[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 789 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 789

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men's 
                    Health, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2007

  Mr. Towns (for himself, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Conyers, and Ms. Lee) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men's 
                    Health, 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 ``Office of Men's Health Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Introduction.--Men's health in the United States is in 
        a state of crisis revealing a breadth of health inequities that 
        warrant national attention. This crisis has led to the need for 
        an Office of Men's Health within the Department of Health and 
        Human Services that coordinates the development of effective 
        strategies and interventions designed to improve the health 
        determinants as well as reduce and eliminate the widespread 
        chronic diseases and health conditions that negatively affect 
        the health of American men.
                    (A) According to Healthy People 2010, social 
                determinants of health include education, housing, 
                labor, justice, transportation, agriculture, and the 
                environment.
                    (B) Improving the social determinants that affect 
                men's health could substantially improve their health 
                and well-being, as well as the health and well-being of 
                their families and communities over time.
            (2) Women's health.--While the men's health crisis concerns 
        most if not all men, it also jeopardizes the lives of 
        individuals in their families and social networks, particularly 
        women. Women bear the direct and indirect caregiving burden for 
        the family when male counterparts are unavailable due to 
        declining health or premature death. Consequently, women's 
        overall well-being and health are threatened by conditions that 
        compromise the health and shorten the lives of their male loved 
        ones.
            (3) Gender-related health inequities.--Significant gender 
        disparities exist in health that should be addressed to improve 
        the overall health profile of the Nation. While the average 
        life expectancy for the general population is 77.9 years of 
        age, women on average live six years longer than men. In some 
        cases, the life expectancy for men is 20 years less than women, 
        especially within communities of color.
                    (A) Overall, men have higher death rates for the 
                top 10 leading causes of death than women, including 
                heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory 
                disease, unintentional injuries, suicide, chronic liver 
                disease, homicide, and HIV/AIDS.
                    (B) In addition, men have a cardiovascular disease 
                death rate 1.5 times higher than women, a lung cancer 
                mortality rate 1.8 times higher than women, and an HIV/
                AIDS death rate that is roughly 3 times higher than 
                women.
                    (C) Studies confirm that men are more likely than 
                women to have less healthy lifestyles, less likely to 
                seek and obtain needed medical attention, more likely 
                to engage in risky behaviors, and less likely to 
                recognize the value of and adhere to preventive health 
                care practices than women.
                    (D) Men are at least 25 percent less likely than 
                women to visit a doctor, and are significantly less 
                likely to have regular physician checkups and obtain 
                preventive screening tests for serious acute and 
                chronic diseases.
            (4) Racial and ethnic health inequalities.--Racial and 
        ethnic inequalities exist in men's health with grave 
        consequences for our most vulnerable populations.
                    (A) African American men have the highest incidence 
                and mortality rates of many forms of cancer, have the 
                highest levels of high blood pressure in the world, and 
                are twice as likely as White men to have diabetes, thus 
                detrimentally affecting their health status and 
                dramatically reducing their life expectancy.
                    (B) The life expectancy for African American men is 
                not only the lowest among all men, but is lower than 
                that for African American women. Black urban men have 
                the shortest life expectancy (66.7 years of age), 
                followed by Southern rural Black men, at 67.7 years of 
                age.
                    (C) African American men are more likely to suffer 
                serious side effects from chronic diseases and have 
                higher mortality rates from heart disease and obesity 
                than any other racial or ethnic group.
                    (D) African American men generally access medical 
                facilities in later disease stages, thus reducing their 
                chances for adequate treatment and recovery and 
                increasing the cost of care. This affects mortality 
                rates in a wide range of chronic diseases, including 
                testicular disease and end-stage renal disease related 
                to diabetes.
                    (E) American Indian and African American men, 15 to 
                29 years of age, have higher overall death rates than 
                Hispanic, White, and Asian American men of the same age 
                group.
                    (F) Since 2001, the only men of color for whom HIV 
                disease is a major cause of death are African Americans 
                (fourth ranked) and Latinos (tenth ranked).
                    (G) Diabetes mellitus is the fifth ranked cause of 
                death for American Indian and Alaska Native men, the 
                sixth ranked cause among Latino men and White men, and 
                the seventh ranked cause among Asian and Pacific 
                Islander men and African American men.
            (5) Oral health.--Oral diseases are prevalent among men of 
        color, particularly African Americans. Men suffer 
        disproportionately from oral diseases, many of which can be 
        treated and prevented with appropriate diagnosis and care.
                    (A) More than 50 percent of African American men 
                have untreated dental decay compared to only 28 percent 
                of White men.
                    (B) African American men have the highest incidence 
                of oral cancer and the lowest survival rates of any 
                group.
            (6) Mental health.--Mental health is often ignored in 
        discussions and intervention strategies related to men's 
        health. However, mental health is an indispensable component of 
        personal health and well-being. Mental health defines and 
        affects interpersonal relationships, the ability to adapt and 
        cope with adversity, and an individual's relationship to his 
        family, community, and society. The mental health status of men 
        is a growing concern for this country and can have significant 
