[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 568 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 568

    To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the 
 Secretary of Education, acting jointly, to make grants for community 
 outreach programs to empower patients and health care consumers, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2005

Mrs. McCarthy 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 authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the 
 Secretary of Education, acting jointly, to make grants for community 
 outreach programs to empower patients and health care consumers, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Patient Empowerment and Education 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Preventable medical errors cause as many as 98,000 
        deaths each year in hospitals, according to the Institute of 
        Medicine.
            (2) There are currently many safety procedures in place to 
        be followed by medical professionals in hospitals and other 
        medical facilities to prevent medical errors, yet 42 percent of 
        Americans still say they have personally experienced a medical 
        error.
            (3) One way to address the issue of increasing medical 
        errors and medical malpractice suits is to empower patients and 
        health care consumers, thereby curbing litigation and reducing 
        medical errors that cost the economy as much as $29 billion 
        annually, half of which consists of health care costs.
            (4) According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
        Quality, the best way to prevent medical errors is for an 
        individual to be an active member of his or her health care 
        team.
            (5) Educating patients and health care consumers about 
        applicable safety procedures and policies and about standards 
        of care will help to reduce medical errors.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO EMPOWER PATIENTS AND HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the 
Secretary of Education, acting jointly (in this Act referred to as the 
``Secretaries''), may make grants to nonprofit organizations for 
community outreach programs to empower patients and health care 
consumers.
    (b) Use of Funds.--The Secretaries may make a grant to an 
organization under this section only if the organization agrees to use 
the grant for a community outreach program to empower patients and 
health care consumers, including by--
            (1) educating patients and health care consumers about 
        their role in making health care safer for themselves and their 
        families, including through the use of public service 
        announcements and patient safety workshops;
            (2) educating children about their role in making health 
        care safer for themselves, including through the use of 
        outreach programs in local school systems; and
            (3) supporting victims and family members affected by 
        medical errors, including through the use of counseling and 
        peer support services.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
for fiscal year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year.
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