I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2173

To establish a grant program to provide comprehensive eye examinations 

to children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2003

Mr. PASCRELL 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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Vision Im5 provement and Learning Readiness Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Eighty percent of what children learn is ac9 quired through the visual processing of information. 
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1 (2) Visual impairment is one of the 10 most 

2 common causes of disability in America. In children, 

3 visual impairment is associated with developmental 

4 delays and the need for special education, vocational, 

5 and social services. At least 20 percent of children 

6 with learning disabilities have been found to have 

7 prominent visual information processing problems. 

8 (3) It is estimated that more than 10,000,000 

9 children (from birth to age 10) suffer from vision 

10 problems, with one in 20 preschoolers and one in 

11 four school aged children affected. 

12 (4) It is estimated that only 14 percent of chil13 dren under the age of 6 receive a comprehensive eye 

14 examination. Only one-third of all children have had 

15 an eye examination or vision screening prior to en16 tering school. 

17 SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMI18 NATIONS FOR CHILDREN. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec21 retary’’ may make grants to States for the purpose of—

22 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

23 for children identified or considered at high risk of 

24 vision impairment, with priority given to school-
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1 based programs for children who are under the age 

2 of 9; 

3 (2) providing subsequent treatment or services 

4 necessary to correct vision problems; and 

5 (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 

6 teachers, health care practitioners, and the public, 

7 educational materials on recognizing signs of visual 

8 impairment in children, and the State’s vision im9 provement initiatives. 

10 (b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.—

11 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation 

12 with appropriate professional and consumer organi13 zations including individuals with knowledge of age 

14 appropriate vision services, shall develop criteria—

15 (A) governing the operation of the grant 

16 program; and 

17 (B) for the collection of data related to vi18 sion assessment and the utilization of followup 

19 services. 

20 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as 

21 appropriate, coordinate the program under sub22 section (a) with the program under section 330 of 

23 the Public Health Service Act (relating to health 

24 centers), the program under title XIX of the Social 

25 Security Act (relating to the Medicaid program), the 
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1 program under title XXI of such Act (relating to the 

2 State children’s health insurance program), and with 

3 other Federal or State program that provide services 

4 to children. 

5 (c) APPLICATION.—A grant may be made under sub6 section (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted 

7 to the Secretary and the application is in such form, is 

8 made in such manner, and contains such information as 

9 the Secretary may require, including—

10 (1) information on existing Federal, Federal11 State, or State-funded children’s vision screening 

12 programs; 

13 (2) a plan for the use of grant funds, including 

14 how funds will be used to compliment existing State 

15 efforts; 

16 (3) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child 

17 has received an age appropriate vision screening; 

18 and 

19 (4) a description of how funds will be used to 

20 provide items or services only as a secondary payer 

21 to—

22 (A) any State compensation program, 

23 under an insurance policy, or under any Fed24 eral or State health benefits program; or 
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1 (B) by any entity that provides health 

2 services on a prepaid basis. 

3 (d) EVALUATIONS.—A grant may be made under 

4 subsection (a) only if the State involved agrees that, not 

5 later than 1 year after the date on which amounts under 

6 the grant are first received by the State, and annually 

7 thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant, the 

8 State will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the 

9 operations and activities carried out under the grant, in10 cluding—

11 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

12 services and the status of children receiving these 

13 services as a result of the activities carried out 

14 under the grant; 

15 (2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of 

16 children’s vision data according to guidelines pre17 scribed by the Secretary; and 

18 (3) such other information as the Secretary 

19 may require. 

20 (e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

21 term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ includes an assess22 ment of a patient’s history, general medical observation, 

23 external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, 

24 ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro-
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1 priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed 

2 by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

4 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

5 to be appropriated $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and 

6 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

7 2005 through 2007.

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