        health consequences. From 1980-1995, the suicide rate among 
        African American males ages 10 to 14 increased 233 percent, 
        compared to 120 percent of comparable non-Hispanic White men. 
        Additionally, research indicates that suicide death rates are 
        more than four times higher among men than women.
            (7) National impact.--Nationally, the men's health crisis 
        has a profound and often detrimental impact not only on the 
        health, well-being, and productivity of men, but also on the 
        strength and viability of the communities in which they live, 
        work, and do business.
                    (A) This health crisis has had a negative impact on 
                the national economy. As a consequence, substantial 
                additional burdens have been placed upon a significant 
                portion of our Nation's labor force.
                    (B) The current men's health crisis is a major 
                concern for the private sector, labor unions, health 
                providers, and government--from local governments to 
                the Federal Government. Both the private sector and the 
                public sector experience substantial additional costs 
                related to absorbing the burden of health disparities 
                related to men. These disparities are exacerbated even 
                further in terms of men who are unable to afford or 
                gain access to reliable and appropriate care in their 
                communities and men of color who bear a dual burden 
                related to ethnicity and gender.
                    (C) The inequities in men's health are a core 
                concern for employers, particularly those offering 
                health benefits to employees and their dependants.
                            (i) Men's health issues challenge 
                        employers' efforts to contain the direct and 
                        indirect costs associated with providing health 
                        care insurance for employees.
                            (ii) Disparities in men's health, 
                        particularly in communities of color, leave men 
                        in the workforce in poorer health and at 
                        greater risk for the most costly chronic and 
                        acute conditions. These communities are 
                        especially at risk for increased rates of 
                        absenteeism and lower rates of productivity for 
                        health-only reasons.
            (8) Health insurance.--Access to medical care in this 
        country is largely predicated upon having health insurance 
        coverage. Dramatically higher rates of uninsured men of color 
        have had major consequences for the health of our Nation, our 
        States, and our communities. This lack of health insurance 
        creates barriers to access to appropriate health care services 
        and treatments and may have a profound impact on the health 
        status and health outcomes of men, their families, and their 
        communities. Health insurance is a primary source of health 
        care for both prevention services and treatment of illnesses. 
        Overall, racial and ethnic minority men are disproportionately 
        more likely than White men to be uninsured, as well as to 
        suffer from chronic and acute conditions, and die prematurely 
        from often preventable conditions during their most productive 
        life years.
                    (A) More than half (56 percent) of all Hispanic 
                men, about 45 percent of all American Indian and Alaska 
                Native men, 47 percent of all Native Hawaiian and 
                Pacific Islander men, and 38 percent of all African 
                American men, 18 to 29 years of age, were uninsured in 
                2004, compared to 26 percent of all White men in the 
                same age group.
                    (B) In 2004, the percentage of all uninsured men of 
                color, 30 to 44 years of age, was higher than that of 
                white men of the same age group. The percentage of 
                uninsured Hispanic men, ages 30 to 44 was more than two 
                and a half times higher than that of White men in the 
                same age group. American Indian and Alaska Native men 
                of the same age group had uninsured rates that were two 
                times higher than White men.
            (9) Health literacy and education.--Providing a culturally 
        competent and ethnically diverse health care workforce is 
        likely to improve quality of health care and health outcomes 
        for men. Additionally, finding ways to better educate men, 
        their families, and health care providers about the importance 
        of early detection of male health problems can result in 
        reducing rates of mortality for male-specific diseases, as well 
        as improve the health of America's men and its overall economic 
        well-being.
                    (A) A majority of men of color, most notably those 
                with lower levels of education, have difficulty 
                understanding medical information. Men of color have 
                reported limited medical literacy. More than half of 
                African American (54 percent), Hispanic (59 percent), 
                and Asian (63 percent) men reported that they did not 
                find information from their doctor's office easy to 
                understand. Others reported a similar difficulty 
                understanding the information written on prescription 
                bottles.
                    (B) Asian, Pacific Islander, and Latino men, the 
                men for whom English is more likely to be a second 
                language, most frequently reported dissatisfaction with 
                the quality of care received from health care 
                providers.
            (10) Prison health.--The rates for incarcerated men of 
        color are generally much higher than for White men. Men of 
        color also enter the prison population suffering from a wider 
        range of primary and chronic diseases. Men of color, who are 
        ex-offenders, also return to low-income communities with the 
        fewest health resources. The unmet health needs of these men 
        threaten scarce public resources by placing additional burdens 
        on the health infrastructure of a wide range of urban and rural 
        communities.
                    (A) In 2005, the percentage of African American and 
                Hispanic men who were incarcerated was significantly 
                higher than the incarceration rate for White men.
                            (i) Many of these inmates suffer with HIV/
                        AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis and various 
                        chronic diseases such as diabetes, 
                        hypertension, and asthma.
                            (ii) Even more male inmates suffer from 
                        undiagnosed or untreated mental illness.
                    (B) These disproportionate rates of chronic disease 
                and conditions have a tremendous affect on many low-
                income communities, both urban and rural.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF MEN'S HEALTH.

    Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following section:

``SEC. 1711. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF MEN'S HEALTH.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an 
office to be known as the Office of Men's Health, which shall be headed 
by a director appointed by the Secretary.
    ``(b) Personnel.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 
Office of Men's Health, shall recruit and hire qualified personnel for 
the Office, including members of racial and ethnic minority populations 
with relevant expertise in men's health issues.
    ``(c) Coordination With Federal Health Agencies.--The Secretary, 
acting through the Director of the Office of Men's Health, shall 
collaborate with all relevant agencies and offices of the Federal 
Government, including the Institute of Medicine, the National Center 
for Health Statistics, and the National Center on Minority Health and 
Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, the Office of 
Minority Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, the Indian Health Service, the Agency for Healthcare 
Research and Quality, and others to identify and report on men's health 
data, including health disparities for chronic diseases and health 
conditions related to men of color.
    ``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `racial and ethnic 
minority populations' means American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, 
Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or 
other Pacific Islander populations.''.

SEC. 4. GRANTS.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall make grants to institutions of higher education for the purpose 
of--
            (1) conducting conferences on men's health;
            (2) conducting public education campaigns to reduce health 
        disparities relating to men's health;
            (3) evaluating the effectiveness of government and public 
        sector resources that focus on men's health; and
            (4) reporting on the gaps and problems that men of color 
        have in utilizing health resources in a city or county.
    (b) Priority.--In evaluating grant proposals under this section, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall give priority to 
proposals from Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU) and 
proposals from historically Hispanic, Native American, or other ethnic 
colleges and universities.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 
and each subsequent fiscal year.

SEC. 5. REPORTING.

    (a) IOM Study on Men's Health.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        shall enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine of 
        the National Academy of Sciences--
                    (A) to conduct a comprehensive study on men's 
                health; and
                    (B) to submit to the Congress a report on the 
                results of such study, to be entitled ``Report to the 
                Nation on Men's Health''.
            (2) Contents.--The study conducted under this subsection 
        shall be a fair and impartial review of the state of men's 
        health in the United States (including the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
        the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and 
        any other territory or possession of the United States) and 
        shall--
                    (A) include information on racial and ethnic 
                minority men and a focus on African American, Hispanic, 
                Native American, and Asian and Pacific Island men and 
                their health disparities;
                    (B) describe the activities and accomplishments of 
                the Office of Men's Health;
                    (C) include statistics and information that 
                indicate men's health in standard and customary health 
                categories with commonly used health indices;
                    (D) provide, in addition to commonly used health 
                indices, the status of social determinants of men's 
                health;
                    (E) include all relevant qualitative materials that 
                indicate the state of men's health, including 
                statistical studies, qualitative evaluations, findings, 
                and program evaluations of current programs and 
                initiatives of the Department of Health and Human 
                Services;
                    (F) draw from both primary and secondary research 
                resources from local, State, and Federal agencies; and
                    (G) include updated information relative to the 
                Institute of Medicine's study entitled ``Unequal 
                Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in 
                Healthcare''.
            (3) Panel of independent experts.--
                    (A) Establishment.--The agreement under paragraph 
                (1) shall provide for the establishment of a panel of 
                independent experts (in this paragraph referred to as 
                the ``panel'') to assist in the conduct of the study 
                under this subsection by reviewing and providing 
                guidance on appropriate outcomes and assessments for 
                men's health and health disparities of men of color.
                    (B) Composition.--The agreement under paragraph (1) 
                shall provide for appropriate representation on the 
                panel from the racial and ethnic groups covered by the 
                study under this subsection.
    (b) Annual Reporting.--Subsequent to the submission of the report 
required by subsection (a)(1)(B), the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, acting through the National Institutes of Health and the 
Director of the Office of Men's Health, shall submit an annual report 
to the Congress that--
            (1) includes the same extent of information on men's health 
        as is included in the Secretary's annual reporting to the 
        Congress on women's health; and
            (2) uses analytical tools similar to those used in such 
        reporting on women's health.
    (c) National Healthcare Disparities Report.--In each report 
submitted under section 903(a)(6) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 299a-1(a)(6)), the Director of the Agency for Healthcare 
Research and Quality shall include analysis of available data on 
racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in men's health, including 
rates for uninsured populations, heart disease, cancer, chronic lower 
respiratory disease, unintentional injuries, mental health and suicide, 
oral and dental health, chronic liver disease, and HIV/AIDS.
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