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51 records in US in 2009
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 2009
Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Extension Act - Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend for an additional five years the rural community hospital demonstration program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2009
Community-Based Residency Training Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program for the training of medical residents in community-based settings. Requires the Secretary to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, eligible entities (i.e., entities designated as eligible to receive payment for the direct costs of medical education under provisions of the Social Security Act pertaining to payment to nonhospital providers) to: (1) plan and develop a new primary care residency training program; and (2) operate or participate in an established primary care residency training program. Directs the Secretary to give preference to entities that: (1) support teaching programs that address the health care needs of vulnerable populations; (2) are a federally qualified health center or a rural health clinic; or (3) have a demonstrated record of training a high or significantly improved percentage of health professionals who provide primary care, individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, or individuals who practice in settings having the principal focus of serving underserved areas or populations experiencing health disparities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2009
Expresses support for the designation of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Recognizes the importance of preventing childhood obesity and decreasing its prevalence in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 2009
Child Safety, Care, and Education Continuity Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and nonpublic schools for assistance in restarting school operations in major disaster areas. Protects LEAs from cuts in school improvement funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which a major disaster occurs within their service area. Allows LEAs in states to which teachers and paraprofessionals relocate after a major disaster to consider such teachers and paraprofessionals to have met certain federal teaching standards if the state from which they came considered them to have met such standards. Authorizes the Secretary to waive or modify certain requirements relating to maintenance of effort, supplementary use of funds, and matching funds in providing educational assistance to entities affected by a major disaster. Directs the Secretary to provide temporary emergency impact aid to states and, through them, LEAs and Native American schools for the education of students displaced by a major disaster. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) waive or modify requirements applicable to federal student aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) that are unreasonable due to the effects of a major disaster; (2) approve Teacher Quality Partnership Grants program modifications that assist states, LEAs, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) recruit and retain faculty for schools in major disaster areas; (3) modify, at the request of an affected institution or other grantee located in a major disaster area, required and allowable uses of funds under the HEA's TRIO, GEAR-UP, Strengthening Institutions, and Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities programs, and any other competitive grant program; and (4) allow financial aid administrators to adjust the expected contribution of students and parents affected by a major disaster. Directs the Secretary to make special efforts to notify students and their parents who qualify for means-tested federal benefit programs of their potential eligibility for a maximum Pell Grant, provided such students attend an IHE affected by a major disaster. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements to extend certain deadlines under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regarding the provision of special education and related services, including early intervention services, to individuals adversely affected by a major disaster. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide training and technical assistance, guidance, and resources to Head Start agencies located in a major disaster area or receiving a significant number of children from such an area. Authorizes the waiver of cost-sharing requirements for such agencies and documentation requirements for Head Start participants affected by a major disaster. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to: (1) waive the application of specified provisions of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to states affected by a major disaster or serving a significant number of individuals adversely affected by a major disaster; and (2) assist states in providing training, technical assistance, and guidance to child care providers who are serving such individuals. Requires each state that receives funds under such Act to develop a disaster plan. Requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to encourage state and local governments to address child care services and facilities in their response and recovery plans, exercises, and training. Directs the Secretary of HHS to provide disaster guidance to states under titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance Program [CHIP, formerly known as SCHIP]) of the Social Security Act regarding the requirement that states provide medical assistance to individuals who are residents of the state but are absent. Requires each state to provide disaster guidance to Medicaid and CHIP providers to ensure that low-income children displaced from their home state by a major disaster have continued access to health care services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2009 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-FY2014 for the Surface Transportation Board. Increases Board membership from three to five members. Removes the Board from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish it as an independent U.S. agency. Grants the DOT Inspector General authority to review only Board financial management, property management, and business operations to determine compliance with applicable federal laws and detect fraud and abuse. Revises member composition of the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. Revises the objectives of U.S. rail transportation policy, including protection of rail shippers. Requires the Board to: (1) maintain an Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance; and (2) appoint a rail customer advocate to resolve rail customer complaints. Authorizes