Children's Access to Vision Act of 2003

Children's Access to Vision Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to make grants to States for: (1) comprehensive eye examinations for children needing such services, with priority for children under nine years old; (2) subsequent vision treatment or services; and (3) educational materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment in children.

Directs the Secretary to coordinate the grant program with appropriate Federal and State child services programs. Requires an annual State program evaluation.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3602 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3602

To establish a grant program to provide comprehensive eye examinations 
                  to children, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2003

  Mr. Fossella (for himself and Mrs. Kelly) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to provide comprehensive eye examinations 
                  to children, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Children's Access to Vision Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Good vision is essential for proper physical 
        development and educational progress in growing children.
            (2) Many serious ocular conditions are treatable if 
        identified in the preschool and early school-aged years.
            (3) Early detection of ocular conditions provides the best 
        opportunity for effective, inexpensive treatment and can have 
        far reaching implications for vision.
            (4) Vision screening programs will identify children 
        needing comprehensive eye examinations, and these children 
        should have access to these eye examinations, as well as to 
        subsequent treatment or services necessary to correct vision 
        problems.

SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMINATIONS FOR CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may make 
grants to States on the basis of an established review process for the 
purpose of--
            (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations for children 
        who have been identified by a licensed health care provider or 
        certified vision screener as needing such services, with 
        priority given to children who are under the age of 9;
            (2) providing subsequent treatment or services necessary to 
        correct vision problems; and
            (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, teachers, and 
        health care practitioners, educational materials on recognizing 
        signs of visual impairment in children.
    (b) Criteria and Coordination.--
            (1) Criteria.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        appropriate professional and consumer organizations including 
        individuals with knowledge of age appropriate vision services, 
        shall develop criteria--
                    (A) governing the operation of the grant program; 
                and
                    (B) for the collection of data related to vision 
                assessment and the utilization of followup services.
            (2) Coordination.--The Secretary shall, as appropriate, 
        coordinate the program under subsection (a) with the program 
        under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (relating to 
        health centers), the program under title XIX of the Social 
        Security Act (relating to the Medicaid program), the program 
        under title XXI of such Act (relating to the State children's 
        health insurance program), and with other Federal or State 
        program that provide services to children.
    (c) Application.--A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if 
an application for the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the 
application is in such form, is made in such manner, and contains such 
information as the Secretary may require, including--
            (1) information on existing Federal, Federal-State, or 
        State-funded children's vision screening programs;
            (2) a plan for the use of grant funds, including how funds 
        will be used to complement existing State efforts;
            (3) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child has 
        received an age appropriate vision screening; and
            (4) a description of how funds will be used to provide 
        items or services only as a secondary payer to--
                    (A) any State compensation program, under an 
                insurance policy, or under any Federal or State health 
                benefits program; or
                    (B) by any entity that provides health services on 
                a prepaid basis.
    (d) Evaluations.--A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if 
the State involved agrees that, not later than 1 year after the date on 
which amounts under the grant are first received by the State, and 
annually thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant, the State 
will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the operations and 
activities carried out under the grant, including--
            (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision services and 
        the status of children receiving these services as a result of 
        the activities carried out under the grant;
            (2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of children's 
        vision data according to guidelines prescribed by the 
        Secretary; and
            (3) such other information as the Secretary may require.
    (e) Limitation on Grant Expenditures.--A grant may be made under 
subsection (a) only if the State involved agrees that the State will 
not expend more than 20 percent of the grant to carry out the purpose 
described in paragraph (3) of such subsection.
    (f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``comprehensive eye examination'' includes an 
        assessment of a patient's history, general medical observation, 
        external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, ocular 
        alignment and motility, refraction, and as appropriate, 
        binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed by an 
        optometrist or an ophthalmologist.
            (2) The term ``subsequent treatment or services necessary 
        to correct vision problems'' does not include vision training 
        or vision therapy services.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $75,000,000 
for fiscal year 2004, and such sums as may be necessary for each of 
fiscal years 2005 through 2007.
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