedures. (Sec. 14) Sets time limitations on claims for indemnity payments from the United States to persons suffering losses from cancelled pesticides. (Sec. 17) Expands current pesticide recordkeeping requirements. Revises enforcement authorities. Bars Federal contracts with persons convicted of offenses under FIFRA if such a contract is to be performed at any facility at which the violation giving rise to the offense occurred. Continues such prohibition until the condition giving rise to the conviction has been corrected. Requires the Administrator to treat Indian tribes as States under FIFRA. (Sec. 18) Provides protection to whistleblowers.
Bill· SS. 2046 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1994
Movement Disorders Research Amendments of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), acting through the Directors of the appropriate national research institutes, to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of centers to conduct basic and clinical research on movement disorders. Requires this Act to be carried out with funds otherwise appropriated for NIH activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 4301 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Procurement Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations Subtitle B: Other Matters Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Title III: Operation and Maintenance Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations Subtitle B: Other Matters Title IV: Military Personnel Authorizations Subtitle A: Active Forces Subtitle B: Reserve Forces Subtitle C: Military Training Student Loads Title V: Military Personnel Policy Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy Subtitle B: Reserve Component Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances Subtitle B: Retired Pay and Survivor Benefits Title VII: Health Care Provisions Subtitle A: Health Care Management Subtitle B: Personnel Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title VIII: Department of Defense Organization and Management Subtitle A: Department of Defense Subtitle B: Professional Military Education Subtitle C: Education Matters Subtitle D: Other Matters Title IX: General Provisions Subtitle A: Financial Matters Subtitle B: Civilian Employee Pay Matters Subtitle C: Other Matters Title X: Matters Relating to Allies, Other Nations, and International Organizations Title XI: Peacekeeping and Related Matters Title XII: Counterproliferation Title XIII: Acquisition Reform National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 - Title I: Procurement - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force for aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, shipbuilding and conversion, and for other procurement. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for: (1) defense-wide procurement; (2) the Defense Inspector General; (3) the Defense Health Program; and (4) the chemical demilitarization program. Subtitle B: Other Matters - Repeals the current requirement for a separate budget request for the procurement of reserve equipment. Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the armed forces for research, development, test, and evaluation (R&D). Title III: Operation and Maintenance - Subtitle A: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the armed forces and specified activities and agencies of the Department of Defense (DOD) for operation and maintenance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for DOD working capital and revolving funds. Repeals Federal provisions: (1) expressing certain limitations on the use of the Defense Business Operations Fund (Fund); and (2) relating to charges for goods and services provided through the Fund. Allows funds collected from the operation of the Naval Academy laundry to be used for expenses of such operation. Subtitle B: Other Matters - Revises the required date for submission to the Congress of a future-years mission budget of DOD from the date of submission of the President's budget to within 60 days of such date. (Sec. 312) Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to waive the live-fire survivability testing of F-22 aircraft if such testing would be unreasonably expensive or impractical, as long as he certifies such to the Congress. (Sec. 313) Deletes certain information required with respect to a report on the ballistic missile defense mission. (Sec. 314) Repeals provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 concerning advance review and approval of developmental tests of limited defense systems and the independent monitoring of such tests. Adds certain methods of test and evaluation with respect to theater missile defense interceptors. (Sec. 316) Authorizes the President to provide global disaster relief in response to manmade or natural disasters. (Sec. 317) Removes a $400,000 fiscal year limit on funds authorized to be used by the Defense Inspector General for emergency and extraordinary expenses. Title IV: Military Personnel Authorization - Subtitle A: Active Forces - Provides for the authorized end strengths for active-duty forces as of FY 1995. Subtitle B: Reserve Forces - Sets forth the authorized end strengths for reserve personnel as of FY 1995 and for certain reserves on active duty in support of the reserves. Subtitle C: Military Training Student Loads - Sets forth the authorized FY 1995 military training student loads. Title V: Military Personnel Policy - Subtitle A: Officer Personnel Policy - Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to approve officers serving on certain successive selection boards. (Sec. 503) Provides that when the Senate has confirmed some officers on a promotion list but not others: (1) the confirmed appointments may be made; and (2) the Secretary may make appropriate adjustments in the date of rank and effective date of pay for those appointments confirmed later. Revises provisions relating to the enlistment of certain limited duty Navy and Marine Corps officers and to the retention of such officers who are within two years of qualification for retirement pay. Makes permanent (currently terminates as of the end of FY 1995) the authority for the temporary promotion of certain Navy lieutenants. Subtitle B: Reserve Component Matters - Revises the composition of the Reserve Forces Policy Board. (Sec. 512) Provides certain additional and expanded reserve personnel call-up authority for the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation when the Coast Guard is not under the jurisdiction of the Navy. (Sec. 514) Limits the duration of force reduction transition