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351 records in US in 1989
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1989
Designates the week of October 22 through October 29, 1989, as Drug-Free America Week. Encourages every American to wear red during such week to symbolize a commitment to a drug-free lifestyle.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to phase-in, over four years, the requirement that nursing facilities pay nursing personnel at a rate at least equal to the mean rate paid nursing personnel employed outside such facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to place the Office of Rural Health Policy under the direction of a Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Health responsible for reporting directly to the Secretary and Deputy Under Secretary of Health and Human Services. Makes such Office independent of other offices, services, and components of the Department of Health and Human Services. Elaborates upon the duties of the Office of Rural Health Policy.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
National Voluntary Health Insurance Act of 1989 - Creates a National Voluntary Health Insurance Agency (Agency) to operate a National Voluntary Health Insurance Plan (Plan) with funds supplied by voluntary subscriptions and matching Treasury funds. Describes the administrative composition of the Agency, whose Director will be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. States that the Agency shall issue no rules or regulations, but shall be governed solely by this Act and its amendments. Authorizes appropriations. Withholds funding for duplicative benefits currently provided as hospital and medical service insurance benefits or payments by other Government agencies, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). Enumerates Plan benefits to include: (1) medical services when provided by a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine or medical doctor and wherever furnished, including psychiatric medicine, surgery, obstetrics, radiological and electrical procedures, pathology tests, transfusions, medication and immunization, injections, and anesthesia; (2) reconstructive oral surgery; (3) podiatric surgery; (4) laboratory services; and (5) inpatient or outpatient hospital services, supplies, medication, transfusions, and food provided by approved hospitals, including general or special hospitals, outpatient clinics, emergency wards, convalescent hospitals, nursing homes, and acute alcohol or drug toxification treatment centers. Excludes from coverage: (1) cosmetic surgery not approved under this Act; (2) certain services that are not medically necessary; (3) services for the benefit of a second party other than the enrollee; (4) certain employer responsibilities, such as those of a workers' compensation insurer; (5) services already covered by another plan; (6) hospital or laboratory services provided by an unapproved facility; and (7) certain other medical advice and services. Sets the amount of premium payments at $40 per month for each adult and $20 for each child. Entitles subscribers with a total annual family income of less than $12,000 to have their premiums calculated on a percentage-of-income basis, to a minimum monthly premium of five dollars per adult. Provides for the payment of premiums by employers and for the reinstatement of coverage on account of unpaid premiums paid within 60 days of the due date. Requires the Agency to establish a trust fund for the deposit of all premiums and at least an equal amount of money appropriated from the Treasury. Directs the Congress to deposit in such fund the amount of $5,000,000,000 by the effective date of the Plan. Declares that the total amount of general funds appropriated to the fund shall not exceed the total amount of subscribers' premiums after the Plan's fifth year of operation. Reserves 35 percent of the total amount of subscribers' premiums deposited in the trust fund for the payment of medical and laboratory service benefits, 62 percent of such premiums for hospital service benefits, and three percent for administrative costs. Applies a parallel apportionment scheme to trust fund monies derived from Treasury general funds. Sets forth enrollment and reimbursement provisions. Allows participating providers to require an enrollee to pay a reasonable charge in addition to the Plan fee. Sets forth standards and procedures governing Plan participation by medical service providers, laboratories, and hospitals. Directs the Agency to: (1) set a fee for every professionally recognized diagnostic and therapeutic medical service and for all laboratory pathological tests; and (2) provide each approved hospital with a schedule or per diem rate and charges that it will pay. Requires that the medical and laboratory services fees be in proportion to the usual, customary, and reasonable fees for such services and that the hospital charges be based on each hospital's certified annual financial and operating cost statement. Specifies certain additional requirements with respect to hospital charges. Requires Agency consultation with appropriate medical professional society personnel in the setting and revision of schedules and fees. Sets forth requirements with respect to the auditing, payment, and assessment on claims and the utilization of Plan benefits. Authorizes the Agency to temporarily or permanently exclude any enrollee or provider for making fraudulent payment or service claims. Mandates that the Agency directors, within a specified time period, consider the advisability and feasibility of offering additional Plan benefits and that they bring their recommendations before the Congress for appropriate amendment of this Act. Permits Plan subscribers to receive Plan benefits within the context of a prepaid group medical practice or Health Maintenance Organization. Provides for premium increases or changes in trust fund allocations in the event Plan costs exceed trust fund reserves. Requires the Congress, at the time this Act becomes operational, to amend the rates of Social Security taxes relative to the reduction in Social Security health insurance expenditures effected by this Act. Requires that all malpractice claims be resolved by arbitration, and sets forth procedures to govern such arbitration, including provision for appeals to the appropriate State or Federal court. Declares that the resources of the Agency and of the Plan shall not be used in any way directly to regulate the quality or availability of, or to establish or operate, medical and hospital services. Details the estimated cost of the Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Social Security Act Mental Health Amendments of 1989 - Amends titles XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI), XVIII (Medicare), and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide benefits for chronically mentally ill individuals. Requires State plans under title XIX to include case management services and home and community-based services for such individuals. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to arrange for up to five States to conduct demonstration projects providing mental health services on a prepaid capitation basis to chronically mentally ill Medicaid beneficiaries. Requires any hospital receiving funds under titles XVIII or XIX to have a case plan established for, and a case manager assigned to such individuals prior to their discharge. Treats certain chronically mentally ill individuals about to be discharged from an institution as presumptively disabled for purposes of title XVI. Extends the period during which certain institutionalized mentally ill may receive SSI benefits if such individuals are expected to return home upon discharge. Provides Medicaid coverage for certain SSI recipients who are chronically mentally ill and would be institutionalized but for such coverage. Preserves the eligibility of such individuals for SSI benefits for the period during which they are in transitional living facilities. Requires the Secretary to enter into agreements with up to 18 public or private nonprofit agencies for the provision of representative payee services to SSI beneficiaries. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for payments to such agencies. Sets forth reporting requirements. Limits coverage of outpatient services relating to mental illness under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program to a specified dollar amount.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Act to provide the services of a registered nurse for 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive such requirement with respect to facilities which have been unable to employ qualified registered nurses and whose residents do not require registered nursing services during the period in which such services are unavailable.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require rural health clinics to have a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or certified nurse-midwife available to furnish patient care services at least 50 percent of the time the clinic operates. Covers social worker services furnished to outpatients of rural health clinics. Expands the area within which rural health clinics may be located. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide health care facilities and the chief executive officer, chief health officer, and chief human services officer of each State with applications and information enabling such facilities to apply for rural health clinic designation under the Medicare or Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on trauma care. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements and contracts with respect to trauma care to: (1) conduct and support research, training, evaluations, and demonstration projects; (2) foster development of trauma care systems; (3) collect and disseminate information; (4) provide technical assistance to State and local agencies; and (5) sponsor workshops and conferences. Directs the Secretary to establish the Advisory Council on Trauma Care Systems. Declares that, notwithstanding provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Council shall continue in existence until otherwise provided by law. Directs the Secretary to make an allotment for each State for each fiscal year for developing, implementing, and monitoring the modifications to the trauma-care component of the State plan for the provision of emergency medical services. Requires non-Federal matching contributions (in cash or in kind) in specified ratios for fiscal years after the first fiscal year of payments. States that such component of the State plan will be modified with regard to: (1) trauma care regions, centers, and systems; (2) triage and transport of children; (3) accreditation and evaluation; (4) data reporting and analysis systems; (5) procedures for paramedical personnel to assess the severity of injuries; (6) transportation and transfer policies; (7) public education; (8) coordination and cooperation; and (9) other matters. Requires States to adopt guidelines for the designation of trauma centers, and for triage, transfer, and transportation policies, equivalent to the applicable guidelines developed by the American College of Surgeons and by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Authorizes the Secretary, after public notice and an opportunity for comment, to waive the requirement of adoption of such guidelines. Mandates that States: (1) require each trauma center to provide certain information to the State emergency medical system annually; (2) submit to the Secretary, at least annually, the information it receives from its data reporting and analysis system; and (3) identify and submit to the Secretary a list of rural areas lacking certain emergency medical services. Sets forth restrictions on the use of State allotments. Requires an annual report from each State to the Secretary. Sets forth a formula for determination of the amount of allotments. Provides for: (1) repayment and offset for failure to use funds as agreed; (2) criminal penalties for certain false statements; (3) technical assistance and provision of supplies and services by the Secretary in lieu of grant funds; and (4) a report by the Secretary to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct studies to: (1) identify programs established by States in order to reimburse trauma care centers and other health care providers for the uncompensated provision of health care; and (2) determine the adequacy and appropriateness of the reimbursements provided to trauma centers and ambulance service providers under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Child Care Services Improvement Act of 1989 - Title I: Choices for Working Families Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the amount of the earned income tax credit and to adjust it according to the number of children in a family. Title II: Child Care Block Grant - Subtitle A: Child Care Block Grant - Amends title XX of the Social Security Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for allotments to States for grants to eligible entities for child care related projects. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary for purposes of this title) to make allotments to States through a formula based on the number of children under 13 years of age living in a household whose income is not greater than 200 percent of the poverty level, adjusted for family size. Sets the Federal share at 80 percent of the project grants. Makes eligible for such grants: (1) local government units, including school districts; (2) nonprofit organizations; (3) professional or employee associations; (4) one or more small businesses; (5) higher education institutions; (6) hospitals or health care facilities; (7) family care providers; or (8) entities the State considers able and appropriate to carry out such a project. Allows a State to make such grants to eligible entities for: (1) child care certificate programs or scholarships enabling low-income families to obtain adequate child care; (2) community or neighborhood child care centers and homes, including renovation of public buildings for such purposes; (3) after school child care programs; (4) grants or loans for start-up costs of employer-sponsored child care programs; (5) training programs for child care providers; (6) temporary care of sick children unable to attend their regular child care programs; (7) expansion of existing part-day child care programs into full-day child care programs; (8) child care programs for homeless children; and (9) child care programs with programs to assist the elderly. Requires States to meet specified certification requirements, including establishment of standards of accreditation or licensing for family-based and group child care providers and methods of inspection and certification based on such standards. Requires annual State reports. Directs the Secretary to summarize State reports annually for the Congress. Requires grant recipients to cover between ten percent and 50 percent of the project cost with non-Federal funds. Directs each State Governor to establish an advisory council on child care. Directs the Secretary to conduct and support: (1) research on the effectiveness of early childhood education and quality child care on child growth and development; and (2) demonstration programs to test the effectiveness of innovative child care arrangements and programs (including at least ten grants to entities in accordance with subtitle B of this title). Subtitle B: Quality Child Care Demonstration Projects - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to not more than ten eligible public agencies and private entities, in urban and rural areas, to administer child development models. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress by April 1, 1992, on the operation of the child development models that received grants, with a summary of their evaluation reports. Subtitle C: Revolving Loan Fund - Provides assistance for State-established revolving loan funds to enable family-based child care providers to meet accreditation or licensing standards. Requires each applicant State to provide in its plan for such assistance to have established a revolving loan fund along with specified procedures and guidelines. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990, to remain available for assistance to States for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary to make allotments to States through a formula based on the number of children under 13 years of age. Title III: Building Blocks for Employer/Employee Child Care Partnerships - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a plan shall not be treated as a cafeteria plan unless it provides an option to choose benefits under a dependent care assistance program. Establishes a tax credit for employers who provide qualified child care facilities. Provides that certain earnings from the provision of qualified family-based or in-home child care services are entitled to: (1) special rules for and a lower rate of self-employment tax; and (2) exemptions from wage withholding and estimated tax requirements (under the Internal Revenue Code and the Social Security Act). Title IV: Child Care Liability - Subtitle A: Child Care Liability Reform - Applies the provisions of this subtitle, with specified exceptions, to any civil action, in any State or Federal court, against any child care provider who is in compliance with the licensing or accreditation requirements of the State in which the provider is located. Makes this part inapplicable to civil actions for intentional torts. Provides that this part shall preempt and supersede Federal or State law only to the extent such law is inconsistent with this part. Sets forth certain defenses, rules, and rights which are not affected by this part. Makes joint and several liability inapplicable to any action subject to this subtitle. Makes an exception for concerted actions. Provides for reduction of awards for damages in cases of collateral sources of compensation. Sets forth standards and procedures for the award of punitive or exemplary damages in civil actions to which this subtitle applies. Provides that nonprofit corporations or local educational agencies are not liable for damages in any civil action to which this subtitle applies which is brought against a separate child care-providing corporation or business organization of which they are the parent or majority owners. Encourages States to establish expedited and simplified procedures under which nonprofit organizations and local educational agencies may inexpensively and quickly incorporate or otherwise organize such entities as separate child care providers. Subtitle B: Child Care Liability Risk Retention Group - Authorizes any State to assist in the establishment and operation of a child care liability risk retention group (i.e. a corporation or other limited liability association whose members are child care providers licensed or accredited pursuant to State or local law or standards and which otherwise satisfies specified criteria for risk retention groups). Requires State plans to: (1) identify the lead agency designated and responsible for the administration of funds under this part; (2) provide that all participants in the child care liability risk retention group are child care providers who are licensed or accredited pursuant to State or local law or standards; (3) provide for maximum membership of family-based child care providers in the group; (4) provide that the State shall use at least the amount allotted to establish or maintain a liability risk retention group for child care providers; and (5) specify how any such liability risk retention group will continue to be financed after FY 1992, including financing through contributions by the State or by members of such pool. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review and approve State plans and to monitor State compliance with requirements of this subtitle. Provides for suspension of payments upon a finding of noncompliance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 to remain available for assistance to States for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to allot funds to States on the basis of the number of children under 13 years of age. Title V: President's Award for Responsive Management Policy - Establishes the President's Award for Responsive Management Policy to honor public and private sector employers who have: (1) successfully implemented in their businesses family-oriented personnel programs and policies responsive to child care needs of working parents; or (2) made significant contributions to child care projects in their communities. Directs the President, through the Secretary of Labor, to solicit nominations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study into the adequacy and appropriateness of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payments for ambulance services and report the results of such study to the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Rural Emergency Medical Services Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on emergency medical services for rural areas. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make an allotment for each State each fiscal year for improving the availability and quality, in rural areas, of emergency medical services and emergency medical services systems provided to victims of emergencies prior to the arrival of the victims at medical facilities. Requires, after FY 1990, non-Federal matching contributions in a specified ratio. Allows a State to expend payments received for: (1) recruitment, training, and retention of personnel; (2) purchase, upgrading, and maintenance of equipment; (3) planning, coordination, and support of local emergency medical services and systems; and (4) public education. Requires that the State plan for emergency services provide for adequate services in rural areas. Sets forth a formula for determination of the amount of allotments. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research into and demonstration projects concerning ways to improve the availability and quality of prehospital emergency medical services in rural areas by using communications technologies, making continuing education more accessible, improving curricula, undertaking outcome studies, and developing innovative financing mechanisms. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for pilot projects to develop community-based centers to coordinate and deliver comprehensive occupational health and safety services to rural communities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for improving rural prehospital emergency services and for centers for rural occupational health and safety services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Medicare Area Wage Equity Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to annually update hospital area wage index factors (used in determining the amount of Medicare payments to be made to hospitals) using the most current data available. Applies the hospital area wage index factor for the New York City metropolitan statistical area to hospitals in Orange or Dutchess County, New York. Makes such substitution effective until the first fiscal year after metropolitan statistical areas are redesignated by the Office of Management and Budget.