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Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act or the BELIEVE Act This bill increases maximum limits on employment-based visas and makes other related changes. The bill increases the worldwide cap on employment-based immigrants admitted each fiscal year, from 140,000 plus certain additions to 270,000 plus the same additions. The bill (1) eliminates existing per-country caps on employment-based immigrants, (2) allows certain employment-based immigrants to comprise a higher percentage of the worldwide level of immigration in a fiscal year than under current law, (3) exempts from numerical caps immigrants coming to work in the United States as physical therapists or professional nurses, and (4) exempts from numerical caps a qualifying alien who graduated from a U.S. institution of higher education and who was admitted into the United States as a dependent of a nonimmigrant. The bill provides various immigration-related benefits, such as work authorization and exemption from certain numerical limits, to qualifying spouses and children of employment-based immigrants. An alien who has properly filed for permanent legal resident status and is awaiting a visa number becoming available shall have lawful status and employment authorization while the application is pending, subject to requirements such as a background check.
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Filing registrants (4)
2020 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets"; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states; Letter urging the Senate to include in the next COVID-19 relief bill provisions to strengthen the federal response for racial and ethnic minority and marginalized communities, which are disproportionately affected by the pandemic;Letter asking Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line health care personnel and providers to continue to respond to this pandemic; Letter sent to HHS urging them to direct HRSA to take action to stop three drug manufacturers from limiting the distribution of 340B drugs to 340B covered entities. These drug manufacturers have taken separate actions to either limit the distribution of 340B drugs or require 340B covered entities provide claims level data for investigatory purposes if that 340B covered entity uses a contract pharmacy arrangement; Letter to the Congressional Leadership asking them to not to include in the next COVID-19 relief package any surprise medical billing legislation - such as a reimbursement rate set in statute - that would further destabilize hospitals finances during the pandemic; Support S 4507, Getting Early Treatment and Comprehensive Assessments Reduces Emergencies Act of 2020 or the GET CARE Act of 2020, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of seeking preventive health services and the utilization of such services; Comment letter addressing concerns on the proposed rule from the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services that would allow certain grandfathered health plans to increase patient cost-sharing beyond current limits, without losing their grandfathered status; Letter urging the Administration to work with the AHA and Congress to create a future for telehealth that allows not only clinicians, but also hospitals and health systems, to code and bill for virtual services. We further urge CMS and HHS to continue to provide hospitals with the flexibility for annual beneficiary consent to telehealth treatment to be obtained at the same time, and not necessarily before, services are furnished; Support HR 8061,Community Immunity During COVID-19 Act of 2020, a bill that would provide funding to state and local health departments to work with community providers and organizations to increase immunization rates for Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines during the COVID-19 public health emergency; Letter again expressing concern with recent actions taken by several major drug manufacturers to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to our hospital members. While we understand that the HRSA is further investigating these actions, we urge swift and decisive action to halt these pernicious tactics so as to prevent other manufacturers from following suit; Comment letter outlining our concerns about the ability of hospital systems to distribute provider relief funds among the parent and subsidiaries. HHS published certain FAQs that place problematic restrictions on the use of CARES Act provider relief fund dollars. Specifically, the FAQs restrict the ability of a hospital system to allocate the funds throughout its system where COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenues are occurring; Submitted comments in response to HRSAs RFI on Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scoring. HPSA scores are important for rural hospitals and clinics ability to recruit physicians and other clinicians, namely from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program. Letter asking HHS to reinstate the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements; Support S 4349, Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a bill to address behavioral health and well-being among health care professionals; Support S. 3595Ensuring Understanding of COVID-19 to Protect Public Health Act, a bill that directs the NIH to conduct a longitudinal study on mild, moderate, and severe cases of COVID-19 on a diverse patient population.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Bills with similar content found using semantic analysis.
