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Latest Action: 12/09/2008 - Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Bill Text
To amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, to allow the United States Postal Service to pay its share of contributions for annuitants' health benefits out of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
Latest Action: 11/19/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10671-10674)

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to health professions education, and for other purposes. 11/19/2008--Introduced. Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions related to: (1) addressing workforce shortages for primary care health professions; and (2) assisting underrepresented minorities or disadvantaged students to enter health professions.Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) make grants for the training of primary care physicians teaching in community-based settings; (2) provide for programs that improve clinical teaching and research in primary care; (3) provide for community health needs assessments; (4) provide for the establishment of Primary Care Training Institutes within academic health centers; and (5) provide for approved professional training programs in the field of general or pediatric dentistry.Revises provisions governing area [...]

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Latest Action: 11/20/2008 - Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Bill Text
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to health professions education, and for other purposes. 11/20/2008--Introduced. Health Professions and Primary Care Reinvestment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions related to: (1) addressing workforce shortages for primary care health professions; and (2) assisting underrepresented minorities or disadvantaged students to enter health professions.Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) make grants for the training of primary care physicians teaching in community-based settings; (2) provide for programs that improve clinical teaching and research in primary care; (3) provide for community health needs assessments; (4) provide for the establishment of Primary Care Training Institutes within academic health centers; and (5) provide for approved professional training programs in the field of general or pediatric dentistry.Revises provisions governing area health [...]

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Latest Action: 12/24/2008 - Became Public Law No: 110-460.

Bill Text
A bill to make a technical correction in the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

12/23/2008--Public Law.    (There is 1 other summary)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Changes the effective date of amendments made by the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 for group health plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements.

Latest Action: 11/19/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10607)

Bill Text
A bill making supplemental appropriations for job creation and preservation, infrastructure investment, and economic and energy assistance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. 11/17/2008--Introduced. Economic Recovery Act of 2008 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 for infrastructure, energy, and economic recovery for: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the Legal Services Corporation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD) - Civil for the Department of the Army Corps of Engineer; (7) the Department of Energy (DOE); (8) the Department of the Treasury, including the Office of Inspector General; (9) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); (10) the General Services Administration (GSA); (11) the Small Business Administration (SBA); (12) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (13) the Department [...]

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Latest Action: 10/01/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10337)

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Wellness Trust. 10/1/2008--Introduced. 21st Century Wellness Trust Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Wellness Trust within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be headed by the Trust Fund Board. Requires the Trustees to submit to Congress and make publicly available reports on: (1) a system for certification and recertification of prevention health workers to complement the health system; (2) payment methodologies and options for paying certified prevention health workers for clinical preventive care; and (3) the amount of money spent on prevention by public health, public and private health insurers, and applicable self-insured health plans during the most recent year for which such data is available.Requires the Trustees to: (1) establish a plan for delivering and financing prevention priorities and implement pilot programs; and (2) issue a ranked list of designated [...]

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Latest Action: 10/01/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Bill Text
A bill to support the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, and for other purposes. 10/1/2008--Introduced. Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Support Act of 2008 - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a program to provide funds to a state or local government, nonprofit firefighter association, or governmental or nongovernmental emergency medical services (EMS) organization, that carries out a volunteer firefighter incentive program in accordance with this Act.Directs the Secretary, for each fiscal year in which a state or local government, nonprofit firefighter association, or governmental or nongovernmental EMS organization carries out a volunteer firefighter incentive program, to pay such government, association, or organization (organization), out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated for such fiscal year, a sum equal [...]

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Latest Action: 09/26/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill Text
A bill to amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to provide for an improved method to measure poverty so as to enable a better assessment of the effects of programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Social Security Act, and for other purposes. 9/26/2008--Introduced. Measuring American Poverty Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Bureau of the Census, in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to calculate modern poverty thresholds and modern poverty rates for each calendar year. Declares that the modern poverty threshold for a reference family consisting of two adults and their two related children shall be an amount equal to the average of 120% of the 33rd percentile of the distribution of annual expenditures by such families on food, clothing, and shelter during each of the three most recent years for which data is available from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, a superior federal government source of data,[...]

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Latest Action: 09/26/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Bill Text
A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to establish a State plan option under Medicaid to provide an all-inclusive program of care for children who are medically fragile or have one or more chronic conditions that impede their ability to function. 9/26/2008--Introduced. Medically Fragile Children's Act of 2008 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to establish a program of all-inclusive care for medically fragile children as a Medicaid state plan option. Makes a child eligible if he or she is: (1) medically fragile based on health status and related indicators or is diagnosed as having one or more chronic conditions; (2) requires daily monitoring of a significant medical condition necessitating overall care planning in order to achieve or maintain optimum health and developmental status, and achieve community integration to the maximum extent possible; and (3) requires both medical assistance and at least two additional services furnished [...]

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Latest Action: 09/26/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9708-9709)

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve access to health care through expanded health savings accounts, and for other purposes. 9/26/2008--Introduced. Family and Retirement Health Investment Act of 2008 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to health savings accounts (HSAs) to: (1) permit holders of HSAs and their spouses who are age 55 or older to make an additional (catch-up) contribution to a joint HSA; (2) allow Medicare beneficiaries to continue to contribute to HSA accounts after reaching age 65 and to make contributions to medical savings accounts; (3) permit veterans with service-connected disabilities and Native Americans to contribute to an HSA regardless of utilization of Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) medical services or Indian Health Service or tribal medical services; (4) allow increased rollovers from flexible spending arrangements or health reimbursement arrangements into HSAs; (5) permit the payment of Medicare premiums [...]

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