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Rural Hospital Recovery Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to draft and submit to the Congress and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, within one year of this Act's enactment, legislation eliminating the differences in average standardized Medicare payments (under title XVIII of the Social Security Act) to large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals while recognizing certain cost differences among hospitals and within diagnosis related groups. Amends the Medicare program to require the Secretary to pay additional amounts to Medicare-dependent, small, rural hospitals before October 1, 1994, and to critical access facilities thereafter to ensure that their reasonable operating costs for inpatient hospital services are covered. Establishes an application process for rural hospitals which choose to be treated as urban hospitals by reason of their proximity to urban areas. Requires the recomputation of Medicare sole community hospital payment rates using the most recent information on hospital-specific costs per case and, if greater, national rather than regional prospective payment rates. Treats hospitals which are located 30 miles or more from other like hospitals, or hospitals which provide inpatient hospital services to at least 60 percent of the residents or part A (Hospital Insurance) Medicare beneficiaries within a 30-mile radius of the hospital as sole community hospitals. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by October 1, 1990, on the process by which sole community hospitals may appeal the Secretary's decision not to make a volume adjustment to its Medicare payment. Establishes the Medicare Geographical Classification/Critical Access Facility Review Board which shall: (1) designate certain hospitals as critical access facilities; (2) hear appeals from rural hospitals which the Secretary determines do not qualify for treatment as being located in an adjacent urban area; and (3) conduct hearings with respect to the Secretary's refusal to consider a hospital to be a sole community hospital. Defines a "critical access facility" as a small, rural hospital which due to its location, prolonged severe weather conditions, or the availability of other hospitals to serve part A Medicare beneficiaries residing in the area must receive additional payments in order to continue to deliver critical health care services. Extends the regional referral center classification of hospitals so classified as of September 30, 1989, and the Medicare payment rates applicable to such hospitals until the implementation of unified average standardized Medicare payments for large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to alter the Rural Health Care Transition Grant Program by: (1) extending from two to three years the limit on the provision of grants to small, rural hospitals for modification of their services; (2) permitting the Secretary to waive the hospital grant limit; and (3) increasing and extending the authorization of appropriations for such program through FY 1992. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress by April 1, 1990, identifying laws, rules, and regulations which prevent rural hospitals from providing innovative patient services. Directs the Secretary to conduct a five-year demonstration program in five rural hospitals treating the costs of nursing services obtained pursuant to an existing agreement with a nursing school as the costs of approved educational activities for Medicare payment purposes. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to expand, from four to ten hospitals, a Medicare demonstration program covering additional costs incurred by teaching hospitals in sending their residents to small rural hospitals for training. Extends the permissible duration of such training from three months to two years. Favors projects which provide small rural hospitals with resident physicians for longer periods of time and give physicians from the small rural hospital the opportunity to work or study at the sponsoring hospital. Makes consortiums of small rural hospitals eligible to accept the services of such a resident physician.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the third Sunday of August 1989 as National Senior Citizens Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates the week beginning October 29, 1989, as Gaucher's Disease Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates September 1989 as National Alcohol and Drug Treatment Month.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the disparity between rural and urban physician fees under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act must be reconciled.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Revision Act of 1989 - Delays, for one year, the implementation of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988, except for provisions of such Act expanding benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
Child Investment and Security Act of 1989 - Title I: Prenatal Care - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to phase-in mandatory State coverage of pregnant women and infants whose family income is below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. Includes prenatal and postpartum home visitation services within such coverage. Deducts child and medical care costs from the income eligibility test. Requires the continuation of such coverage for women through the month in which the 60-day post-partum period expires, and for infants throughout their first year of life. Requires that States make ambulatory prenatal care available to a pregnant woman during a presumptive eligibility period which ends when she is determined to be ineligible for Medicaid benefits or 14 days after she is determined to be eligible, but fails to apply. Requires that States submit information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, by April 1 of each year, pertaining to the supply of and demand for obstetrical and pediatric services and proposed Medicaid payment rates for such services so that the Secretary may determine whether such rates are sufficient to ensure that obstetrical and pediatric services will be at least as available to Medicaid beneficiaries as they are to the general population. Requires States to immediately revise rates determined to be insufficient. Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Act to increase authorized appropriations for the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program. Sets aside such additional appropriations for the expansion of prenatal care services for pregnant women and infants in target populations which include pregnant women and infants who are economically disadvantaged and who reside within areas or among populations suffering disproportionately high levels of infant mortality and inadequate maternity and infant care. Amends the Public Health Service Act to increase and permanently extend authorized appropriations for grants to community and migrant health centers for services promoting the reduction of infant mortality and the management of health services for pregnant women and infants. Title II: Preventive Child Health - Amends the Medicaid program to phase-in mandatory coverage of children under age eight whose family income is below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. Requires States to receive and process the Medicaid applications of such children at locations which include locations other than those used for applications under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993 for supplemental grants to public entities for the inclusion of immunization training and outreach services within their immunization programs. Title III: Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the Secretary to allocate specified funds among States from FY 1990 through 1993 under the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC). Title IV: Early Childhood Education - Amends the Head Start Act to increase and extend, through FY 1993, authorized appropriations for Head Start programs. Title V: Application Process for Certain Forms of Federal Assistance with Respect to Child Health - Directs the Secretary to develop a plan, to be implemented within nine months of this Act's enactment, for the use of a single, standardized application form for simultaneously requesting assistance for children under age six under the Social Security Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, and the Head Start Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
