[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1754 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1754

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a workplace 
    wellness education campaign and an evaluation of employer-based 
               wellness programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 9, 2007

 Mr. Harkin (for himself and Mr. Smith) 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 for a workplace 
    wellness education campaign and an evaluation of employer-based 
               wellness programs, 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. CDC AND EMPLOYER-BASED WELLNESS PROGRAMS.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

           ``PART R--CDC AND EMPLOYER-BASED WELLNESS PROGRAMS

``SEC. 399Z-1. MOTIVATING EMPLOYERS TO IMPLEMENT WORKPLACE WELLNESS 
              PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Workplace Wellness Marketing Campaign for Employers.--The 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 
coordination with relevant worksite health promotion organizations, 
shall conduct an educational campaign to make employers, employer 
groups, and other interested parties aware of the benefits of employer-
based wellness programs.
    ``(b) Employer Award Program.--The Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention shall develop an annual awards program 
for employers to encourage the development of creative and effective 
solutions to help employees maintain or improve their health. The 
awards program shall provide that small, medium, and large employers 
that are public or private shall be eligible for the awards.

``SEC. 399Z-2. EVALUATION OF EMPLOYER-BASED WELLNESS PROGRAMS.

    ``The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
shall enter into contracts with entities to--
            ``(1) provide employers (including small, medium, and large 
        employers, as determined by the Director) with technical 
        assistance in evaluating such employers' employer-based 
        wellness programs, including--
                    ``(A) measuring the participation of employees in 
                such programs; and
                    ``(B) evaluating such programs as they relate to 
                changes in the health status of employees, the 
                absenteeism of employees, the productivity of 
                employees, the rate of workplace injury, and the 
                medical costs incurred by employees; and
            ``(2) train employers on how to evaluate such employers' 
        employer-based wellness programs.

``SEC. 399Z-3. NATIONAL WORKSITE HEALTH POLICIES AND PROGRAMS STUDY.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall conduct a national 
worksite health policies and programs study to assess employer-based 
health policies and programs.
    ``(b) Report.--After completing each study under subsection (a), 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall 
submit to Congress a report that includes the recommendations of the 
Director for the implementation of effective employer-based health 
policies and programs.

``SEC. 399Z-4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

    ``(a) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.--The Secretary 
shall expand the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to include 
a workforce component to enable employers, researchers, and health 
officials to assess employee health risks, identify emerging problems 
associated with general employee health, prevent disease within the 
employee population, and improve employer-based health programs and 
policies.
    ``(b) Demonstration Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
        shall award grants to entities to enable such entities to carry 
        out research demonstration projects to study the effect of the 
        application of new worksite-based health interventions and 
        models.
            ``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        paragraph (1), an entity shall submit to the Secretary an 
        application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
            ``(3) Broad participation.--In awarding grants under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that demonstration 
        projects are conducted in both the public and private sectors 
        and in small and large employer settings.
            ``(4) Submission of findings.--An entity shall submit to 
        the Secretary a report on the results of the research conducted 
        under the grant within such period as the Secretary may 
        prescribe. Such report shall include any guidelines or 
        recommendations developed by the entity based on such research.
    ``(c) Implementation of Research Results.--The Secretary shall 
carry out activities to implement the guidelines or recommendations 
received by the Secretary under subsection (b)(4) if the Secretary 
determines that such guidelines of recommendations would result in 
improved employee health through worksite-based health programs or 
policies.''.
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