the Board to investigate rail carrier and pipeline carrier violations on its own initiative as well as on complaint (as under existing law). Requires proceedings to determine the reasonableness of a rate charged by a carrier be initiated only upon complaint. Requires the Board to: (1) establish a database of rail service complaints it has received; and (2) post a quarterly report of such complaints on its website. Authorizes the Board to revoke class exemptions to rail carrier requirements to protect rail shippers from the abuse of market power. Requires Board studies on: (1) class exemptions; (2) the Uniform Railroad Costing System; (3) use of a replacement cost approach to value rail facility assets; (4) rail practices; and (5) rail interchange rules. Directs the Board to require Class I railroad carriers and other railroad carriers to report regularly on railroad service metrics and other performance data as prescribed by the Board. Delineates requirements regarding proof and admissibility of evidence of rail carrier interline rate agreements. Prohibits the Board from issuing a person (other than a rail carrier) a certificate to acquire a railroad line or extended or additional railroad line that includes interchange commitments or other mechanisms restricting the ability of the purchaser or tenant to interchange traffic with another carrier unless they are reasonable and in the public interest. Delineates a process for persons to challenge existing interchange commitments as well as certain rights and remedies with respect to them. Directs the Secretary to make grants available to assist any Class III rail carrier under Board jurisdiction with the credit risk premium of a direct loan or loan guarantee made to purchase or lease a rail line. Requires a Class I rail carrier to establish, upon rail customer request, reasonable bottleneck and terminal switching rates for single line movement or interline movement rail transportation over a bottleneck rail segment in which the carrier has market dominance. Revises criteria authorizing the Board to require a rail carrier to make its terminal available to another rail carrier. Authorizes the Board to require a Class I rail carrier (including any other rail carrier deemed appropriate) to make its terminal facilities available for use by another carrier in cases where it has market dominance in a terminal area. Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the Board to establish reasonable rail rate standards for terminal use. Requires the Board to establish a binding arbitration process to resolve rail rate, practice, and common carrier service disputes. Revises maximum rates of relief that the Board may provide to railroad shippers in certain rail rate reasonableness cases. Sets forth time limits for Board review of such cases. Revises requirements with respect to the approval or denial of the consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control of rail carriers to authorize the Board to take into consideration significant effects of the transaction on public health, safety, and the environment as well as intercity rail passenger transportation and commuter rail passenger transportation. Exempts from Board authority pipeline transportation of natural or artificial gases used primarily as fuel or other energy purposes. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the federal and state regulatory framework to support the development of carbon dioxide pipelines.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Minority Diabetes Initiative Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to public and nonprofit private health care providers to provide treatment for diabetes in minority communities. Requires the Secretary to ensure that such grants cover a variety of diabetes-related health care services, including routine care for diabetic patients, public education on diabetes prevention and control, eye care, foot care, and treatment for kidney disease and other complications of diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize continued use of 2009 Medicare practice expense relative value units for certain cardiology services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to contract with an independent entity to study and report to Congress on the practice expense methodology used to determine relative value units under this Act to determine whether the cost finding, indirect cost allocation, scaling, and budget neutrality methodologies used: (1) are consistent with generally accepted accounting principles; (2) distribute the burden of any necessary budget neutrality adjustments proportionally among all physicians' services; and (3) result in allowances that accurately reflect the relative direct and indirect resources involved in the provision of various physicians' services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Thomas J. Manton Prostate Cancer Early Detection and Treatment Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to make grants to states to carry out: (1) prostate cancer prevention programs (including screening and referrals for treatment); and (2) demonstration projects to provide preventive health services with respect to prostate cancer (including blood pressure and cholesterol screenings). Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow states to provide medical assistance to individuals who have been screened for prostate cancer under this Act and who need treatment for prostate cancer. Applies provisions related to breast and cervical cancer programs to programs under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow as partial hospitalization services nutritional planning, meals, and transportation. Directs the Secretary of Heatlh and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Behavioral Health Advisory Committee to address issues relating to: (1) discrimination against the chronically mentally ill, elderly, and U.S. veterans as it relates to receiving treatment for mental illness; and (2) the establishment of conditions of participation for community mental health centers that provide partial hospitalization services under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Prevention and Control Act of 2009 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish specified enhanced program and provider protections against fraud under the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance programs under SSA titles XVIII, XIX, and XXI.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Requests the President, and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of documents, records, or communications in their possession referring or relating to: (1) any agreement by their office relating to specified health care legislation (i.e., H.R. 3200, H.R. 3590, H.R. 3961, H.R. 3962, S. 1679, and S. 1796) entered into on or after January 20, 2009; (2) negotiations relating to such an agreement, including the dates of any meetings and the identities of any parties involved; (3) any such negotiations with the Advanced Medical Technology Association, the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the American Hospital Association, or the Service Employees International Union regarding decreasing the annual health care spending growth rate; or (4) implementation of any such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2009
