[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2960 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2960

    To amend the Public Health Service Act to foster more effective 
 implementation and coordination of clinical care for people with pre-
                         diabetes and diabetes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2011

 Mr. Olson (for himself, Mr. Guthrie, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Public Health Service Act to foster more effective 
 implementation and coordination of clinical care for people with pre-
                         diabetes and diabetes.

    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 ``National Diabetes Clinical Care 
Commission Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 
        that nearly 26,000,000 Americans have diabetes in addition to 
        an estimated 79,000,000 American adults that have pre-diabetes, 
        an increase of 2,000,000 Americans with diabetes and 22,000,000 
        American adults with pre-diabetes since 2008.
            (2) Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Americans of all ages 
        and 11.3 percent of adults age 20 and older. Individuals of 
        racial and ethnic minorities continue to have higher rates of 
        diabetes than individuals not of such minorities, as 
        demonstrated by the following: 16.1 percent of all adult 
        American Indians and Alaskan Natives have diabetes; 12.6 
        percent of all adult African-Americans have diabetes; 11.8 
        percent of all adult Hispanics have diabetes; and 8.4 percent 
        of all adult Asian-Americans have diabetes, while 7.1 percent 
        of all non-Hispanic Whites have diabetes.
            (3) Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the 
        United States.
            (4) People with diabetes are more likely than people 
        without diabetes to have heart attacks, strokes, high blood 
        pressure, kidney failure, blindness, and require amputations.
            (5) Total national costs associated with diabetes in 2007 
        exceeded $218,000,000,000, according to the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention.
            (6) One in three Medicare dollars is currently spent on 
        people with diabetes.
            (7) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects 
        that as many as 1 in 3 American adults could have diabetes by 
        2050 if current trends continue.
            (8) There are 37 Federal departments, agencies, and offices 
        involved in the implementation of Federal diabetes activities.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL DIABETES CLINICAL CARE 
              COMMISSION.

    Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 399V-6. NATIONAL DIABETES CLINICAL CARE COMMISSION.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established within the 
Department of Health and Human Services the National Diabetes Clinical 
Care Commission (in this section referred to as the `Commission') to 
evaluate and make recommendations regarding better coordination and 
leveraging of programs within the Department of Health and Human 
Services and other Federal agencies that relate in any way to 
supporting appropriate clinical care for people with pre-diabetes and 
diabetes.
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commission shall be composed of the 
        following voting members:
                    ``(A) The Administrators or Directors (or the 
                designees of Administrators or Directors) of the 
                following Federal agencies and departments that conduct 
                programs that could impact the clinical care of people 
                with pre-diabetes and diabetes:
                            ``(i) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
                        Services.
                            ``(ii) The Agency for Healthcare Research 
                        and Quality.
                            ``(iii) The Centers for Disease Control and 
                        Prevention.
                            ``(iv) The Indian Health Service.
                            ``(v) The Department of Veterans Affairs.
                            ``(vi) The National Institutes of Health.
                            ``(vii) The Food and Drug Administration.
                            ``(viii) The Health Resources and Services 
                        Administration.
                    ``(B) Twelve additional voting members appointed 
                under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Additional members.--The Commission shall include 
        additional voting members appointed by the Comptroller General 
        of the United States, in consultation with national medical 
        societies and patient advocate organizations with expertise in 
        diabetes and the care of patients with diabetes who are 
        representatives of the following:
                    ``(A) Clinical endocrinologists.
                    ``(B) Physician specialties (other than as 
                described in subparagraph (A)) that play a role in 
                diabetes care.
                    ``(C) Primary care physicians.
                    ``(D) Non-physician health care professionals, such 
                as diabetes educators, clinical dieticians, nurses, 
                nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
                    ``(E) Patient advocates.
                    ``(F) National experts in the duties listed under 
                subsection (c).
            ``(3) Chairperson.--The voting members of the Commission 
        shall select a chairperson from the members described in 
        paragraph (2)(A).
            ``(4) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of 
        the chairperson but at least twice, and not more than 4 times, 
        a year.
            ``(5) Board terms.--Members of the Commission, including 
        the chairperson, shall serve for a 3-year term. A vacancy on 
        the Commission shall be filled in the same manner as the 
        original appointments.
    ``(c) Duties.--The Commission shall--
            ``(1) evaluate programs of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services regarding the utilization of diabetes screening 
        benefits, annual wellness visits, and other preventive health 
        benefits that may reduce the risk of diabetes and its 
        complications, addressing any existing problems regarding such 
        utilization and related data collection mechanisms;
            ``(2) identify current activities and critical gaps in 
        Federal efforts to support clinicians in providing integrated, 
        high quality care to people with pre-diabetes and diabetes;
            ``(3) assist in the coordination of clinically-based 
        activities that are being supported by the Federal Government;
            ``(4) assist with the development and coordination of 
        federally-funded clinical practice support tools for physicians 
        and other health care professionals in caring for and managing 
        the care of people with pre-diabetes and diabetes;
            ``(5) evaluate programs in existence as of the date of the 
        enactment of this section and determine if such programs are 
        meeting the needs identified in paragraph (2) and, if such 
        programs are determined to not be meeting such needs, recommend 
        programs that would be more appropriate;
            ``(6) use outcomes-based registry data to evaluate various 
        care models and methods and the impact of such models and 
        methods on diabetes management as measured by appropriate care 
        parameters (such as A1C, blood pressure, and cholesterol 
        levels);
            ``(7) evaluate and expand education and awareness to 
        physicians and other health care professionals regarding 
        clinical practices for the prevention of diabetes and the 
        precursor conditions of diabetes;
            ``(8) develop and test appropriate methods for outreach and 
        dissemination of educational resources that regard diabetes 
        prevention and treatments, are funded by the Federal 
        Government, and are intended for to health care professionals 
        and the public; and
            ``(9) other activities, including relating to the areas of 
        public health and nutrition, that the Commission deems 
        appropriate.
    ``(d) Operating Plan.--
            ``(1) Initial plan.--Prior to the expenditure of Federal 
        funds for any activities pursuant to subsection (c), the 
        Commission shall submit to the Secretary and the Congress an 
        operating plan for carrying out the activities of the 
        Commission. Such operating plan shall include--
                    ``(A) a list of specific activities that the 
                Commission plans to conduct for purposes of carrying 
                out the duties described in each of the paragraphs in 
                subsection (c);
                    ``(B) a plan for completing the activities, 
                including any contracts or grants that need to be 
                awarded;
                    ``(C) a list of members of the Commission and other 
                individuals who are not members of the Commission who 
                will need to be involved to conduct such activities;
                    ``(D) an explanation of Federal agency involvement 
                and coordination needed to conduct such activities;
                    ``(E) a budget for conducting such activities; and
                    ``(F) other information that the Commission deems 
                appropriate.
            ``(2) Updates.--The Commission shall periodically update 
        the operating plan under paragraph (1) and submit such updates 
        to the Secretary and the Congress.
    ``(e) Final Report and Sunset of the Commission.--By not later than 
3 years after the date of the Commission's first meeting, the 
Commission shall submit to the Secretary and the Congress a report 
containing all of the findings and recommendations of the Commission 
and an operating plan for implementation of all such recommendations. 
The Commission shall terminate after submission of such report.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--Appropriations are 
authorized to be made available to the Commission for each of fiscal 
years 2012, 2013 and 2014, from amounts otherwise made available to the 
Department of Health and Human Services for such fiscal years, to carry 
out this section.''.
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