Designates the week of October 23 through October 29, 1989, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Designates the month of November 1989 as National Diabetes Month.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Comprehensive Alzheimer's Assistance, Research, and Education Act of 1989 (CARE) - Title I: Public Health Service Programs With Respect to Alzheimer's Disease - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on Alzheimer's disease. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements to assist grantees in establishing and maintaining, with respect to Alzheimer's and related disorders, centers for: (1) conducting basic and clinical research, training, and dissemination of clinical information; (2) demonstrating advanced diagnostic, prevention, treatment, and management methods; (3) conducting programs of community education; and (4) maximizing research. Directs the Secretary, in carrying out these provisions, to consult with the directors of specified National Institutes of Health. Specifies purposes for which grant funds may and may not be used. Limits support for a center to five years, with extensions by the Secretary of up to five years if recommended by a technical and scientific peer review group. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and enter into cooperative agreements with entities receiving financial assistance under these provisions for off-site research on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's and related disorders. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants and enter into contracts to enable grantees to conduct basic and clinical research regarding Alzheimer's and related disorders. Directs the Secretary, in carrying out these provisions, to consult with the directors of specified National Institutes of Health. Specifies the research areas to which minimum allocations of appropriated funds must be made. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants and enter into contracts to enable grantees to conduct research and demonstration projects with respect to teaching the families of individuals with Alzheimer's or related disorders methods for providing appropriate care and managing stress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner on Aging, to make grants and enter into contracts to enable grantees to conduct demonstration projects with respect to teaching the families of individuals with Alzheimer's or related disorders methods for providing appropriate care and managing stress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Aging, to make grants and enter into contracts to enable grantees to conduct long-term care research with respect to Alzheimer's disease and related disorders and with respect to the coordination of long-term care services. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Center for Health Services Research, to make grants and enter into contracts to enable grantees to conduct research with respect to developing methods for improving the delivery of supportive services to individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders and with respect to the coordination of long-term care services. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan for a research program for the study of Alzheimer's and related disorders. Specifies elements for which the plan must provide. Requires research under the plan to be carried out through the National Institutes of Health. Directs the Secretary to submit the plan to the President and the Congress. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to plan, establish, and operate programs to provide specified services regarding Alzheimer's or related disorders. Specifies purposes for which grant funds may not be used. Limits grants to three years, subject to annual evaluation by the Secretary. Limits the amount of a grant and its portion of the costs of the program for which it is made. Directs the Secretary to annually evaluate the grant programs. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with private entities to conduct the evaluation. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, to require, as a condition of receiving funds under provisions of part B (Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Block Grant) of the Public Health Service Act, that a State must agree that activities carried out under a specified provision will include increased provision of mental health services related to Alzheimer's and related disorders. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Aging, to make grants to assist grantees in providing training programs and continuing education programs, regarding Alzheimer's or related disorders, to health care professionals, health care paraprofessionals, and family caregivers. Specifies eligible types of grant recipients. Directs the Secretary to ensure that grants are geographically distributed. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Aging, to make grants to the Alzheimer's centers established by this Act to assist in developing curricula for such training programs and continuing education programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to initiate a study regarding specified health manpower needs related to Alzheimer's disease, related disorders, and other disorders requiring long-term care services. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Directs the Secretary to establish a National Alzheimer's Disease Education Program for: (1) promoting the coordination of health care financing, service, research, education, and training programs; (2) collecting, through the Clearinghouse on Alzheimer's Disease, information on research and treatment programs; (3) making such information available to specified groups and to the general public; and (4) providing technical assistance to States and public and private organizations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary, through the Director of the National Institute on Aging, to make grants to educate health care providers and the families of individuals with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders on caring for individuals with such diseases or disorders and on the availability of sources of assistance. Requires grants to be geographically distributed. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Title II: Improvement of Services Under Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the levels of reimbursement provided under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for home health services, extended care services, and inpatient hospital services relating to an advanced stage of Alzheimer's or a related disorder and adjust the levels to accurately reflect the reasonable amount required to provide adequately for services furnished. Requires each State plan approved under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to report to the Secretary on how the levels of reimbursement under the plan for home health services, nursing facility services, inpatient hospital services, and community-based care take into account special needs regarding an advanced stage of Alzheimer's or a related disorder. Directs the Secretary to modify contracts with utilization and quality control peer review organizations under part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to ensure that the organizations conduct adequate and representative quality of care reviews on patients who require intensive home health services or extended care services. Requires States, as a condition of approval of a State plan under Medicaid, to provide assurances that the State is providing for the conduct of adequate and representative quality of care reviews on patients who require intensive home health services, nursing facility services, or other long-term care services. Directs the Secretary to review and report to the Congress regarding whether specified types of facilities participating under the Medicare or Medicaid program limit or restrict the services they provide to individuals with Alzheimer's or a related disorder. Directs the Secretary to provide for research and demonstration projects concerning methods of improving the delivery of health care services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Specifies projects to be included. Directs the Secretary to provide for an evaluation of the research and demonstration projects and submit a report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Requires funds, to the extent that research and demonstration projects relate to Medicare beneficiaries, to be appropriated from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to waive compliance with the requirements of part B (Peer Review) of title XI, title XVIII (Medicare), and title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act as necessary to conduct these research and demonstration projects.