I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2233 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate 

health empowerment zones, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2009 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 

Mr. WATT, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. 

WATSON, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. BISHOP of 

Georgia, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SCOTT

of Virginia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. 

RANGEL, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. PIERLUISI, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to designate health empowerment zones, 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 ‘‘Health Empowerment 

5 Zone Act of 2009’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 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. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Numerous studies and reports, including 

6 the National Healthcare Disparities Report and Un7 equal Treatment, the 2002 Institute of Medicine Re8 port, document the extensiveness to which health 

9 disparities exist across the country. 

10 (2) These studies have found that, on average, 

11 racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately 

12 afflicted with chronic and acute conditions—such as 

13 cancer, diabetes, and hypertension—and suffer 

14 worse health outcomes, worse health status, and 

15 higher mortality rates than their White counter16 parts. 

17 (3) Several recent studies also show that health 

18 disparities are a function of not only access to health 

19 care, but also the social determinants of health—in20 cluding the environment, the physical structure of 

21 communities, nutrition and food options, educational 

22 attainment, employment, race, ethnicity, geography, 

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1 and language preference—that directly and indi2 rectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of 

3 individuals and communities. 

4 (4) Integrally involving and fully supporting the 

5 communities most affected by health inequities in 

6 the assessment, planning, launch, and evaluation of 

7 health disparity elimination efforts is among the 

8 leading recommendations made to adequately ad9 dress and ultimately reduce health disparities. 

10 (5) Recommendations also include supporting 

11 the efforts of community stakeholders from a broad 

12 cross section—including, but not limited to local 

13 businesses, local departments of commerce, edu14 cation, labor, urban planning, and transportation, 

15 and community-based and other nonprofit organiza16 tions—to find areas of common ground around 

17 health disparity elimination and collaborate to im18 prove the overall health and wellness of a community 

19 and its residents. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HEALTH EMPOWERMENT ZONES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of an eligible com22 munity partnership, the Secretary may designate an eligi23 ble area as a health empowerment zone. 

24 (b) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.— 

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1 (1) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP.—A 

2 community partnership is eligible to submit a re3 quest under this section if the partnership— 

4 (A) demonstrates widespread public sup5 port from key individuals and entities in the eli6 gible area, including State and local govern7 ments, nonprofit organizations, and community 

8 and industry leaders, for designation of the eli9 gible area as a health empowerment zone; and 

10 (B) includes representatives of— 

11 (i) a broad cross section of stake12 holders and residents from communities in 

13 the eligible area experiencing dispropor14 tionate disparities in health status and 

15 health care; and 

16 (ii) organizations, facilities, and insti17 tutions that have a history of working 

18 within and serving such communities. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE AREA.—An area is eligible to be 

20 designated as a health empowerment zone under this 

21 section if one or more communities in the area expe22 rience disproportionate disparities in health status 

23 and health care. In determining whether a commu24 nity experiences such disparities, the Secretary shall 

25 consider the data collected by the Department of 

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1 Health and Human Services focusing on the fol2 lowing areas: 

3 (A) Access to high-quality health services. 

4 (B) Arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic 

5 back conditions. 

6 (C) Cancer. 

7 (D) Chronic kidney disease. 

8 (E) Diabetes. 

9 (F) Injury and violence prevention. 

10 (G) Maternal, infant, and child health. 

11 (H) Medical product safety. 

12 (I) Mental health and mental disorders. 

13 (J) Nutrition and overweight. 

14 (K) Disability and secondary conditions. 

15 (L) Educational and community-based 

16 health programs. 

17 (M) Environmental health. 

18 (N) Family planning. 

19 (O) Food safety. 

20 (P) Health communication. 

21 (Q) Health disease and stroke. 

22 (R) HIV/AIDS. 

23 (S) Immunization and infectious diseases. 

24 (T) Occupational safety and health. 

25 (U) Oral health. 

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1 (V) Physical activity and fitness. 

2 (W) Public health infrastructure. 

3 (X) Respiratory diseases. 

4 (Y) Sexually transmitted diseases. 

5 (Z) Substance abuse. 

6 (AA) Tobacco use. 

7 (BB) Vision and hearing. 

8 (c) PROCEDURE.— 

9 (1) REQUEST.—A request under subsection (a) 

10 shall— 

11 (A) describe the bounds of the area to be 

12 designated as a health empowerment zone and 

13 the process used to select those bounds; 

14 (B) demonstrate that the partnership sub15 mitting the request is an eligible community 

16 partnership described in subsection (b)(1); 

17 (C) demonstrate that the area is an eligible 

18 area described in subsection (b)(2); 

19 (D) include a comprehensive assessment of 

20 disparities in health status and health care ex21 perience by one or more communities in the 

22 area; 

23 (E) set forth— 

24 (i) a vision and a set of values for the 

25 area; and 

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1 (ii) a comprehensive and holistic set of 

2 goals to be achieved in the area through 

3 designation as a health empowerment zone; 

4 and 

5 (F) include a strategic plan for achieving 

6 the goals described in subparagraph (E)(ii). 

7 (2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the receipt of a request for designation of an area 

9 as a health empowerment zone under this section, 

10 the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the re11 quest. 

12 (d) MINIMUM NUMBER.—The Secretary— 

13 (1) shall designate not more than 110 health 

14 empowerment zones under this section; and 

15 (2) shall designate at least one health empower16 ment zone in each of the several States, the District 

17 of Columbia, and each territory or possession of the 

18 United States. 

19 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO THOSE SEEKING DESIGNATION. 

20 At the request of any organization or entity seeking 

21 to submit a request under section 4(a), the Secretary shall 

22 provide technical assistance, and may award a grant, to 

23 assist such organization or entity— 

24 (1) to form an eligible community partnership 

25 described in subsection (b)(1); 

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1 (2) to complete a health assessment, including 

2 an assessment of health disparities under subsection 

3 (c)(1)(D); or 

4 (3) to prepare and submit a request, including 

5 a strategic plan, in accordance with section 4. 

6 SEC. 6. BENEFITS OF DESIGNATION. 

7 (a) PRIORITY.—In awarding any competitive grant, 

8 a Federal official shall give priority to any applicant 

9 that— 

10 (1) meets the eligibility criteria for the grant; 

11 (2) proposes to use the grant for activities in a 

12 health empowerment zone; and 

13 (3) demonstrates that such activities will di14 rectly and significantly further the goals of the stra15 tegic plan approved for such zone under section 4. 

16 (b) GRANTS FOR INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF

17 STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon designating an eligible 

19 area as a health empowerment zone at the request 

20 of an eligible community partnership, the Secretary 

21 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 

22 make a grant to the community partnership for im23 plementation of the strategic plan for such zone. 

24 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant under paragraph 

25 (1) for a health empowerment zone shall be for a pemstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 riod of 2 years and may be renewed, except that the 

2 total period of grants under paragraph (1) for such 

3 zone may not exceed 10 years. 

4 (3) LIMITATION.—In awarding grants under 

5 this subsection, the Secretary shall not give less pri6 ority to an applicant or reduce the amount of a 

7 grant because the Secretary rendered technical as8 sistance or made a grant to the same applicant 

9 under section 5. 

10 (4) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall require 

11 each recipient of a grant under this subsection to re12 port to the Secretary not less than every 6 months 

13 on the progress in implementing the strategic plan 

14 for the health empowerment zone. 

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 

16 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec17 retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 

18 Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad19 ministration and the Director of the Office of Minority 

20 Health, and in cooperation with the Director of the Office 

21 of Community Services and the Director of the National 

22 Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities. 

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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

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