period annual payments to between one and five years as specified by the Secretary concerned (currently, five years). Subtitle C: Other Matters - Repeals a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 requiring a specified reduction, by the end of FY 1996, in the number of U.S. military personnel assigned to permanent duty outside the United States. Title VI: Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits - Subtitle A: Pay and Allowances - Waives any FY 1995 military pay increase tied to increases in the General Schedule of Compensation for Government employees. Increases by 1.6 percent, effective on January 1, 1995, the rates of basic pay, basic allowance for subsistence, and basic allowance for quarters for members of the armed forces. (Sec. 602) Revises the calculation of retired pay of commissioned officers who did not serve satisfactorily in the grade held at retirement. (Sec. 603) Extends specified expiring authorities for certain special pay and bonus programs within the regular and reserve armed forces. Subtitle B: Retired Pay and Survivor Benefits - Removes the 60-day limit on the amount of unused accrued military leave that may be paid to survivors of military personnel killed while on active duty or dying after retirement from military service. (Sec. 612) Provides disability coverage for certain officer candidates who are granted excess leave. (Sec. 613) Requires forfeiture of any military annuity or retired pay in the case of former or current military personnel convicted of espionage. (Sec. 614) Provides for the crediting of certain reserve service in the computation of retired pay of former military personnel. Title VII: Health Care Provisions - Subtitle A: Health Care Management - Amends the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary and the Coast Guard to receive from the Secretary of Health and Human Services information from the Medicare and Medicaid coverage data bank concerning responsibility for the payment of health care items and services furnished to beneficiaries of military personnel. (Sec. 702) Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse military health personnel for any professional license required for performing duty at a civilian health care facility as part of a resources exchange program. Subtitle B: Personnel Matters - Increases from $6,000 to $15,000 the incentive special pay for certain registered nurse anesthetists. Extends through FY 1998 the authority for certain nurse bonuses. Reduces from five to three the maximum years for a military member to be maintained on the temporary disability retired list. Subtitle C: Other Matters - Allows a person placed in the home of a member or former member of the armed forces for adoption to be considered a dependent for purposes of eligibility for certain health benefits. (Sec. 722) Repeals a Federal provision prohibiting DOD funds from being used to perform abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger. (Sec. 723) Authorizes medical and dental care for abused dependents of military personnel who are discharged from service. Title VIII: Department of Defense Organization and Management - Subtitle A: Department of Defense - Revises provisions concerning the order of succession in the military departments. (Sec. 802) Directs the Secretary of Defense (currently, the Secretary of the Army) to prepare mileage tables used for transportation allowance purposes. (Sec. 803) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to: (1) extend through FY 1996 the authority of the Secretary to commemorate World War II; and (2) make permanent the authority for DOD to share equitably the costs of claims under international armaments programs. (Sec. 805) Redesignates the: (1) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology; and (2) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. (Sec. 807) Repeals the requirement that the DOD Comptroller be the Chief Financial Officer of DOD. Redesignates the Comptroller as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). Subtitle B: Professional Military Education - Authorizes the Secretary to hire civilian faculty members for the Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University. Subtitle C: Education Matters - Makes general revisions to the Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act. (Sec. 823) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for the elementary and secondary education of dependents of federally employed personnel and military personnel when the appropriate educational programs are not available through local education agencies in the United States. Subtitle D: Other Matters - Expands DOD authority to receive voluntary services. Repeals a Federal provision prohibiting the use of DOD appropriations to contract for firefighting or security guard functions at any military facility. (Sec. 833) Provides a two-year statute of limitations with respect to claims for unpaid minimum wages, overtime, or liquidated damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Title IX: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Financial Matters - Exempts routine administrative adjustments to Federal pay from certain employee due process requirements (such as 30 days' prior notification). (Sec. 902) Amends the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 to revise the method of the payment of interest on contractor claims. Subtitle B: Civilian Employee Pay Matters - Extends specified expiring authorities with respect to: (1) reduction in force notification requirements under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993; and (2) Federal employee provisions relating to separation pay, the restoration of certain accumulated leave, and the continuation of health benefits for DOD employees involuntarily separated due to a reduction in force. (Sec. 912) Provides travel, transportation, and relocation expenses for DOD employees who are separated from employment and selected for service with the Postal Service. (Sec. 913) Limits severance pay for certain civilian employees who move from an appropriated to a nonappropriated fund position. Subtitle C: Other Matters - Authorizes members and units of the National Guard to provide transportation and other support services to certain youth organizations, including the Boy and Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, and YWCA. (Sec. 922) Prohibits anyone from using the words "Defense Mapping Agency" or its initials, seal, or other imitation except with the written permission of the Secretary. Provides for enforcement. Prohibits claims or actions