Sources: Congress.gov
Client expense: $4,460,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
2020 · fourth_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877/S. 3134, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401/S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6395/S. 4049, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 H.R. 6507, COVID-19 Employment Authorization Document Extension Act H.R. 6717, Health Care Workforce Protection Act of 2020 H.R. 6788/S. 3599, Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act H.R. 6800, The Heroes Act H.R. 6870, Landscaping Workforce Act of 2020 H.R. 6905, FIRST COVID-19 Care Delivery Act of 2020 H.R. 6993/S. 3770, H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2020 H.R. 7508, To provide supplemental appropriations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and for other purposes. H.R. 7669, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2021 H.R. 8046, Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act of 2020 H.R. 8078, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8089, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8337, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3470, New Deal for New Americans Act of 2020 S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Potential legislation similar to H.R. 6794/S. 2344, Immigration Innovation Act of 2018 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Interim final rule on strengthening the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification program (85 Fed. Reg. 63,918-63,965, October 8, 2020) Interim final rule on strengthening wage protections for the temporary and permanent employment of certain aliens in the United States, (85 Fed. Reg. 63,872-63,915, October 8, 2020) Proposed rule establishing a fixed time period of admission and an extension of stay procedure for nonimmigrant academic students, exchange visitors, and representatives of foreign information media; 85 Fed. Reg. 60,526-60,598, September 25, 2020) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding; Presidential Proclamation 9996, suspension of entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of certain additional persons who pose a risk of transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, March 14, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10014, suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, April 22, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10052, suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the U.S. labor market following the Coronavirus outbreak, June 22, 2020; Potential recision of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; comments on modification of registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions; comments on request for 60-Day comment period (30-day extension); high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding shortfalls; Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding shortfalls; clarification of the criteria that makes one eligible for a waiver from the entry restrictions for various employment-based immigrants and nonimmigrants; regulatory proposals that would restrict applicant eligibility for the H-1B program; regulatory proposals that would drastically change how prevailing wage levels are determined for the purposes of obtaining certain employment nonimmigrant and immigrant visas; proposals that would significantly change how cap-subject H-1B petitions will be chosen in the future; regulatory proposals that would change how the period of admission for student visa holders and exchange visa holders is determined; enhanced COVID-19 testing protocols for international air travel; creation/use of digital passports
Client expense: $22,290,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Government Accountability Office (GAO), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
2020 · fourth_quarter · Immigration
H.R. Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020 S. 386 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 5971 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act S.328 - Startup Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S. 2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $59,400 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Library of Congress (LOC), Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Natl Endowment for the Humanities, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS)
2020 · fourth_quarter · Homeland Security
H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 5971 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act S.328 - Startup Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S. 2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $59,400 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Library of Congress (LOC), Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Natl Endowment for the Humanities, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS)
2020 · third_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748/S. 3548, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877/S. 3134, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401/S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6312, COVID-19 Relief for Small Businesses Act of 2020 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6395/S. 4049, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 H.R. 6404, To extend the deadline for States to meet the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 due to COVID-19 H.R. 6507, COVID-19 Employment Authorization Document Extension Act H.R. 6717, Health Care Workforce Protection Act of 2020 H.R. 6788/S. 3599, Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act H.R. 6800, The Heroes Act H.R. 6870, Landscaping Workforce Act of 2020 H.R. 6905, FIRST COVID-19 Care Delivery Act of 2020 H.R. 6993/S. 3770, H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2020 H.R. 7508, To provide supplemental appropriations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and for other purposes. H.R. 7669, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2021 H.R. 8046, Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act of 2020 H.R. 8078, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8089, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8337, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3470, New Deal for New Americans Act of 2020 S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Potential legislation updating The Heroes Act (116th Cong.) Potential legislation similar to H.R. 6794/S. 2344, Immigration Innovation Act of 2018 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding; Presidential Proclamation 9996, suspension of entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of certain additional persons who pose a risk of transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, March 14, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10014, suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, April 22, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10052, suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the U.S. labor market following the Coronavirus outbreak, June 22, 2020; Potential recision of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding shortfalls; Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding shortfalls; clarification of the criteria that makes one eligible for a waiver from the entry restrictions for various employment-based immigrants and nonimmigrants; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would restrict applicant eligibility for the H-1B program; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would drastically change how prevailing wage levels are determined for the purposes of obtaining certain employment nonimmigrant and immigrant visas; forthcoming proposals that would significantly change how cap-subject H-1B petitions will be chosen in the future
