1.This Act may be cited as the
Family Asthma
Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The number of
people with asthma increased by 50 percent between 1998 and 2010. According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 more than 25,000,000
Americans had been diagnosed with asthma, including an estimated 7,000,000
children.
(2)According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009 more than 3,300 Americans
died from asthma. The rate of mortality from asthma is higher among
African-Americans and women.
(3)The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention report that asthma accounted for 480,000
hospitalizations in 2009 and 1,800,000 visits to hospital emergency departments
in 2007.
(4)According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the annual cost of asthma to the
United States is approximately $56,000,000,000, including $6,000,000,000 in
indirect costs from lost productivity.
(5)According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10,500,000 school days and
14,200,000 work days are missed annually as a result of asthma.
(6)Asthma episodes
can be triggered by both outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution,
including pollutants such as cigarette smoke and combustion by-products. Asthma
episodes can also be triggered by indoor allergens such as animal dander and
outdoor allergens such as pollen and molds.
(7)Public health
interventions and medical care in accordance with existing guidelines have been
proven effective in the treatment and management of asthma. Better asthma
management could reduce the numbers of emergency department visits and
hospitalizations due to asthma. Studies published in medical journals have
shown that better asthma management results in improved asthma outcomes at a
lower cost.
(8)In 2011, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that less than half of
people with asthma had been taught how to avoid asthma triggers. More education
about triggers, proper treatment, and asthma management methods is
needed.
(9)The alarming rise
in the prevalence of asthma, its adverse effect on school attendance and
productivity, and its cost for hospitalizations and emergency room visits,
highlight the importance of public health interventions, including increasing
awareness of asthma as a chronic illness, its symptoms, the role of both indoor
and outdoor environmental factors that exacerbate the disease, and other
factors that affect its exacerbations and severity. The goals of the Federal
Government and its partners in the nonprofit and private sectors should include
reducing the number and severity of asthma attacks, asthma's financial burden,
and the health disparities associated with asthma.
3.Asthma-related
activities of the centers for disease control and preventionSection 317I of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–10) is amended to read as follows:
317I.Asthma-related
activities of the centers for disease control and prevention
(a)Program for
Providing Information and Education to the PublicThe Secretary,
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
shall collaborate with State and local health departments to conduct
activities, including the provision of information and education to the public
regarding asthma including—
(1)deterring the
harmful consequences of uncontrolled asthma; and
(2)disseminating
health education and information regarding prevention of asthma episodes and
strategies for managing asthma.
(b)Development of
State Asthma PlansThe Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall collaborate with State
and local health departments to develop State plans incorporating public health
responses to reduce the burden of asthma, particularly regarding
disproportionately affected populations.
(c)The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, shall, in cooperation with State and local
public health officials—
(1)conduct asthma
surveillance activities to collect data on the prevalence and severity of
asthma, the effectiveness of public health asthma interventions, and the
quality of asthma management, including—
(A)collection of
household data on the local burden of asthma;
(B)surveillance of
health care facilities; and
(C)collection of data
not containing individually identifiable information from electronic health
records or other electronic communications;
(2)compile and
annually publish data regarding the prevalence and incidence of childhood
asthma, the child mortality rate, and the number of hospital admissions and
emergency department visits by children associated with asthma nationally and
in each State and at the county level by age, sex, race, and ethnicity, as well
as lifetime and current prevalence; and
(3)compile and
annually publish data regarding the prevalence and incidence of adult asthma,
the adult mortality rate, and the number of hospital admissions and emergency
department visits by adults associated with asthma nationally and in each State
and at the county level by age, sex, race, ethnicity, industry, and occupation,
as well as lifetime and current prevalence.
(d)Coordination of
Data CollectionThe Director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, in conjunction with State and local health departments, shall
coordinate data collection activities under subsection (c)(2) so as to maximize
the comparability of results.
(e)
(1)The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are
encouraged to collaborate with national, State, and local nonprofit
organizations to provide information and education about asthma, and to
strengthen such collaborations when possible.
(2)The Division of Adolescent and School Health is
encouraged to expand its activities with non-Federal partners, especially
State-level entities.
(f)In addition to any other authorization of appropriations
that is available to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the
purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated to
such Centers such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2013
through 2017 for the purpose of carrying out this section.
(g)
(1)Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall, in consultation with patient groups, nonprofit
organizations, medical societies, and other relevant governmental and
nongovernmental entities, submit to Congress a report that—
(A)catalogs, with
respect to asthma prevention, management, and surveillance—
(i)the activities of
the Federal Government, including an assessment of the progress of the Federal
Government and States, with respect to achieving the goals of the Healthy
People 2020 initiative; and
(ii)the activities of
other entities that participate in the program under this section, including
nonprofit organizations, patient advocacy groups, and medical societies;
and
(B)makes
recommendations for the future direction of asthma activities, in consultation
with researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other member bodies
of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program who are qualified to
review and analyze data and evaluate interventions, including—
(i)description of how
the Federal Government may improve its response to asthma including identifying
any barriers that may exist;
(ii)description of
how the Federal Government may continue, expand, and improve its private-public
partnerships with respect to asthma including identifying any barriers that may
exist;
(iii)the
identification of steps that may be taken to reduce the—
(I)morbidity,
mortality, and overall prevalence of asthma;
(II)financial burden
of asthma on society;
(III)burden of asthma
on disproportionately affected areas, particularly those in medically
underserved populations (as defined in section 330(b)(3)); and
(IV)burden of asthma
as a chronic disease;
(iv)the
identification of programs and policies that have achieved the steps described
under clause (iii), and steps that may be taken to expand such programs and
policies to benefit larger populations; and
(v)recommendations
for future research and interventions.
(2)
(A)During the 5-year period following the submission of the
report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit updates and revisions of
the report upon the request of the Congress.
(B)At the end of the 5-year period following the
submission of the report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall evaluate the
analyses and recommendations made under such report and determine whether a new
report to the Congress is necessary, and make appropriate recommendations to
the
Congress.
.