Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Bringing Enhanced Treatments and Therapies to ESRD Recipients Kidney Care Act or the BETTER Kidney Care Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a demonstration program for Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Under the program, renal dialysis facilities, kidney disease specialists, physician practices, and other health care practitioners may form an organization that partners with certain health care entities to provide integrated care to beneficiaries with ESRD. Such care must include all covered Medicare benefits as well as transition services for transplantations, palliative care, and hospice. Each organization must have a minimum number or percentage of participating beneficiaries (350 or 60% of beneficiaries served at the organization's facilities) and must also comply with certain fiscal, governance, and quality of care requirements. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office must study certain data that is reported to the CMS regarding pediatric dialysis care, as well as the effects of race-based corrections to a specified kidney function test on referrals of ESRD patients for transplant evaluations.

Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostics Act of 2021 This bill establishes separate payment requirements for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals under the Medicare prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department services. The bill's requirements apply to diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals that have an average daily cost of $500 or more in 2022 and as adjusted based on a specified fee schedule factor in each year thereafter.

Securing America's Medicine Cabinet Act of 2021 This bill directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to designate qualified institutions of higher education (or consortia of such institutions) as National Centers of Excellence in Advanced and Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and to provide grants to the centers. Each designated center must conduct research on advanced and continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and must share information from such research with the FDA. (Currently, most drug production involves batch manufacturing, which typically takes longer than continuous manufacturing processes.)

This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors at certain multilateral development banks, such as the Asian Development Bank, to oppose providing a loan, financial assistance, or technical assistance to China. The executive directors must also advocate and vote to end lending and assistance to a country that has exceeded certain income thresholds.

Greater Insight into Foreign Transactions in Higher Education Act of 2021 or the GIFTs in Higher Education Act This bill revises certain disclosure requirements for institutions of higher education (IHEs). Under current law, an IHE must disclose to the Department of Education (ED) a gift or contract from a foreign source that is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source. This bill extends the disclosure requirement to include faculty, professional staff, and all staff engaged in research and development at the IHE. Further, an IHE (including faculty and staff) must disclose to ED a gift or contract from a designated foreign adversary source that is valued at $50,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign adversary source within a calendar year. The IHE must, within 30 days of receipt of the gift or contract, file a disclosure report with ED. ED must, within 30 days of submission, publish online these disclosure reports. Next, the bill requires each federal agency to ensure that no federal funds are distributed to an IHE that knowingly or willfully violates these disclosure requirements. The bill also prohibits an IHE that knowingly or willfully violates these disclosure requirements from receiving federal education funds, with an exception for federal student-aid program funding.

This resolution expresses the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of the Honorable Carl Levin, former Senator for Michigan.

This resolution expresses the condolences of the Senate regarding the death of the Honorable Mike Enzi, former Senator for Wyoming.

Flying Tiger Flight 739 Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to authorize inclusion on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in the District of Columbia of the names of the 93 soldiers who died on Flying Tiger Flight 739 when it crashed in the Pacific Ocean en route to Vietnam on March 16, 1962.

This resolution revises the eligibility criteria for the Senate Employee Child Care Center. For FY2022, and each fiscal year afterwards, the Senate shall reimburse the Senate Employee Child Care Center for the cost of the basic pay paid to the Executive Director and the Assistant Director of the center. As a condition of receiving such reimbursement, the center must terminate the enrollment of a child at the center within 120 days of the date on which the child does not have a parent or guardian who is serving as an employee of the Senate, an employee of the center, a congressional employee, or a federal employee. As a condition of receiving reimbursement under this resolution, the center shall provide enrollment first, to a child of an individual serving as a Senate employee or as an employee of the center; second, to a child of an individual serving as a congressional employee; and third, to a child of a federal employee if certain conditions are met. Under the resolution, the center may provide enrollment to the child of a federal employee if there is an enrollment slot available; no child of an individual serving as an employee of the Senate, as an employee of the center, or as a congressional employee accepts the slot; and no currently enrolled child is ready to transition to the class in which the slot is available.

Choose Home Care Act of 2021 This bill provides for coverage of home-based extended care services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill provides for coverage of services that are furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes by home health agencies, including nursing care, meals and nutritional support, home medical supplies, nonemergency medical transportation, and care coordination. Coverage includes 30 days of post-hospital care and other periods of extended illness, as determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Home health agencies that provide such services may receive additional payments in accordance with a specified methodology. The CMS may make payments for covered services furnished before 2022 during any period in which there is a public health emergency.