PrEP Access and Coverage Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover prescription drugs that prevent HIV, including related screenings, diagnostic procedures, administrative fees, and clinical follow-ups, without any cost-sharing obligation for the plan holder. Further, insurance plans must not impose any preauthorization requirement for this coverage. These coverage requirements also apply to public health insurance programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Additionally, the bill prohibits denying, limiting, or qualifying coverage or increasing premiums for disability insurance, long-term care insurance, or life insurance policies based on an individual taking medication for HIV prevention. The bill further requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to states, or directly to eligible local organizations, to provide uninsured individuals and underinsured individuals access to prescription drugs and related services that prevent HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also must develop a public awareness campaign that focuses efforts in communities with a high need for HIV prevention treatment.
SNAP Provisions to Lower Undue Struggle Act of 2021 or the SNAP PLUS Act of 2021 This bill expands the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to permit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase prepared foods fit for immediate consumption and hot foods.
College Student Hunger Act of 20 21 This bill modifies the eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make additional students at institutions of higher education eligible for benefits.
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to submit a report on the potential costs and benefits of its proposed rule governing the importation of live sheep, goats, other ruminants, and products derived from sheep and goats. It also bars USDA from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the rule until one year after the date that USDA submits the report.
This bill revises enforcement provisions under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), including by directing inspectors to confiscate or destroy in a humane manner animals found to be suffering physical or psychological harm as a result of failure to comply with the AWA.
Cures 2.0 Act This bill addresses pandemic preparedness and public health issues, caregiver and patient engagement, drug development, insurance coverage, and biomedical research. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must undertake research and other activities concerning COVID-19 and develop a strategy for future pandemics and declared emergencies. Additionally, the bill specifies actions to combat antimicrobial resistance. HHS may award grants for caregiver training. The bill also addresses diversity in clinical trials, collecting patient experience data during clinical trials, and coverage for care related to participation in specified clinical trials. The bill modifies the timeframe and requires additional guidance relating to expedited approval of certain breakthrough drugs, devices, or products. It also establishes two intercenter institutes within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) focused on particular diseases that meet specified criteria. The bill also addresses (1) coverage in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program for telehealth, genetic and genomic testing, and other services; (2) electronic prescribing standards for Medicare drug benefits; and (3) access to Medicare and Medicaid claims data by certain registries. Furthermore, the bill prohibits the use of geographic tracking or biometrics in Medicaid electronic visit verification systems. The bill establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) within the National Institutes of Health to accelerate biomedical research and innovation through grants, contracts, cash prizes, and other means. The FDA may work with ARPA-H to expedite the development of medical products through specified activities.
Military Spouse Entrepreneurs Act of 2021 This bill requires the Small Business Administration to conduct a pilot program to award federal contracts to small businesses owned and controlled by military spouses. It also generally authorizes federal contracting officers to limit contract awards to only small businesses owned and controlled by military spouses under certain circumstances.
Science-Based Grizzly Bear Management Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of the Interior to reissue the final rule relating to removing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, published on June 30, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 30502), without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance shall not be subject to judicial review. Interior shall issue a final rule removing the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to the issuance of such rule. Such issuance shall also not be subject to judicial review.
Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act This bill establishes grant programs to address neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), and contains other related provisions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall award grants to eligible entities for scientific research utilizing data from expanded access to investigational ALS treatments for individuals who are not otherwise eligible for clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall award grants to public and private entities to cover the costs of research and development of drugs that diagnose or treat ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. HHS shall also establish the Public-Private Partnership for Neurodegenerative Diseases between the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and at least one eligible entity (generally, an institution of higher education or a nonprofit organization). The partnership shall support the development and regulatory review of drugs that address ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases. The FDA shall publish on its website a five-year action plan for fostering the development of drugs that improve or extend the lives of people living with rare neurodegenerative diseases. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress about the grants provided under this bill, including an analysis of the impact of such grants on research and development of treatments for ALS.
Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2021 This bill sets forth provisions relating to wildlife conservation, anti-trafficking and poaching, and illegal fishing. Specifically, the bill directs the Departments of Justice, the Interior, Commerce, State, and the Treasury to develop a plan of action for awards to whistleblowers of violations of laws applicable to wildlife trafficking; directs Interior to carry out the International Wildlife Conservation Program to, among other things, address global conservation threats and combat wildlife trafficking and poaching; provides funding for the conservation of certain endangered species; authorizes Interior, in consultation with the State Department, to station not less than one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer in the primary diplomatic or consular post of the United States in a focus country or country of concern (i.e., countries engaging in wildlife trafficking); and directs Commerce to make amounts available for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing enforcement. The bill also modifies the federal criminal code to make wildlife trafficking and illegal fishing predicates with respect to the enforcement of certain criminal offenses, including racketeering and money laundering.
This resolution (1) supports the designation of National Blueberry Month; and (2) recognizes the contributions of U.S. growers and their families, and that purchasing blueberries grown in the United States supports farmers, jobs, and the economy.
Necessary Entrepreneurship Workshops via the SBA to Transform and Assist Re-entry Training Act of 2021 or the NEW START Act of 2021 This bill establishes a pilot program for providing entrepreneurial development assistance to formerly incarcerated individuals. Specifically, the bill requires the Small Business Administration to establish a pilot program whereby it awards grants to organizations or partnerships that create or support entrepreneurship programs for providing assistance to formerly incarcerated individuals. Such assistance shall be in the form of entrepreneurial development programming that includes the disbursement of microloans. The Government Accountability Office must submit a report evaluating the (1) services that grant recipients provide to formerly incarcerated individuals, (2) oversight of the pilot program by the SBA, and (3) overall performance and impacts of the pilot program.