against the United States based upon the preparation or dissemination by such Agency of any navigational aid. (Sec. 924) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to reimburse the Civil Air Patrol for the cost of maintaining a staff at its national headquarters. Provides for the employment of retired Air Force officers with the Patrol, with continuation of all retired pay benefits. (Sec. 925) Prohibits funds appropriated to DOD from being used for research involving humans as experimental subjects, unless conducted within regulations prescribed by the Secretary. (Sec. 926) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct military-to-military contacts and comparable activities designed to promote the democratic orientation of the defense establishments and military forces of other countries. (Sec. 927) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for the purchase of sealift vessels for the Ready Reserve. Allows for the transfer of funds for such purposes. Title X: Matters Relating to Allies, Other Nations, and International Organizations - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire, from the United Nations or other such organizations of which the United States is a member, logistic support for forces deployed outside the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cross servicing agreements with such organizations for the provision of logistic support, supplies, and services. Includes such organizations within current methods of payment for acquisitions and transfers, as well as limitations on amounts that may be obligated or accrued by the United States for the acquisition of supplies. Title XI: Peacekeeping and Related Matters - Authorizes the President to provide appropriate assistance to international peacekeeping and peace enforcement activities, and to make contributions on behalf of the United States for operations conducted by the United Nations. Requires reimbursement. Establishes in the Treasury the Contributions for International Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement Activities Fund for deposit of reimbursed amounts, as well as appropriated amounts. Provides an annual reporting requirement. Authorizes appropriations. Title XII: Counterproliferation - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to: (1) extend through FY 1995 the authority of the Secretary to provide assistance to support international nonproliferation activities; (2) extend through FY 1995 required quarterly reports concerning such assistance; (3) replace the On-Site Inspection Agency with DOD with regard to activities in support of the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq; (4) include among such financially assisted activities the dismantlement and destruction of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as their delivery systems and related technologies; and (5) repeal fiscal year and funding limitations with regard to such assistance. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 to: (1) repeal certain reporting requirements and funding limitations; and (2) extend permanently the authority for studies relating to U.S. counterproliferation policy. Authorizes FY 1995 appropriations for conducting counterproliferation activities. Title XIII: Acquisition Reform - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into transactions other than contracts and agreements to carry out basic, applied, and advanced research projects through the Advanced Research Projects Agency. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 to: (1) allow the Secretaries of the military departments (currently, only the Secretary of Defense) to maintain lists of plants equipped to manufacture arms or ammunition; (2) ensure the Government's rights in technical data when providing the services of government laboratories and equipment; and (3) allow the President to order through the Secretaries of the military departments (currently, only the Secretary of Defense) products or materials to be used for industrial mobilization purposes. Provides for the public sale of vessels stricken by the Secretary of the Navy from the Naval Vessel Registry due to being unfit for service. Allows such vessels to be transferred to a State or local government or other entity or used for experimental purposes.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 243 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation that is enacted should contain provisions that ensure that qualified poison control centers are adequately compensated; and (2) a national commission should be established to study the delivery and funding of poison control services.
Bill· HRH.R. 4294 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Comprehensive Health Access District Act - Defines: (1) "comprehensive health access district" as a community in which unemployment and the percentage of residents with incomes below the poverty line are greater than the national average, and in which a majority of certain diseases and conditions occur at rates greater than the national average; and (2) "comprehensive community-based health access plan" as an entity that provides health care services on a prepaid, capitated basis, or any other risk basis, and that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has certified meets certain requirements. (Sec. 3) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require, among other things, that each Medicaid State plan provide that each comprehensive health access district located within the State is served by a comprehensive community-based health access district plan. (Sec. 4) Requires each Health Alliance or other health insurance purchasing cooperative created out of comprehensive health care reform legislation that receives premiums on behalf of persons formerly insured under Medicaid, and whose boundaries encompass a comprehensive health access district, to ensure that at least one comprehensive community-based health access plan is available to persons living in such district. (Sec. 5) Sets forth specified requirements for an entity to be certified as a comprehensive community-based health access plan. (Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary to designate a community a comprehensive health access district and to certify an entity as a comprehensive health access plan provided they meet certain criteria. (Sec. 7) Requires each health access plan, in order to evaluate its performance in improving the health status of persons living in comprehensive health access districts, to provide the Secretary with specified health-related information.
