[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1649 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1649

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require staff working 
with developmentally disabled individuals to call emergency services in 
               the event of a life-threatening situation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 2005

Mr. Holt (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Payne, Mr. Saxton, 
Mr. Owens, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Towns, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Jefferson, and Mr. 
   Pallone) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to require staff working 
with developmentally disabled individuals to call emergency services in 
               the event of a life-threatening situation.

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

SECTION 1. REQUIREMENT OF STAFF WORKING WITH DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED 
              PERSONS TO CALL EMERGENCY SERVICES IN THE EVENT OF A 
              LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION.

    (a) Requirement.--Section 1902(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (66), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (67), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (67) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(68) provide, in accordance with regulations of the 
        Secretary, that direct care staff providing health-related 
        services to a person with a developmental disability or 
        traumatic brain injury are required to call the 911 emergency 
        telephone service or equivalent emergency management service 
        for assistance in the event of a life-threatening emergency to 
        such person and to report such call to the appropriate State 
        agency or department.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) take 
effect on January 1, 2006.
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