[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4008 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4008

 To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to addressing the 
       special needs of children regarding organ transplantation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2000

 Ms. DeGette (for herself and Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to addressing the 
       special needs of children regarding organ transplantation.

    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 ``Pediatric Organ Transplantation 
Improvement Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLANTATION NETWORK; AMENDMENTS 
              REGARDING NEEDS OF CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--Section 372(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 274(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (J), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in each of subparagraphs (K) and (L), by striking the 
        period and inserting a comma; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following subparagraphs:
                    ``(M) recognize the differences in health and in 
                organ transplantation issues between children and 
                adults throughout the system and adopt criteria, 
                polices, and procedures that address the unique health 
                care needs of children,
                    ``(N) carry out studies and demonstration projects 
                for the purpose of improving procedures for organ 
                donation procurement and allocation, including but not 
                limited to projects to examine and attempt to increase 
                transplantation among populations with special needs, 
                including children and individuals who are members of 
                racial or ethnic minority groups, and among populations 
                with limited access to transportation, and
                    ``(O) provide that for purposes of this paragraph, 
                the term `children' refers to individuals who are under 
                the age of 18.''.
    (b) Study Regarding Immunosuppressive Drugs.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        (referred to in this subsection as the ``Secretary'') shall 
        provide for a study to determine the costs of immunosuppressive 
        drugs that are provided to children pursuant to organ 
        transplants and to determine the extent to which health plans 
        and health insurance cover such costs. The Secretary may carry 
        out the study directly or through a grant to the Institute of 
        Medicine (or other public or nonprofit private entity).
            (2) Recommendations regarding certain issues.--The 
        Secretary shall ensure that, in addition to making 
        determinations under paragraph (1), the study under such 
        paragraph makes recommendations regarding the following issues:
                    (A) The costs of immunosuppressive drugs that are 
                provided to children pursuant to organ transplants and 
                to determine the extent to which health plans, health 
                insurance and government programs cover such costs.
                    (B) The extent of denial of organs to be released 
                for transplant by coroners and medical examiners.
                    (C) The special growth and developmental issues 
                that children have pre- and post- organ 
                transplantation.
                    (D) Other issues that are particular to the special 
                health and transplantation needs of children.
            (3) Report.--The Secretary shall ensure that, not later 
        than December 31, 2000, the study under paragraph (1) is 
        completed and a report describing the findings of the study is 
        submitted to the Congress.
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