Quality Higher Education Act of 2021 This bill revises the accreditation standards under which an accrediting agency or association must assess an institution of higher education (IHE), and it requires the Department of Education to establish procedures for an agency or association to follow when an IHE fails to meet these standards. An accrediting agency or association must measure an IHE's success in student achievement against at least one standard each in the categories of completion, workforce participation, and progress toward meeting such completion and workforce participation standards. An agency or association must also make certain information such as student achievement standards and IHE performance benchmarks available on a publicly accessible website. Additionally, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity must evaluate the effectiveness of the revised standards and compare similar accrediting agencies or associations based on their assessments of IHEs.
First Time Homeowner Savings Plan Act This bill increases from $10,000 to $25,000 the aggregate amount a taxpayer may withdraw, without penalty, from a tax-exempt retirement plan as a first-time homebuyer distribution.
Broadband Incentives for Communities Act This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish a grant program to assist local governments and Indian tribes with efficient review and approval of zoning or permitting applications that facilitate the deployment of broadband infrastructure. Grant recipients must use awarded funds to build application processing capacity or to purchase technology, software, and equipment to facilitate the processing of applications. The NTIA must also establish the Local Broadband Advisory Council to develop solutions to challenges faced by local governments, Indian tribes, and infrastructure providers in facilitating wireless and broadband deployment, including in unserved and underserved communities.
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that policies concerning medication abortions should be grounded in science, be based on a review of medical evidence, and ensure equitable access for patients.
This resolution supports the designation of National Health Care Awareness Month.
National Commission to Combat Workplace Sexual Harassment Act This bill establishes the National Commission to Combat Workplace Sexual Harassment to investigate and report on sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other sexual misconduct in the workplace. This includes the causes of such conduct and whether certain personal characteristics or types of employment make individuals more vulnerable to such conduct.
Language Access for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2021 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to translate the annual explanation of Medicare benefits for enrollees into multiple languages, besides English and Spanish. The CMS must prioritize languages into which Social Security documents are translated or that are most frequently requested for purposes of Social Security benefits applications.
Choose Medicare Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish public health insurance plans and addresses health insurance costs. Such public plans must be offered on health insurance exchanges and (1) meet the requirements of a qualified health plan; (2) cover benefits at the gold plan level; and (3) cover reproductive services, including abortions. Additionally, the bill makes a series of changes related to health insurance costs, including requiring employers to refer employees to health care navigators to assist with enrollment, establishing an annual limit on out-of-pocket costs for services under Medicare, providing HHS with the authority to negotiate prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, expanding the premium-assistance credit by benchmarking the credit amount to the second-lowest cost gold plan and increasing the income threshold for eligibility, requiring qualified health plans to reduce cost sharing for low-income plan holders, providing funding for states to provide reinsurance to health insurance issuers and to assist individuals with out-of-pocket costs for plans offered through health insurance exchanges, applying the premium rate-setting requirements to large group health plans, and requiring HHS or states to take corrective actions to address unreasonable premium rates set by insurance issuers.
Diversifying Investigations Via Equitable Research Studies for Everyone Trials Act or the DIVERSE Trials Act This bill requires activities to increase diversity in clinical trials. It also expands reporting by laboratories that test for and diagnose COVID-19 and requires a study on data collection and data sharing during public health emergencies. Specifically, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must issue guidance on decentralized clinical trials to promote meaningful demographic and geographic diversity in patient engagement, enrollment, and participation. Decentralized clinical trials include those executed through telemedicine or other digital technologies to allow for the remote collection and assessment of clinical trial data. The FDA may also work with foreign regulators to harmonize international regulations governing decentralized clinical trials and the use of digital health technology. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may support community education, outreach, and recruitment activities for clinical trials of treatments for conditions that disproportionately impact populations underrepresented in clinical trials. The bill also specifies that drug or device manufacturers may provide, subject to some limits, free digital health technologies and other remuneration to patients in approved clinical trials without violating laws that address fraud and abuse in federal programs. Furthermore, laboratories that test for and diagnose COVID-19 must report additional demographic data, including information about social determinants of health. HHS must also contract with the National Academy of Medicine to study and propose a design for an interoperable platform to facilitate data sharing during public health emergencies.
This resolution supports (1) fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and (2) investments in the vaccine supply chain and other efforts to meet global needs for vaccines.
Territory Economic Development Tax Credit Act This bill establishes a new tax credit for wages and tangible investments made by U.S. domestic corporations with branches operating in U.S. territories. It requires that 80% of credible income must be derived from a territory during a 3-year period, and 75% must come from an active trade or business in a territory. The credit is equal to 40% of eligible wages and benefits paid or provided to employees in the territory, subject to certain limitations.
Creative Economy Revitalization Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to award grants to government and nonprofit agencies to provide programs that employ individuals and provide public access to art or arts programming.