Client expense: $20,000,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
2020 · third_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748/S. 3548, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877/S. 3134, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401/S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6312, COVID-19 Relief for Small Businesses Act of 2020 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6395/S. 4049, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 H.R. 6404, To extend the deadline for States to meet the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 due to COVID-19 H.R. 6507, COVID-19 Employment Authorization Document Extension Act H.R. 6717, Health Care Workforce Protection Act of 2020 H.R. 6788/S. 3599, Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act H.R. 6800, The Heroes Act H.R. 6870, Landscaping Workforce Act of 2020 H.R. 6905, FIRST COVID-19 Care Delivery Act of 2020 H.R. 6993/S. 3770, H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2020 H.R. 7508, To provide supplemental appropriations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and for other purposes. H.R. 7669, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2021 H.R. 8046, Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act of 2020 H.R. 8078, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8089, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8337, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3470, New Deal for New Americans Act of 2020 S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Potential legislation updating The Heroes Act (116th Cong.) Potential legislation similar to H.R. 6794/S. 2344, Immigration Innovation Act of 2018 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding; Presidential Proclamation 9996, suspension of entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of certain additional persons who pose a risk of transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, March 14, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10014, suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, April 22, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10052, suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the U.S. labor market following the Coronavirus outbreak, June 22, 2020; Potential recision of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding shortfalls; Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding shortfalls; clarification of the criteria that makes one eligible for a waiver from the entry restrictions for various employment-based immigrants and nonimmigrants; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would restrict applicant eligibility for the H-1B program; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would drastically change how prevailing wage levels are determined for the purposes of obtaining certain employment nonimmigrant and immigrant visas; forthcoming proposals that would significantly change how cap-subject H-1B petitions will be chosen in the future
2020 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states; Letter urging the Senate to include in the next COVID-19 relief bill provisions to strengthen the federal response for racial and ethnic minority and marginalized communities, which are disproportionately affected by the pandemic;Letter asking Congress to allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line health care personnel and providers to continue to respond to this pandemic; Letter sent to HHS urging them to direct HRSA to take action to stop three drug manufacturers from limiting the distribution of 340B drugs to 340B covered entities. These drug manufacturers have taken separate actions to either limit the distribution of 340B drugs or require 340B covered entities provide claims level data for investigatory purposes if that 340B covered entity uses a contract pharmacy arrangement; Letter to the Congressional Leadership asking them to not to include in the next COVID-19 relief package any surprise medical billing legislation - such as a reimbursement rate set in statute - that would further destabilize hospitals finances during the pandemic; Support S 4507, Getting Early Treatment and Comprehensive Assessments Reduces Emergencies Act of 2020 or the GET CARE Act of 2020, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of seeking preventive health services and the utilization of such services; Comment letter addressing concerns on the proposed rule from the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services that would allow certain grandfathered health plans to increase patient cost-sharing beyond current limits, without losing their grandfathered status; Letter urging the Administration to work with the AHA and Congress to create a future for telehealth that allows not only clinicians, but also hospitals and health systems, to code and bill for virtual services. We further urge CMS and HHS to continue to provide hospitals with the flexibility for annual beneficiary consent to telehealth treatment to be obtained at the same time, and not necessarily before, services are furnished; Support HR 8061,Community Immunity During COVID-19 Act of 2020, a bill that would provide funding to state and local health departments to work with community providers and organizations to increase immunization rates for Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines during the COVID-19 public health emergency; Letter again expressing concern with recent actions taken by several major drug manufacturers to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to our hospital members. While we understand that the HRSA is further investigating these actions, we urge swift and decisive action to halt these pernicious tactics so as to prevent other manufacturers from following suit; Comment letter outlining our concerns about the ability of hospital systems to distribute provider relief funds among the parent and subsidiaries. HHS published certain FAQs that place problematic restrictions on the use of CARES Act provider relief fund dollars. Specifically, the FAQs restrict the ability of a hospital system to allocate the funds throughout its system where COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenues are occurring; Submitted comments in response to HRSAs RFI on Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scoring. HPSA scores are important for rural hospitals and clinics ability to recruit physicians and other clinicians, namely from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program. Letter asking HHS to reinstate the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements.
