Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act of 2021 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of germline mutation testing for individuals with a personal or family history of a hereditary cancer gene mutation or suspected history of hereditary cancer, as well as for associated coverage of risk-reducing surgeries and screenings.
Non-Opioid Directive Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a non-opioid pain management directive. This is a form that an individual may use to inform health care providers of the individual's choice to avoid opioid medications for pain management. The bill also sets out requirements for the execution, use, and revocation of these forms. HHS must make the form available on its website, and health insurers must make it available to their plan enrollees. Insurers must also share an enrollee's choice about opioid treatment with health care providers during pre-authorization processes. The bill allows health care providers to override a patient's form in specified circumstances. It also extends liability protections for providers who reasonably and in good faith administer or prescribe an opioid to a patient with an executed form in place.
Tribal Health Data Improvement Act of 2021 This bill expands tribal access to public health care data and public health surveillance programs. It also reauthorizes through FY2026 the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and requires the CDC to take certain actions to address the collection and availability of health data for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services must (1) establish a strategy for providing data access to Indian tribes and tribal epidemiology centers; and (2) make available all requested data related to health care and public health surveillance programs and activities to the Indian Health Service, tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers. Next, the CDC must make grants to and enter into contracts with tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers for data collection and related activities. Among other requirements, the CDC must (1) develop guidelines for state and local health agencies to improve birth and death record data for American Indians and Alaska Natives; (2) enter into cooperative agreements with tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers to address certain inaccuracies related to records for American Indians and Alaska Natives; and (3) encourage states to enter into data sharing agreements with tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal epidemiology centers to improve the quality and accuracy of public health data.
Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth Act or the STURDY Act This bill requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to revise the safety standards for freestanding clothing storage units such as a dressers, bureaus, or chests of drawers. Such standards must include specified testing related to tip overs and new warning requirements for all such products entering the U.S. market.
Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and revises several programs and activities relating to newborn screening for certain conditions and genetic, endocrine, and metabolic diseases. Among its changes, the bill reauthorizes and makes mandatory the Hunter Kelly Research Program at the National Institutes of Health, and national surveillance activities conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bill also aligns statutory requirements for research on non-identified newborn blood spots with federal regulations governing research on human subjects. These blood spots are collected as part of newborn screening programs, and some states make them available for biomedical and public health research. Under current regulations, research on non-identified bio-specimens such as blood spots is not considered to be research on human subjects, to which additional protections apply.
Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 This bill establishes requirements and procedures for the Department of the Treasury to transfer ownership of certain matured, unredeemed savings bonds and related records to states.
Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act This bill modifies the process and policy related to the disposition of charges and convening of courts-martial for certain sexual assault cases and other specified offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Among other elements, the bill provides that the determinations on the preferral, disposition, and referral of charges for specified offenses under the UCMJ must be made by a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces who is designated as a court-martial convening authority (in grade O-6 or higher) and who is available for detail as trial counsel, has significant trial experience, and is outside the chain of command of the member subject to the charges.
Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions relating to Medicare coverage of treatments for chronic kidney disease. Specifically, the bill expands the Medicare annual wellness visit to include chronic kidney disease screening and allows certain Medicare beneficiaries who have End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) to enroll in Medicare supplemental policies. It also (1) provides for alternative payment methodologies for certain new drugs, biologics, and devices that are renal dialysis services; (2) revises quality measures; (3) establishes an incentive payment methodology; and (4) increases access to kidney disease education services. The bill also extends the coordination period (from 30 months to 42 months) during which private health insurers may serve as the primary payers for Medicare beneficiaries with ESRD.
Telemental Health Care Access Act of 2021 This bill eliminates certain restrictions relating to Medicare coverage of mental health services that are provided through telehealth. Current law allows for coverage of such services regardless of the geographic location of the originating site (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, as long as the beneficiary previously received in-person services and continues to receive in-person services at specified intervals. The bill eliminates these in-person requirements.
Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes Act This bill repeals certain provisions related to the treatment of Indians, including provisions on hostile tribes, alcohol, work requirements, penalties for truancy, and placement of youth in reform school without the consent of a parent or guardian.