Bill· HRH.R. 4274 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Health Care Quality Improvement Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 to require, in a professional review action (PRA), the granting of a motion for summary judgment that PRA standards have been met unless, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the opposing party, a reasonable finder of fact could conclude that the presumption that such standards have been met has been rebutted. Allows appeal as of right to a Federal court of appeals (except the Federal Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) of any decision on such a motion. (Sec. 3) Requires each person (as well as entity), including a Federal, State, or local government, and any Federal officer and employee, who makes payment in whole or partial settlement of a medical malpractice action or claim, to report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) certain information on the payment and its circumstances. Applies this reporting requirement to any physician or other licensed health care professional who makes such a payment and whose acts or omissions are the basis for the action or claim. Waives this requirement for any such physician or other licensed health care professional whose payment is made as a refund of fees for the health service involved, when such payment does not exceed the amount of the original charge for such services. Applies other specified reporting requirements to Federal health facilities and any PRA's taken by them regarding the competence or professional conduct of Federal physicians to the same extent and in the same manner as they apply to health care entities and PRA's. (Sec. 4) Requires each Board of Medical Examiners to report to the Secretary any denials of a physician's license. (Sec. 5) Imposes on each Board of Medical Examiners the duty to request from the Secretary any information reported on a physician at the time the physician applies for a physician's license, or for continuation of such a license, in the State involved. Presumes any Board to have knowledge of any such information it fails to request. Requires the Secretary to establish a system for electronically transmitting information to States, that elect to install equipment necessary to participate in such system. Grants the Board of Medical Examiners in a participating State the option, in lieu of requesting information upon a physician's application for license continuation, to transmit annually through the system data identifying all individuals holding a valid physician's license issued by the Board. Requires a Board exercising such an option also, upon receiving from the Secretary a list of physicians who have been the subject of information on incidents giving rise to malpractice actions or claims, to identify promptly and request from the Secretary information on any such physician who has had an incident in another State. (Sec. 6) Prohibits the Secretary from imposing a fee for providing such a physician list. Requires the Secretary to publish and make available to the public semiannually information, with specified exceptions, from medical malpractice payment reports. Requires the Secretary to disseminate each such publication to public libraries without charge, but permits imposition of a reasonable fee on other entities to which the publication is provided. (Sec. 7) Prohibits any entity from making any payment in whole or partial settlement of a medical malpractice action or claim without the written consent of the physician or other licensed health care practitioner whose acts or omissions are the basis of the action or claim. Excepts from such prohibition court judgments, alternative dispute resolution processes, and an entity's reasonable belief, after delivering a written notice, that the physician or other licensed health care practitioner concerned does not object to payment. Sets forth civil money penalties for any entity violating this prohibition. Prohibits a health services organization from terminating the employment of a physician (or a contract with a physician for provision of health services) unless adequate notice and hearing procedures have been afforded the physician involved. Specifies conditions such an organization must meet to satisfy this requirement. (Sec. 8) Subjects to such Act any unlicensed or unapproved hospital if State or local law allows the hospital to operate without being licensed or otherwise approved.
Bill· HRH.R. 4282 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Access to Rural Health Information Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to the States to establish and operate toll-free telephone hot-line communications to provide health services information to individuals in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 4284 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Osteoporosis Risk Reduction Act of 1994 - Mandates review of: (1) the relationship between dietary calcium intake, bone mineral density, and the onset of osteoporosis; and (2) the recommended daily allowances for calcium. Requires development of optimum daily intake levels and, as appropriate, a proposed amendment to the standard of identity for enriched flour for the fortification of bread, cereal, and other grain products.
Bill· HRH.R. 4291 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise Medicare regulations governing payment of anesthesia services to compensate: (1) certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) for their services; and (2) physician supervision of CRNAs. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide guidelines for split payments for anesthesia services furnished jointly by a physician and a CRNA.