Telehealth Expansion Act of 2021 This bill makes permanent the exemption for telehealth services from certain high deductible health plan rules.
Preventing Foreign Attempts to Erode Healthcare Innovation Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to support, allow, or facilitate the negotiation or approval of any measure at the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property rights, including the waiver proposed by India and South Africa to suspend certain provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to facilitate the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19.
This resolution expresses support for the designation of National Foster Care Month.
This resolution expresses support for the designation of May 13, 2021, as National Senior Fraud Awareness Day and encourages the development of policies that help prevent scams targeting older adults.
This resolution designates the week of May 9-May 15, 2021, as National Police Week.
Save Local Business Act This bill provides that a person may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee under federal labor law only if such person directly, actually, and immediately (and not in a limited and routine manner) exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment. Such control may by demonstrated by hiring and discharging employees, determining individual employee rates of pay and benefits, day-to-day supervision of employees, assigning individual work schedules, positions, and tasks, and administering employee discipline.
This resolution designates July 21, 2021, as Glioblastoma Awareness Day. Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor.
Back the Blue Act of 2021 This bill establishes new criminal offenses for killing, assaulting, and fleeing to avoid prosecution for killing a judge, law enforcement officer, or public safety officer. Additionally, the bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include the killing or attempted killing of a law enforcement officer, judge, prosecutor, or firefighter or other first responder; broadens the authority of federal law enforcement officers to carry firearms; and limits federal court review of challenges to state court convictions for killing a public safety officer or judge. Finally, it directs the Department of Justice to make grants to law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations to promote trust and improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
Long-Term Care Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021 This bill establishes a statutory definition for long-term care pharmacy under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Currently, there is no statutory definition. Regulations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) define a long-term care pharmacy as a pharmacy that is owned by or under contract with a long-term care facility to provide prescription drugs to the facility's residents. Additional requirements are set out in CMS guidance relating to the Medicare prescription drug benefit; pharmacies are also subject to regulations and guidance from other agencies (e.g., packaging requirements from the Food and Drug Administration). The bill defines a long-term care pharmacy as a state-licensed pharmacy that is able to provide enhanced pharmacy and clinical services to individuals who have certain comorbid and medically complex chronic conditions and who reside in skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, or any other applicable setting (as determined by the CMS). The term enhanced pharmacy and clinical services includes medication dispensed in special packaging, drug utilization review, and 24-7 availability of medication delivery and on-call pharmacists.
Empowering Law Enforcement Act of 2021 This bill addresses issues relating to immigration enforcement. The bill declares that state and local law enforcement have inherent authority to investigate and arrest individuals to assist federal immigration enforcement. (Currently, state and local law enforcement may take certain immigration enforcement actions upon entering into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must reimburse state and local law enforcement for the costs of holding or transporting a detained alien. DHS may detain an alien beyond the removal period (generally the window in which DHS must remove an alien after a final order of removal) upon making certain certifications, such as a certification that the alien's release would threaten community safety. DHS may renew this certification every six months after giving the alien an opportunity to request reconsideration of the certification. An alien challenging such detention may only do so by filing an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Certain aliens subject to mandatory detention may be held without time limitation while removal proceedings are pending. DHS must detain an alien who is present in the United States without lawful status if the alien has been convicted for driving while intoxicated. DHS must establish a process to determine whether an alien not subject to mandatory detention and who has tried to comply with a removal order should be detained or released with conditions. The Department of Justice must include information about immigration law violations in the National Crime Information Center database.
