II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 259 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009.

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:

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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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