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The Global Fund and PEPFAR in U.S. International AIDS Policy
The international HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to deepen. According to UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, an estimated 39.4 million people were living with HIV in 2004, including 4.9 million who were newly infected during the year. This report discusses the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which includes bilateral programs and contributions to the multilateral Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
HIV/AIDS International Programs: Appropriations, FY2003-FY2005
This report discusses about US international HIV/AIDS programs, HIV/AIDS in the foreign operations Appropriations, Labor/HHS Appropriations and other Appropriations.
Hemodialysis and Kidney Transplantation: Practice and Policy in Total Organ Failure
This report discusses diseases which cause kidney failure, dialysis treatment for patients with end-stage kidney failure, and kidney transplants (both the process and financing needs and programs). Legislation in Congress related to medical research and aid for patients in need of kidney transplants is also discussed.
Telehealth Services Proposed for Medicare Part B Reimbursements, 2018: Fact Sheet
This report discusses telehealth services covered under Medicare and describes the five conditions that a telehealth service must meet to be covered and paid for under Medicare Part B, provides an overview of how the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adds telehealth services to Medicare's reimbursable list, and includes a table listing the proposed telehealth services to be added to the CY2018 list for Medicare reimbursement.
Medicare Physician Payment Updates and the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) System
This report provides a background on the Medicare fee schedule, the SGR system and the annual updates, and discusses recent proposals to address this issue.
Homeless in America
This report discusses questions dealing with the number of homeless Americans as well as trends in society's attitudes toward such people. The incidence of mental illness and the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of deinstitutionalization for such patients is another aspect of the problem which is covered in this packet. A CRS report gives an overview of the situation and of the Federal response.
The 2009 Influenza Pandemic: An Overview
This report provides a synopsis of key events in the H1N1 pandemic response, followed by information about selected federal emergency management authorities and actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), and state and local authorities.
Military Medical Care: Frequently Asked Questions
This report answers selected frequently-asked questions about military health care, including: 1) How is the Military Health System structured?, 2) What is TRICARE?, 3) What are the different TRICARE plans and who is eligible?, 4) What are the costs of military health care to beneficiaries?, 5) What is the relationship of TRICARE to Medicare?, 6) How does the Affordable Care Act affect TRICARE?, 7) When can beneficiaries change their TRICARE plan?, and 8) What is the Medicare Eligible Retiree Health Care fund, which funds TRICARE for Life?
Veterans Medical Care: FY2011 Appropriations
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides benefits to veterans through three major operating units, one of which is the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), on which this report focuses. This report will track the FY2011 appropriations process for funding VHA, and will be updated as legislative activities warrant.
Veterans Affairs: Presumptive Service Connection and Disability Compensation
This report discusses presumptive service connection, its legislative history, and current challenges in making evidence-based determinations of presumptions. It also discusses the Agent Orange Act (P.L. 102-4) and suggests implications of the process established by the act for future presumptive service-connected determinations.
Patient Safety: Legislation to Promote Voluntary Reporting of Medical Errors
This report provides an overview and some analysis of the patient safety legislation that is being considered by the 108th Congress. It begins with background information on the nature and causes of medical errors, followed by a brief comparison of the differences between mandatory and voluntary reporting systems. The report then discusses some of the legal and policy issues facing state mandatory reporting systems and major national voluntary reporting systems, and identifies design features of effective reporting programs. It concludes with a discussion and side-by-side comparison of H.R. 663 and S. 720.
Mayo v. Prometheus: Implications for Patents, Biotechnology, and Personalized Medicine
Report that reviews the Supreme Court's 2012 Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories decision (wherein the court held that a patent claiming a method of optimizing therapies for autoimmune disease was invalid) and briefly consider its implications for innovation and public health.
Influenza Antiviral Drugs and Patent Law Issues
This report identifies and analyzes the patent law aspects of the current avian influenza drug situation. First, the report explains the role that patent rights have played in affecting the availability of Tamiflu. Second, the report examines options for increasing the drug’s production, including the possibility of governments abrogating Roche’s patent rights by issuing compulsory licenses to other drug companies to manufacture generic versions of Tamiflu without Roche’s consent.
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