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the December 31, 2009, sunset for reimbursement for all Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for Aged and Disabled) services furnished by certain Indian hospitals and clinics. Makes such reimbursement requirement permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2009
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the guidelines of the United States Preventive Services Task Force would not prohibit an insurer from providing coverage for mammography services in addition to those recommended by the Task Force and should not be used by insurers to deny coverage for services that are not recommended on a routine basis; and (2) the National Cancer Institute should continue to invest and provide leadership regarding research to develop more effective breast cancer screening tools and strategies.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2009
Acknowledges the outstanding achievements and profound impact of Stefanie Spielman in the fight against breast cancer and commends her commitment to caring for others suffering from the disease.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2009
Enhancing Livability for All Americans Act of 2009 - Establishes within the Office of the Secretary of Transportation an Office of Livability. Requires the Office Director to establish a program to award competitive grants to eligible entities to assist: (1) capital investments in surface transportation projects with a significant impact on enhancing the livability in a region, metropolitan area, community, or neighborhood; and (2) communities in developing strategic growth plans that provide a vision and goals for development over a minimum 20-year period and integrate long-term innovative transportation and land use planning. Requires priority be given to: (1) investment projects that increase the number of transportation options, improve access to housing, jobs, and services, and reduce greenhouse gas; and (2) innovative planning applicants who have proposed strategic growth plans for communities with transportation systems characterized by poor access to job centers and schools, limited transportation options for residents, and significant traffic congestion. Requires the Director to: (1) develop statistical and analytical capabilities to ascertain specified transportation data; and (2) collaborate with other federal agencies to carry out activities that promote the development of livable communities, increase transportation choices, and improve the environment, public health, and quality of life.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 10 December 2009
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Emergency Response Act of 2009 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to redefine "major disaster" as any natural disaster (including pandemics), act of terrorism, or other manmade disaster (under current law, any natural catastrophe) in any part of the United States that, in the determination of the President, causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance to supplement the efforts and resources of states, local governments, and disaster relief organizations. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to designate a representative to lead a working group with national organizations that represent state, local, and tribal government interests to prepare best practice recommendations for facilitating the flow of public health information to state fusion centers and the greater homeland security community.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Defense Against Infectious Diseases Act of 2009 - Directs the President: (1) to convene a consortium of representatives of state, local, and tribal governments to assess the adequacy of guidance for state and local government planning in the National Strategy for Pandemic Flu and the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan; and (2) within one year after convening such consortium and every four years thereafter, to convene another consortium to review and update such Strategy and Plan. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), to conduct a survey to identify appropriate alternative medical care facilities capable of meeting medical surge capacity needs for the prophylaxis for, and treatment of, infectious diseases outbreaks. Directs the Secretary of DHS to identify specific resources, including subsistence supplies and personnel, that may be required to support the implementation of strategies for social distancing and medical surge during a federally declared emergency or major disaster to prevent the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable disease and ensure the proper delivery of crisis and medical care. Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to the appropriate Senate and House committees describing the roles and responsibilities, capabilities, and coordination of federal assets for medical response to infectious disease outbreaks or biological attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Pediatric Workforce Investment Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish and carry out a pediatric specialty loan repayment program under which a qualified physician agrees to be employed full-time for not less than two years in providing pediatric medical subspecialty, surgical specialty, or psychiatric subspecialty care in a shortage area in exchange for repayment of educational loans. Requires an area to be determined to be a shortage area based on: (1) waiting times for patient care; (2) recruitment for unfilled positions; or (3) the ratio of the number of children who reside in the area who are in need of such pediatric subspecialty care to the number of pediatric subspecialists furnishing such services within 100 miles of the area.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
