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.
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.
Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from awarding family planning grants to entities that perform abortions or provide funding to other entities that perform abortions. To receive a grant, an entity must certify it will refrain from those activities during the grant period. The bill provides exceptions for abortions (1) in cases of rape or incest; or (2) when the life of the woman is in danger due to a physical disorder, injury, or illness. It also exempts hospitals unless they provide funds to non-hospital entities that provide abortions. HHS must report annually on this prohibition.
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.
Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act This bill eliminates Medicaid funding limitations for U.S. territories beginning in FY2021.
Daylight Act This bill allows states to observe daylight savings time year-round. (States may already choose to observe standard time year-round.)
Women's Public Health and Safety Act This bill allows a state to exclude from participation in the state's Medicaid program a provider that performs an abortion, unless (1) the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or (2) the woman suffers from a physical issue that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. Under current law, a state plan for medical assistance must provide that any individual eligible for medical assistance may obtain required services from any provider qualified to perform them.
Resilient Manufacturing Task Force Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Commerce to establish for one year the Resilient Manufacturing Task Force. Among other duties, the task force shall (1) identify critical vulnerabilities in the supply chains of products and resources that are essential to U.S. economic security, with a particular focus on vulnerabilities that have been made worse by COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019); and (2) develop specified plans to mitigate such vulnerabilities.
Protecting Life in Crisis Act This bill specifies that federal funds allocated for COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) response efforts may not, in general, be used for abortions. Current law generally prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions through language included in appropriations bills, such as the Hyde Amendment. The bill also restricts the use of federal tax credits or other federal funding for health insurance coverage if the coverage includes abortions.
Continuing Coverage for Preexisting Conditions Act of 2021 This bill establishes severability between provisions relating to the requirement to maintain minimum essential health care coverage (i.e., the individual mandate) and other provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Specifically, the bill provides that if the individual mandate is found to be illegal or incapable of being enforced, such findings do not affect the validity of other provisions relating to (1) the availability and renewability of coverage, or (2) the prohibitions against discriminatory coverage practices based on preexisting conditions or health status.
Nationally Enhancing the Well-being of Babies through Outreach and Research Now Act or the NEWBORN Act This bill establishes a pilot program through which the Health Resources and Services Administration must award grants to territorial, tribal, and local health departments in areas with the highest rates of infant mortality to address birth defects, premature births, and other leading causes of infant death.
This concurrent resolution recognizes the difficult challenges Black veterans faced when returning home after serving in the Armed Forces, their heroic military sacrifices, and their patriotism in fighting for equal rights and for the dignity of a people and a nation. The concurrent resolution also recognizes the need for the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue to work to eliminate any health and benefit disparities for minority veterans.
