To establish the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program paying $150,000 to individuals injured by thalidomide exposure, administered by HHS with expert panel review, open to U.S. citizens/permanent residents, requires the Secretary of HHS to conduct annual comprehensive reviews of all compensation provided under the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program and submit public reports to Congress including fund accounting, and authorizes the Secretary of HHS to provide additional compensation beyond the initial $150,000 to thalidomide survivors based on annual review findings, subject to appropriations availability, with means-tested welfare. It relies on appropriations, compliance mandates, exemptions, and reporting requirements. The main policy areas are Health and Healthcare.
Who Benefits and How
Thalidomide survivors receiving federal welfare benefits could keep existing benefits, Thalidomide survivors (U.S. citizens/permanent residents) would receive direct payments or compensation, and Thalidomide compensation recipients could receive tax relief.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Secretary of Health and Human Services would be affected, Department of Health and Human Services would be affected, and U.S. Treasury could lose revenue.
Key Provisions
- Establishes the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program paying $150,000 to individuals injured by thalidomide exposure, administered by HHS with expert panel review, open to U.S. citizens/permanent residents...
- Requires the Secretary of HHS to conduct annual comprehensive reviews of all compensation provided under the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program and submit public reports to Congress including fund accounting...
- Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to provide additional compensation beyond the initial $150,000 to thalidomide survivors based on annual review findings, subject to appropriations availability, with means-tested welfare...
- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to add new Section 139M excluding all compensation received under the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Act from gross income, effective for amounts received after enactment.
- Defines means-tested welfare program broadly to include 30+ federal programs (SSI, EITC, Child Tax Credit, TANF, Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, Section 8, LIHEAP, Head Start, etc.), ensuring thalidomide compensation is...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program paying $150,000 to individuals injured by thalidomide exposure, administered by HHS with expert panel review, open to U.S. citizens/permanent residents, requires the Secretary of HHS to conduct annual comprehensive reviews of all compensation provided under the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program and submit public reports to Congress including fund accounting, and authorizes the Secretary of HHS to provide additional compensation beyond the initial $150,000 to thalidomide survivors based on annual review findings, subject to appropriations availability, with means-tested welfare.
Key Policy Areas
Health, Healthcare
Primary Purpose
The bill establishes the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program paying $150,000 to individuals injured by thalidomide exposure, administered by HHS with expert panel review, open to U.S. citizens/permanent residents, requires the Secretary of HHS to conduct annual comprehensive reviews of all compensation provided under the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program and submit public reports to Congress including fund accounting, and authorizes the Secretary of HHS to provide additional compensation beyond the initial $150,000 to thalidomide survivors based on annual review findings, subject to appropriations availability, with means-tested welfare.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- Thalidomide survivors receiving federal welfare benefits
- Thalidomide survivors (U.S. citizens/permanent residents)
- Thalidomide compensation recipients
- Thalidomide survivors receiving initial compensation
- Congress
Identified Costs
- Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Treasury
- Federal government (HHS budget)
- Federal and state welfare program administrators
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Van Drew introduced the following bill; which was referred …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Thalidomide compensation recipients, Thalidomide survivors, Thalidomide survivors (U.S. citizens/permanent residents)
Congress, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal government (HHS budget)
Positive-direction: Congress
Negative-direction: Department of Health and Human Services, Federal government (HHS budget), Secretary of Health and Human Services, U.S. Treasury
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology