A bill to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to community health coalitions to assist in the development of integrated health care delivery, and for other purposes

2007·0.58 MB·English

by  United States. Congress. House

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C2-C7-13
7500S'Kurib/Bivd.
Df.ltimors. Maryjenci 21244
110thcongress H.R.3561
1stSession
Toauthorizethe SecretaryofHealthandHuman Servicestomakeg^rants
tocommunityhealthcoalitionstoassistinthedevelopmentofintegrated
healthcaredelivery,andforotherpurposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September18,2007
Mr. Gene GreenofTexas (forhimself, Mr.Wamp, Mr. Smith ofWash-
ington,andMr.Baca)introducedthefollowingbill;whichwasreferred
totheCommitteeonEnergyandCommerce
A
BILL
To authorize the Secretary^ of Health and Human Sendees
to make grants to communityhealth coalitions to assist
in the development of inte^ated health care delivery,
andforotherpurposes.
1 BeitenactedbytheSenateandHouseofRepresenta-
2 tivesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericainCongressassembled,
3 SECTION1.SHORTTITLE.
4 ThisActmaybecitedasthe"CommunityCoalitions
5 forAccessandQualityImprovementActof2007".
6 SEC.2.PURPOSE.
7 The purpose ofthis Act is to pro\dde assistance to
8 communitv health coalitions as described in section 3(b)
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1 withaclearlydefinedlocalneedtoincreaseaccesstoand
2 improvethequalityofhealthcaresei'vicesthroughacti\i-
3 tieswhich
4 (1) develop or strengthen coordination ofserv-
5 icesto allowall individuals, includingtheuninsured
6 andlow-income, toreceiveefficientandhigherqual-
7 itycare and to gain entry into and receive services
8 from a comprehensive system of medical, dental,
9 pharmaceutical,andbehavioralhealthcare;
10 (2) develop efficient and sustainable infrastruc-
11 ture for a health care delivery system characterized
12 by effective collaboration, information sharing, and
13 clinicalandfinancialcoordinationamongalltypesof
14 providersofcareinthecommunity;and
15 (3) develop or strengthen activities related to
16 pro\iding coordinated care for individuals with
17 chronicconditions.
18 SEC.3.GRANTSTOSTRENGTHENTHEEFFECTIVENESS,EF-
19 FICIENCY,ANDCOORDINATIONOFSERVICES.
20 (a) In General.—The Secretary of Health and
21 Human Services (in this Act referred to as the "Sec-
22 retary") shall award grants to assist in the development
23 ofintegratedhealthcaredelivery^systemstoservedefined
24 communitiesofindividuals
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1 (1) to improve the efficiency of and coordina-
2 tion amongtheproviders providingservices through
3 suchsystems;
4 (2) to assist local communities in developing
5 programs targeted toward preventingand managing
6 chronicdiseases;and
7 (3)toexjDandandenhancetheservicesprovided
8 throughsuchsystems.
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9 (b) Eligible Entities. Tobeeligibletoreceivea
10 grant under this section, an entity shall be an entity
11 that—
12 (1)representsabalancedconsortium
13 (A) whose principal purpose is to ensure
14 the sustainable capacity for the provision of a
15 broadrange ofcoordinated servicesforall resi-
16 dents within a community defined in the enti-
17 ty'sgrantapplicationasdescribedinparagraph
18 (2);and
19 (B) that includes at least one of each of
20 the following pro\dders that serve the commu-
21 nity (unless suchpro\iderdoesnotexistwithin
22 the community, declines or refuses to partici-
23 pate, orplacesunreasonableconditionsontheir
24 participation)
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- . 4 :
1 . (i) a Federallyqualified health center
2 (as defined in section 1861(aa) ofthe So-
3 cialSecurityAct(42U.S.C. 1395x(aa)));
4 (ii) rural health clinics and rural
5 health net^\'orks (as defined in sections
6 1861(aa) and 1820(d) ofthe Social Secu-
7 rity Act, respectively (42 U.S.C.
8 1395x(aa), 1395i-4(d)));
9 (iii) ahospitalwithalow-incomeutili-
10 zationratethatisgreaterthan25 percent
11 (as defined in section 1923(b)(3) of the
12 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-
13 4(b)(3))) or a critical access hospital (as
14 defined in section 1820(c)(2) ofthe Social
15 > SecurityAct(42U.S.C. 1395i-4(c)(2)));
16 (iv)apublichealthdepartment;and
17 (v) aninterestedpublicorprivatesec-
18 torhealthcareprovideroranorganization
19 that has traditionally served the medically
20 uninsured and low-income individuals; and
21 (2) submits to the Secretaryan application, in
22 such form and manner as the Secretary shall pre-
23 scribe,that
24 (A) clearly defines the community to be
25 served;
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• 1 (B) identifies the providers who will par-
2 ticipate in the community coalition under the
3 grant and specifies eachprovider's contribution
4 tothecareofindividualsinthecommunity;
5 (C) describes the activities that the appli-
6 cant and the community coalition propose to
7 perform under the grant to further the objec-
8 tivesofthissection;
9 (D) demonstrates that it is an established
10 coalition with ability to build on the current
11 system for serving the communityby involving
12 pro^dderswhohavetraditionallyprovided a sig-
13 nificant volume ofcare foruninsured and low-
14 incomeindividualsforthatcommunity;
15 (E) demonstrates the coalition's ability to
16 develop coordinated systems ofcare that either
17 directlypro\4de or ensure the promptprovision
18 of a broad range of high-quality, accessible
19 services,including,asappropriate,primary,sec-
20 ondary, and tertiarj'- services as well as phar-
21 macy, substance abuse, behavioral health and
22 oral health services, in a manner that ensures
