DON MAY

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1, HJ Res 44, and HJRes 48 Budget, additional 2011 Appropriations Amendments; HR1255 Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011, to prevent a shutdown of the government of the United States; Maintain funding the Childrens Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program; H. Con. Res. 34 Ryan Budget, establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2012 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal year 2013 through 2021; HR 2017, H. J. Res. 79, H. J. Res. 94, H. J. Res. 95 bills for the Appropriations Continuing Resolution; HR 2055 Consolidated Appropriations Act 2012; OMB Document Federal Budget For FY 2013 Total Medicare Provider cuts: $267.923 B from FY 13 22 Total Medicaid cuts: $51.561 B /10 years

HR 1, HJ Res 44, and HJRes 48 Budget, additional 2011 Appropriations Amendments; HR1255 Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011, to prevent a shutdown of the government of the United States; Maintain funding the Childrens Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program; H. Con. Res. 34 Ryan Budget, establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2012 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal year 2013 through 2021; HR 2017, H. J. Res. 79, H. J. Res. 94, H. J. Res. 95 bills for the Appropriations Continuing Resolution; HR 2055 Consolidated Appropriations Act 2012; OMB Document Federal Budget For FY 2013 Total Medicare Provider cuts: $267.923 B from FY 13 22 Total Medicaid cuts: $51.561 B /10 years; FY 2013 Labor FY 2013 HHS Budget, urged congressional appropriators to give funding priority in fiscal year 2013 to discretionary health care programs shown to improve access to quality health care; these include programs funding Childrens Hospitals Graduate Medical Education, health professions education and workforce challenges, rural health, hospital preparedness, health care quality and safety, and other public health and health care needs; A letter to HUD objecting to a notice announcing an increase of between 30 percent and 40 percent for premiums hospitals would have to pay to get mortgage insurance under the Hospital Mortgage Insurance program (the 242 program) in 2013.

HR 1, HJ Res 44, and HJRes 48 Budget, additional 2011 Appropriations Amendments; HR1255 Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011, to prevent a shutdown of the government of the United States; Maintain funding the Childrens Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program; H. Con. Res. 34 Ryan Budget, establishing the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2012 and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal year 2013 through 2021; HR 2017, H. J. Res. 79, H. J. Res. 94, H. J. Res. 95 bills for the Appropriations Continuing Resolution; HR 2055 Consolidated Appropriations Act 2012; OMB Document Federal Budget For FY 2013 Total Medicare Provider cuts: $267.923 B from FY 13 22 Total Medicaid cuts: $51.561 B /10 years; FY 2013 Labor FY 2013 HHS Budget, urged congressional appropriators to give funding priority in fiscal year 2013 to discretionary health care programs shown to improve access to quality health care; these include programs funding Childrens Hospitals Graduate Medical Education, health professions education and workforce challenges, rural health, hospital preparedness, health care quality and safety, and other public health and health care needs; A letter to HUD objecting to a notice announcing an increase of between 30 percent and 40 percent for premiums hospitals would have to pay to get mortgage insurance under the Hospital Mortgage Insurance program (the 242 program) in 2013.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor; S J. Resolution 36 provides for congressional disapproval and nullification of the National Labor Relations Boards rule that substantially changes procedures for union representation elections; AHA express concerns that OFCCP continues to extend their jurisdiction to hospitals that treat, for example, patients covered by FEHBP or other federal health care programs, including Medicare Parts C and D especially because hospitals are pulled in as unknowing subcontractors.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor; S J. Resolution 36 provides for congressional disapproval and nullification of the National Labor Relations Boards rule that substantially changes procedures for union representation elections; AHA expresses concerns that OFCCP continues to extend their jurisdiction to hospitals that treat, for example, patients covered by FEHBP or other federal health care programs, including Medicare Parts C and D especially because hospitals are pulled in as unknowing subcontractors.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

Working to improve the schedule H reporting requirements for tax exempt hospitals including improving community benefit reporting as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Meeting urging OMB not approve revised Schedule H without additional improvements by IRS, urging that there be another year of voluntary completion of the Schedule H; HR 2827, to amend the Security Exchange Act of 1934 to clarify provisions relating to the regulation of municipal advisors.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage; S 2193 Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients, a bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to include devices in the postmarket risk identification and analysis system, to expedite the implementation of the unique device identification system for medical devices; HR 4246 VA Enrollment Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the expansion of eligibility for veteran reimbursement for emergency treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; HR 5800 Health Care Price Transparency Promotion Act of 2012, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for increased price transparency of hospital information and to provide for additional research on consumer information on charges and out-of-pocket costs; H.R.6118 and S.3391 Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012. to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise sanctions for laboratories that intentionally refer proficiency testing samples required for certification to another laboratory for analysis by: (1) giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretion to substitute intermediate sanctions for such violations instead of the two-year prohibition against ownership or operation which would otherwise apply, and (2) making the one-year certificate revocation for such a laboratory optional rather than mandatory. Which gives CMS more discretion in enforcing the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments to preserve patient access to lab services.

HR 1 Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011; HR 2 Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, to repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; HR 4 Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, offsets the cost of 1099 repeal by increasing the maximum amount of tax subsidy to be repaid if a persons (or familys) income exceeds 400% of poverty; HR 5, S 218, HR 105 and S 1099 Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act, to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system; HRes 9 Instructing four committees to produce legislation to replace the health reform law and to include a permanent fix to the SGR; S 296 and HR 2245 Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act of 2011, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide the Food and Drug Administration with improved capacity to prevent drug shortages; HR 705 The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements to payments made to corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, and rental property expense payments; HR 1213 To repeal mandatory funding provided to States in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges; HR 1217 to repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund; S 539 Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Services Act and the Social Security Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities; S 668 Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act, a bill to remove unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from seniors' personal health decisions by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Allow hospitals to claim the full cost of provider taxes as allowable costs; Ensure CAHs are paid at least 101 percent of costs by Medicare Advantage plans; Ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) appropriately addresses the issue of direct supervision for outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals and CAHs; Ensure rural hospitals and CAHs have adequate reimbursement for certified registered nurse anesthetist and stand-by services; Exempt CAHs from the Independent Payment Advisory Board; Extend expiring provisions; Provide small, rural hospitals with cost-based reimbursement for outpatient laboratory services and ambulance services; Provide CAHs bed size flexibility; Reinstate CAH necessary provider status; Remove unreasonable restrictions on CAHs ability to rebuild; Discussions on a bill to credit some observation status days to 3 day inpatient hospital stays; Worked with HHS on establishing the Partnership for Patients Program to improve patient safety activities in hospitals; HR 1929 Emergency Nursing Relief Act, provides for 20,000 additional immigrant visas (green cards) for Registered Nurses, and their immediate family members. Visas issued to the family members would not count against the 20,000 quota. The Secretary of State would not be permitted to issue more visas than this set quota. Employers are charged $1,500 for these visas which would support funding US nursing programs; HR 1933, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the requirements for admission of nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas and calls for a limited revival of the H-1C program; S 778 Protecting Access to Rural Therapy Services (PARTS) Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to physician supervision of therapeutic hospital outpatient services; HR 1363 Department of Defense and Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; Letter to oppose Cuts to the funding of the Hospital Preparedness Program; HR 1214 a bill to repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction, it amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to repeal the program requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to school-based health centers or their sponsoring facilities to support the operation of such health centers. Rescinds unobligated appropriations for the program. Urging that final Accounting of Disclosures rule not include the proposal to require provision of an access report to patients; HR 1540 National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, a bill to establish a working group within the Department of Defense to comprehensively review all TRICARE policies and practices related to pediatric care and to develop recommendations that specifically address the health care needs of children of military families; S 1854 Medical Surge Capacity Act, a bill to enhance medical surge capacity which uses lessons learned from previous disasters to make critical changes when responding to a natural or manmade disaster; HR 2405 and S 1855 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization of 2011, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize various programs under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act; S. 1979 Conrad State 30 Improvement Act (Immigration) , a bill to help streamline J-1 visa waiver process for hospitals to hire international physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities; Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Letter from Rep. Ron Kind and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to the supercommittee to protect CAH from potential cuts or other detrimental policy changes; Urging the Super Committee to reject cuts to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs); Extender's letter to supercommittee with a list of hospital specific issues that need to be addressed; HR 3586 Good Samaratin Health Professionals Act, a bill to amend the PHSA to limit the liability of healthcare professionals who volunteer to provide healthcare services in response to disaster; HR 3839 Drug Shortage Prevention Act of 2012, to address critical drug shortage.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program. HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

