I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2115 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of Men’s 

Health. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Mr. HILL (for himself and Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an 

Office of Men’s Health. 

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 ‘‘Men and Families 

5 Health Care Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Risks to the health and well-being of the 

9 Nation’s men (and our families) are on the rise due 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2115 IH

1 to a lack of education, awareness, and pursuit of 

2 preventative screening and care— 

3 (A) men are leading in 9 out of the top 10 

4 causes of death; 

5 (B) 1 in 2 men versus 1 in 3 women in 

6 their lifetime will be diagnosed with cancer; 

7 (C) the life expectancy gap between men 

8 and women has increased from one year in 

9 1920 to 5.2 years in 2005; and 

10 (D) studies show that women are 100 per11 cent more likely than men to visit a doctor, 

12 have regular physician check-ups, and obtain 

13 preventive screening tests for serious diseases. 

14 (2) While this health crisis is of particular con15 cern to men, it is also a concern for women regard16 ing their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers. 

17 (3) According to the Census Bureau, by the 

18 time men and women reach age 65, the ratio of men 

19 to women reduces to 85 to 100. The growing dis20 parity in this statistic suggests that among other 

21 factors, the declining health of men increases the 

22 risk of women entering retirement age as widows. 

23 (4) According to the Administration on Aging, 

24 more than half of elderly widows now living in povVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:40 Apr 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2115.IH H2115

wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2115 IH

1 erty were not poor before the death of their hus2 bands. 

3 (5) Men’s health is a concern to Federal and 

4 State governments which absorb the enormous costs 

5 of premature death and disability, including the 

6 costs of caring for dependents left behind. 

7 (6) Educating men, their families, and health 

8 care providers about the importance of early detec9 tion of male health issues (i.e. cardiovascular, men10 tal, prostate health, cancer (lung, prostate, skin, 

11 colorectal, testicular, and more), HIV/AIDS, 

12 osteoporosis, and other pertinent health issues) can 

13 result in reducing rates of mortality for male-specific 

14 diseases, as well as improve the health of the Na15 tion’s men and its overall economic well-being. 

16 (7) Of concern is the physical, mental, and 

17 emotional well-being of our military men (and 

18 women) returning from war zones and our veterans. 

19 We must pay attention to their needs and the needs 

20 of their families. 

21 (8) Recent scientific studies have shown that 

22 regular medical exams, preventive screenings, reg23 ular exercise, and healthy eating habits can help 

24 save lives. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2115 IH

1 (9) Appropriate use of tests such as prostate2 specific antigen (PSA) exams and blood pressure, 

3 blood sugar, lipid panel, and colorectal screenings in 

4 conjunction with clinical exams or self-testing, can 

5 result in the early detection of many problems and 

6 in increased survival rates. 

7 (10) Men’s health is a concern for employers 

8 who pay the costs of medical care and lose produc9 tive employees. 

10 (11) Prostate cancer is the most frequently di11 agnosed cancer in the United States among men, ac12 counting for 25 percent of all cancer cases— 

13 (A) over 185,000 men will be newly diag14 nosed with prostate cancer this year alone, and 

15 almost 29,000 will die; 

16 (B) costs associated with prostate cancer 

17 detection and treatments exceed $8 billion an18 nually and represent 8 percent of cancer and 

19 0.4 percent of all health-related expenditures in 

20 the United States; 

21 (C) prostate cancer rates increase sharply 

with age, and more than 2 22 ⁄3 of such cases are 

23 diagnosed in men age 65 and older; 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2115 IH

(D) 2 1 ⁄3 of annual prostate cancer expendi2 tures in the United States are paid for by Medi3 care; and 

4 (E) the incidence of prostate cancer and 

5 the resulting mortality rate in African-American 

6 men is twice that of all other men. 

7 (12) It is estimated that in 2008, approximately 

8 115,000 men were diagnosed with lung cancer, and 

9 almost 91,000 of the Nation’s men died from lung 

10 cancer. 

11 (13) It is estimated that in 2008, approximately 

12 54,000 men were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, 

13 and over 24,000 of the Nation’s men died from 

14 colorectal cancer. 

15 (14) Men make up over half of the diabetes pa16 tients aged 20 and over in the United States (10.9 

million men total) and nearly 1 17 ⁄3 of them do not 

18 know it— 

19 (A) whereas approximately 21,000,000 

20 Americans are living with diabetes, men are 30 

21 percent more likely to die from the disease; 

22 (B) 54 million American people have pre23 diabetes and 1.5 million new cases of diabetes 

24 were diagnosed in 2005; and 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2115 IH

1 (C) people with diagnosed diabetes have 

2 medical expenditures that are 2 to 3 times 

3 higher than patients without diabetes and the 

4 estimated cost of diabetes in 2007 was 

5 $174,000,000, including $116,000,000 in ex6 cess medical expenditures and $58,000,000 in 

7 reduced national productivity. 

8 (15) Over 8,000 men, ages 15 to 40, will be di9 agnosed this year with testicular cancer, and 380 of 

10 these men will die of this disease in 2008. A com11 mon reason for delay in treatment of this disease is 

12 a delay in seeking medical attention after discov13 ering a testicular mass. 

14 (16) Men over the past decade have shown 

15 poorer health outcomes than women across all racial 

16 and ethnic groups as well as socioeconomic status. 

17 (17) Establishing an Office of Men’s Health is 

18 needed to investigate these findings and take further 

19 actions to promote awareness of men’s health needs. 

20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF MEN’S HEALTH. 

21 Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2115 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 1711. OFFICE OF MEN’S HEALTH. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

3 within the Department of Health and Human Services an 

4 office to be known as the Office of Men’s Health. The Sec5 retary shall appoint a director as head of the office. 

6 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary, acting through the 

7 Director of the Office of Men’s Health, shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) conduct, support, coordinate, and promote 

9 programs and activities to improve the state of 

10 men’s health in the United States, including by 

11 working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

12 the Department of Defense, and the Federal Em13 ployee Health Benefits Plan; and 

14 ‘‘(2) provide for consultation among offices and 

15 agencies of the Department of Health and Human 

16 Services for the purposes of— 

17 ‘‘(A) coordinating public awareness, edu18 cation, and screening programs and activities 

19 relating to men’s health; 

20 ‘‘(B) coordinating programs and activities 

21 under title XVIII of the Social Security Act re22 lating to men’s health, including prostate can23 cer, diabetes, colorectal cancer, cholesterol, and 

24 mental health screening programs; 

25 ‘‘(C) coordinating public awareness pro26 grams and activities, including prostate cancer, 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2115 IH

1 diabetes, colorectal cancer, cholesterol, and 

2 mental health screening programs, for men 

3 identified at being at increased risk of these 

4 diseases; 

5 ‘‘(D) coordinating prostate-specific antigen 

6 (PSA), diabetes, cholesterol, and colorectal can7 cer screening programs and activities relating 

8 to men’s prostate health, cardiovascular health, 

9 and mental health in order to conduct a com10 parative effectiveness review; and 

11 ‘‘(E) establishing a clinical registries data12 base to assess and measure quality improve13 ment of programs and activities relating to 

14 men’s health. 

15 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

16 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 

17 through the Director of the Office of Men’s Health, shall 

18 submit to the Congress a report describing the activities 

19 of such Office, including findings by the Director regard20 ing men’s health.’’. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS