Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act This bill expands the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state or restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or offer meat and food products for sale directly to consumers in the state. The bill does not preempt any state law concerning (1) the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility; or (2) the sale of meat or meat food products.
Rural Forest Markets Act of 202 1 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Rural Forest Market Investment Program to guarantee investments to finance certain projects that will enable rural private forest landowners to participate in an innovative market for forest carbon or other products. In establishing the program, USDA must consider ways to ensure that the program minimizes disruptions to traditional forest products markets. Eligible projects are projects developed by a private entity or a publicly supported, charitable nonprofit organization engaged in the aggregation of sustainable forestry practices implemented by rural private forest landowners to facilitate the sale of credits in the voluntary carbon market or other environmental market using a methodology approved by a credible, third-party entity. USDA may guarantee up to $150 million with respect to each investment. Authority to carry out the program terminates on September 30, 2023.
Social Determinants Accelerator Act of 2021 This bill establishes the Social Determinants Accelerator Interagency Council to increase coordination among health and social service programs and provide technical assistance to increase the impact of such programs. The council must also assist the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to award up to 25 grants to state, local, or tribal health or human services agencies for social determinants accelerator plans. These plans must address at least one health and one social outcome for a specified target population.
Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act of 2021 This bill specifies that certain deductible, coinsurance, initial coverage limit, and cost-sharing requirements that apply under the Medicare prescription drug benefit shall not apply with respect to vaccines that are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must provide to Medicare beneficiaries specified information regarding (1) coverage of vaccines for seniors, and (2) access to recommended vaccines without cost-sharing.
Data to Save Moms Act This bill expands data collection and research on maternal morbidity and mortality among minority populations. Specifically, the bill adds requirements to a program within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that supports maternal mortality review committees. To the extent practicable, the committees must use the most up-to-date indicators of severe maternal morbidity; review deaths caused by suicide, overdose, or other behavioral health conditions attributed to or aggravated by pregnancy or childbirth; and consult with representatives of communities about nonclinical factors that may contribute to adverse maternal outcomes. The CDC may also award grants to committees to increase their engagement with local communities, such as by bringing on community representatives as committee members. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must consult with diverse stakeholders to review maternal health data collection processes and quality measures and make recommendations to improve them. The Indian Health Service and the Department of Health and Human Services must also arrange for studies on adverse maternal health outcomes among tribal and minority populations, respectively.
Intelligence Community Workforce Agility Protection Act of 2021 This bill allows a current tax deduction for the moving expenses of an employee or new appointee of the intelligence community who moves due to a change in assignment that requires relocation. It also allows a current tax exclusion for such employees or appointees for moving expense reimbursements. Under current law, the tax deduction and exclusion for the moving expenses of other taxpayers are suspended for the period beginning in 2018 through 2025.
Cancer Care Planning and Communications Act of 2021 This bill provides for Medicare coverage and payment of cancer care planning and coordination services for individuals who are diagnosed with or treated for cancer, including the development of treatment plans, follow-up care, and any necessary revisions.
Year-Round Fuel Choice Act of 2021 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address the limitations on Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) that are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season. The bill applies the Reid vapor pressure requirements that are applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol. Thus, the waiver given to E10 gasoline, which allows an increase in the Reid Vapor Pressure volatility, is extended to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol.
National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2021 This bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank as a government corporation to finance energy, environmental (e.g., drinking water or waste facilities), telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure projects. The bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank Board, which must oversee the infrastructure projects. The board may make loans and loan guarantees to assist in financing infrastructure projects. Further, the board must establish an executive committee, a risk management committee, an audit committee, and a compliance office. To be eligible for financial assistance from the bank, an infrastructure project (1) must have a public benefit, as determined by the board; and (2) may not have a sole use or purpose that is private. An infrastructure project must use iron, steel, and manufactured products that are made in the United States. The bill also establishes accounting and reporting requirements. In particular, the Government Accountability Office must, within five years of this bill's enactment, submit a report to Congress evaluating the bank's activities.
Technical Reset to Advance the Instruction of Nurses Act or the TRAIN Act This bill modifies the methodology and application of Medicare Advantage nursing and allied health education payments for hospitals. Specifically, for 2010-2019, the bill eliminates the annual cap on total payments and excludes any resulting increase from factoring into calculations for graduate medical education payments for such hospitals. (The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently issued guidance providing for the recalculation and correction of certain payments to account for the annual payment cap.)
Veterans Health Care Freedom Act This bill requires the Center for Innovation for Care and Payment within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a three-year pilot program to improve the ability of veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system to access hospital care, medical services, and extended care services through the covered care system by providing such veterans with the ability to choose health care providers. Under the bill, the covered care system includes VA medical facilities, health care providers participating in the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP), and eligible entities or providers that have entered into a Veterans Care Agreement. A veteran participating in the program may elect to receive care at any provider in the covered care system. The pilot program removes certain requirements (e.g., location of the veteran) to access care at VA and non-VA facilities. After four years, the bill permanently phases out the requirements for accessing care under the VCCP and Veterans Care Agreements and requires the VA to provide such care under the same conditions of the pilot program. Additionally, after four years, veterans may receive care at a VA medical facility regardless of whether the facility is in the same Veterans Integrated Service Network as the veteran.
Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to concede, for the purposes of health care benefits and wartime disability compensation, that a veteran was exposed to certain toxic substances, chemicals, and hazards from burn pits if such veteran served on active duty in a covered location during a specified time frame (unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed during such service). A burn pit is an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment. Specifically, the bill covers the following locations and corresponding time periods: Iraq between August 2, 1990, and February 28, 1991, as well as from March 19, 2003, until burn pits are no longer used in this location; Somalia and Southwest Asia (including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar) from August 2, 1990, until burn pits are no longer used in these locations; and Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, and Djibouti from September 11, 2001, until burn pits are no longer used in these locations. Under the bill, if an exposed veteran submits insufficient evidence to establish a service-connection for purposes of disability compensation, the VA shall provide a medical examination and request a medical opinion regarding a causal link between the disability and a toxin, chemical, or hazard.
