[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2635 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2635

 To reduce health care costs and promote improved health by providing 
   supplemental grants for additional preventive health services for 
                                 women.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2000

  Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
 Bingaman, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Reed) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce health care costs and promote improved health by providing 
   supplemental grants for additional preventive health services for 
                                 women.

    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 ``WISEWOMAN Expansion Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular 
        diseases remain the leading cause of death among females in the 
        United States, killing more than 500,000 women each year.
            (2) About 1 in 5 females have some form of cardiovascular 
        disease, killing more American women than the next 14 causes of 
        death combined.
            (3) In women, cardiovascular disease is frequently 
        undetected and untreated until the disease has become severe, 
        causing 38 percent of women who have heart attacks to die 
        within 1 year.
            (4) Obesity increases women's risk for some of the leading 
        causes of death: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain 
        cancers.
            (5) Better nutrition and lifestyle changes can effectively 
        prevent and treat obesity.
            (6) Osteoporosis afflicts more than 20,000,000 American 
        women.
            (7) More than \1/2\ of all women over 65 have osteoporosis.
            (8) One out of every 2 women over 50 will have an 
        osteoporosis-related fracture during her lifetime.
            (9) The national annual costs associated with osteoporosis 
        are estimated at $14,000,000,000.
            (10) Physical activity is necessary for bone acquisition 
        and maintenance throughout adulthood.
            (11) Muscular strengthen and balance may be very 
        significant in future risk reduction for osteoporosis.
            (12) There is consensus that adequate vitamin D and calcium 
        intakes are required for bone health.
            (13) Research has demonstrated that--
                    (A) the uninsured often have significantly poorer 
                health than the insured; and
                    (B) being uninsured is an obstacle to receiving 
                preventive health care services.
            (14) The WISEWOMAN program has--
                    (A) provided one-stop shopping for preventive 
                health services such as cholesterol and blood pressure 
                screening for close to 8000 women and identified risk 
                factors for heart disease such as obesity, high 
                cholesterol, high blood pressure, sedentary behavior 
                and poor diet; and
                    (B) found that many of the women screened have 
                returned for additional interventions and follow-up, 
                resulting in improved weight management, lower blood 
                pressure and lower cholesterol.
            (15) Expansion of the WISEWOMAN model program to additional 
        States would help reduce women's risk of illness and death from 
        heart disease and other preventable diseases and provide 
        further insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of 
        making comprehensive, integrated preventive services available 
        to low-income and uninsured women.

SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS FOR ADDITIONAL PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES 
              FOR WOMEN.

    Section 1509 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300n-4a) 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1509. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM FOR ADDITIONAL PREVENTIVE HEALTH 
              SERVICES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may, through a 
competitive review process, award grants to States that have received 
grants under section 1501 for a fiscal year, to enable such State to 
carry out programs--
            ``(1) to provide preventive health services, in addition to 
        the services authorized in such section 1501, for diseases such 
        as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and obesity;
            ``(2) to provide screenings, such as screening for blood 
        pressure, cholesterol, and osteoporosis, and other services 
        that the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers 
        for Disease Control and Prevention, determines to be 
        appropriate and feasible;
            ``(3) for health education, counseling, and interventions 
        for behavioral risk factors, such as physical inactivity and 
        poor nutrition, and diseases referred to in paragraph (1);
            ``(4) to provide appropriate referrals for medical 
        treatment of women receiving services pursuant to paragraph (1) 
        through (3), and ensuring, to the extent practicable, the 
        provision of appropriate follow-up services; and
            ``(5) to evaluate the activities conducted under paragraphs 
        (1) through (4) through appropriate surveillance, research, or 
        program monitoring activities.
    ``(b) Status as Participant in Program Regarding Breast and 
Cervical Cancer.--The Secretary may not make a grant to a State under 
subsection (a) unless the State involved agrees that services under the 
grant will be provided in conjunction with entities that are screening 
women for breast or cervical cancer pursuant to a grant under section 
1501.
    ``(c) Applicability of Provisions.--The provisions of this title 
shall apply to a grant under subsection (a) to the same extent and in 
the same manner as such provisions apply to a grant under section 1501.
    ``(d) Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriate to 
        carry out this section--
                    ``(A) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
                    ``(B) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;
                    ``(C) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                    ``(D) such sums as may be necessary for each 
                subsequent fiscal year.
            ``(2) Limitation regarding funding with respect to breast 
        and cervical cancer.--No additional resources shall be 
        appropriated for a fiscal year under paragraph (1) unless the 
        amount appropriated under section 1510(a) for such fiscal year 
        is at least $158,000,000.''.
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