State Medicaid Assistance Extension Act of 2009 - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend for one year the period of temporary increase in the Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Extends the entire recession adjustment period from December 31, 2010, through December 31, 2011. Requires the substitution for the FMAP for the first calendar quarter in FY2012 of the FMAP for either FY2008, FY2009, FY2010, or FY2011, as adjusted under ARRA, whichever is greatest, if the FY2012 FMAP is less than any of them.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Transitional Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Act - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Extends the entire recession adjustment period from December 31, 2010, through June 30, 2011. Provides for adjusted FMAP percentage rates during a transitional assistance period from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013. Prescribes formulae for determining the adjusted FMAP through FY2012 and subsequent fiscal year quarters.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2009
Brittany Wilkinson Mitochondrial Disease Research and Treatment Enhancement Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Mitochondrial Disease within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Requires the Director of the Office to develop, make publicly available, and implement a written plan to facilitate and coordinate research into mitochondrial disease. Authorizes the Director to award grants for: (1) integrated, multi-project research programs related to mitochondrial disease and planning activities associated with such programs; and (2) the establishment of Mitochondrial Disease Centers of Excellence to promote interdisciplinary research and training related to mitochondrial disease. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish: (1) a national registry of medical information collected from patients with mitochondrial disease for research purposes; and (2) a national biodepository of tissues and DNA collected from patients with mitochondrial disease for research purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2009
Medicaid DSH Integrity Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to indicate, in appropriate guidance, that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) do not intend to enforce any changes in policy related to calculating the limits on the adjustment in payment under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act for inpatient hospital services furnished by disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) that were contained in the Medicaid DSH auditing and reporting regulations the CMS issued pursuant to the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Requires the Secretary to publish an interim final rule to revise such regulations as necessary to: (1) correct such policy changes; (2) provide appropriate guidance for otherwise implementing those auditing and reporting regulations; and (3) provide for specified regulatory changes to be included in the new interim rule. Requires the CMS, in defining the costs of furnishing services to individuals with no health insurance (or other source of third-party coverage), to permit inclusion of all costs related to services provided to patients with no insurance for the service rendered, even if the patient has insurance that covers other services. Declares that the receipt by a hospital of nominal payments related to a service shall not constitute health insurance or a source of third-party coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Designates March 2010 as National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month. Expresses support for: (1) efforts to increase awareness of the causes of, and treatments for, autoimmune diseases; and (2) increasing federal funding for research to learn the root causes of, and the best diagnostic methods and treatments for, such diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Women's Hospitals Education Equity Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make two payments to each eligible women's hospital for each of FY2010-FY2014: (1) one payment for direct expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs; and (2) one for indirect expenses associated with the treatment of more severely ill patients and the additional costs relating to teaching residents in such programs. Requires the Secretary to: (1) make the payments in 12 equal interim installments based on the number of residents reported in the hospital's most recently filed Medicare cost report; (2) withhold up to 25% from each installment to ensure a hospital will not be overpaid on an interim basis; (3) determine, prior to the end of each fiscal year, any changes to the number of residents reported to determine the final amount; and (4) recoup any overpayments based on such determination. Considers the final amount so determined to be a final intermediary determination, subject to administrative and judicial review, under the Social Security Act. Applies to women's hospitals funded under this Act annual reporting requirements and provisions regarding direct graduate medical education payments and indirect medical education payments applicable to children's hospitals that operate graduate medical education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Improvement Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include in the responsibilities of the Assistant Secretaries responsibilities for acquisition, construction, and asset management functions. Requires the Secretary to assign one Deputy Assistant Secretary to each of the following: (1) information technology acquisition; (2) acquisition services for the Veterans Benefits Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, and the Department headquarters; (3) construction acquisitions and leasing; (4) acquisition services for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA); (5) national contracts, including contracts for health care products and services awarded by the National Acquisition Center (other than contracts for information technology); (6) policy; and (7) asset enterprise management and logistics. Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) a Chief Acquisition Officer, with the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Construction, and Asset Management serving as the Chief Acquisition Officer; (2) a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Construction, and Asset Management; and (3) seven Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Acquisition, with the seven functions listed in the preceding paragraph. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a Department-wide acquisition program under which the Secretary shall develop, implement, and enforce a streamlined approach to entering into contracts and purchasing goods and services. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into personal services contracts for medical specialist services and the sharing of VA health care resources. Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to include under the term "competitive procedures" the procedures established by the Secretary for the use of federal supply schedules that are open to all responsible sources and result in the lowest cost alternative to meet the needs of the government. Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations to provide procedures for soliciting, negotiating, awarding, and administering such supply schedules. Revises VA small business contracting goals. Prohibits the Secretary from including in a database of small businesses owned and controlled by veterans a small business that is the vendor of a commercial item unless the vendor is the manufacturer or regular dealer of the item, unless the Secretary specifically provides a waiver with respect to that vendor. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish specific criteria for verifying the status of each small business proposed to be included in the database; and (2) specify the North American Industry Classification System code or codes of the goods and services that may be procured from each small business so listed.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Together We Care Act of 2009 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a pilot program to make grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for the training of public housing residents as home health aides and providers of home-based health services to enable them to provide covered home-based health services (i.e., services for which medical assistance is available under a state Medicaid plan or for which financial assistance is available under this Act) to residents of: (1) public housing who are elderly or disabled, or both; and (2) federally-assisted rental housing who are elderly or disabled, or both, subject to criteria that the Secretary may establish. Authorizes the use of grant funds: (1) to establish or maintain and carry out a program to train public housing residents to provide covered home-based health care services to elderly and disabled public housing residents and to elderly and disabled residents of federally-assisted rental housing; (2) for the transportation and child care expenses of public housing residents in training; and (3) for the administrative expenses of carrying out such a program. Provides that for any resident of public housing who is trained as a home health aide or as a provider of home-based health services under the program, any income received for providing covered home-based health services shall apply towards eligibility for benefits under federal housing programs as specified, based on length of time following completion of the training.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Establishes a six-month grace period following enactment of this Act during which otherwise qualifying durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers that do not yet meet Medicare accreditation and surety bond requirements must meet them. Requires such suppliers to be treated as having met the requirements between the effective date of the requirements and the date on which they first meet them, so long as they actually do meet them within six months after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Health Care Reality Check Act - Makes a Member of Congress ineligible for any government-administered health care benefit until the first day of the first month following the date on which comprehensive health reform legislation is signed into law.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Prevent Health Care Fraud Act of 2009 - Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Health Care Fraud Prevention. Requires the Office to: (1) direct the implementation within HHS of health care fraud prevention and detection recommendations made by federal and private sector antifraud and oversight entities; (2) routinely consult with HHS's Office of the Inspector General, the Attorney General, and private sector health care antifraud entities to identify emerging fraud issues requiring immediate action; (3) provide for the design, development, and operation of a predictive model antifraud system to analyze health care claims data in real-time to identify high risk claims activity and develop a comprehensive antifraud database for federal health agency activities; (4) promulgate and enforce regulations relating to the reporting of data claims to such system by federal health agencies; (5) establish thresholds for fraudulent, wasteful, or abusive claims for excluding providers or suppliers from participation in federal health programs and for the referral of claims to law enforcement entities; and (6) share antifraud information and best practices. Sets forth requirements for the fraud prevention system, including that it shall: (1) allow viewing of all provider and patient activities across all federal health program payers; (2) provide for a centralized file for data from all government health insurance claims data sources; (3) provide real-time ability to identify high-risk behavior patterns across markets, geographies, and specialty group providers; (4) involve the implementation of a predictive modeling technology that is designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse; (5) systematically present scores, reason codes, and treatment actions for high-risk scored transactions; (6) monitor consumer transactions in real-time and monitor provider behavior at different stages within the transaction flow based upon provider, transaction, and consumer trends; and (7) not be designed to deny health care services or to negatively impact prompt-pay laws because assessments are late. Directs the Deputy Secretary to: (1) prohibit the payment of any health care claim identified as potentially fraudulent, wasteful, or abusive until the claim has been verified as valid; and (2) provide maximum protection of personal privacy consistent with carrying out the Office's responsibilities. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for the implementation of fraud and abuse detection methods under all federal health programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2009
Brucella Abortus Removal Act of 2009 - Prohibits either the list of biological agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety established under the Public Health Service Act or the list of biological agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health or to animal or plant products established under the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of 2002 from including brucella abortus.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2009
Personal Health Record Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, in developing a nationwide health information technology infrastructure, to allow individuals to access their individually identifiable health information. Requires the inclusion in the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan objectives, milestones, and metrics related to the interoperability of a personal health record with an electronic health record (EHR). Directs the National Coordinator to develop guidelines for making EHRs interoperable with personal health records for the purpose of improving health care quality, reducing medical errors, and advancing the delivery of patient-centered medical care and health management. Requires the National Coordinator to report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) personal health records, including the extent to which the use of personal health records improve communication between individuals and covered entities and improve patient health management; and (2) issues related to an individual's control of the personal health record. Requires the HIT Policy Committee to make recommendations for standards and implementation specifications for the interoperability of personal health records and EHRs. Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to establish as an eligibility requirement for an incentive payment for the meaningful use of EHR technology that a health professional, hospital, or Medicaid provider must demonstrate the availability of certified EHR technology to and use of such technology by individuals furnished items and services by such professional, hospital, or provider in the form of electronic and personal health records.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2009
Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009 - Amends the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize FY2010-FY2011 appropriations for: (1) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for grants to domestic treatment centers for the costs of services provided in the rehabilitation of victims of torture (including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture), social and legal services, and research and training of health care providers outside of treatment centers or programs; (2) the President for grants to foreign treatment centers and programs for activities designed to treat victims for the physical and psychological effects of torture; and (3) the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2009
Rural Health Access and Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to give priority to critical access hospitals in awarding grants to facilitate and expand the electronic movement and use of health information among organizations according to nationally recognized standards. Expands the 340B drug discount program to allow participation as a covered entity by certain children's hospitals, critical access hospitals, rural referral centers, sole community hospitals, and rural health clinics. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the cost in each state of dispensing prescription drugs under the Medicaid program. Requires states to use the report to assess the adequacy of Medicaid pharmacy dispensing fees. Repeals provisions terminating the grant program for the operation of state offices of rural health.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2009
Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act of 2009 or the ConTACT Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish concussion management guidelines that address the prevention, identification, treatment, and management of concussions in school-aged children, including standards for student athletes to return to play after a concussion; and (2) convene a conference of medical, athletic, and educational stakeholders to establish such guidelines. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to states for: (1) adopting, disseminating, and ensuring the implementation by schools of the guidelines; and (2) funding implementation by schools of computerized preseason baseline and post-injury neuropsychological testing for student athletes. Directs the Secretary to require states to utilize, to the extent practicable, applicable expertise and services offered by local chapters of national brain injury organizations.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 3 December 2009
United States · United States Senate · 3 December 2009
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Transitional Federal Medical Assistance Percentage Act - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Extends the entire recession adjustment period from December 31, 2010, through June 30, 2011. Provides for adjusted FMAP percentage rates during a transitional assistance period from July 1, 2011, through December 31, 2013. Prescribes formulae for determining the adjusted FMAP through FY2012 and subsequent fiscal year quarters.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Program, under which the Director shall: (1) conduct and support multidisciplinary research to improve the understanding of endocrine disruption; and (2) conduct workshops and fora on health effects associated with environmental agents that may affect the endocrine system. Requires the Director to establish an Endocrine Disruption Program Panel, which shall: (1) provide advice to the Director on the conduct and support of research; (2) evaluate existing population-level biomonitoring and biobanking surveillance and research programs and recommend changes needed to develop data on human exposures and effects to support the Program; and (3) develop a list of chemicals of concern for endocrine disruption effects and make findings with respect to such chemicals. Authorizes individuals to petition the Panel to determine whether a chemical should be listed or to revise a finding or determination based on new information. Requires the Director, if the Panel finds that data are sufficient to determine that there is at least a minimal level of concern associated with a chemical's potential to disrupt the human endocrine system, to transmit the finding, including the routes and sources of exposure to the chemical, to each federal agency with authority to regulate the chemical. Requires each federal agency that receives such a transmission: (1) to reply to the Director describing the agency's regulatory authority, past actions in connection with the chemical, and proposed action to protect human health from the potential endocrine disruption effects of exposure to the chemical; and (2) within one year, to report on the actions taken and future actions proposed by the Agency in response to the Panel's finding. Requires the Director to establish a program to support graduate and postdoctoral training in fields related to the prevention of endocrine disruption.