23 continuityofcareinthecommunity;
24 (F) provides evidence of community in-
25 volvement,includingthebusinesscommunity,in
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1 the development, implementation, and direction
2 ofthesystemofcarethatthecoalitionproposes
3 toensure;
4 (G) demonstrates the coalition's ability to
5 ensure that participating individuals are en-
6 rolled in health care coverage programs, both
7 publicandprivate,forwhichtheindividualsare
8 eligible;
9 (H) presents a plan for leveraging other
10 sources of revenue, which may include State
11 and local sources and private grant funds, and
12 integrating current and proposed new funding
13 sources in a manner to ensure long-term sus-
14 tainabilityofthesystemofcare;
15 (I) describes a plan for evaluation of the
16 activitiescarriedoutunderthegrant, including
17 measurement ofprogress toward the goals and
18 objectivesoftheprogramandtheuseofevalua-
19 tionfindingstoimprovesystemperformance;
20 (J) demonstrates fiscal responsibility
21 through the use ofappropriate accountingpro-
22 ceduresandmanagementsystems;
23 (K) demonstratescommitmenttoservethe
24 community without regard to the ability ofan
25 individual orfamilyto paybyarrangingfor or
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1 pro\ddmg free or reduced charge care for the
2 poor;and
3 (L) includes suchotherinformation asthe
4 Secretarymayprescribe.
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5 (c)Limitations.
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6 (1) In general. ^An ehgible entity may re-
7 ceiveagrantunderthissectionfor3consecutivefis-
8 calyears andmayreceive such a grant award for 2
9 additionalyearsif
10 (A) the eligible entity submits to the Sec-
11 retaryarequestforagrantforsuch additional
12 years;
13 (B) the Secretary determines that current
14 performancejustifiesthe grantingofsuchare-
15 quest;and
16 (C) the Secretarydeterminesthatgranting
17 such request is necessary to ftirther the objec-
18 fivesdescribedinsubsection(a).
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19 (d) Priorities. Inawardinggrantsunderthissec-
20 tion,theSecretary
21 (1) mayaccordprioritytoapplicantsthatdem-
22 onstrate the greatest extent of unmet need in the
23 community for a more coordinated system of care;
24 and
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1 (2) shall accord priorityto applicants thatbest
2 promote the objectives of this section, taking into
3 considerationtheextenttowhichtheapplicant
4 (A) identifies a community whose geo-
5 graphicalareahasahighorincreasingpercent-
6 age ofindividualswho areunmsured orlow-in-
7 come;
8 (B) demonstrates that the applicant has
9 included in its community coalition providers,
10 supportsystems, andprogramsthathaveatra-
il dition ofservingindividuals andfamiliesin the
12 community who are uninsured or earn below
13 200percentoftheFederalpovertylevel;
14 (C) showsevidencethattheproposedcoali-
15 tion activities would expand utilization of pre-
16 ventiveandprimarycare servicesforuninsured
17 and underinsured individuals and families in
18 the community, including pharmaceuticals, be-
19 havioral andmentalhealthservices, oralhealth
20 services,orsubstanceabuseservices;
21 (D) proposes approaches that would im-
22 prove coordination between health care pro-
23 viders and appropriate social service providers;
24 (E) demonstrates collaboration with State
25 andlocalgovernments;
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1 (F) demonstratesthattheapphcantmakes
2 useofnon-Federalcontributionstothe^eatest
3 extentpossible;or
4 (G) demonstrates likelihood that the pro-
5 posed activities will lead to sustainable inte-
6 grated delivery system as additional efforts of
7 healthsystemsdevelopmentevolve.
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8 (e)UseofFunds.
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9 (1) Usebygrantees.
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10 (A) In general. Except as provided in
11 paragraphs (2) and (3), a grantee may use
12 amountsprovidedunderthis section onlyfor
13 (i) direct expenses associated with
14 achieving the greater integration of a
15 healthcaredeliverysystemsothatthesys-
16 tem eitherdirectlyprovides orensures the
17 provision of a broad range of culturally
18 competent services, including as appro-
19 priate primary, secondary, and tertiary
20 care and oral health, substance abuse, be-
21 havioral and mental health, and pharma-
22 ceuticalservices;and
23 (ii) directpatient care and service ex-
24 pansions to fill identified or documented
25 gaps within an integi'ated delivery system.
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1 (B) Specificuses. Thefollowingareex-
2 amplesofpurposesforwhichagranteemayuse
3 grant funds under this section, when such use
4 meets the conditions stated in subparagraph
5 (A):
6 (i) Increasesinoutreachactivitiesand
7 closinggaps in health care service, includ-
8 ing referral to specialty services and pre-
9 scription drugs and conducting ongoing
10 outreachtohealthdisparitypopulations.
11 (ii) Improvements to care manage-
12 mentanddeliver}^ofpatient-centeredcare,
13 includingpatientnavigationservices.
14 (iii) Improvements to coordination of
15 transportationtohealthcarefacilities.
16 (iv) Developmentofprovidernetworks
17 andotherinnovativemodelstoengagephy-
18 sicians in voluntaiT efforts to serve the
19 medicallyunderservedwithinacommunity.
20 (v) Recruitment, training, and com-
21 pensationofnecessarypersonnel.
22 (vi) Acquisition of technology for the
23 purpose of coordinating care and improv-
24 ing provider conununication, including im-
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