[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3803 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3803

  To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide information and 
              outreach for the prevention of osteoporosis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2004

  Ms. Berkley (for herself and Mr. Burgess) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
  in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide information and 
              outreach for the prevention of osteoporosis.

    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 ``Osteoporosis Education and 
Prevention Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Osteoporosis is a major public health problem affecting 
        44,000,000 Americans: 10,000,000 who already have the disease 
        and 34,000,000 more who have low bone mass placing them at risk 
        for fractures.
            (2) Although there is currently no cure for osteoporosis, 
        it is preventable in most cases if proper steps are taken to 
        preserve bone mass as an individual ages.
            (3) Osteoporosis is a silent disease that often is not 
        discovered until a fracture occurs. One out of two women and 
        one out of four men over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-
        related fracture in their lifetimes.
            (4) While both men and women may develop osteoporosis, 80 
        percent of the individuals who develop the disease are women. 
        Most adult women are not aware of their personal risk factors 
        for osteoporosis. A woman's risk hip fracture is equal to her 
        combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.
            (5) Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1,500,000 
        fractures annually, including over 300,000 hip fractures, 
        approximately 700,000 vertebral fractures, 250,000 wrist 
        fractures, and 300,000 other fractures.
            (6) The estimated nationwide medical costs directly 
        attributable to osteoporosis-related treatment was 
        $17,000,000,000 in 2001--$47,000,000 each day--and the cost is 
        rising. Much of this cost might be avoidable with proper 
        education about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of 
        osteoporosis.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall carry out a 
national campaign to increase awareness and knowledge with respect to 
osteoporosis. As part of such campaign, the Secretary shall provide 
public service announcements, in accordance with applicable law and 
regulations, by developing and placing in telecommunications media 
announcements intended to encourage at-risk populations to discuss 
their risks of osteoporosis with their physicians, and to call 
attention to early warning signs and risks factors based on the best 
available medical information.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT.

    Section 202 of the Older Americans Act of 1995 (42 U.S.C. 3012) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall carry out an osteoporosis 
prevention demonstration program by making grants to public and private 
nonprofit agencies, organizations, and institutions for purposes of--
            ``(A) determining the best practices for providing 
        information and outreach services (including programs and 
        information, such as forums, seminars, and large-print, easy-
        to-understand, multilingual literature) relating to prevention, 
        diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis; and
            ``(B) measuring the effectiveness of such program over a 3-
        year-period, as shown by an increase in the percentages of 
        individuals who have demonstrated expanded awareness and 
        knowledge of osteoporosis (including knowledge of personal risk 
        factors).
    ``(2) In carrying out such program, the Assistant Secretary shall 
collaborate with the leading nonprofit health organization, as well as 
other health entities, with a mission both to promote lifelong bone 
health nationwide and to provide outreach to State and local 
governments and communities, for the purpose of determining the best 
practices for providing bone-health information and outreach services 
to at-risk populations.
    ``(3) The Assistant Secretary shall include in the annual report 
required by section 207(a) to be submitted by the Assistant Secretary, 
a description of the program carried out under paragraph (1) and of the 
collaboration provided under paragraph (2).''.
                                 <all>