[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2124 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2124

 To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to authorize and 
 support the creation of cardiomyopathy education, awareness, and risk 
assessment materials and resources by the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
  dissemination of such materials and resources by State educational 
              agencies to identify more at-risk families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2012

Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Lautenberg) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to authorize and 
 support the creation of cardiomyopathy education, awareness, and risk 
assessment materials and resources by the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
  dissemination of such materials and resources by State educational 
              agencies to identify more at-risk families.

    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 ``Cardiomyopathy Health Education, 
Awareness, Risk Assessment, and Training in the Schools (HEARTS) Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES TO INCREASE EDUCATION AND AWARENESS OF 
              CARDIOMYOPATHY AMONG SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, EDUCATORS, 
              AND FAMILIES.

    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. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES TO INCREASE EDUCATION AND 
              AWARENESS OF CARDIOMYOPATHY AMONG SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, 
              EDUCATORS, AND FAMILIES.

    ``(a) Materials and Resources.--Not later than 18 months after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services (in this section referred to as the `Secretary'), in 
conjunction with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (in this section referred to as the `Director') and in 
consultation with national patient advocacy and health professional 
organizations expert in all forms of cardiomyopathy, shall develop 
public education and awareness materials and resources to be 
disseminated to school administrators, educators, school health 
professionals, coaches, families, and other appropriate individuals. 
The materials and resources shall include--
            ``(1) background information to increase education and 
        awareness of cardiomyopathy and other related causes of sudden 
        cardiac death among school administrators, educators, and 
        families;
            ``(2) a cardiomyopathy risk assessment worksheet for use by 
        parents, guardians, or other caregivers;
            ``(3) guidelines regarding the placement of automated 
        external defibrillators in schools and child care centers;
            ``(4) training information on automated external 
        defibrillators and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and
            ``(5) recommendations for how schools and child care 
        centers can develop and implement a cardiac emergency response 
        plan.
    ``(b) Development of Materials and Resources.--The Secretary, 
through the Director, shall develop and update as necessary and 
appropriate the materials and resources under subsection (a) and, in 
support of such effort, the Secretary is encouraged to--
            ``(1) establish an advisory panel composed of--
                    ``(A) representatives from multiple national 
                patient advocacy organizations and medical 
                professionals expert in all forms of cardiomyopathy;
                    ``(B) a representative from the Centers for Disease 
                Control and Prevention; and
                    ``(C) representatives from other relevant Federal 
                agencies; and
            ``(2) engage in a memorandum of understanding or 
        cooperative agreement with a national nonprofit advocacy 
        organization expert in all forms of cardiomyopathy.
    ``(c) Dissemination of Materials and Resources.--Not later than 30 
months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, 
through the Director, shall disseminate the materials and resources 
under subsection (a) in accordance with the following:
            ``(1) Distribution by state education agencies.--The 
        Secretary shall make available such materials and resources to 
        State educational agencies to distribute--
                    ``(A) to school administrators, educators, school 
                health professionals, coaches and parents, guardians, 
                or other caregivers, the cardiomyopathy education and 
                awareness materials and resources under subsection (a);
                    ``(B) to parents, guardians, or other caregivers, 
                the cardiomyopathy risk assessment worksheet described 
                in subsection (a)(2); and
                    ``(C) to school administrators and school health 
                professionals, the--
                            ``(i) guidelines described in subsection 
                        (a)(3);
                            ``(ii) training information described in 
                        subsection (a)(4); and
                            ``(iii) recommendations described in 
                        subsection (a)(5).
            ``(2) Dissemination to health departments and 
        professionals.--The Secretary shall make available such 
        materials and resources to State and local health departments, 
        pediatricians, hospitals, and other health professionals, such 
        as nurses and first responders.
            ``(3) Posting on website.--
                    ``(A) CDC.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary, through 
                        the Director, shall post the materials and 
                        resources developed under subsection (a) on the 
                        public Internet website of the Centers for 
                        Disease Control and Prevention.
                            ``(ii) Additional information.--The 
                        Director is encouraged to maintain on such 
                        public Internet website such additional 
                        information regarding cardiomyopathy as deemed 
                        appropriate by the Director.
                    ``(B) State education agencies.--State educational 
                agencies are encouraged to create public Internet 
                webpages dedicated to cardiomyopathy and post the 
                materials and resources developed under subsection (a) 
                on such webpages.
    ``(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report identifying the steps taken to 
increase public education and awareness of cardiomyopathy as outlined 
under this section.
    ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Cardiomyopathy.--The term `cardiomyopathy' means a 
        rare heart condition, which is a disease of the heart muscle 
        (myocardium)--
                    ``(A) the symptoms of which may vary from case to 
                case, including--
                            ``(i) in some cases, the presentation of no 
                        symptoms (asymptomatic);
                            ``(ii) in many cases, the symptoms of a 
                        progressive condition that may result in an 
                        impaired ability of the heart to pump blood, 
                        fatigue, irregular heart-beats (arrhythmia), 
                        and, potentially, sudden cardiac death or heart 
                        failure; and
                    ``(B) the recognized types of which include 
                dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive, arrhythmogenic 
                right ventricular dysplasia, and left ventricular 
                noncompaction.
            ``(2) School administrators.--The term `school 
        administrator' means a principal, director, manager, or other 
        supervisor or leader within an elementary school or secondary 
        school (as such terms are defined under section 9101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801)), State-based early education program, or child care 
        center.
            ``(3) Schools.--The term `school' means an early education 
        program, child care center, or elementary school or secondary 
        school (as such terms are so defined).
            ``(4) National nonprofit advocacy organizations expert in 
        all forms of cardiomyopathy.--The term `national nonprofit 
        advocacy organizations expert in all forms of cardiomyopathy' 
        means organizations that provide support services to families 
        or fund research, and work to increase public awareness and 
        education regarding all types of cardiomyopathy.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 
2013, $750,000 for fiscal year 2014, and $500,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2015 through 2017.''.
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