2020 · third_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 S.328 - Startup Act S. 386 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S. 2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 5971 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $280,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Library of Congress (LOC), Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Natl Endowment for the Humanities, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS)
2020 · third_quarter · Homeland Security
H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 5971 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act S.328 - Startup Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S. 2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $280,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Library of Congress (LOC), Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Natl Endowment for the Humanities, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE, Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS)
2020 · third_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748/S. 3548, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877/S. 3134, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401/S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6312, COVID-19 Relief for Small Businesses Act of 2020 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6395/S. 4049, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 H.R. 6404, To extend the deadline for States to meet the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 due to COVID-19 H.R. 6507, COVID-19 Employment Authorization Document Extension Act H.R. 6717, Health Care Workforce Protection Act of 2020 H.R. 6788/S. 3599, Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act H.R. 6800, The Heroes Act H.R. 6870, Landscaping Workforce Act of 2020 H.R. 6905, FIRST COVID-19 Care Delivery Act of 2020 H.R. 6993/S. 3770, H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2020 H.R. 7508, To provide supplemental appropriations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and for other purposes. H.R. 7669, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2021 H.R. 8046, Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act of 2020 H.R. 8078, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8089, Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act H.R. 8337, Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3470, New Deal for New Americans Act of 2020 S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Potential legislation updating The Heroes Act (116th Cong.) Potential legislation similar to H.R. 6794/S. 2344, Immigration Innovation Act of 2018 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding; Presidential Proclamation 9996, suspension of entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of certain additional persons who pose a risk of transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, March 14, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10014, suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, April 22, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10052, suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the U.S. labor market following the Coronavirus outbreak, June 22, 2020; Potential recision of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding shortfalls; Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding shortfalls; clarification of the criteria that makes one eligible for a waiver from the entry restrictions for various employment-based immigrants and nonimmigrants; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would restrict applicant eligibility for the H-1B program; forthcoming regulatory proposals that would drastically change how prevailing wage levels are determined for the purposes of obtaining certain employment nonimmigrant and immigrant visas; forthcoming proposals that would significantly change how cap-subject H-1B petitions will be chosen in the future
2020 · second_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748/S. 3548, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for an H-2C nonimmigrant classification, and for other purposes H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877/S. 3134, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6312, COVID-19 Relief for Small Businesses Act of 2020 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6404, To extend the deadline for States to meet the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 due to COVID-19 H.R. 6507, COVID-19 Employment Authorization Document Extension Act H.R. 6717, Health Care Workforce Protection Act of 2020 H.R. 6788/S. 3599, Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act H.R. 6870, Landscaping Workforce Act of 2020 H.R. 6905, FIRST COVID-19 Care Delivery Act of 2020 H.R. 6993/S. 3770, H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2020 S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3470, New Deal for New Americans Act of 2020 S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; immigration and non-immigrant temporary worker visa policy; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding; Presidential Proclamation 9996, suspension of entry as immigrants and nonimmigrants of certain additional persons who pose a risk of transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus, March 14, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10014, suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak, April 22, 2020; Presidential Proclamation 10052, suspending entry of aliens who present a risk to the U.S. labor market following the Coronavirus outbreak, June 22, 2020; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol officers and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) funding shortfalls; Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding shortfalls
2020 · second_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; Discuss DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes; Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters; Letter to the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting they, as primary federal regulators for insured depository institutions, take prompt action to assist health care providers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic should the need to do so arise; Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Chair of the Board of Governors urging a supplement to the New Main Street Loan Facility term sheet with prompt guidance to ensure that access to this critically-necessary loan facility will be attainable for hospitals without delay; Letter was sent to the SBA urging it to ensure that small- and mid-size public hospitals, including those that have both nonprofit and public designations, are allowed to apply for and receive loans under the newly-authorized SBA Paycheck Protection Program; Letter in response to FEMAs request for input on establishing a voluntary agreement, under the Defense Production Act, of key private sector stakeholders relevant to responding to COVID-19, urging that such an agreement account for the full breadth of COVID-19 medical supply and equipment needs; Support H.R. 6474/S.3838 Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act, a bill that would provide an additional $2 billion in funding for the FCC Rural Health Care program and increase the subsidy for health care providers from 65 to 85 percent. This legislation also simplifies the program to allow for more efficient application processes and disbursement of much needed funding; Support HR 6654 Emergency COVID-19 Telehealth Response Act, a bill that would codify an expanded list of providers to deliver and bill for telehealth services during the PHE; Support HR 7233Knowing the Efficiency and Efficacy of Permanent (KEEP) Telehealth Options Act of 2020, a bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies to provide information about the expanded use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; Letter to Senate HELP Committee in response to request for feedback on preparing for next pandemic; Discussion about telehealth waivers and flexibilities with HHS; Discussion about CARES provider relief fund distributions with HHS; Oppose HR 6559/ S 3677 COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, a bill to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to promulgate an emergency temporary standard to protect employees from occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and for other purposes; Joint letter with ANA urging Congress to act quickly to get needed resources into the health care system, so that hospitals, nurses and physicians responding to COVID-19 are able to continue to provide treatments, front-line health care personnel are able to provide care and patients are able access health care services; Statement to Committee on Ways and Means for the hearing on The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color urging Congress to employ the resources of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - which is congressionally-mandated to coordinate the research of the other National Institutes of Healths centers and institutes related to minority health - to research and develop approaches to specifically address the COVID-19 needs of minority populations; Advocate with Congress for full forgiveness of COVID-19 related accelerated payments received by hospitals; Support S 3781Pharmaceutical Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency (PART) Act, a bill to increase reporting of, help mitigate potential shortages related to, and promote, accountability and transparency for pharmaceuticals and medical devices; Support S 3780 Help Onshore Manufacturing Efficiencies (HOME) for Drugs and Devices Act, a bill to encourage domestic advanced manufacturing of critical drugs and devices in order to address economic, health, and security concerns, combat shortages of critical drugs and devices, and promote increased domestic diversification of, and independence from foreign reliance on, pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains; Support S.3763 Pandemic Responder Service Award Act, a bill to establish the Pandemic Responder Service Award program to express our gratitude to front-line health care workers; Support HR 6788/ S 3599 Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, a bill to enhance our Nations nurse and physician workforce during the COVID-19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas; Urged support for joint House and Senate letter to the Administration asking for flexibility for hospitals with respect to J-1 and H-1B visa programs; Letter to Senate Finance Committee to address the important issue of maternal health and the opportunity to provide suggestions regarding how to improve maternal health in this country; Support the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment Act, a bill that allows for the temporary reciprocity for treatment by medical professionals licensed in one state to patients in other states.
