On April 23, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health approved, by voice vote, the Health Centers Renewal Act (H.R. 1343), the Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act (H.R. 3112), and the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act (H.R. 1553), after adopting, also by voice vote, substitute amendments by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to each bill.
Health Centers Renewal Act
Sponsored by Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), the Health Centers Renewal Act (H.R. 1343) would reauthorize the health centers program. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed its version of the bill, S. 901, on November 14 (see The Source, 11/16/07). The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on the bill on December 4 (see The Source, 12/7/07).
The measure would authorize $2.189 billion for FY2008, $2.451 billion for FY2009, $2.758 billion for FY2010, $3.116 billion for FY2011, and $3.537 for FY2012 for the program. Health centers provide cost-effective, high quality health care to poor and medically underserved people in the states, the District of Columbia, and the territories, including the working poor, the uninsured, and many high-risk and vulnerable populations. The primary and preventative health services include pap smears and mammograms.
The bill, as amended, would allow limited liability protection for physicians who volunteer at health centers. It also would authorize $25 million annually for FY2009-2011 to establish a demonstration project for integrated health systems to expand access to primary and preventative care in medically underserved areas.
Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act
The Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act of 2007 (H.R. 3112), sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would expand information and support services to patients receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the Senate version of the bill on February 27 (see The Source, 2/29/08).
H.R. 3112 would authorize $5 million each year for FY2009-2013. The substitute, by Rep. Pallone, “would broaden the scope of the bill to apply to both prenatally and postnatally diagnosed conditions.” In addition, it would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to expand the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, to enable the center to more effectively perform outreach and support services. Funds appropriated to the secretary would be used to provide grants to organizations that offer supportive services to patients and their families, to establish a resource telephone hotline and Internet website accessible to patients receiving a positive test result, and to establish a national registry, or network of local registries, of families willing to adopt newborns with Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions.
Conquer Childhood Cancer Act
Sponsored by Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 (H.R. 1553) would advance medical research on, and treatments for, pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed its version of the bill, S. 911, on November 14 (see The Source, 11/16/07).
The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act would authorize $30 million in each of FY2009-2013 to encourage and expand support for biomedical research programs within the existing National Cancer Institute-designated multi-center national infrastructure for pediatric cancer research; establish a population-based national childhood cancer database (the Children’s Cancer Research Network) to evaluate incidence trends of childhood cancers and to enable the investigations of genetic epidemiology in order to identify causes to aid in development of prevention strategies; provide informational services to patients and families affected by childhood cancer; support the development, construction, and operation of a comprehensive online public information system on childhood cancers and services available to families; and establish a fellowship program in pediatric cancer research to foster clinical and translational research career development in pediatric oncologists in the early stages of their career
