[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1948 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1948

To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the shortage of 
                     medical laboratory personnel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2001

 Mr. Shimkus (for himself, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Bilirakis, and 
Mr. Brown of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the shortage of 
                     medical laboratory personnel.

    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 ``Medical Laboratory Personnel 
Shortage Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS 
              OF HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment 
Programs.--
            (1) Scholarship program.--Section 338A(a)(1) of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l(a)(1)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' after ``practitioners,''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting before the semicolon the 
                following: ``, and (within the meaning of section 
                799B(12)) medical technologists and medical laboratory 
                technicians''.
            (2) Loan repayment program.--Section 338B(a)(1) of the 
        Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l-1(a)(1)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' after ``practitioners,''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting before the semicolon the 
                following: ``, and (within the meaning of section 
                799B(12)) medical technologists and medical laboratory 
                technicians''.
    (b) Programs Under Title VII.--
            (1) Allied health and other disciplines.--
                    (A) Preference in making awards.--Section 755 of 
                the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294e)) is 
                amended by adding at the end the following subsection:
    ``(c) Preference in Making Awards.--In making awards of grants and 
contracts under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference to 
making awards to assist entities in meeting the costs associated with 
expanding or establishing programs that will increase the number of 
individuals trained as medical laboratory personnel.''.
                    (B) Authorization of appropriations.--Section 757 
                of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294g(a)) is 
                amended by adding at the end the following subsection:
    ``(d) Allied Health and Other Disciplines.--For the purpose of 
carrying out section 755, there are authorized to be appropriated 
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2006. Such authorization is 
in addition to the authorizations of appropriations under subsection 
(a) that are available for such purpose.''.
            (2) Other title vii programs.--Section 740 of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 293d) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
                (e); and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the following 
                subsection:
    ``(d) Medical Laboratory Personnel.--For the purpose of increasing 
the number of individuals trained as medical laboratory personnel 
through making awards of grants or contracts under sections 737 through 
739 for appropriate schools of allied health, there are authorized to 
be appropriated, in addition to authorizations of appropriations under 
subsections (a) through (c) that are available for such purpose, the 
following:
            ``(1) For awards under section 737 to such schools, 
        $11,193,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may be 
        necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2006.
            ``(2) For awards under section 738 to serve as members of 
        the faculty of such schools, $332,500 for fiscal year 2002, and 
        such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 
        through 2006.
            ``(3) For awards under section 739 to such schools, 
        $8,200,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may be 
        necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2006.''.
            (3) Definition of medical laboratory personnel.--Section 
        799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(12) The term `medical laboratory personnel' means allied 
        health professionals (as defined in paragraph (5)) who are 
        medical technologists, cytotechnologists, histotechnologists, 
        phlebotomists, or medical laboratory technicians, or who are in 
        other fields that, within the meaning of section 353(a) 
        (relating to the certification of clinical laboratories), 
        examine materials derived from the human body for the purpose 
        of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention, or 
        treatment of any disease or impairment of, or the assessment of 
        the health of, human beings.''.

SEC. 3. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS 
              OF CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.

    (a) Preventive Health Measures With Respect to Breast and Cervical 
Cancer.--Title XV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300k et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1509 the following section:

``SEC. 1509A. SHORTAGE OF TECHNOLOGISTS FOR LABORATORY ANALYSIS 
              REGARDING SCREENING FOR CERVICAL CANCER.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator 
of the Health Resources and Services Administration and in 
collaboration with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, shall make grants to appropriate public and nonprofit 
private entities to provide training to increase the number of 
cytotechnologists who are available with respect to screening women for 
cervical cancer.
    ``(b) Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), for the 
        purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to 
        be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums 
        as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 
        2006.
            ``(2) Limitation.--The authorization of appropriations 
        established in paragraph (1) is not effective for a fiscal year 
        unless the amount appropriated under section 1510(a) for the 
        fiscal year is equal to or greater than $173,928,000.''.
    (b) Public Health Emergencies.--
            (1) Combating antimicrobial resistance.--Section 319E of 
        the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d-5), as added by 
        section 102 of Public Law 106-505 (114 Stat. 2315), is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting before the 
                period the following: ``, and support programs that 
                train medical laboratory personnel (as defined in 
                section 799B) in disciplines that recognize or identify 
                the resistance of pathogens''; and
                    (B) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting after 
                ``societies,'' the following: ``schools or programs 
                that train medical laboratory personnel (as defined in 
                section 799B),''.
            (2) Public health countermeasures to bioterrorist attack.--
        Section 319F of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d-
        6), as added by section 102 of Public Law 106-505 (114 Stat. 
        2315), is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (c)(2)--
                            (i) by striking ``or'' after ``clinic,''; 
                        and
                            (ii) by inserting before the period the 
                        following: ``, or a school or program that 
                        trains medical laboratory personnel (as defined 
                        in section 799B)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting before the 
                period the following: ``, and support programs that 
                train medical laboratory personnel (as defined in 
                section 799B) in disciplines that recognize or identify 
                a potential biological agent''.

SEC. 4. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS 
              OF NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE.

    Section 422(c)(3)(C) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
285b-4(c)(3)(C)) is amended by inserting after ``allied health 
professionals'' the following: ``, with emphasis given in the training 
of such professionals to the training of medical laboratory personnel 
(as defined in section 799B) in medical laboratory disciplines with 
respect to which there are needs for increased numbers of personnel''.
                                 <all>