2020 · second_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 S. 386 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S. 2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 5971 - Case Backlog and Transparency Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $200,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Energy, Dept of, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Natl Endowment for the Humanities, Natl Institutes of Health (NIH), Natl Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 S. 386 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act S. 874 - Dream Act of 2019 S.2091 - Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act -- regarding policy issues affecting higher education institutions and their faculty and students
Client expense: $90,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE
2020 · first_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support S. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes. Concerns with HR 5800,Ban Surprise Billing Act, a bill to address surprise medical bills that relies on a median in-network rate to resolve out-of-network payments and allows for an independent dispute resolution process to determine the final payment. Concerned with the Committee's legislative approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers, which could have significant consequences far beyond the scope of surprise medical bills. It is the insurers' responsibility to maintain comprehensive provider networks, and a default payment rate would remove incentives for health plans to contract with providers or to offer fair terms; Support HR 5826, Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act, a bill that prohibits providers from balance billing patients for emergency services or medical care the patient reasonably could have expected to be in-network, and from charging patients more than the in-network cost-sharing amount. Rather than rely on a benchmark payment rate to determine out-of-network reimbursement, the legislation provides a period for health plans and providers to negotiate out-of-network reimbursement, followed by a mediated dispute resolution process if necessary; Letter urging HHS to take regulatory actions to help hospitals and health systems prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter requesting $100 billion to prepare and respond to COVID-19; Letter urging the Department of Labor to accurately define health care provider when promulgating regulations implementing key sections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; Letter sent to the President today asking for the use of the Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies and equipment; Letter to HHS regarding $100 billion emergency fund, asking HHS and CMS to directly and expediently distribute to rural and urban hospitals and health systems funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund that were designated for providers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act increased funding by $100 billion in order to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to COVID-19. In the letter, we urged HHS and CMS to immediately distribute funding to all hospital types in the US - with additional funding going to COVID-19 hotspots; Letter urging Congress to modernize the Stafford Act as part of its next COVID-19 legislative package to allow all hospitals to recoup financial losses from this pandemic and future disasters.
2020 · first_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 748/S. 3548, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for an H-2C nonimmigrant classification, and for other purposes H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4482, Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 H.R. 6312, COVID-19 Relief for Small Businesses Act of 2020 H.R. 6379, Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act H.R. 6404, A bill to extend the deadline for States to meet the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 due to COVID-19 S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2926, Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act S. 3134, A bill to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program S. 3504, A bill to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend, until not earlier than September 30, 2021, the requirement that State-issued identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 to be accepted by Federal agencies for certain purposes H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program and temporary rule; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; I-129 form delay request; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol officers and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements; temporary DHS guidance for the I-9 employment verification process in the wake of COVID-19; Department of Labor Guidance on Labor Condition Application requirements in the wake of COVID-19; temporary Department of Labor procedural changes regarding the Permanent Labor Certification process in the wake of COVID-19; State Department policy accommodations regarding the use of interview waivers for H-2 nonimmigrant workers in the wake of COVID-19; temporary United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) procedures to provide flexibility with regard to filing deadlines, and temporary USCIS guidelines providing flexibility to wet-ink signatures on USCIS forms and documents
2019 · fourth_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938 Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905 Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants; Support H.R. 2723, The Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, a bill to amend Sec. 506C of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which strengthens requirements for drug manufacturers to disclose the root causes and expected duration of shortages, extends reporting requirements to active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturers, requires manufacturers have contingency plans to ensure ongoing supply, develops recommendations to incentivize manufacturers to enter the market for drugs in shortage and examines the national security risks of shortages; DEA reductions in annual quotas for opioid products used by hospitals for sedation and pain management; Meeting with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to discuss developments in the hospital preparedness program, the pilot projects for the Regional Disaster Healthcare System and other issues; Rural access to health care, including identifying core services needed in rural communities, outlining approaches and considerations for delivering those services, and examining access and quality in the rural context; ONCs proposed rule to implement the 21st Century Cures provision on information blocking; Supported members serving on the HHS Quality Summit panel, which was convened by the Deputy Secretary to gather input regarding how to improve and energize quality and safety improvement activities across health care system; Discussion with HHS on drug pricing, 340b, and price transparency policies, as well as the International Pricing Index ANPRM; Discussion with HHS about the work of Aligning for Health to address social determinants of health; Support S 2902, Strengthening Our Rural Health Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to enhance the rural health workforce; Meetings and correspondence with staff members of Senate Financing Committee on a proposal to support rural health care access (REH, re-opening necessary provider CAH, infrastructure funding); Letter to Ways & Means committee Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force in response to RFI on factors that contribute to health outcomes in these areas, examples of successful models and lessons from the field that address access and outcomes, and considerations for the unique circumstances of rural and underserved communities; Letter to Energy and Commerce Members regarding health information technology priorities; Letter of Support to Senate Appropriations on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study gun violence; Support S.2741 and H.R. 4932,Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to expand access to telehealth services, and for other purposes; Support S 2603, Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the immigrant visa backlog, and for other purposes; Support HR 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve obstetric care and maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes.
