To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate health empowerment zones, and for other purposes.

Summary: Health Empowerment Zone Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), at the request of a broad-based community partnership, to designate a community that experiences disproportionate disparities in health status and health care as a health empowerment zone. Requires federal officials to give priority in awarding competitive grants to grants used in or benefiting a health empowerment zone.

Directs the Secretary to provide: (1) technical assistance (or grants) to entities seeking to form a community partnership or obtain a health empowerment zone designation for a community; and (2) grants to community partnerships for implementation of the strategic plan for a health empowerment zone.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Empowerment Zone Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Designation of health empowerment zones.
Sec. 5. Assistance to those seeking designation.
Sec. 6. Benefits of designation.
Sec. 7. Definition.
Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Numerous studies and reports, including the National 
        Healthcare Disparities Report and Unequal Treatment, the 2002 
        Institute of Medicine Report, document the extensiveness to 
        which health disparities exist across the country.
            (2) These studies have found that, on average, racial and 
        ethnic minorities are disproportionately afflicted with chronic 
        and acute conditions--such as cancer, diabetes, and 
        hypertension--and suffer worse health outcomes, worse health 
        status, and higher mortality rates than their White 
        counterparts.
            (3) Several recent studies also show that health 
        disparities are a function of not only access to health care, 
        but also the social determinants of health--including the 
        environment, the physical structure of communities, nutrition 
        and food options, educational attainment, employment, race, 
        ethnicity, geography, and language preference--that directly 
        and indirectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of 
        individuals and communities.
            (4) Integrally involving and fully supporting the 
        communities most affected by health inequities in the 
        assessment, planning, launch, and evaluation of health 
        disparity elimination efforts is among the leading 
        recommendations made to adequately address and ultimately 
        reduce health disparities.
            (5) Recommendations also include supporting the efforts of 
        community stakeholders from a broad cross section--including, 
        but not limited to local businesses, local departments of 
        commerce, education, labor, urban planning, and transportation, 
        and community-based and other nonprofit organizations--to find 
        areas of common ground around health disparity elimination and 
        collaborate to improve the overall health and wellness of a 
        community and its residents.

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HEALTH EMPOWERMENT ZONES.

    (a) In General.--At the request of an eligible community 
partnership, the Secretary may designate an eligible area as a health 
empowerment zone.
    (b) Eligibility Criteria.--
            (1) Eligible community partnership.--A community 
        partnership is eligible to submit a request under this section 
        if the partnership--
                    (A) demonstrates widespread public support from key 
                individuals and entities in the eligible area, 
                including State and local governments, nonprofit 
                organizations, and community and industry leaders, for 
                designation of the eligible area as a health 
                empowerment zone; and
                    (B) includes representatives of--
                            (i) a broad cross section of stakeholders 
                        and residents from communities in the eligible 
                        area experiencing disproportionate disparities 
                        in health status and health care; and
                            (ii) organizations, facilities, and 
                        institutions that have a history of working 
                        within and serving such communities.
            (2) Eligible area.--An area is eligible to be designated as 
        a health empowerment zone under this section if one or more 
        communities in the area experience disproportionate disparities 
        in health status and health care. In determining whether a 
        community experiences such disparities, the Secretary shall 
        consider the data collected by the Department of Health and 
        Human Services focusing on the following areas:
                    (A) Access to high-quality health services.
                    (B) Arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic back 
                conditions.
                    (C) Cancer.
                    (D) Chronic kidney disease.
                    (E) Diabetes.
                    (F) Injury and violence prevention.
                    (G) Maternal, infant, and child health.
                    (H) Medical product safety.
                    (I) Mental health and mental disorders.
                    (J) Nutrition and overweight.
                    (K) Disability and secondary conditions.
                    (L) Educational and community-based health 
                programs.
                    (M) Environmental health.
                    (N) Family planning.
                    (O) Food safety.
                    (P) Health communication.
                    (Q) Health disease and stroke.
                    (R) HIV/AIDS.
                    (S) Immunization and infectious diseases.
                    (T) Occupational safety and health.
                    (U) Oral health.
                    (V) Physical activity and fitness.
                    (W) Public health infrastructure.
                    (X) Respiratory diseases.
                    (Y) Sexually transmitted diseases.
                    (Z) Substance abuse.
                    (AA) Tobacco use.
                    (BB) Vision and hearing.
    (c) Procedure.--
            (1) Request.--A request under subsection (a) shall--
                    (A) describe the bounds of the area to be 
                designated as a health empowerment zone and the process 
                used to select those bounds;
                    (B) demonstrate that the partnership submitting the 
                request is an eligible community partnership described 
                in subsection (b)(1);
                    (C) demonstrate that the area is an eligible area 
                described in subsection (b)(2);
                    (D) include a comprehensive assessment of 
                disparities in health status and health care experience 
                by one or more communities in the area;
                    (E) set forth--
                            (i) a vision and a set of values for the 
                        area; and
                            (ii) a comprehensive and holistic set of 
                        goals to be achieved in the area through 
                        designation as a health empowerment zone; and
                    (F) include a strategic plan for achieving the 
                goals described in subparagraph (E)(ii).
            (2) Approval.--Not later than 60 days after the receipt of 
        a request for designation of an area as a health empowerment 
        zone under this section, the Secretary shall approve or 
        disapprove the request.
    (d) Minimum Number.--The Secretary--
            (1) shall designate not more than 110 health empowerment 
        zones under this section; and
            (2) shall designate at least one health empowerment zone in 
        each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and each 
        territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO THOSE SEEKING DESIGNATION.

    At the request of any organization or entity seeking to submit a 
request under section 4(a), the Secretary shall provide technical 
assistance, and may award a grant, to assist such organization or 
entity--
            (1) to form an eligible community partnership described in 
        subsection (b)(1);
            (2) to complete a health assessment, including an 
        assessment of health disparities under subsection (c)(1)(D); or
            (3) to prepare and submit a request, including a strategic 
        plan, in accordance with section 4.

SEC. 6. BENEFITS OF DESIGNATION.

    (a) Priority.--In awarding any competitive grant, a Federal 
official shall give priority to any applicant that--
            (1) meets the eligibility criteria for the grant;
            (2) proposes to use the grant for activities in a health 
        empowerment zone; and
            (3) demonstrates that such activities will directly and 
        significantly further the goals of the strategic plan approved 
        for such zone under section 4.
    (b) Grants for Initial Implementation of Strategic Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Upon designating an eligible area as a 
        health empowerment zone at the request of an eligible community 
        partnership, the Secretary shall, subject to the availability 
        of appropriations, make a grant to the community partnership 
        for implementation of the strategic plan for such zone.
            (2) Grant period.--A grant under paragraph (1) for a health 
        empowerment zone shall be for a period of 2 years and may be 
        renewed, except that the total period of grants under paragraph 
        (1) for such zone may not exceed 10 years.
            (3) Limitation.--In awarding grants under this subsection, 
        the Secretary shall not give less priority to an applicant or 
        reduce the amount of a grant because the Secretary rendered 
        technical assistance or made a grant to the same applicant 
        under section 5.
            (4) Reporting.--The Secretary shall require each recipient 
        of a grant under this subsection to report to the Secretary not 
        less than every 6 months on the progress in implementing the 
        strategic plan for the health empowerment zone.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health 
Resources and Services Administration and the Director of the Office of 
Minority Health, and in cooperation with the Director of the Office of 
Community Services and the Director of the National Center for Minority 
Health and Health Disparities.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.