Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act This bill conditions each state's receipt of federal funds, beginning in FY2023, on the state's enforcement of specified minimum requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions in school-sponsored athletics and activities. Each local educational agency must develop and implement a standard plan for concussion safety and management that includes (1) the education of students, parents, and school personnel about concussions; (2) specified supports for each student recovering from a concussion; and (3) best practices designed to ensure the uniformity of safety standards, treatment, and management. Each public school must post on school grounds and publish on the school website specified information about concussions. If any public school personnel suspects that a student has sustained a concussion during a school-sponsored activity, the student must be immediately removed from participation in that activity and prohibited from participating in any school-sponsored athletic activities until the student submits a written release from a health care professional. Furthermore, the school personnel must report all available information regarding the injury to a concussion management team that will confirm and report details of the injury to the student's parents. The school's concussion management team shall consult with and make recommendations to relevant school personnel and the student to ensure that the student is receiving the appropriate academic supports.
Sponsored bills
Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act of 2021 or the PALS Act This bill makes a series of changes relating to health insurance coverage of screening mammography. Specifically, the bill requires that any provision of law referring to current recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with respect to breast cancer screening mammography be administered as if (1) the provision referred to USPSTF recommendations last issued before 2009; and (2) those recommendations applied to any screening mammography modality, including any digital modality of such a procedure. This requirement shall also apply to the Veterans Health Administration's policy on mammography screening for veterans. In addition, the bill preserves Medicare coverage for screening mammography, without a requirement for coinsurance, and expands the definition of screening mammography to include any digital modality of such a procedure. Further, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not decrease the frequency with which screening mammography may be paid by Medicare for a woman over 39 years of age. In 2009, the USPSTF updated its guidelines to recommend against routine screening mammography for women between 40 to 49 years of age and to recommend biennial, instead of annual, screening mammography for most women between 50 to 74 years of age. In 2015, through the appropriations process, a three-year moratorium was placed on implementing the guidelines; the moratorium was subsequently renewed until January 1, 2023.
Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act or the CHIP IN for Veterans Act This bill extends from 5 to 10 years the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pilot program under which the VA may accept donations of property or facilities from specified entities (e.g., state or local authorities).
William Collins Jet Fuel Exposure Recognition Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), for purposes of wartime disability compensation and VA health care, to presume that covered veterans were exposed to toxic substances, chemicals, and airborne hazards during military service, unless there is affirmative evidence that the veterans were not exposed to such substances in connection with their service. Under the bill, covered veterans are those who worked for a cumulative period of at least two years in active service in a military occupational specialty that involved consistent exposure to jet fuel. In adjudicating claims for compensation for a service-connected disability related to jet fuel exposure with evidence of a disability and a presumption of toxic exposure during active service, the VA must (1) provide a medical examination and request a medical opinion for service-connection; and (2) direct the medical provider to consider the exposure of the veteran to toxic substances during all military deployments and the synergistic effect of all combined toxic substances through inhalation, dermal exposure, and ingestion. Every other year for a period of eight years, the VA must make publicly available a report related to the effect of jet fuel used by the Armed Forces on the health of individuals. In evaluating claims for compensation for service-connected disabilities, the VA must take into consideration the findings of such reports.
This bill permanently extends the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants for the transportation of highly rural veterans to health care facilities.
Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2021 This bill requires the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to study access by underserved populations to general surgeons. Specifically, HRSA must study (1) whether the health professional shortage area designation under the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program accurately assesses adequacy of access to general surgeons, (2) whether another measure would be more accurate, and (3) potential methodologies for designating general surgery shortage areas. (The NHSC provides scholarships and student loan repayment awards to primary care, dental care, and mental health care providers who agree to work in areas that HRSA designates as having a shortage of those particular types of providers.) HRSA must also publish data comparing the availability and need of general surgery services in urban, suburban, and rural areas. On the basis of its study, HRSA may establish a methodology for designating general surgery shortage areas and make such designations. If any designations are made, HRSA must publish a list of general surgery shortage areas.
Schools Preventing Hunger in At-Risk Kids Act or the SPARK Act This bill expands automatic eligibility for free school lunches and breakfasts to include children who have been placed in kinship care with a relative or family friend with the involvement of the state child welfare agency. To enroll in the program, a family must document the child's status to the appropriate local educational agency.
Accurate Data for Defense (ADD) Resiliency Act This bill requires the Department of Defense to develop and implement a process to ensure it uses analytical tools that are accurate and effective in projecting the costs and performance of energy resilience measures on military installations.
This bill increases and extends through FY2022 emergency funding and extends through FY2022 certain flexibilities for states to administer foster care programs and services. This includes expanding eligibility for services until a youth reaches age 27, permitting a youth who left foster care to voluntarily return to foster care, and suspending certain education and training requirements.
Guaranteeing Resilient Installations for Defense Act of 2021 or the GRID Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement a two-year pilot program to address vulnerabilities at critical defense facilities and their associated defense critical electric infrastructure. DOD is authorized to make grants, enter into cooperative agreements, and supplement funds to support mitigating actions that address such vulnerabilities. DOD must select at least three military installations that are designated as critical defense facilities to carry out the pilot program. The Government Accountability Office must conduct a review and report on the pilot program.