[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2996 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2996

To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to require that certain 
technical medical employees of the Indian Health Service be compensated 
         for time during which they are required to be on-call.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 3, 2003

  Mr. Peterson of Minnesota introduced the following bill; which was 
    referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to require that certain 
technical medical employees of the Indian Health Service be compensated 
         for time during which they are required to be on-call.

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

SECTION 1. ON-CALL PAY FOR CERTAIN TECHNICAL MEDICAL EMPLOYEES.

    Title I of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1611 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 125. ON-CALL PAY FOR CERTAIN TECHNICAL MEDICAL EMPLOYEES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall pay a technical medical 
employee of the Service for such time as the technical medical employee 
is officially scheduled to be on call outside such technical medical 
employee's regular hours or on a holiday designated by Federal statute 
or Executive order for such time as the technical medical employee may 
be called back to work at a rate that is equal to 10 percent of the 
amount that is equal to one and \1/2\ times such technical medical 
employee's hourly rate of basic pay.
    ``(b) Technical Medical Employee.--For the purposes of this 
section, the term `technical medical employee' includes the following:
            ``(1) Medical technician.--An employee whose position is in 
        the GS-0645 occupational series. Such a position may involve 
        nonprofessional technical work in clinical (medical) 
        laboratories such as performing tests and examinations in one 
        or more areas of work (such as chemistry, blood banking, 
        hematology, or microbiology) where the reports of findings of 
        tests and examinations may be used by physicians in diagnosis, 
        care and treatment of patients, or in support of medical 
        research. The work may require a practical knowledge of the 
        techniques of medical laboratory practice in one or more areas 
        of clinical laboratory work (e.g., blood banking, chemistry, 
        hematology, microbiology, and cytology) and of the chemistry, 
        biology, and anatomy involved.
            ``(2) Medical technologist.--An employee whose position is 
        in the GS-0644 occupational series. Such a position may involve 
        one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) Technical work subordinate to the work of 
                pathologists or other physicians (or other professional 
                employee) who make the final diagnostic examinations of 
                specimens of human tissues or cell preparations).
                    ``(B) Technician work in histopathology involving 
                preparation of thin sections of tissue specimens 
                including fixing, clear, infiltrating, embedding, 
                sectioning, staining, and mounting.
                    ``(C) Technician work in cytology involving 
                preparation, staining, and examining microscopically 
                specimens of body fluids, secretions, and exudiations 
                from any part of the body to determine whether cellar 
                structure is normal, atypical, or abnormal.
                    ``(D) Work requiring a practical knowledge of the 
                techniques of anatomical laboratory practice in one or 
                both of the areas of laboratory work (i.e. 
                histopathology and cytology) and of the chemistry, 
                biology, and anatomy involved.
            ``(3) Diagnostic radiologic technologist or technician.--An 
        employee whose position is in the GS-0647 occupational series. 
        Such a position may involve one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) Performing most routine diagnostic 
                radiographic procedures under general supervision and 
                gains experience in the performance of more difficult 
                techniques and procedures by assisting higher grade 
                technologists.
                    ``(B) Operating radiographic equipment to produce 
                x-ray films of chest, joints, feet, hands, long bones 
                of arms and legs, and other routine views of other 
                parts of the body.
                    ``(C) Working with outpatients or ambulatory 
                patients, positions patients, and sets technical 
                factors in accordance with standardized procedures and 
                techniques.
                    ``(D) Performing a variety of difficult 
                radiographic examinations.
                    ``(E) Receiving patients, explaining method of 
                procedure, positions patient, selecting and setting 
                technical factors, setting up and adjusting accessory 
                equipment required, and making exposures necessary for 
                the requested procedure.
    ``(c) Modifications.--The Secretary shall carry out the intent of 
this section so that it applies to--
            ``(1) subsequent or additional occupational series 
        designations or redesignations; and
            ``(2) modified or additional employee descriptions as such 
        modifications or additions are necessary to correspond with 
        technological advancements.
    ``(d) Exception for Rate of On-Call Pay.--An employee who is 
eligible for on-call pay under subsection (a) and who was receiving 
standby premium pay pursuant to section 5545 of title 5 on May 20, 
1988, shall, as long as such employee is employed in the same position 
and work unit and remains eligible for such standby pay, receive pay 
for any period of on-call duty at the rate equal to the greater of--
            ``(1) the rate of pay which such employee would receive if 
        being paid the rate of standby pay pursuant to such section 
        that such individual would be entitled to receive if such 
        individual were not scheduled to be on call instead, or
            ``(2) the rate of pay which such employee is entitled to 
        receive including on-call premium pay described in subsection 
        (a).''.
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