[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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