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Designates October 1989 as National Down Syndrome Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Public Protection From Passive Smoke Act - Title I: Smoke Free Certifications - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that any vessel at any port (currently at any foreign port) departing for any port in a State or possession obtain a bill of health. Directs the Surgeon General to prescribe regulations to require that domestic vessels, as a part of the bill of health, certify that they do not involuntarily expose the public to the byproducts produced by lighted tobacco. Defines "domestic vessel" to mean any regularly scheduled interstate public conveyance, including air, rail, or bus service. Subjects to monetary penalties any vessel or individual, including a passenger, who violates these provisions or who violates any prohibition on smoking enacted by any vessel under these provisions. Title II: General Health Information Concerning Smoking - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish: (1) a program to inform the public of dangers to human health presented by cigarette smoking; and (2) an Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health. Requires each person who manufactures, packages, or imports cigarettes to annually provide the Secretary with a list of the ingredients added to tobacco that does not identify the company or brand involved. Directs the Secretary to submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report on the additives. Requires information provided to the Secretary to be treated as a trade secret and prohibits its disclosure, except to such committees. Title III: Health Information Concerning Smokeless Tobacco - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to inform the public of dangers to human health resulting from the use of smokeless tobacco products. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance and make grants to States to: (1) assist in the development and distribution of programs, materials, and public service announcements respecting the dangers to health from smokeless tobacco; and (2) establish 18 as the minimum age for the purchase of smokeless tobacco. Requires each person who manufactures, packages, or imports smokeless tobacco products to annually provide to the Secretary: (1) a list of ingredients added to the tobacco that does not identify the company or brand involved; and (2) a specification of the quantity of nicotine in each product. Directs the Secretary to submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report on the additives. Requires information provided to the Secretary to be treated as a trade secret and prohibits its disclosure, except to such committees. Repeals specified provisions of the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986. Places provisions similar to those repealed in this Act, except for repealed provisions of such Smokeless Tobacco Act relating to enforcement, regulations, and construction.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Refinancing Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the supplemental Medicare premium and the part B monthly premium increase authorized by the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988. Provides funding for Medicare catastrophic coverage from the general fund in the Treasury and by eliminating the limit on wages or self-employment income subject to the hospital insurance tax.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make the catastrophic health care coverage provided by the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 elective.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to pay clean claims within 30 days of their receipt.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Designates the week of October 1 through October 7, 1989, as National Health Care Food Service Week.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Older Women's Breast Cancer Prevention Act of 1989 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the cap on coverage of screening mammography.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend until September 30, 1989, the termination date of provisions authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to assist in the provision of drugs determined to prolong the lives of individuals with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and related conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Provides for third-party reimbursement to the United States for health care and services furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs to a service-connected disabled veteran for a non-service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and conduct an ongoing SSI outreach program providing low-income aged, blind, and disabled individuals who are not receiving SSI benefits with SSI benefit information and notice of their potential eligibility for Food Stamp and Medicare (title XVIII of the Act) benefits. Directs the Secretary to evaluate and annually report to the Congress on the effectiveness of such program. Excludes specified amounts of interest and dividend income from an individual's income for SSI purposes. Increases the cash value of life insurance and burial fund accounts which is excluded from a beneficiary's resources for SSI purposes. Treats income received on a weekly or biweekly basis as being received on a regular monthly basis at the same annual rate if such treatment would render the payee eligible for SSI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Designates the month of November in 1989 and 1990 as National Hospice Month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Drug Abuse Treatment Technical Corrections Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the formula for allotments to States and territories for alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grants. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, notwithstanding specified provisions of the Public Health Service Act, with respect to FY 1989, to waive a requirement that certain amounts paid to a State for such block grants, obligated by the State, and remaining unexpended at the end of the fiscal year, remain available during the succeeding fiscal year. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the requirement in specified provisions regarding minimum expenditures by States for alcohol and drug abuse activities if the Secretary determines that the incidence of intravenous drug abuse in the State does not require the level of funding required in such provisions. Amends provisions requiring a set-aside of a portion of the block grant funds for programs and services for women to require that the focus be on alcohol and drug abuse. Declares that provisions requiring States to use a portion of the block grants for group homes for recovering substance abusers do not apply to any U.S. territory other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Prohibits an allotment of block grant funds from being made to a State unless its legislature holds public hearings on the proposed use and distribution of funds. (Current law requires such hearings after the first fiscal year in which a State receives an allotment under provisions relating to set-aside for an Indian tribe or tribal organization.) Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration to establish program advisory committees and to pay members of the committees. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Board to be established not later than April 1, 1989. Allows exclusion, in computing the maximum number of commissioned officers of the Public Health Service authorized by law to hold a grade corresponding to brigadier or major general, for officers assigned to duty with the Department of Defense. (Current law allows exclusion for such officers only if assigned to duty with the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.) Amends specified provisions of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney Act) and the Public Health Service Act to read as if the amendments made by title VI (Revision and Extension of Programs of Health Care for the Homeless) of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 had not been enacted. Amends the McKinney Act so as to authorize appropriations for a National Mental Health Education Program rather than for community mental health services demonstration projects. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow recipients of grants for health service delivery to homeless individuals to provide dental, vision, and podiatry services as well as mental health and other services.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Medicaid Frail Elderly Community Care Amendments of 1989 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit States to provide Medicaid coverage of community care for functionally disabled elderly individuals. Defines a functional disability as Alzheimer's disease or the inability, due to physical or cognitive impairment, to perform at least two daily living activities. Defines a covered community care setting as a nonresidential setting or a residential setting in which more than two unrelated adults reside and personal services are provided. Requires that community care be provided to each client in accordance with an individual community care plan (ICCP) prepared and periodically reviewed and revised by a community care case manager on the basis of a comprehensive functional assessment of a client's needs conducted by an interdisciplinary team before his or her receipt of care and at least annually thereafter. Sets a ceiling on Medicaid payments to States for community care. Reduces Federal Medicaid payments to States that reduce their Medicaid community care expenditures below their FY 1989 expenditures for such care. Requires that such care meet minimum requirements, to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, regarding client rights and the quality of such care. Makes the requirements imposed on nursing facilities regarding patient's rights and facility safety and sanitation applicable to settings in which community care is provided. Requires that community care settings: (1) disclose persons having an ownership or control interest in the setting; and (2) exclude a person from such interest if he or she has been excluded from the Medicaid program or had an interest in a community care setting repeatedly found to have provided substandard care. Makes the: (1) Secretary responsible for certifying that State community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements; and (2) States responsible for certifying that other community care providers and settings comply with Medicaid requirements. Requires that providers and settings be certified annually. Bases community care setting certification on an annual, unannounced survey. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a protocol for conducting surveys; and (2) conduct sample surveys of community care settings, within two months of State surveys, to test the adequacy of State surveys. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a special survey of a setting or a review of a provider when there is reason to question its compliance with this Act. Prohibits the use of surveyors who have an interest in the provider or setting being surveyed. Requires States and the Secretary to investigate complaints against providers or settings concerning violations of this Act's requirements. Requires each State to provide, through the State agency responsible for the certification of such providers and settings, for the receipt, review, and investigation of allegations of client neglect and abuse, and of misappropriation of client property by providers. Requires that: (1) certain information regarding providers and settings and their compliance with this Act's requirements be made available to the public; and (2) State Medicaid fraud and abuse control units be given access to provider or setting survey and certification information. Authorizes the Secretary or States to terminate a community care provider's participation in the Medicaid program and to impose a civil monetary penalty for failure to meet this Act's requirements. Sets forth the Secretary's responsibilities relating to community care requirements. Requires that State Medicaid payment rates for community care be reasonable and adequate to meet the costs of providing such care efficiently, economically, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards. Prohibits the coverage of substandard community care, penalties imposed for such care, and community care furnished by family members.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide, through demonstration projects, to eligible individuals who do not require 24-hour nursing care and who desire to establish a medical, noninstitutional living arrangement, payment for: (1) post-hospital extended care services under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; or (2) intermediate care facility services or skilled nursing facility services under title XIX (Medicaid) of such Act. Requires payments received to be used to finance appropriate medical, noninstitutional living arrangements. Provides that such payments shall not be includable in gross income under the Internal Revenue Code. Requires the Secretary to design the demonstration projects to determine: (1) the feasibility of transferring inpatients of skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities to noninstitutional living arrangements; (2) the types and percentage of such inpatients who could live effectively in a noninstitutional living arrangement; and (3) the types and percentages of such inpatients who would benefit economically and qualitatively from a noninstitutional living arrangement. Directs that funds for such payments be made from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund established under the Social Security Act and from funds appropriated for Medicaid.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that insurance providers should cooperate with employers seeking to extend the protections of the health care continuation provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to cover employees, former employees, their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents who are not otherwise covered by these provisions because of the special effective date for collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Makes supplemental appropriations for veterans' health care for FY 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Designates the week beginning October 8, 1989, as National Infertility Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Designates the month of November in 1989 and 1990 as National Hospice Month.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Designates April 1989 as National Weight Loss Month.