Major Richard Star Act This bill allows a veteran with a combat-related disability and fewer than 20 years of creditable service to receive retirement pay, without reduction, concurrent with disability compensation.
Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and items. Coverage must include services and items that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician. Coverage limits and cost-sharing requirements for such services and items may not be more restrictive than those applicable to all medical and surgical benefits under the plan.
This bill waives certain eligibility requirements for hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program (i.e., a program that allows entities to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers) during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. Specifically, the bill waives the required minimum proportion of low-income patients served for hospitals that began participating in the program during or prior to the COVID-19 emergency.
End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act of 2021 This bill modifies provisions relating to federal funding for, and health insurance coverage of, gender reassignment medical interventions, which include surgical remedies and hormone therapy arising from a conflict between an individual's gender identity and the sex the individual has or was identified as having at birth. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for gender reassignment medical interventions or for health coverage that includes such interventions. Additionally, such interventions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. Under current law, coverage of these interventions through Medicare and Medicaid is generally determined at the state level. The bill's restrictions regarding the use of federal funds do not apply to treatment of individuals with medically verifiable disorders of sex development, such as individuals born with atypical development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex. The bill also prohibits qualified health plans from including coverage for gender reassignment medical interventions. Further, plans that include coverage for such interventions are not eligible for federal subsidies.
Protect and Serve Act of 2021 This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting a law enforcement officer and causing serious bodily injury (or attempting to do so) in circumstances that affect interstate commerce. It imposes criminal penalties—a prison term, a fine, or both—on a violator.
Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act of 2021 This bill nullifies specified guidance and final rule provisions pertaining to Section 1332 waivers (also known as State Innovation Waivers or State Relief and Empowerment Waivers) issued by the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services. The provisions allow states to forego certain requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to implement experimental plans for health care coverage, as long as the resulting coverage meets certain statutory criteria. The provisions, which supersede earlier guidance from 2015, alter agency interpretation of how states may satisfy the statutory criteria for waiver approval. For example, the provisions (1) redefine acceptable coverage under such waivers to include short-term, limited-duration insurance and association health plans; (2) allow the comprehensiveness and affordability of coverage under such waivers to be assessed based on projected availability, rather than enrollment; and (3) allow the level of coverage to be assessed based on the effects over the entire course of the waiver, rather than per year.
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that (1) the rights enumerated in the Constitution and other rights retained by the people are the rights of natural persons; (2) the terms "people," "person," and "citizen" as used in the Constitution do not include corporate entities; and (3) corporate entities are subject to such regulation as the people, through representatives in Congress and state representatives, may determine reasonable, consistent with the powers of Congress and the states.
Cleaning Up Washington's Act This bill revises post-employment lobbying restrictions on senior executive branch officials and Members of Congress. Specifically, the bill increases from two years to five years the post-employment lobbying restrictions on a political appointee compensated on the Executive Schedule. Additionally, it increases to five years the post-employment lobbying ban on a former Member of the Senate (currently, two years) or a former Member of the House of Representatives (currently, one year).
American Innovation and Jobs Act This bill revises and expands the deductibility of research and experimental expenditures to allow immediate expensing of such expenditures. It also allows the amortization over a period of at least 60 months of certain other types of research and experimental expenditures not treated as expenses. The bill increases the maximum amount eligible for the tax credit for new and small businesses and increases to 20% the rate of the credit for business startups.
Sunlight for Unaccountable Non-profits (SUN) Act This bill expands the disclosure requirements for certain tax-exempt organizations. This bill requires the annual tax return information for tax-exempt organizations and deferred compensation plans to be made available to the public at no charge and in an open structured data format that is processable by computers, with the information easy to find, access, reuse, and download in bulk. The bill also requires the disclosure of the names and addresses of contributors of $5,000 or more to tax-exempt organizations that participate or intervene in political campaigns on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.
State Fiscal Flexibility Act of 2021 This bill removes a prohibition on states and territories using COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) relief funding under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to offset a reduction in revenue resulting from a reduction in taxes or a delay in the imposition of a tax or tax increase.
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Accountability Study Act of 2021 This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the role of pharmacy benefit managers in the pharmaceutical supply chain and recommend legislative actions to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The report must address the use of rebates and fees, the average prior authorization approval time, and the use of step therapy within the 10 largest pharmacy benefit managers.
