[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 259 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 259
To establish a grant program to provide vision care to children, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 15, 2009
Mr. Bond (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Casey, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Lieberman,
Mr. Akaka, Ms. Collins, Mrs. McCaskill, and Mr. Tester) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to provide vision care to children, 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 ``Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHILDREN.
Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
280h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 399Z-1. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHILDREN.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may award grants to
States on the basis of an established review process for the purpose of
complementing existing State efforts for--
``(1) providing comprehensive eye examinations by a
licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for children who have
been previously identified through a vision screening or eye
examination by a licensed health care provider or vision
screener as needing such services, with priority given to
children who are under the age of 9 years;
``(2) providing treatment or services, subsequent to the
examinations described in paragraph (1), necessary to correct
vision problems; and
``(3) developing and disseminating, to parents, teachers,
and health care practitioners, educational materials on
recognizing signs of visual impairment in children.
``(b) Criteria and Coordination.--
``(1) Criteria.--The Secretary, in consultation with
appropriate professional and patient organizations including
individuals with knowledge of age appropriate vision services,
shall develop criteria--
``(A) governing the operation of the grant program
under subsection (a); and
``(B) for the collection of data related to vision
assessment and the utilization of follow-up services.
``(2) Coordination.--The Secretary shall, as appropriate,
coordinate the program under subsection (a) with the program
under section 330 (relating to health centers), the program
under title XIX of the Social Security Act (relating to the
Medicaid program) (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the program under
title XXI of such Act (relating to the State children's health
insurance program) (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), and with other
Federal or State programs that provide services to children.
``(c) Application.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Secretary an
application in such form, made in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require, including--
``(A) information on existing Federal, Federal-
State, or State-funded children's vision programs;
``(B) a plan for the use of grant funds, including
how funds will be used to complement existing State
efforts (including possible partnerships with non-
profit entities);
``(C) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child
has been identified as provided for in subsection (a);
``(D) a description of how funds will be used to
provide items or services, only as a secondary payer
for an eligible child;
``(E) an assurance that the State will not
eliminate or otherwise reduce vision care benefits for
children under the State plan under title XIX of the
Social Security Act for purposes of receiving such a
grant; and
``(F) an assurance that amounts received under the
grant are expended on an eligible child as defined in
paragraph (2).
``(2) Eligible child.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the
term eligible child means a child that--
``(A) is not covered under a health insurance
policy that provides coverage for vision services;
``(B) is not otherwise eligible to receive coverage
of such services under a State plan under title XIX of
the Social Security Act, under the program under title
XXI of such Act, under any State health care
compensation program, or under any other Federal or
State health benefits program; and
``(C) is a low income child (as defined by the
State).
``(d) Evaluations.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), a State shall agree that, not later than 1 year after
the date on which amounts under the grant are first received by the
State, and annually thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant,
the State will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the operations
and activities carried out under the grant, including--
``(1) an assessment of the utilization of vision services
and the status of children receiving these services as a result
of the activities carried out under the grant;
``(2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of children's
vision data according to guidelines prescribed by the
Secretary; and
``(3) such other information as the Secretary may require.
``(e) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to States submitting applications that
provide that services under the grant will be provided to the lowest
income children within the State submitting the application.
``(f) Limitations in Expenditure of Grant.--A grant may be made
under subsection (a) only if the State involved agrees that the State
will not expend more than 20 percent of the amount received under the
grant to carry out the purpose described in paragraph (3) of such
subsection.
``(g) Matching Funds.--
``(1) In general.--With respect to the costs of the
activities to be carried out with a grant under subsection (a),
a condition for the receipt of the grant is that the State
involved agrees to make available (directly or through
donations from public or private entities) non-Federal
contributions toward such costs in an amount that is not less
than 25 percent of such costs.
``(2) Determination of amount contributed.--Non-Federal
contributions required in paragraph (1) may be in cash or in
kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment, or
services. Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or
services assisted or subsidized to any significant extent by
the Federal Government, may not be included in determining the
amount of such non-Federal contributions.
``(h) Supplement Not Supplant.--A State that receives a grant under
this section shall ensure that amounts received under such grant will
be used to supplement, and not supplant, any other Federal, State, or
local funds available to carry out activities of the type carried out
under the grant.
``(i) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term
`comprehensive eye examination' includes an assessment of a patient's
history, general medical observation, external and ophthalmoscopic
examination, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction,
and as appropriate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed
by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.
``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $65,000,000
for the 5-fiscal year period beginning in fiscal year 2009.''.
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