[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2585 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2585

    To amend the Public Health Service Act to eliminate a threshold 
requirement relating to unreimbursable expenses for compensation under 
           the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              October 8 (legislative day, October 2), 1998

  Mr. Daschle (for himself and Mr. Johnson) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Public Health Service Act to eliminate a threshold 
requirement relating to unreimbursable expenses for compensation under 
           the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vaccine Injury Compensation Program 
Modification Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF THRESHOLD REQUIREMENT OF UNREIMBURSABLE 
              EXPENSES.

    Section 2111(c)(1)(D)(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300aa-11(c)(1)(D)(i)) is amended by striking ``and incurred 
unreimbursable expenses due in whole or in part to such illness, 
disability, injury, or condition in an amount greater than $1,000''.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF ROTAVIRUS GASTROENTERITIS AS A TAXABLE VACCINE.

    (a) In General.--Section 4132(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (defining taxable vaccine) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(K) Any vaccine against rotavirus 
                gastroenteritis.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) Sales.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
        to sales after the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Deliveries.--For purposes of paragraph (1), in the case 
        of sales on or before the date of the enactment of this Act for 
        which delivery is made after such date, the delivery date shall 
        be considered the sale date.

SEC. 4. VACCINE INJURY COMPENSATION TRUST FUND.

    (a) Amendments Related to Section 904 of 1997 Act.--
            (1) Paragraph (1) of section 9510(c) of the 1986 Code is 
        amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--Amounts in the Vaccine Injury 
        Compensation Trust Fund shall be available, as provided in 
        appropriation Acts, only for--
                    ``(A) the payment of compensation under subtitle 2 
                of title XXI of the Public Health Service Act (as in 
                effect on August 6, 1997) for vaccine-related injury or 
                death with respect to any vaccine--
                            ``(i) which is administered after September 
                        30, 1988, and
                            ``(ii) which is a taxable vaccine (as 
                        defined in section 4132(a)(1)) at the time the 
                        vaccine was administered, or
                    ``(B) the payment of all expenses of administration 
                incurred by the Federal Government in administering 
                such subtitle.''.
            (2) Section 9510(b) of the 1986 Code is amended by adding 
        at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Limitation on transfers to vaccine injury 
        compensation trust fund.--No amount may be appropriated to the 
        Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund on and after the date of 
        any expenditure from the Trust Fund which is not permitted by 
        this section. The determination of whether an expenditure is so 
        permitted shall be made without regard to--
                    ``(A) any provision of law which is not contained 
                or referenced in this title or in a revenue Act, and
                    ``(B) whether such provision of law is a 
                subsequently enacted provision or directly or 
                indirectly seeks to waive the application of this 
                paragraph.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in the provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 
1997 to which they relate.
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