HR 5553 prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from providing or paying for surgical treatments related to gender transition. This directly affects transgender veterans who rely on VA healthcare for gender-affirming surgical procedures. The bill blocks VA funding specifically for these surgical treatments, without altering coverage for other healthcare services. It applies to all veterans seeking such care through the VA system.
Preventing Opportunities for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction Act or the PROTECT Act This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a strategy and carry out a specific initiative to prevent and reduce the use of electronic cigarettes and emerging tobacco products among youth and young adults. As part of the initiative, the CDC must conduct research and surveillance on types of products, patterns of use, health impacts, and other aspects of the use of such products by youth and young adults; evaluate prevention and intervention strategies and develop guidance for intervening and treating youth and young adults who use such products; identify effective messaging and communication efforts and implement a national public education campaign concerning the use of such products; and continue to fund grants for tobacco control programs in health departments, including efforts to prevent and reduce the use of such products by youth and young adults.
Choose Home Care Act of 2021 This bill provides for coverage of home-based extended care services under Medicare. Specifically, the bill provides for coverage of services that are furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes by home health agencies, including nursing care, meals and nutritional support, home medical supplies, nonemergency medical transportation, and care coordination. Coverage includes 30 days of post-hospital care and other periods of extended illness, as determined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Home health agencies that provide such services may receive additional payments in accordance with a specified methodology. The CMS may make payments for covered services furnished before 2022 during any period in which there is a public health emergency.
Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act or the SMART Act This bill modifies the application of a certain Medicare payment methodology for outpatient physical therapy services and outpatient occupational therapy services that are furnished by a therapy assistant. Under current law, effective January 1, 2022, payment for such services is 85% of the otherwise applicable rate. The bill delays this effective date by one year and excludes services that are furnished in rural or medically underserved areas from this payment methodology. The bill also specifies that supervision requirements for outpatient physical therapy services that are furnished through private practice may not be more stringent for purposes of Medicare coverage than under state law.
Improving Mental Health and Wellness in Schools Act This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) participating in the school lunch or breakfast programs to include in their local school wellness policies (1) goals for mental health promotion and education, and (2) nutrition guidelines for reducing childhood eating disorders. Such LEAs must also include registered dietitians and school-based mental health services providers in the development, implementation, and periodic review of such policies. The bill also requires the Department of Agriculture to provide information and technical assistance to school health professionals (including school-based mental health services providers) for use in establishing healthy school environments. Such technical assistance must promote mental health, encourage mental health assessments, and establish resilient school environments.
Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act This bill expands the list of requirements a state unemployment compensation system must follow to be compliant under federal law. Specifically, the bill requires the maximum benefit period available to an individual be at least 26 weeks. The base period used to determine unemployment eligibility must consist of at least four completed calendar quarters preceding the claim and must include the most recently completed calendar quarter. Further, compensation must not be denied to an otherwise eligible individual who earns at least $1,000 during the highest quarter and at least $1,500 during the entire base period. Finally, compensation must not be denied under an ability to work, active search for work, or refusal to accept work provision solely on the basis of the number of hours of work the individual is seeking, so long as the individual is seeking at least 20 hours of work or half the hours the individual typically worked. Employers that pay unemployment taxes to a noncompliant state system cannot claim amounts paid into the state system as a credit against federal unemployment tax due. The bill also requires states to meet specified online claim system accessibility requirements and to ensure that offline means of filing are available. A state that does not comply cannot receive federal funds for administration of its state unemployment system.
This bill repeals Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which protects a provider or user of an interactive computer service (e.g., social media company) from liability for screening or blocking objectionable content.
S 2973 establishes an Inspector General (IG) position specifically for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bill amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to add the NIH Director to the list of agency heads requiring an IG, replacing the National Reconnaissance Office reference. It mandates that the President appoint an IG for the NIH within 180 days of the bill's enactment, following the standard process outlined in the existing Act. This is a procedural bill creating a new oversight role within the NIH, directly affecting the agency's internal accountability structure.
This resolution requests the President and directs the Department of State to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the adoption of this resolution, copies of both classified and unclassified documents that refer or relate to certain information on the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, including reactions, concerns, or objections expressed by certain allies and partners; any agreement reached with the Taliban related to the evacuation of specified individuals; and numbers of specified individuals in contact with the State Department to request evacuation assistance from Afghanistan, from July 30, 2021, to the present.
SRES 407 is a non-binding Senate resolution designating October 3-9, 2021, as "Religious Education Week" to recognize the role of religious education in the U.S. It celebrates schools and organizations providing religious instruction, which the resolution states supports civic and moral development. The resolution calls on all 50 states, territories, and the District of Columbia to accommodate public school students who wish to attend religious classes during school hours (a practice permitted under court rulings like *Zorach v. Clauson*). It does not create new laws or policies but symbolically affirms the value of religious education as highlighted by historical figures and legal precedents.
Joint Select Committee on Afghanistan Act of 2021 This bill establishes the Joint Select Committee on Afghanistan as a joint committee of Congress, required to investigate the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Blocking Joseph Robinette Biden's Overreaching Vaccine Mandates Act This bill restricts implementation and enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services may not require, as a condition of participation in the programs, that providers mandate COVID-19 vaccination for their employees, or otherwise penalize participating providers that do not mandate such vaccination. The bill also prohibits the use of federal funds to implement or enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
