I 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 168 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 5, 2011 Mr. Stearns introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of veterans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
1.
Improvement of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(a)
Treatment of COPD
Subject to the availability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— (1)develop treatment protocols and related tools for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and (2)improve biomedical and prosthetic research programs regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (b)
Pilot programs
Subject to the availability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the Indian Health Service, and the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Agency, shall develop pilot programs to demonstrate best practices for the diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (c)
Smoking cessation
(1)
In general
Subject to the availability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall develop improved techniques and best practices for assisting individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in successfully quitting smoking. (2)
Unique needs of COPD patients
In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary— (A)shall identify subpopulations of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that have unique needs with respect to quitting smoking; and (B)may conduct research to determine whether the techniques and best practices developed under paragraph (1) are different from techniques and best practices used to assist individuals with other chronic diseases in successfully quitting smoking.