[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2328 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2328

    To establish a grant program to provide follow-up treatment for 
             children identified to have a vision disorder.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2005

   Mr. Fossella (for himself, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Baker, Mr. Shaw, Mr. 
   Pallone, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Kelly, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a grant program to provide follow-up treatment for 
             children identified to have a vision disorder.

    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 ``Children's Access to Vision Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Good vision is essential for proper physical 
        development and educational progress in growing children.
            (2) Many serious ocular conditions are treatable if 
        identified in the preschool and early school-aged years.
            (3) Early detection of ocular conditions provides the best 
        opportunity for effective, inexpensive treatment and can have 
        far reaching implications for vision.
            (4) Widespread use of identification methods, whether 
        vision screening programs, or comprehensive eye exams required 
        by State law, will identify children needing services. A child 
        identified through vision screening should receive a 
        comprehensive eye exam followed by subsequent treatment as 
        needed. A child identified through a comprehensive eye exam 
        should receive subsequent treatment as needed. All children 
        identified as needing services should have access to subsequent 
        treatment as needed.

SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMINATIONS FOR CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may make 
grants to States on the basis of an established review process for the 
purpose of--
            (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations for children 
        who have been identified by a licensed health care provider or 
        vision screener as needing such services, with priority given 
        to children who are under the age of 9;
            (2) providing for children subsequent treatment or services 
        necessary to correct vision problems; and
            (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, teachers, and 
        health care practitioners, educational materials on recognizing 
        signs of visual impairment in children.
    (b) Criteria and Coordination.--
            (1) Criteria.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        appropriate professional and consumer organizations including 
        individuals with knowledge of age appropriate vision services, 
        shall develop criteria--
                    (A) governing the operation of the grant program; 
                and
                    (B) for the collection of data related to vision 
                assessment and the utilization of followup services.
            (2) Coordination.--The Secretary shall, as appropriate, 
        coordinate the program under subsection (a) with the program 
        under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (relating to 
        health centers), the program under title XIX of the Social 
        Security Act (relating to the Medicaid program), the program 
        under title XXI of such Act (relating to the State children's 
        health insurance program), and with other Federal or State 
        program that provide services to children.
    (c) Application.--A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if 
an application for the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the 
application is in such form, is made in such manner, and contains such 
information as the Secretary may require, including--
            (1) information on existing Federal, Federal-State, or 
        State-funded children's vision screening programs;
            (2) a plan for the use of grant funds, including how funds 
        will be used to complement existing State efforts;
            (3) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child has 
        received an age appropriate vision screening; and
            (4) a description of how funds will be used to provide 
        items or services only as a secondary payer to--
                    (A) any State compensation program, under an 
                insurance policy, or under any Federal or State health 
                benefits program; or
                    (B) by any entity that provides health services on 
                a prepaid basis.
    (d) Evaluations.--A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if 
the State involved agrees that, not later than 1 year after the date on 
which amounts under the grant are first received by the State, and 
annually thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant, the State 
will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the operations and 
activities carried out under the grant, including--
            (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision services and 
        the status of children receiving these services as a result of 
        the activities carried out under the grant;
            (2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of children's 
        vision data according to guidelines prescribed by the 
        Secretary; and
            (3) such other information as the Secretary may require.
    (e) Certain Provisions Regarding Expenditure of Grant.--
            (1) Uses other than comprehensive eye examinations.--A 
        grant under subsection (a) may be expended for the purposes 
        described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of such subsection without 
        regard to whether under paragraph (1) of such subsection the 
        State involved expends the grant to provide comprehensive eye 
        examinations. The Secretary may not disapprove an application 
        under subsection (c), or reduce the amount of the grant, solely 
        on the basis that the State will not expend the grant to 
        provide such examinations.
            (2) Limitation on grant expenditures.--A grant may be made 
        under subsection (a) only if the State involved agrees that the 
        State will not expend more than 20 percent of the grant to 
        carry out the purpose described in paragraph (3) of such 
        subsection.
    (f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``comprehensive eye examination'' includes an assessment of a patient's 
history, general medical observation, external and ophthalmoscopic 
examination, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction, 
and as appropriate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed 
by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $75,000,000 
for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may be necessary for each of 
fiscal years 2007 through 2009.
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