2019 · fourth_quarter · Immigration
H.R. 6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 60, Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act H.R. 250, Legal Workforce Act H.R. 549, Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 641/S. 175, Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 H.R. 648, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 H.R. 773, To Terminate the EB-5 program H.R. 1044/S. 386, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 H.R. 1158, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1399/S.556, Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act H.R. 1740, To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for an H-2C nonimmigrant classification, and for other purposes H.R. 1778, Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act H.R. 1865, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 1996, Secure Travel Partnership Act of 2019 H.R. 2187, Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act of 2019 H.R. 2278/S. 1103, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act H.R. 2413, Nicaragua TPS Act of 2019 H.R. 2418/H.R. 2877, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2658, Commercial Fishing and Seafood Business Act of 2019 H.R. 2740, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 2783, TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 2813, Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2019 H.R. 2820, Dream Act of 2019 H.R. 2821, American Promise Act of 2019 H.R. 2877, To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program H.R. 2895/S. 948, Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act H.R. 3033, H-4 Employment Protection Act of 2019 H.R. 3055, Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Further Health Extenders Act of 2019 H.R. 3319, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act H.R. 3401 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 H.R. 3564, Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2019 H.R. 3740, AGRI Act of 2019 H.R. 3931, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2020 H.R. 4218, Poland Visa Waiver Act of 2019 H.R. 4498, Promoting Tourism to Enhance our Economy Act of 2019 H.R. 5038, Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 H.R. 5174, State Sponsored Visa Pilot Program Act of 2019 S. 135, Prioritizing Help to Businesses Act S. 301, E-Verify Act of 2019 S. 328, Startup Act S. 599, Singh's Law S. 636, Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019 S. 874, Dream Act of 2019 S. 1004, Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 S. 1744, Keep STEM Talent Act of 2019 S. 1806, Permanent E-Verify Act S. 1887, Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act S. 1900, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act S. 2540, EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2019 S. 2778, Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act S. 2863, E Visa Integrity Act of 2019 H.J.Res. 31, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 Proposed rule regarding registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions on behalf of cap-subject aliens (83 Fed. Reg. 62,406-62,447, December 3, 2018) Various issues relating to visa waiver program; H-1B Visa Program; H-1B registration rule; H-2 Visa Program; H-4 rule; L-1 Visa Program; EB-5 Visa Program; EB-5 rule; EB-5 regional center program; H-2A Visa Program; E-Verify program; expansion of the use of the E-Verify system; private-public partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security at land border ports of entry; STEM visa reform; nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal nonagricultural employment; Customs and Border Protection staffing at U.S. ports of entry; border security; immigration policy and reforms; guest worker programs; legalization concepts; visa reform; customs trade facilitation and enforcement; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program; extension of temporary protected status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti; administrative-regulatory efforts related to public charge, notice to appear, H-4 & OPT; supplemental funding for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at ports-of-entry; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decision on electronic registration for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap filing season and stakeholder engagement for the H-1B registration tool; high-skilled immigration; lesser skilled immigration; temporary agriculture guest worker; temporary non-agriculture guest worker; optional practical training program; size and administration of employment-based immigrant visa categories; size and administration of family-based immigrant visa categories; employment verification; interior enforcement; family separations; family reunification; temporary suspension of entry of nationals from certain countries; increased vetting of visa applicants; unfair immigration related employment practices; travel issues; trusted traveler programs; biometric entry-exit; increasing the number of ICE officers, border patrol officers and Customs and Border Protection officers; aerial security enhancements
2019 · third_quarter · Health Issues
Support HR 1763/ S 348, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions; Oppose HR 506,Hospital Competition Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase hospital competition; Statement submitted to the House Judiciary on the hearing "Diagnosing the Problem: Exploring the Effects of Consolidation and Anticompetitive Conduct in Health Care Markets";Letter of support for the Senate Workgroups efforts to ensure consumer protections by addressing surprise medical bills and comments on the development of legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills; Letter urging Congress and the Administration to take further action to help reduce input and administrative costs, as well as maximize the number of insured patients; Comment letter urged CMS to extend the comment period for the proposed rules related to interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act by at least 30 days; Comment letter on the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems (BGMS) for prescription point-of-care (POC) use and urge FDA to consider compiling a finite list of universally acceptable disinfectant products that would apply to all medical devices or classes of device; Comment letter that urged CMS to address the substantial flaws in the star ratings methodology since