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Establishing a Network of Health-Advancing National Centers of Excellence for Depression Act of 2009 or the ENHANCED Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants on a competitive basis to institutions of higher education or public or private nonprofit research institutions to establish national centers of excellence for depression to engage in activities related to the treatment of depressive disorders. Lists priority criteria for grant recipients, including location in a geographic area with disproportionate numbers of underserved and at-risk populations in medically underserved areas and health professional shortage areas. Directs the Secretary to allocate appropriated funds so that up to 30 centers may be established by September 30, 2016. Authorizes the the Secretary to select centers to specialize in: (1) subspecialties such as prepartum and postpartum depression, traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendency, bipolar disorder, and depression; and (2) providing mental health services to communities with problems of access. Sets forth required activities of such centers, including to: (1) integrate basic, clinical, or health services interdisciplinary research and practice in the development of evidence-based interventions; (2) provide training and technical assistance to mental health professionals, facilitate the communication of research findings and depressive disorder-related information to the public, and provide education about depressive disorders; (3) collaborate to develop and implement treatment standards, clinical guidelines, and protocols to improve the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis of depressive disorders and treatment standards that emphasize early intervention and treatment for, prevention of, and recovery from depressive disorders; (4) incorporate principles of chronic care coordination and integration of services that address physical, mental, and social conditions in the treatment of depressive disorders; and (5) demonstrate effective use of a public-private partnership to foster collaborations among centers and community-based organizations and social and human services providers. Requires the Secretary to designate one grant recipient as a coordinating center, which shall establish and maintain a national, publicly available database to improve prevention programs, evidence-based interventions, and disease management programs for depressive disorders. Directs the Secretary, through the Administrator, to: (1) establish performance standards; and (2) issue a report card for each center to the coordinating center and periodically to Congress. Urges that the knowledge and research developed by the centers be disseminated broadly within the medical community and the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Patient Health and Real Medication Access Cost Savings Act of 2009 or the PHARMACY Bill - Declares that a consumer shall have the right to choose to purchase prescription drugs from any domestic pharmacy that meets all applicable federal and state license and permit requirements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue regulations that: (1) prohibit a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) from providing incentives to, encouraging, or requiring pharmacy benefit plan enrollees to use certain pharmacies or from excluding an eligible pharmacy from a plan's pharmacy network; (2) require a PBM to ensure that pharmacy benefit plan enrollees pay a specified copayment for brand name drugs; (3) require a PBM to reimburse a pharmacy in the network of a pharmacy benefit plan that is federally funded, at specified rates, for brand-name drugs, generic drugs, and additional professional services; (4) require a PBM to be reimbursed by a pharmacy benefit plan sponsor for adjudicating and processing claims; (5) limit the amount that a PBM charges a pharmacy benefit plan sponsor for a drug that is dispensed to enrollees to the amount the PBM paid the pharmacy for such drug; (6) require a manufacturer of prescription drugs to pay all rebates directly to the pharmacy benefit plan sponsor and not to a PBM; and (7) require a pharmacy benefit plan sponsor to provide a list of the wholesale acquisition costs of the top 500 most frequently prescribed drugs to physicians in a plan any insurance-related charge of which is underwritten by a federal, state, or local government. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include pharmacist services as "medical and other health services" under Medicare. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 2011, to establish a pharmaceutical access program to provide affordable prescription drugs to individuals who receive drug benefits under federal programs (except Medicaid). Requires: (1) a pharmacy that dispenses prescription drugs in the United States to remit to the Secretary 50 cents for each brand name prescription and $1.00 for generic drug prescription dispensed; and (2) the sponsor of a pharmacy benefit plan that is not federally funded to increase the professional dispensing fee paid to pharmacies by the same amounts. Requires the use of funds generated from such fees to provide affordable access to prescription drugs to low-income individuals who have enrolled in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Endocrine Disruption Prevention Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish the Endocrine Disruption Prevention Program, under which the Director shall: (1) conduct and support multidisciplinary research to improve the understanding of endocrine disruption; and (2) conduct workshops and fora on health effects associated with environmental agents that may affect the endocrine system. Requires the Director to establish an Endocrine Disruption Program Panel, which shall: (1) provide advice to the Director on the conduct and support of research; (2) evaluate existing population-level biomonitoring and biobanking surveillance and research programs and recommend changes needed to develop data on human exposures and effects to support the Program; and (3) develop a list of chemicals of concern for endocrine disruption effects and make findings with respect to such chemicals. Authorizes individuals to petition the Panel to determine whether a chemical should be listed or to revise a finding or determination based on new information. Requires the Director, if the Panel finds that data are sufficient to determine that there is at least a minimal level of concern associated with a chemical's potential to disrupt the human endocrine system, to transmit the finding, including the routes and sources of exposure to the chemical, to each federal agency with authority to regulate the chemical. Requires each federal agency that receives such a transmission: (1) to reply to the Director describing the agency's regulatory authority, past actions in connection with the chemical, and proposed action to protect human health from the potential endocrine disruption effects of exposure to the chemical; and (2) within one year, to report on the actions taken and future actions proposed by the Agency in response to the Panel's finding. Requires the Director to establish a program to support graduate and postdoctoral training in fields related to the prevention of endocrine disruption.
