I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 825

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Institute

on Minority Health.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1993

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois 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 a

National Institute on Minority 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 ‘‘National Institute on

5 Minority Health Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

(1) heart disease and strokes lead to about 21 8 ⁄2

9 times as many deaths among Black Americans (be-
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1 tween the ages of 25 and 44) as among White

2 Americans;

3 (2) diabetes is twice as prevalent among

4 Mexican- and Puerto Rican-Americans as among

5 White Americans;

6 (3) Black and Hispanic women account for 73

7 percent of the reported cases of AIDS among Amer8 ican women, and the death rate from AIDS is 9

9 times higher among Black women than among White

10 women;

11 (4) between 1983 and 1985, when the infant

12 mortality rate among Whites was 9.0 deaths per

13 1,000 live births, the infant mortality rate among

14 Blacks was 18.7 and 13.9 among Native Americans,

15 with similar disparities among rates of low16 birthweight babies;

17 (5) in 1988, when the rates of death resulting

18 from homicides was 8 per 100,000 among young

19 (ages 15 to 24) White males, the rate among young

20 Black males was 59 per 100,000, and the rates for

21 young Hispanic and Native American males was

22 roughly 2 to 3 times that of young White males;

23 (6) biomedical research, including clinical trials

24 for pharmaceuticals, often has failed to include mi25 norities in the population being studied or tested,
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1 even when it is certain that minorities will be among

2 the population subject to the medical condition or

3 receiving the treatment or pharmaceutical that is

4 being studied or tested;

5 (7) the percentages of medical professionals, es6 pecially physicians, who are minorities are signifi7 cantly lower than their representation in the general

8 population; and

9 (8) the ratio of physicians to inhabitants of

10 neighborhoods that are heavily populated by minori11 ties (or low-income residents) is often much lower

12 than the ratio of physicians to inhabitants of pre13 dominantly White neighborhoods.

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON MI15 NORITY HEALTH.

16 Part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.), as amended by section 124 of

18 Public Law 102–321 (106 Stat. 364), is amended by add19 ing at the end the following subpart:

20 ‘‘Subpart 17—National Institute on Minority Health

21 ‘‘PURPOSE OF INSTITUTE

22 ‘‘SEC. 464V. (a) The general purpose of the National

23 Institute on Minority Health is the conduct and support

24 of research, training, the dissemination of health informa25 tion, and other programs with respect to minority health
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1 conditions, including the advancement of opportunities for

2 and recruitment of minorities for training and placement

3 as health professionals.

4 ‘‘(b) For purposes of this subpart:

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘health care system’ means the

6 system in the United States for the delivery of

7 health care.

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘minorities’ means members of

9 minority groups.

10 ‘‘(3) The term ‘minority health conditions’

11 means all diseases, disorders, and conditions (includ12 ing conditions regarding mental health)—

13 ‘‘(A) unique to, more serious in, or more

14 prevalent in minorities;

15 ‘‘(B) for which the factors of medical risk

16 or types of medical intervention are different

17 for minorities, or for which it is unknown

18 whether such factors or types are different for

19 minorities; or

20 ‘‘(C) with respect to which there has been

21 insufficient clinical research involving minorities

22 as subjects, or insufficient clinical data on mi23 norities.

24 ‘‘(4) The term ‘research on minority health’

25 means research on minority health conditions.
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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘Institute’ means the National

2 Institute on Minority Health.

3 ‘‘CERTAIN AUTHORITIES

4 ‘‘SEC. 464W. (a) In carrying out section 464V, the

5 Director of the Institute shall—

6 ‘‘(1) recommend an agenda for conducting and

7 supporting research on minority health;

8 ‘‘(2) identify projects of research on minority

9 health that should be conducted or supported by the

10 national research institutes;

11 ‘‘(3) identify multidisciplinary research relating

12 to research on minority health that should be so con13 ducted or supported;

14 ‘‘(4) promote coordination and collaboration

15 among entities conducting research identified under

16 paragraph (2) or (3);

17 ‘‘(5) encourage the conduct of research identi18 fied under paragraph (2) or (3) by entities receiving

19 funds from the national research institutes;

20 ‘‘(6) ensure that minorities are appropriately

21 represented as subjects in projects of clinical re22 search conducted or supported by the national re23 search institutes and, as appropriate, encourage

24 similar representation in research conducted under

25 other circumstances; and
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1 ‘‘(7) promote the sufficient allocation of the re2 sources of the national research institutes for con3 ducting and supporting such research.

4 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute shall monitor

5 the health care system for the purpose of determining the

6 effects of the system on the health of minorities, including

7 the extent to which minorities have access to health care.

8 In monitoring the system, the Director shall determine,

9 with respect to such purpose, the effects of the policies

10 and practices of entities that provide health benefits plans.

11 ‘‘(2) With respect to Federal proposals for reforming

12 the health care system, the Director of the Institute shall,

13 in carrying out paragraph (1), monitor such proposals for

14 the purpose of determining whether the proposals ade15 quately provide for the health of minorities.

16 ‘‘(c)(1) The Director of the Institute shall serve as

17 an advocate regarding the health of minorities. The Direc18 tor may in so serving carry out advocacy activities regard19 ing the Federal Government, State and local governments,

20 and private entities, including public and private edu21 cational entities.

22 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director of

23 the Institute shall determine the health benefits for mi24 norities that should, at a minimum, be provided for in any

25 reform of the health care system.
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1 ‘‘(d) The Director of the Institute shall encourage the

2 creation of opportunities for the training of minorities as

3 health professionals and shall facilitate the placement of

4 minorities trained as health professionals into appropriate

5 positions.’’.

6 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

7 Section 401(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act

8 (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1)), as amended by section 121 of Pub9 lic Law 102–321 (106 Stat. 358), is amended by adding

10 at the end the following subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(Q) The National Institute on Minority

12 Health.’’.

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