HR 452 Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011, to repeal the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act providing for the Independent Payment Advisory Board; HR 541 Pay for all your Undocumented Procedures (PAY UP!) Act of 2011, amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to make permanent the program of federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens. Requires a re-allotment of unspent program funds in a fiscal year among eligible providers in full expenditure states according to a specified ratio. Requires addition of such funds to the aggregate amount available for allotment for the succeeding fiscal year in the event there is no full expenditure state; HR 876 and S 58 The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels at certain Medicare providers; HR 1159, to repeal certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act relating to the limitation on the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals and to transparency reports and reporting of physician ownership or investment interests; HR 1186, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals; S 374 and HR 2783 Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare program; HR 1398 Rural Hospital Protection Act, legislation which would amend the Social Security Act to ensure that the full cost of certain provider taxes are considered allowable costs for purposes of Medicare reimbursements to CAHs; S 1486 Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 201, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify and expand on criteria applicable to patient admission to and care furnished in long-term care hospitals participating in the Medicare program; Raising concerns about CMS flawed methodology that overstates the effect of the documentation and coding changes to PPS payments, ensuring that CMS does not go beyond its charge of ensuring budget-neutral implementation of MS-DRGs; Working with CMS to clarify requirements and ensure that the systems to register for the meaningful use incentives and attest to meeting the requirements are useable, including ensuring that hospitals can, with permission, help their physicians sign up for the program and attest to meeting the requirements; Worked with ONC to modify the certification requirements for EHRs to allow the flexibility promised in the rules for meaningful use; Worked to get legislative fix introduced for ACA provision related to readmission policy to eliminate a computation error and ensure that unrelated and planned readmissions are excluded from the policy; Worked to improve the regulation to implement ACOs; Urging CMS to update, streamline, and modernize the Medicare conditions of participation; HR 1852/ S 950 Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011, the current CHGME authorization expired in September 2011, and the bills would reauthorize the CHGME program for an additional five years, through fiscal year (FY) 2016, at the current authorization level of up to $330 million a year; HR 1683/ S 868 Medicaid MOE, strikes provisions of ACA related to maintaining Medicaid eligibility levels; HR 1543 Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2011, to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward satisfying the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility services under Medicare; S 1251Medicare and Medicaid FAST Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to curb waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; HR 2500 Equal Access and Parity for Multi-Campus Hospitals Act, a bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify the application of EHR payment incentives in cases of multi-campus hospitals; HR 2674 340B Program Improvement Act, a bill to amend section 340B of the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of discounts on drug purchases for certain safety net providers; HR 3630 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 or Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, a bill that cuts hospitals to pay for the doc fix, it contains the Social Security payroll tax cut and the Unemployment Insurance extension; HR 3519 a bill to amend and exempt the Medicare program from fallback sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011; S. 1680 Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HoPE) Act of 2011, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; Letter to Rehberg and DeLauro in support of the CHGME program that was circulated by Reps. Capps and Bilbray; Wyden/Crapo letter to CMS to actively oppose a Senate Dear Colleague letter to CMS in support of updating Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The letter did not request a payment update for ASCs. Rather, the letter advocated against the Medicare payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient department settings; HR 2954 and S 2474 Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011, Comprehensive bill focused on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care through improved data collection and reporting, culturally and linguistically-appropriate health care, workforce diversity, health information technology, and other actions; Discussions with the Administration (CMS) on applying the therapy cap to hospital outpatient departments; Worked to change CMS definition of allowed EHR costs for CAH Meaningful Use incentive payments to include capital lease purchases of EHRs; HR 3859 Rural Hospital and Provider Equity (R-HOPE) Act of 2012, to amend title XVIII of the SSA to protect and preserve access of Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas to health care providers under the Medicare program; HR 4245 Veterans Co-Pay Fairness Act, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans who are entitled to Medicare benefits for Medicare deductibles and other expenses that are owed by the veterans for emergency medical treatment provided in non-Department of Veterans affairs facilities; S 2620 and HR 5943 Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program; S 3187 and HR 5651Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor; S J. Resolution 36 provides for congressional disapproval and nullification of the National Labor Relations Boards rule that substantially changes procedures for union representation elections; AHA expresses concerns that OFCCP continues to extend their jurisdiction to hospitals that treat, for example, patients covered by FEHBP or other federal health care programs, including Medicare Parts C and D especially because hospitals are pulled in as unknowing subcontractors.

S 217, HR 972 Supporting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, makes it an unfair labor practice under the NLRA for an employer to recognize a union that has not been selected via secret ballot and unlawful for a union that has not been chosen as the employees' exclusive representative in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain with it; HR 2573 and S 1431 Rural Health Care Capital Access Reauthorization Act of 2011, supporting a bill to amend section 242 of the National Housing Act to extend the sunset provisions for the exemption for critical access hospitals under the FHA programs of mortgage insurance for hospitals; Expressing concerns about OFCCPs interpretation that the recently enacted TRICARE exemption in the Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) has no effect on whether hospitals participating in TRICARE are federal subcontracts and subject to OFCCP regulatory requirements and oversight; Urging EEOC to ensure that any new agency guidance on use of criminal background checks does not restrict hospitals ability to appropriately use them in hiring, employment, credentialing, etc., especially for employees who have direct patient care responsibilities; S 2168 Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act RESPECT Act, Opposed this bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of supervisor; S J. Resolution 36 provides for congressional disapproval and nullification of the National Labor Relations Boards rule that substantially changes procedures for union representation elections; AHA express concerns that OFCCP continues to extend their jurisdiction to hospitals that treat, for example, patients covered by FEHBP or other federal health care programs, including Medicare Parts C and D especially because hospitals are pulled in as unknowing subcontractors.