the ratings inception in 2016 and to suspend the display of overall star ratings on Hospital Compare while the agency continues its important work of enhancing the validity and meaningfulness of star ratings; Comment letter to FDA on the public meeting, Identifying the Root Causes of Drug Shortages and Finding Enduring Solutions with the following legislative recommendations: Strengthen manufacturers drug shortage disclosure requirements, Incentivize manufacturing contingency plans and/or redundancies, Enhance production transparency requirements, Enact shortage disclosure notification requirements for certain medical devices needed to administer drugs, Assess drug shortages as a national security threat, Include potential risk for drug shortages as a factor in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reviews of drug company merger proposals, and regulatory recommendations: Establish incentives to encourage manufacturers to produce drugs in shortage, Prevent manufacturing shutdowns, Establish a quality manufacturing initiative, Enhance information on the quality of outsourcing facilities compounding, Expand and improve the FDAs drug shortages list, Develop a list of critical drugs, Consider how reducing the number of unapproved drugs1 on the market might impact shortages, Reduce drug waste, Create an Office of Clinical Affairs within the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Comment letter urging the CMS to use its upcoming proposed rules for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and other post-acute care providers to address several issues related to the implementation of the revised case-mix grouping (CMG) policies; Letter sent to the Congressional Telehealth Caucus with recommendations to improve and expand access to telehealth; Support HR 965/ S340, Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act of 2019 or the CREATES Act of 2019, a bill to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products; Support HR 986/ S466 Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019, a bill provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect; Support HR 987 Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities; Support HR 938Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics Act of 2019 or the BLOCKING Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with respect to eligibility for approval of a subsequent generic drug, to remove the barrier to that approval posed by the 180-day exclusivity period afforded to a first generic applicant that has not yet received final approval, and for other purposes; Support HR 1010, a bill to provide that the rule entitled Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance shall have no force or effect; Support HR 1499 Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, a bill to prohibit brand name drug manufacturers from compensating generic drug manufacturers to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable product manufacturers to delay entry of biosimilar and interchangeable products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1425 State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for a Improve Health Insurance Affordability Fund to provide for certain reinsurance payments to lower premiums in the individual health insurance market; Support HR 1386/ S 1905Expand Navigators Resources for Outreach, Learning, and Longevity Act of 2019 or the ENROLL Act of 2019,a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide for additional requirements with respect to the navigator program, and for other purposes; Support HR 1520 Purple Book Continuity Act of 2019, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the publication of a list of licensed biological products, and for other purposes; Support HR 1503 Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019A bill that would increase transparency for the patent status of both approved biological products and approved drugs; Support HR 2439/ HR 3414 Opioid Workforce Act of 2019, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the distribution of additional residency positions to help combat the opioid crisis; Submitted statement to the House Committee on Ways and Means Overcoming Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis sharing information regarding hospitals and health systems efforts to address maternal morbidity and mortality, as we seek ways to improve outcomes and reduce health inequities for expectant and new mothers, and give their children the best possible start in life; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Hearing on Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills. Protecting patients from surprise medical bills is a top priority and we have adopted a set of guiding principles to use as we evaluate legislative proposals: Define surprise bills, Protect the patient financially, Ensure patient access to emergency care, Preserve the role of private negotiation, Remove the patient from health plan/provider negotiations, Educate patients about their health care coverage, Ensure patients have access to comprehensive provider networks and accurate network information, and Support state laws that work; Letters submitted to the Energy & Commerce Committee in response to the request for comments on their surprise billing discussion draft. Concerned with the Committees draft legislations approach to determining reimbursement for out-of-network providers. Once the patient is protected from surprise bills, providers and insurers should then be permitted to negotiate payment rates for services provided. We strongly oppose approaches that would impose arbitrary rates on providers. We look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on solutions to stop surprise medical bills; Letter sent to the HELP Committee in response to the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 discussion draft about our concerns about several of the proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers. For example, several of the provisions could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Submitted oral and written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health Hearing on No More Surprises: Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills asking that the Committee preserve the ability of providers and insurers to negotiate private contracts and not establish a fixed payment amount for out-of-network services; Oppose HR 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard