[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 610 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 610

 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services to waive recoupment of Federal Government 
Medicaid claims to tobacco-related State settlements if the State uses 
  the funds only for programs to reduce smoking and for public health 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1999

 Mr. Weygand introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services to waive recoupment of Federal Government 
Medicaid claims to tobacco-related State settlements if the State uses 
  the funds only for programs to reduce smoking and for public health 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. PERMITTING WAIVER OF RECOUPMENT OF MEDICAID TOBACCO-RELATED 
              RECOVERIES IF RECOVERIES USED TO REDUCE SMOKING AND FOR 
              PUBLIC HEALTH PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 1903(d)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396b(d)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``The''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) and paragraph (2)(B) shall not apply to any 
amount recovered or paid to a State as part of a settlement or judgment 
reached in litigation initiated or pursued by a State against one or 
more manufacturers of tobacco products, as defined in section 5702(d) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, if (and to the extent that) the 
Secretary finds that following conditions are met:
            ``(i) The State has filed with the Secretary a plan which 
        specifically outlines how the Federal share of the amounts so 
        recovered will be spent consistent with the following:
                    ``(I) At least 40 percent of such amounts, 
                recovered in any fiscal year, will be spent on efforts 
                to reduce smoking using methods that have been shown to 
                be effective, such as smoking cessation programs, anti-
                smoking enforcement activities, community-based anti-
                smoking programs, and school-based education programs.
                    ``(II) Such amounts not spent for the purposes 
                described in subclause (I) will be spent only on 
                essential public health services, including (but not 
                limited to) the public health activities described in 
                subparagraph (C).
                    ``(III) All such amounts will be spent only in a 
                manner that supplements (and does not supplant) funds 
                previously being spent by the State (or local 
                governments in the State) for such or similar programs 
                or activities.
            ``(ii) Before the beginning of each fiscal year, the State 
        files with the Secretary a report which details how the Federal 
        share of the amounts so recovered have been spent consistent 
        with the plan described in clause (i).
    ``(C) The public health activities described in this subparagraph 
are as follows:
            ``(i) Monitoring health status to identify community health 
        problems.
            ``(ii) Diagnosing and investigating health problems and 
        health hazards in the community.
            ``(iii) Enforcing laws and regulations that protect public 
        health.
            ``(iv) Informing, educating, and empowering people about 
        health issues.
            ``(v) Mobilizing community partnerships to identify and 
        solve health problems.
            ``(vi) Linking people to needed personal health services 
        and assuring the provision of health care when otherwise 
        unavailable.
            ``(vii) Evaluating effectiveness, accessibility, and 
        quality of personal and population-based health services.
            ``(viii) Assuring a competent public health and personal 
        health care workforce.
            ``(ix) Developing policies and plans that support 
        individual and community health efforts.
            ``(x) Conducting research for new insights and innovative 
        solutions to health problems.
    ``(D) If the Secretary determines that amounts described in 
subparagraph (B) are not being spent in accordance with the plan 
described in (and that meets the requirements of) subparagraph (B)(i), 
subparagraph (A) and paragraph (2)(B) shall apply to such amounts and 
the Secretary shall take appropriate action to offset such amounts from 
the amounts otherwise paid to the State under this title.
    ``(E) Amounts equivalent to the reductions in payments under this 
title which are attributable to recoveries described in subparagraph 
(B) which are not recouped or offset because of such subparagraph shall 
be deposited by the Secretary into a separate fund in the Treasury 
which shall be used and available to the Secretary, without further 
appropriation, to carry out Federal grant-in-aid programs to reduce 
tobacco use among minors.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) apply to 
amounts recovered or paid to a State before, on, or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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