[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3771 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3771

     To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional 
 authorizations of appropriations for the health centers program under 
                        section 330 of such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2006

 Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Burr, 
   Mr. Harkin, Mr. Bond, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
 Talent, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Collins, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Reed, 
 Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Clinton) introduced the following bill; which was 
 read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
                              and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional 
 authorizations of appropriations for the health centers program under 
                        section 330 of such Act.

    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 ``Health Centers Renewal Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Community, migrant, public housing, and homeless health 
        centers are vital to thousands of communities across the United 
        States.
            (2) There are more than 1,000 such health centers serving 
        over 15,000,000 people at over 3,700 health delivery sites, 
        located in all 50 States of the United States, the District of 
        Columbia, and Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and other 
        territories of the United States.
            (3) Health centers provide cost-effective, quality health 
        care to poor and medically underserved people in the States, 
        the District of Columbia, and the territories, including the 
        working poor, the uninsured, and many high-risk and vulnerable 
        populations, and have done so for over 40 years.
            (4) Health centers provide care to 1 of every 8 uninsured 
        Americans, 1 of every 4 Americans in poverty, and 1 of every 9 
        rural Americans.
            (5) Health centers provide primary and preventive care 
        services to more than 700,000 homeless persons and more than 
        725,000 farm workers in the United States.
            (6) Health centers are community-oriented and patient-
        focused and tailor their services to fit the special needs and 
        priorities of local communities, working together with schools, 
        businesses, churches, community organizations, foundations, and 
        State and local governments.
            (7) Health centers are built through community initiative.
            (8) Health centers encourage citizen participation and 
        provide jobs for 50,000 community residents.
            (9) Congress established the program as a unique public-
        private partnership, and has continued to provide direct 
        funding to community organizations for the development and 
        operation of health centers systems that address pressing local 
        health needs and meet national performance standards.
            (10) Federal grants assist participating communities in 
        finding partners and recruiting doctors and other health 
        professionals.
            (11) Federal grants constitute, on average, 24 percent of 
        the annual budget of such health centers, with the remainder 
        provided by State and local governments, Medicare, Medicaid, 
        private contributions, private insurance, and patient fees.
            (12) Health centers make health care responsive and cost-
        effective through aggressive outreach, patient education, 
        translation, and other enabling support services.
            (13) Health centers help reduce health disparities, meet 
        escalating health care needs, and provide a vital safety net in 
        the health care delivery system of the United States.
            (14) Health centers increase the use of preventive health 
        services, including immunizations, pap smears, mammograms, and 
        HBa1c tests for diabetes screenings.
            (15) Expert studies have demonstrated the impact that these 
        community-owned and patient-controlled primary care delivery 
        systems have achieved both in the reduction of traditional 
        access barriers and the elimination of health disparities among 
        their patients.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR HEALTH CENTERS 
              PROGRAM OF PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    Section 330(r) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(r)) 
is amended by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--For the purpose of carrying out this 
        section, in addition to the amounts authorized to be 
        appropriated under subsection (d), there are authorized to be 
        appropriated $1,963,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums 
        as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 
        2011.''.
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