I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2328 

To establish a grant program to provide follow-up treatment for children 

identified to have a vision disorder. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2005 

Mr. FOSSELLA (for himself, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. BAKER, Mr. SHAW, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. KELLY, and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to provide follow-up treatment 

for children identified to have a vision disorder. 

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 Access to 

5 Vision Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Good vision is essential for proper physical 

2 development and educational progress in growing 

3 children. 

4 (2) Many serious ocular conditions are treatable 

5 if identified in the preschool and early school-aged 

6 years. 

7 (3) Early detection of ocular conditions provides 

8 the best opportunity for effective, inexpensive treat9 ment and can have far reaching implications for vi10 sion. 

11 (4) Widespread use of identification methods, 

12 whether vision screening programs, or comprehensive 

13 eye exams required by State law, will identify chil14 dren needing services. A child identified through vi15 sion screening should receive a comprehensive eye 

16 exam followed by subsequent treatment as needed. A 

17 child identified through a comprehensive eye exam 

18 should receive subsequent treatment as needed. All 

19 children identified as needing services should have 

20 access to subsequent treatment as needed. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMI22 NATIONS FOR CHILDREN. 

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

24 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec25 retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 
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1 Disease Control and Prevention, may make grants to 

2 States on the basis of an established review process for 

3 the purpose of— 

4 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

5 for children who have been identified by a licensed 

6 health care provider or vision screener as needing 

7 such services, with priority given to children who are 

8 under the age of 9; 

9 (2) providing for children subsequent treatment 

10 or services necessary to correct vision problems; and 

11 (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 

12 teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 

13 materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 

14 in children. 

15 (b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.— 

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

17 with appropriate professional and consumer organi18 zations including individuals with knowledge of age 

19 appropriate vision services, shall develop criteria— 

20 (A) governing the operation of the grant 

21 program; and 

22 (B) for the collection of data related to vi23 sion assessment and the utilization of followup 

24 services. 
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1 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as 

2 appropriate, coordinate the program under sub3 section (a) with the program under section 330 of 

4 the Public Health Service Act (relating to health 

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

6 Security Act (relating to the Medicaid program), the 

7 program under title XXI of such Act (relating to the 

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

9 other Federal or State program that provide services 

10 to children. 

11 (c) APPLICATION.—A grant may be made under sub12 section (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted 

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

14 made in such manner, and contains such information as 

15 the Secretary may require, including— 

16 (1) information on existing Federal, Federal17 State, or State-funded children’s vision screening 

18 programs; 

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

20 how funds will be used to complement existing State 

21 efforts; 

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

23 has received an age appropriate vision screening; 

24 and 
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1 (4) a description of how funds will be used to 

2 provide items or services only as a secondary payer 

3 to— 

4 (A) any State compensation program, 

5 under an insurance policy, or under any Fed6 eral or State health benefits program; or 

7 (B) by any entity that provides health 

8 services on a prepaid basis. 

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

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

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

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

13 thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant, the 

14 State will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the 

15 operations and activities carried out under the grant, in16 cluding— 

17 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

18 services and the status of children receiving these 

19 services as a result of the activities carried out 

20 under the grant; 

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

22 children’s vision data according to guidelines pre23 scribed by the Secretary; and 

24 (3) such other information as the Secretary 

25 may require. 
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1 (e) CERTAIN PROVISIONS REGARDING EXPENDITURE

2 OF GRANT.— 

3 (1) USES OTHER THAN COMPREHENSIVE EYE

4 EXAMINATIONS.—A grant under subsection (a) may 

5 be expended for the purposes described in para6 graphs (2) and (3) of such subsection without re7 gard to whether under paragraph (1) of such sub8 section the State involved expends the grant to pro9 vide comprehensive eye examinations. The Secretary 

10 may not disapprove an application under subsection 

11 (c), or reduce the amount of the grant, solely on the 

12 basis that the State will not expend the grant to pro13 vide such examinations. 

14 (2) LIMITATION ON GRANT EXPENDITURES.—A 

15 grant may be made under subsection (a) only if the 

16 State involved agrees that the State will not expend 

17 more than 20 percent of the grant to carry out the 

18 purpose described in paragraph (3) of such sub19 section. 

20 (f) DEFINITIONS.—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 (g) 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 2006, and 

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

7 2007 through 2009. 

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