No Junk Plans Act This bill nullifies a rule by the Department of Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services regarding short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans. Short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans are plans that may only offer coverage for a limited amount of time under law and that are exempt from the market requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (e.g., coverage of individuals with preexisting conditions). The rule increases the maximum authorized duration of such plans from less than 3 months (including renewals) to an initial maximum duration of less than 12 months (with a total duration of up to 36 months, including renewals). The rule took effect October 2, 2018.
Access to Genetic Counselor Services Act of 2021 This bill provides for coverage under Medicare of genetic counseling services that are furnished by genetic counselors. Covered services include those services, as well as incidental services and supplies, that would otherwise be covered under Medicare if provided by a physician.
Expanded Telehealth Access Act This bill permanently allows audiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and other providers designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide telehealth services under Medicare. Currently, the CMS is authorized to waive requirements for Medicare telehealth services during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19, and it has done so to allow all providers that are otherwise eligible to furnish in-person services under Medicare to also furnish telehealth services.
Motorcyclist Advisory Council Reauthorization Act This bill provides statutory authority for the establishment of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council whose duties are to advise the Department of Transportation on transportation issues of concern to motorcyclists, including (1) barrier design; (2) road design, construction, and maintenance practices; and (3) the architecture and implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies.
Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2021 This bill requires hydraulic fracturing operations to test for and report on underground sources of drinking water that are contaminated by such operations. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation. Specifically, this bill revises requirements governing state underground injection control programs. In order to obtain primary enforcement responsibility for such programs, states must prohibit the underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities unless the hydraulic fracturing operations agree to test for and report on contamination of drinking water. Hydraulic fracturing operations are exempted from those testing and reporting requirements if there is no accessible underground source of drinking water within a radius of one mile of the site where the operations occur. The Environmental Protection Agency must establish and maintain a publicly accessible and searchable database of the testing results.
Ensuring Parity in MA and PACE for Audio-Only Telehealth Act of 2021 This bill allows audio-only diagnoses that are made via telehealth to be used for purposes of determining risk adjustments to payments under Medicare Advantage. Additionally, the bill requires payments for Medicare telehealth services that are furnished during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) to be made in the same amounts as those for in-person services.
Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2021 or the FRESHER Act of 2021 This bill addresses stormwater runoff from mining, oil, or gas operations. Specifically, it eliminates a prohibition on the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharges of certain collected, uncontaminated stormwater runoff from mining operations or oil and gas operations. In addition, the Department of the Interior must study stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of (1) measurable contamination, (2) groundwater resources, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with the operations.
Public Transit Safety Improvement Act of 2021 This bill modifies requirements for approval of a public transportation agency safety plan to include a requirement that a safety committee approve the plan and any updates to the plan. The committee must consist of an equal number of frontline employee representatives (selected by the labor organization representing the plurality of the frontline workforce employed by the public transportation agency) and employer or state representatives.
CLEANER Act of 2021 or the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2021 This bill eliminates the exemption of waste associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy from regulations governing the disposal of hazardous waste. Within a year of enactment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must determine whether such waste meets the criteria for hazardous waste, promulgate regulations concerning the disposal of such waste if the EPA determines it is hazardous, and revise regulations applicable to solid waste management and disposal facilities (e.g., landfills) to address such waste that is nonhazardous.
National Transit Frontline Workforce Training Act of 202 1 This bill directs the Department of Transportation to establish a national transit frontline workforce training center to meet the needs of the rural and urban transit system frontline workforce through standards-based training relating to relevant maintenance and operations occupations. It must also evaluate, and provide a grant to, a nonprofit organization with demonstrated capacity to develop and provide transit career ladder programs through labor-management partnerships and apprenticeships on a nationwide basis to carry out the duties of the center. The center must develop and carry out training and educational programs for public transportation employees serving in the frontline workforce, including programs relating to (1) developing consensus national training standards for key frontline occupations with demonstrated skill gaps; (2) developing national systems of qualification and apprenticeship for transit maintenance and operations occupations; and (3) establishing local, regional, and statewide transit training partnerships.
Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act This bill limits a social media company's immunity from liability if it promotes certain content on its platform. Specifically, the bill removes this immunity from a social media company with more than 10 million monthly users if it utilizes an algorithm, model, or other computational process to amplify or recommend content to a user that is directly relevant to a claim involving (1) interference with civil rights, (2) neglect to prevent interference with civil rights, or (3) acts of international terrorism.
Honoring Abbas Family Legacy to Terminate Drunk Driving Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard that requires passenger motor vehicles manufactured after the effective date of such standard to be equipped with advanced drunk driving prevention technology. Advanced drunk driving prevention technology means a passive system that (1) monitors a driver's performance to identify impairment of a driver, (2) passively detects a blood alcohol level equal to and exceeding .08 blood alcohol content, or (3) detects impairment and prevents or limits vehicle operation. DOT must work with manufacturers of passenger motor vehicles, suppliers, safety advocates, and other interested parties to accelerate the development of the advanced drunk driving prevention technology and ensure the integration of such technology into the vehicles available for sale at the earliest practicable date.
