Asthma Care and Prevention in Rural Communities Act of 2019

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4548 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4548

   To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
 Prevention to award grants to eligible counties for the use of mobile 
 clinics and distance learning and telemedicine to diagnose and treat 
     children with asthma in rural areas and medically underserved 
                  communities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2019

    Mr. Vargas (for himself, Mr. Engel, and Mr. Cox of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
 Prevention to award grants to eligible counties for the use of mobile 
 clinics and distance learning and telemedicine to diagnose and treat 
     children with asthma in rural areas and medically underserved 
                  communities, 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 ``Asthma Care and Prevention in Rural 
Communities Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Asthma has a high morbidity and can even lead to death 
        if not properly managed.
            (2) Nationally, over 25 million people suffer from asthma 
        according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention.
            (3) Nationally, of those who suffer from asthma, 43.6 
        percent of adults report one or more asthma attacks annually, 
        and of all children who suffer from asthma, 51.6 percent report 
        one or more asthma attacks annually.
            (4) Nationally the prevalence of asthma among children is 
        8.4 percent.
            (5) When asthma is controlled, it can lead to fewer school 
        and work days missed, hospitalizations, and emergency room 
        visits.
            (6) While asthma is often believed to be a greater problem 
        for urban centers, the burden of asthma on rural communities in 
        the United States is understudied.
            (7) Some research suggests that certain rural areas face 
        the same risk factors as cities.
            (8) Research shows that rural communities may have a harder 
        time accessing care for asthma, due to lack of transportation 
        to and the distance of residents from health care services.
            (9) Mobile asthma clinics have been proven to help 
        medically underserved communities manage this disease while 
        providing cost-saving measures.

SEC. 3. ADDRESSING THE BURDEN OF ASTHMA IN RURAL AREAS AND MEDICALLY 
              UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Grants for Mobile Clinics and Distance Learning and 
Telemedicine.--
            (1) Authorization.--The Director of the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention may award grants to eligible counties 
        for the use of mobile clinics and distance learning and 
        telemedicine--
                    (A) to diagnose and treat children with asthma in 
                rural areas, and medically underserved communities, in 
                eligible counties; and
                    (B) to educate individuals in such areas and 
                communities about asthma.
            (2) Subgrants.--An eligible county receiving a grant under 
        paragraph (1) may use the grant funds to award subgrants to 
        schools, hospitals, or other local organizations to administer 
        mobile clinics and distance learning and telemedicine in the 
        county for the purposes listed in paragraph (1).
            (3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) The term ``children'' means individuals under 
                18 years of age.
                    (B) The term ``eligible counties'' means counties 
                that each have a prevalence of asthma of 12 percent or 
                higher among children.
                    (C) The term ``medically underserved community'' 
                has the meaning given such term in section 799B of the 
                Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p).
            (4) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
        subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 
        for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.
    (b) Study.--The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention shall--
            (1) conduct a study on--
                    (A) the burden of asthma in rural areas of the 
                United States;
                    (B) risk and protective factors for asthma in such 
                areas; and
                    (C) best practices for preventing and treating 
                asthma in such areas;
            (2) ensure that data used in such study is disaggregated 
        such that no racial or ethnic subgroup is overlooked due to the 
        absence of asthma in the larger group to which that subgroup 
        belongs; and
            (3) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, complete such study and submit a report to the 
        Congress on the results of such study.
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