[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5981

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of 
        medical services to aliens present in the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 9, 2016

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the provision of 
        medical services to aliens present in the United States.

    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 ``Mobile Medical Immigrant Health 
Improvement Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) As of 2014, there were 42,200,000 aliens present in the 
        United States, accounting for 13 percent of the total 
        population (Kaiser, January 2016).
            (2) Among the nonelderly population, nearly a quarter (23 
        percent) of aliens lawfully present in the United States and 
        four in ten (40 percent) of undocumented aliens present in the 
        United States do not have health insurance (Kaiser, January 
        2016).
            (3) Mobile medical health care services can effectively 
        reach aliens present in the United States and provide primary 
        care, screenings, dental care, medications, behavioral health 
        care, immunizations, lab tests, case management, benefits 
        assistance and assessments, and triage.
            (4) Mobile medical health care services can provide health 
        care to aliens present in the United States in urban, rural, 
        and suburban areas.
            (5) The average cost of a visit to a provider of mobile 
        medical health care services is significantly below the average 
        cost of an emergency department visit. Visiting a mobile 
        medical health care service instead of the emergency department 
        can result in a cost savings of more than $800 per visit.

SEC. 3. IMPROVING ACCESS OF ALIENS PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES TO 
              MEDICAL SERVICES.

    Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:

``SEC. 330M. PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE ACCESS OF ALIENS PRESENT IN THE 
              UNITED STATES TO MEDICAL SERVICES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may award grants, contracts, or 
cooperative agreements to eligible entities described in subsection (b) 
to enable such entities to improve access of aliens present in the 
United States to mobile medical health care services.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible for a grant, contract, or 
agreement under this section an entity shall--
            ``(1) be a partnership consisting of--
                    ``(A) one or more hospitals; and
                    ``(B) one or more other local health care 
                facilities, including clinics, health centers, primary 
                care facilities, mental health centers, pharmacies, or 
                other mobile medical assets (as such term is defined 
                for purposes of section 319C-2), whether or not such a 
                local health care facility is owned (either in whole or 
                in part) by a partnering hospital described in 
                subparagraph (A); and
            ``(2) submit to the Secretary, an application at such time, 
        in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--A grant, contract, or agreement awarded under 
this section may be expended only for activities to increase access of 
aliens present in the United States to mobile medical services, 
including primary health services (as defined in section 330(b)(1)), 
substance abuse services (as defined in section 330(h)(5)), and mental 
health counseling.
    ``(d) Limitation on Awards.--A hospital or health care facility 
shall not be eligible for a grant, contract, or agreement under this 
section with respect to more than one partnership described in 
subsection (b)(1).
    ``(e) Preference.--In awarding a grant, contract, or agreement 
under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to any 
application from a geographic area that has a comparatively high ratio 
of individuals who are aliens to individuals who are citizens or 
nationals of the United States.
    ``(f) Supplement Not Supplant Requirement.--A grant, contract, or 
agreement awarded under this section shall be expended to supplement, 
and not supplant, the expenditures of the eligible entity involved and 
the value of in-kind contributions for the delivery of services to 
aliens present in the United States.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Alien.--The term `alien' has the meaning given to 
        such term in section 101(a)(3) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3)).
            ``(2) Mobile medical health care services.--The term 
        `mobile medical health care service' means any health care 
        related service provided in a moveable vehicle or a non-
        permanent clinic.''.
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