that requires covered employers within the health care and social service industries to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, and for other purposes; Concerns about S.1531, Stopping The Outrageous Practice of Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019 or the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2019, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide protections for health insurance consumers from surprise billing; Submitted oral and written testimony to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Hearing: Lower Health Care Costs Act to express concerns about several proposals that would allow the government to intrude into private commercial contracts between providers and insurers, which could undermine value-based purchasing arrangements aimed directly at improving the quality of care while reducing costs and the impact on rural communities. We strongly urge the Committee to remove these provisions; Concerns about S. 1895 Lower Health Care Costs Act Letter addressed concerns about the legislative provision that sets a benchmark rate in statute for the out-of-network payments, as well as provisions that seek to change privately negotiated contracting arrangements between hospitals and insurance companies; Support HR 3425, Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish rules for payment for graduate medical education (GME) costs for hospitals that establish a new medical residency training program after hosting resident rotators for short durations; Expressed concerns regarding the provisions that reduce reimbursements to providers and hospitals that administer drugs the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019: including about Section 107, Medicare Part B Rebate by Manufacturers for Drugs or Biologicals with Prices Increasing Faster than Inflation, Section 110, Establishment of Maximum Add-on Payment for Drugs, Biologicals, and Biosimilars, this provision would establish $1,000 as the maximum add-on amount that a provider can be paid for a separately payable drug, biological or biosimilar, Section 111, Treatment of Drug Administration Services Furnished by an Off-Campus Outpatient Department of a Provider, the site neutral payment reduction would cut aggregate hospital payments; Support S. 2091, Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement Act, this legislation would increase the total number of employment-based visas from 140,000 to 270,000 and ensure that critical health care workers needed in the U.S. have access to employment-based visas by carving out health care workers in designated shortage occupations from the limit; Support S 350, The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2019, a bill to restore the application of the Federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers; Support letter for the adoption of a unique patient identifier (UPI, by removing the prohibition on the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national UPI would provide HHS the ability to explore solutions that link patients with their correct medical records; Submitted statement to Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the hearing on Improving Maternal Health: Legislation to Advance Prevention Efforts and Access to Care; Concerns with S. 386 and HR 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, this bill increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It also removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China; Support H.R. 4538, Closing Loopholes for Orphan Drugs Act, a bill to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to limit the orphan drug exclusion under the drug discount program under section 340B of such title; Discussions of provisions we support and those we recommend be changes in a draft bill called the Mitigating Existing Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act; Discussions in support of the allowing states to designate hospitals as necessary providers for purposes of waiving the critical access hospital mileage requirements; Provided comments to W&M on legislation to expand Health Profession Opportunity Grants.
2019 · third_quarter · Immigration
H1B visas; Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement (BELIEVE) Act (S. 2091); (HR 1044) removing country caps on green cards;
Client expense: $10,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Natl Science Foundation (NSF), SENATE
Client expense: $20,000,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
Client expense: $4,860,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
Client expense: $20,000,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
Client expense: $12,300,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
Client expense: $4,260,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
Client expense: $5,940,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
Client expense: $15,770,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (BCIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Housing & Urban Development, Dept of (HUD), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
Client expense: $6,610,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office
Client expense: $16,900,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Agriculture, Dept of (USDA), Army, Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Bureau of Reclamation, Commerce, Dept of (DOC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Education, Dept of, Energy, Dept of, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), General Services Administration (GSA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS), Interior, Dept of (DOI), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Natl Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Natl Security Council (NSC), Natl Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Patent & Trademark Office (PTO), SENATE, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Small Business Administration (SBA), State, Dept of (DOS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Transportation, Dept of (DOT), Treasury, Dept of, U.S. Copyright Office, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), White House Office
Client expense: $5,370,000 · Firm income: Not reported
Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Justice, Dept of (DOJ), Labor, Dept of (DOL), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), SENATE, Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA), White House Office