United States · United States House of Representatives · 2 December 2009
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
School Environment Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to require each local educational agency (agency) of a school district to implement an integrated pest management (IPM) program that: (1) applies to school buildings and school grounds; (2) establishes an IPM coordinator within the agency; and (3) follows an IPM plan for addressing school pest problems. Prohibits agencies or schools from using: (1) pesticides other than nontoxic or least toxic (as defined in this Act) pesticides; or (2) synthetic fertilizers. Permits an agency or school to use: (1) a least toxic pesticide as part of the IPM program only as a last resort and only if the area or room treated is unoccupied or not in use; and (2) only natural organic fertilizers. Authorizes a school to use a pesticide otherwise if: (1) the school or agency determines that a pest in the school or on school grounds cannot be controlled after having used the IPM program and least toxic pesticides and it is a public health emergency; (2) the IPM coordinator approves of the application of the pesticide product; (3) the area or room treated is vacant during the application and for 24-hours after the application; (4) the application is made by a certified pesticide applicator; and (5) the school notifies the parents or guardians of each student 24 hours before application of the pesticide. Sets forth requirements for such notification. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a National School Integrated Pest Management Advisory Board to: (1) establish uniform standards and criteria for developing IPM; and (2) develop standards for the use of least toxic pesticides in schools. Requires the Administrator to: (1) appoint an official for school pest management within EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs to coordinate the implementation of IPM programs in schools; and (2) publish an IPM plan and a list of products containing the least toxic pesticides and restrictions on their use. Requires each agency, state pesticide lead agency, and the Administrator to create school environments that are protected from pesticides that drift from treated land to school grounds. Establishes the Integrated Pest Management Trust Fund. Requires the Administrator to provide grants to agencies to implement IPM systems.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Veterans Health Professionals Educational Assistance Act of 2009 - Reinstates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health professionals educational assistance scholarship program and permits furnishing scholarships to new participants in the program through 2014. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as additional requirements under such program, to: (1) modify the program in such a way that program graduates can be employed as soon as possible upon graduation and to actively assist and monitor graduates to ensure certifications are obtained in a minimal period following graduation; (2) require program participants to perform clinical tours; and (3) assign to each program participant a mentor who is employed at the same facility where the participant performs post-graduation obligated service. Increases maximum payments under the VA education debt reduction program. Allows the Secretary to waive such limits. Authorizes the Secretary to provide an educational loan repayment program for clinical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds, in order to secure clinical research for the Veterans Health Administration. Directs the Secretary to: (1) transfer specified funds to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for including VA facilities on a list of facilities eligible for assignment of participants in the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program; and (2) identify all VA medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics that may be eligible for such assignments.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Women's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the development and operation of centers to conduct multidisciplinary research on environmental factors that may be related to the development of women's health conditions. Requires each such center to: (1) conduct basic or clinical research; (2) develop protocols and conduct training programs for physicians, scientists, nurses, and other health and allied health professionals; (3) disseminate information to such professionals and the public; and (4) emphasize activities that are directed toward preventing the development in women of the diseases and conditions involved. Allows a center to use funds to provide stipends for health and allied health professionals enrolled in training programs. Requires each center to establish and maintain ongoing collaborations with community organizations in the geographic area served by the center, including organizations that represent women or children with disorders that appear to stem from environmental factors. Requires the Director to provide for the coordination of information among centers and ensure regular communication between them. Directs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to hold a hearing on the Director's implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Environmental Hormone Disruption Research Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish a comprehensive program to: (1) research the health effects on women and children that may result through disruption of the hormone systems; (2) carry out research, development, and demonstrations on technologies to mitigate the occurrence of hormone-disrupting pollutants in the environment and their unintended effects on ecological and wildlife health, in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey (USGS); and (3) coordinate U.S. research on hormone disruption with research conducted in other nations. Requires the program to provide for: (1) the collection and dissemination of scientifically valid information on human health effects of hormone-disrupting pollutants, the extent of human exposure to such pollutants, and the exposure of wildlife species to such pollutants and possible associated health effects; and (2) research on mechanisms by which such pollutants interact with biological systems, testing for hormone disruption, and the identity and fate of hormone-disrupting pollutants in the environment. Directs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to hold a hearing on program implementation. Gives the Director principal responsibility for conducting and coordinating research on the unintended effects of hormone-disrupting pollutants on human health and the environment. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the Hormone Disruption Research Interagency Commission. Establishes a Hormone Disruption Research Panel to make recommendations on the design and implementation of the program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Recognizes the 21st anniversary of observing World AIDS Day. Expresses support for: (1) the goals and ideals of such Day; (2) continued funding for prevention, care, treatment services, and research programs for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; (3) the development of a national AIDS strategy to reduce new HIV infections, especially among vulnerable communities; (4) the goals of providing universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support programs and protecting human rights for all people, including vulnerable and marginalized populations; and (5) efforts to address the factors that make populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS by decreasing poverty and hunger, expanding educational opportunities for children, and empowering women.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2009
Expresses support for: (1) the goals and ideals of National Diabetes Month; and (2) decreasing the prevalence of diabetes, developing better treatments, and working toward an eventual cure in the United States through increased research, treatment, and prevention. Recognizes the importance of early detection and awareness of the symptoms and risk factors for diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2009
Acknowledges the outstanding achievements and profound impact of Stefanie Spielman in the fight against breast cancer and commends her commitment to caring for others suffering from the disease.