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Amends the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 to make changes affecting reporting dates, printing costs, and the status of members of the United States Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Applies the area wage factor for Shelby County, Tennessee, to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, under the Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Coast Guard Management and Law Enforcement Act of 1989 - Title I: Icebreaking Requirements - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990, in addition to any sums authorized for FY 1990 for the Coast Guard, to renovate the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw. Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in certain circumstances, to charter an icebreaking vessel. Title II: Law Enforcement - Amends Federal law to set forth the powers of the Coast Guard in law enforcement, including arrests, searches, and seizures. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to submit to the Congress a report listing all laws enforced by the Coast Guard in the U.S. territorial seas whose application should be extended to 12 nautical miles in accordance with a specified presidential proclamation extending such seas to 12 miles. Title III: Personnel - Amends Federal law providing for continuity of grade for a Coast Guard vice admiral when reappointed to another position as vice admiral to include reappointment of a vice admiral as an admiral. Amends Federal law relating to appointment of Coast Guard personnel to allow appointment to the grade of lieutenant (junior grade) or lieutenant to be made by the President without the advice and consent of the Senate. Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in certain circumstances, to adjust the date of appointment of Coast Guard Reserve officers, including in cases arising before enactment of this Act. Changes the criteria for retention in an active status by reserve officer retention boards. Title IV: Management and Administration - Requires contracts awarded by the Coast Guard for construction or services in States with an unemployment rate higher than the national average to include a provision requiring the contractor to employ local residents. Empowers the Secretary of Transportation, in certain circumstances, to waive such requirement. Establishes within the Coast Guard Reserve a Merchant Marine Reserve. Defines "Secretary," for purposes of Federal shipping law relating to vessels and seamen, to mean the Secretary of Transportation. (Current law defines the term to mean the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating.) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to pay special pay to a medical officer of the Public Health Service who is detailed to service with the Coast Guard and eligible for special pay under specified provisions. Title V: Maritime and Boating Safety - Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding regulation of recreational diving activities and display of a divers flag. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to submit a proposal to the International Maritime Organization to recognize the divers flag as an international safety measure. Amends the Inland Navigational Rules Act of 1980 to state that nothing in the rules in such Act interferes with the regulation of diving safety, including display of a divers flag, if that regulation prohibits interference with commercial vessel traffic, subject to exception. Requires the addition of a compendium of State regulations of diving safety to the technical annexes to the rules in such Act. Amends Federal law to require an undocumented vessel to have a number issued by the State in which the vessel is principally operated. (Current law applies the requirement only to undocumented vessels with propulsion machinery.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Fetal Tissue Regulation Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from: (1) using human fetal tissue from an induced abortion for research or therapy; and (2) providing a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement unless the recipient agrees not to expend the assistance for such purposes. Requires the Secretary to terminate assistance to any recipient who violates the agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Designates the month of November 1989 as National Alzheimer's Disease Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Designates the week beginning October 29, 1989, as Gaucher's Disease Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Designates May 1989 as National Digestive Disease Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Consumer Protection for Long-Term Care Insurance Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a procedure for the voluntary certification of long-term and extended care insurance policies. Requires certified policies to: (1) meet or exceed National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) - related standards; (2) allow purchasers 30 days to rescind their purchase of the policy; (3) contain a statement of the availability of long-term and extended care benefits under the Medicare program; (4) not limit or restrict eligibility to those who have previously been institutionalized or limit or restrict eligibility for benefits in a facility or in a home or community setting to those who have previously received a higher level of services; (5) limit eligibility for benefits only to services licensed in the State; (6) provide each policyholder with the telephone number of the State commissioner or superintendent of insurance; (7) provide, at the time of solicitation and at the time of issuance of the policy, a uniform disclosure statement describing specified aspects of the coverage; and (8) meet or exceed other requirements set by the Secretary. Conditions the certification of a policy which does not provide benefits for home and community-based services on the issuer of such policy offering a long-term or extended care insurance policy which does provide such benefits. Deems a long-term or extended care insurance policy to have satisfied the requirements of the Federal certification procedure if the State in which it is issued is determined by the Long-Term Care Insurance Panel, established pursuant to this Act, to have a regulatory program which is at least as stringent as the Federal procedure. Punishes by fine and/or imprisonment an individual who knowingly: (1) misrepresents a policy's compliance with this Act's certification requirements; or (2) uses the mails to promote the sale or delivery of a policy into a State where such policy has not been approved by the State commissioner or superintendent of insurance. Deems a policy to have been approved by the State commissioner or superintendent of insurance if: (1) it has been certified by the Secretary or issued in a State that has an approved regulatory program; or (2) such commissioner or superintendent has the authority to bar the sale of the policy in the State, but neither such official nor the State has done so. Requires the Secretary to provide Medicare beneficiaries with information that will enable them to evaluate long-term and extended care insurance policies and the relationship of such policies to Medicare benefits. Directs the Secretary to: (1) inform Medicare beneficiaries of the practices that are subject to sanctions under this Act and the manner in which they may report such practices; and (2) publish the toll-free telephone number for reporting suspected prohibited practices. Requires the Secretary to furnish Medicare beneficiaries with a listing of the addresses and telephone numbers of State and Federal agencies and offices that provide individuals with information and assistance in selecting long-term and extended care insurance policies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to place the Office of Rural Health Policy directly under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.