Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and items. Coverage must include services and items that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician. Coverage limits and cost-sharing requirements for such services and items may not be more restrictive than those applicable to all medical and surgical benefits under the plan.
End Double Taxation of Successful Consumer Claims Act This bill allows a deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) for attorney fees and court costs in connection with a claim of a consumer protection violation.
Do Your Job Act of 2021 This bill eliminates the use of official time by federal employees. Official time is paid time off from assigned duties to perform labor-management relations activities.
Coronavirus Front-Line Responders Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 300,000 half dollar clad coins in honor and commemoration of the work of the frontline responders to the coronavirus (i.e., the virus that causes COVID-19) pandemic. All surcharges received from the sale of coins issued under this bill shall be promptly paid to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Foundation to support the health care response to infectious diseases and pandemics.
Improving Access to Indian Health Services Act This bill permanently extends certain Medicaid flexibilities relating to Indian health care providers. Specifically, the bill permanently expands coverage to include clinical services that are furnished outside of a clinic by an Indian Health Service (IHS) facility, a tribe or tribal organization, or an Urban Indian Organization (UIO). Current guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows IHS and tribal facilities to receive payment for clinical services provided outside of clinics through October 31, 2021; facilities are expected to work with their state Medicaid programs to transition to other, more permanent payment options for these services. The bill also permanently establishes a 100% federal matching rate, also known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), for UIO services. Current law provides a 100% FMAP for UIO services during the eight fiscal quarters after March 11, 2021.
Ensuring Survivor Benefits during COVID-19 Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to get a medical opinion to determine if a service-connected disability was the principal or contributory cause of death in situations where a veteran's death certificate identifies COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) as the principal or contributory cause of death, the certificate does not clearly identify any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities as the principal or contributory cause of death, and a claim for dependency and indemnity compensation is filed with respect to the veteran.
Supporting Veteran Families in Need Act This bill permanently extends the authorization for the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing.
American Innovation and Jobs Act This bill revises and expands the deductibility of research and experimental expenditures to allow immediate expensing of such expenditures. It also allows the amortization over a period of at least 60 months of certain other types of research and experimental expenditures not treated as expenses. The bill increases the maximum amount eligible for the tax credit for new and small businesses and increases to 20% the rate of the credit for business startups.
Grand Canyon Protection Act This bill withdraws 1,006,545 acres of federal lands in Arizona, including any land or interest in land acquired by the United States after enactment of this bill, from entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws and mineral materials laws.
Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act This bill requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish requirements for certain entities when they collect, transmit, store, process, use, or otherwise control sensitive personal information. Information relating to an identifiable individual is generally considered sensitive personal information. However, information that is publicly available is not considered sensitive. Specifically, these entities must (1) obtain affirmative consent from users for functionality related to the disclosure of sensitive personal information, (2) publish a privacy and data use policy that is readily understandable, (3) provide users the ability to opt-out of the sharing of their nonsensitive information, and (4) obtain at least once every two years a privacy audit that evaluates the sufficiency of the entity's data privacy and security controls. These requirements do not apply to the collection or sharing of sensitive or nonsensitive personal information for certain purposes such as detecting fraud or identity theft. The bill provides authority for the FTC and state attorneys general to enforce these requirements. Additionally, the FTC must hire 500 new employees to focus on privacy and data security.
Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct an interagency review of the status of women and lung cancer. The review must report on the status of existing research and current knowledge gaps; identify new opportunities for collaborative research to determine the causes of lung cancer and advance prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment; and provide recommendations for a national cancer screening strategy and public education campaign.
Funding for Aviation Screeners and Threat Elimination Restoration Act or the FASTER Act This bill repeals the requirement that a portion of aviation security service fees collected from passengers be credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. It requires such fees to be deposited into a separate account in the Treasury for expenditure to pay only the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed (i.e., aviation security screening).
