1.This Act may be cited as the
Health Empowerment Zone Act of
2009
.
2.The table of contents
for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Designation of health empowerment zones.
Sec. 5. Assistance to those seeking designation.
Sec. 6. Benefits of designation.
Sec. 7. Definition.
Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations.
3.
(a)The Congress finds the following:
(1)Numerous studies
and reports, including the National Healthcare Disparities Report and Unequal
Treatment, the 2002 Institute of Medicine Report, document the extensiveness to
which health disparities exist across the country.
(2)These studies have found that, on average,
racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately afflicted with chronic and
acute conditions—such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension—and suffer worse
health outcomes, worse health status, and higher mortality rates than their
White counterparts.
(3)Several recent studies also show that
health disparities are a function of not only access to health care, but also
the social determinants of health—including the environment, the physical
structure of communities, nutrition and food options, educational attainment,
employment, race, ethnicity, geography, and language preference—that directly
and indirectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of individuals and
communities.
(4)Integrally
involving and fully supporting the communities most affected by health
inequities in the assessment, planning, launch, and evaluation of health
disparity elimination efforts is among the leading recommendations made to
adequately address and ultimately reduce health disparities.
(5)Recommendations also include supporting the
efforts of community stakeholders from a broad cross section—including, but not
limited to local businesses, local departments of commerce, education, labor,
urban planning, and transportation, and community-based and other nonprofit
organizations—to find areas of common ground around health disparity
elimination and collaborate to improve the overall health and wellness of a
community and its residents.
4.Designation of
health empowerment zones
(a)At the request of an eligible community partnership, the
Secretary may designate an eligible area as a health empowerment zone.
(b)
(1)Eligible
community partnershipA
community partnership is eligible to submit a request under this section if the
partnership—
(A)demonstrates
widespread public support from key individuals and entities in the eligible
area, including State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and
community and industry leaders, for designation of the eligible area as a
health empowerment zone; and
(B)includes
representatives of—
(i)a
broad cross section of stakeholders and residents from communities in the
eligible area experiencing disproportionate disparities in health status and
health care; and
(ii)organizations,
facilities, and institutions that have a history of working within and serving
such communities.
(2)An area is eligible to be designated as a health empowerment
zone under this section if one or more communities in the area experience
disproportionate disparities in health status and health care. In determining
whether a community experiences such disparities, the Secretary shall consider
the data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services focusing on
the following areas:
(A)Access to
high-quality health services.
(B)Arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic back
conditions.
(C)Cancer.
(D)Chronic kidney
disease.
(E)Diabetes.
(F)Injury and
violence prevention.
(G)Maternal, infant,
and child health.
(H)Medical product
safety.
(I)Mental health and
mental disorders.
(J)Nutrition and
overweight.
(K)Disability and
secondary conditions.
(L)Educational and
community-based health programs.
(M)Environmental
health.
(N)Family
planning.
(O)Food
safety.
(P)Health
communication.
(Q)Health disease and
stroke.
(R)HIV/AIDS.
(S)Immunization and
infectious diseases.
(T)Occupational
safety and health.
(U)Oral
health.
(V)Physical activity
and fitness.
(W)Public health
infrastructure.
(X)Respiratory
diseases.
(Y)Sexually
transmitted diseases.
(Z)Substance
abuse.
(AA)Tobacco
use.
(BB)Vision and
hearing.
(c)
(1)A
request under subsection (a) shall—
(A)describe the
bounds of the area to be designated as a health empowerment zone and the
process used to select those bounds;
(B)demonstrate that
the partnership submitting the request is an eligible community partnership
described in subsection (b)(1);
(C)demonstrate that
the area is an eligible area described in subsection (b)(2);
(D)include a
comprehensive assessment of disparities in health status and health care
experience by one or more communities in the area;
(E)set forth—
(i)a
vision and a set of values for the area; and
(ii)a
comprehensive and holistic set of goals to be achieved in the area through
designation as a health empowerment zone; and
(F)include a
strategic plan for achieving the goals described in subparagraph
(E)(ii).
(2)Not
later than 60 days after the receipt of a request for designation of an area as
a health empowerment zone under this section, the Secretary shall approve or
disapprove the request.
(d)The Secretary—
(1)shall designate
not more than 110 health empowerment zones under this section; and
(2)shall designate at
least one health empowerment zone in each of the several States, the District
of Columbia, and each territory or possession of the United States.
5.Assistance to
those seeking designationAt
the request of any organization or entity seeking to submit a request under
section 4(a), the Secretary shall provide technical assistance, and may award a
grant, to assist such organization or entity—
(1)to form an
eligible community partnership described in subsection (b)(1);
(2)to complete a
health assessment, including an assessment of health disparities under
subsection (c)(1)(D); or
(3)to prepare and
submit a request, including a strategic plan, in accordance with section
4.
6.
(a)In awarding any competitive grant, a
Federal official shall give priority to any applicant that—
(1)meets the
eligibility criteria for the grant;
(2)proposes to use
the grant for activities in a health empowerment zone; and
(3)demonstrates that
such activities will directly and significantly further the goals of the
strategic plan approved for such zone under section 4.
(b)Grants for
initial implementation of strategic plan
(1)Upon designating an eligible area as a health empowerment
zone at the request of an eligible community partnership, the Secretary shall,
subject to the availability of appropriations, make a grant to the community
partnership for implementation of the strategic plan for such zone.
(2)A grant under paragraph (1) for a health empowerment zone
shall be for a period of 2 years and may be renewed, except that the total
period of grants under paragraph (1) for such zone may not exceed 10
years.
(3)In awarding grants under this subsection,
the Secretary shall not give less priority to an applicant or reduce the amount
of a grant because the Secretary rendered technical assistance or made a grant
to the same applicant under section 5.
(4)The
Secretary shall require each recipient of a grant under this subsection to
report to the Secretary not less than every 6 months on the progress in
implementing the strategic plan for the health empowerment zone.
7.In this Act, the term
Secretary
means the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services
Administration and the Director of the Office of Minority Health, and in
cooperation with the Director of the Office of Community Services and the
Director of the National Center for Minority Health and Health
Disparities.
8.Authorization of
appropriationsTo carry out
this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal year
2010.