Rep. Diana Harshbarger

Maddy summaryThis bill makes permanent Medicare coverage for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services delivered via telehealth in patients' homes, which were temporarily allowed during the pandemic. It removes geographic restrictions that previously required in-person visits or limited services to specific locations like clinics. The change directly affects Medicare beneficiaries needing heart or lung rehabilitation and healthcare providers offering these programs. It ensures home-based telehealth visits for cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation receive the same coverage as in-clinic services under Medicare.

Maddy summaryHR 1276, the "Protect Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023," creates a legal right for minors who undergo gender-transition procedures before age 18 to sue medical practitioners for harms (physical, psychological, or emotional) related to those procedures. It allows such individuals to file civil lawsuits up to 30 years after turning 18, seeking damages, injunctions, or attorney fees. The bill defines "gender-transition procedure" broadly to include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgeries, but excludes treatments for intersex conditions, medical emergencies, or injuries caused by prior procedures. This law directly affects minors receiving such care, medical practitioners performing these procedures, and states that might require them. The bill does not prohibit gender-transition care but establishes a liability framework for practitioners.

Maddy summaryThe Rural Physician Workforce Production Act of 2023 creates a new payment system to support medical residency training in rural areas. It allows hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals to receive additional payments for residents who train at least 8 weeks in rural locations, with payments based on national medical training costs adjusted annually. The bill requires hospitals to pay residents' salaries during rural training and defines "rural training location" using census data (rural areas, rural-urban commuting area codes, or locations near sole community hospitals). This program is designed to increase rural physician training without affecting existing residency program limits or Medicare funding for medical education. Payments are budget-neutral, meaning they won't increase overall Medicare spending on medical education.

Maddy summaryHR 751, the FAIR Act, requires hospitals running medical residency programs to report annual data on applicants and acceptances from both osteopathic (DO) and allopathic (MD) medical schools starting in 2024. Specifically, hospitals must submit the number of applicants and accepted candidates from each medical school type, confirm they accept both DO and MD applicants, and state that COMLEX and USMLE exam scores are equally accepted. The Health Secretary must then publish this data online for public transparency. The bill directly affects hospitals operating residency programs and aims to make their admissions processes more visible, without mandating specific acceptance rates or changing admission criteria.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Social Security Act to exclude wages earned and self-employment income derived from unauthorized employment in the United States from being counted toward Social Security credits. It directly affects undocumented immigrants who work without authorization, preventing those earnings from contributing to their future Social Security benefits. The law changes existing Social Security rules by adding specific exclusions for "service performed by an alien while employed... not authorized to be so employed" and similar self-employment activities. These changes apply to all wages and income earned before, during, or after the bill's enactment, with Social Security recompiling existing benefit calculations to reflect the new rules.

Maddy summaryHR 589, the MAHSA Act, imposes U.S. sanctions on Iran's Supreme Leader, President, and affiliated entities responsible for human rights abuses and terrorism. It targets the Supreme Leader's Office, the President's cabinet, security forces involved in the crackdown following Mahsa Amini's death, and entities financing abuses. The bill requires the President to annually determine and apply existing sanctions - like property blocking and visa bans - against these individuals and entities. This directly affects Iran's top leadership and security apparatus, aiming to hold them accountable for abuses including the Morality Police's role in Amini's detention and the subsequent violent suppression of protests.

Maddy summaryHR 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, eliminates a federal requirement for healthcare workers in Medicare and Medicaid programs to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The bill directly affects healthcare providers who treat patients under these federally funded programs by preventing the enforcement of the November 2021 HHS rule mandating staff vaccinations. Its key provision prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing, enforcing, or creating a similar rule regarding vaccination for these workers. This bill changes the policy by removing a specific vaccine mandate for providers in Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Maddy summaryThis bill extends a temporary COVID-19 emergency waiver that allows nurse aides in training to count hours worked during the pandemic toward their certification requirements at nursing facilities. It specifically permits these hours to satisfy the 75-hour minimum training requirement and allows facilities to conduct competency evaluations on-site if states don’t offer them weekly. The waiver remains in effect for at least 24 months after enactment, with a requirement for the Secretary to study its continued appropriateness within one year. The policy directly affects nurse aides working in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities under federal Medicare/Medicaid rules. It does not create new training programs but maintains pandemic-era flexibility for staffing.

Maddy summaryThis bill bans federal funding for abortions in most cases, prohibiting the use of taxpayer money for abortion services or health insurance plans covering abortion. Exceptions allow funding for abortions resulting from rape, incest, or when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life. It requires health insurance plans sold through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces to clearly disclose any separate costs for abortion coverage and prohibits ACA subsidies from being used for plans that cover abortion (except in the specified exceptions). The law directly affects federal programs like Medicaid, ACA marketplace plans, and insurers offering health coverage to individuals using federal subsidies.

Maddy summaryHR 152, titled the "Hearing Protection Act," actually addresses firearm silencers (suppressors), not hearing protection. The bill removes federal registration requirements for silencers by directing the Attorney General to destroy all existing silencer records within 365 days. It also preempts state laws that tax, register, or impose recordkeeping requirements on silencers, making such state rules unenforceable. Additionally, the bill updates tax codes to include silencers as taxable items and clarifies their definition in firearm laws.