Energy Resilient Communities Act This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish a program that awards grants to make critical energy infrastructure more resilient to climate change hazards, such as grants for developing clean energy microgrids that support critical community infrastructure or customers of electric utilities with special energy needs due to medical conditions.
Protecting Americans from Unnecessary Spread upon Entry from COVID-19 Act of 2021 or the PAUSE Act of 2021 This bill maintains immigration restrictions put in place under public health emergency authorities to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) from foreign countries. Specifically, the bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from rescinding or reducing the stringency of the restrictions. It also prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from stopping or reducing enforcement of the restrictions. These prohibitions remain in effect until (1) federal and state COVID-19 emergency orders are lifted, and (2) the risk of introducing COVID-19 in or from Canada and Mexico is minimal.
Ally's Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover certain hearing devices and systems (e.g., bone-anchored auditory implants) and related items and services. The bill also imposes limits on cost sharing.
Medicare Economic Security Solutions Act This bill modifies provisions relating to enrollment periods for Medicare medical services. Among other things, the bill establishes a late enrollment penalty of 15% of monthly premiums and applies the penalty for a period equal to twice the number of months in each 12-month period during which the individual was not enrolled. Currently, the late enrollment penalty is 10% of monthly premiums for each 12-month period during which the individual was not enrolled, and the penalty continues to apply for as long as the individual is enrolled in Medicare medical services. The bill also expands the special enrollment periods to individuals who have health insurance coverage other than through their employer.
Protecting Patient Access to Lifesaving COVID-19 Drugs Act of 2021 This bill requires health insurance plans to cover COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) antibody treatment at no cost for individuals who have tested positive for the virus.
Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2021 This bill provides for coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare. It also excludes such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and authorizes marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and revises the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. Under the program, the Department of Energy provides grants to local governments, states, and Indian tribes for energy efficiency and conservation projects and programs. This bill expands the allowable uses of grant funds to include the deployment of energy distribution technologies that significantly expand access to alternative fuels.
Preventing Mental Health and Substance Use Crises During Emergencies Act This bill establishes a task force and requires a strategy to address mental health and substance use issues during public health emergencies. The Department of Health and Human Services must convene the task force to assess the federal response to such issues during and after the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. In addition, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration must develop and annually update the strategy. The task force's work must inform the strategy.
Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2021 This bill makes permanent several telehealth flexibilities that were initially authorized during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), particularly with respect to Medicare coverage of telehealth services. For example, the bill permanently allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner) for telehealth services under Medicare. Payment must be made in the same manner as for non-telehealth services, rather than in accordance with a separate methodology determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The bill also permanently allows beneficiaries to receive Medicare telehealth services at any site, regardless of type or location, and grants the CMS general authority to waive any other requirements during any emergency period.
PDMPs Help Patients Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a grant program to test the feasibility of integrating substance use disorder and behavioral health treatment locator tools into prescription drug monitoring programs. HHS may award grants to up to five states.
Curbing Abuse and Saving Expression In Technology Act or the CASE-IT Act This bill limits the protections for a user or provider of an interactive computer service (e.g., social media company) related to content that is published on or removed from its platform. The bill removes for one year the protection from being treated as the publisher of information provided by another content provider if a user or provider facilitates (1) illegal online content; (2) certain exploitive contact between adults and minors; or (3) content that is indecent, obscene, or otherwise harmful to minors. Further, to avoid being treated as the publisher of third-party content or subject to liability for screening and blocking content on its platform, an interactive computer service that is dominant in its market (i.e., has gained substantial, sustained market power over any competitors) must make content moderation decisions pursuant to policies or practices that are consistent with the First Amendment.
Women and Climate Change Act of 2021 This bill addresses climate change and its effects on women and girls. Specifically, the bill establishes the Federal Interagency Working Group on Women and Climate Change within the Department of State. The bill outlines the functions of the working group, including the coordination of agencies' policies and activities relating to combating the effects of climate change on women and improving the government's response to and strategy for climate change. In addition, the Office of Global Women's Issues of the State Department must submit a strategy to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change on women.
