I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4534 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the public health system 

in tribal communities and increase the number of American Indians 

and Alaska Natives pursuing health careers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Mr. RUIZ (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the 

public health system in tribal communities and increase 

the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives 

pursuing health careers, 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 ‘‘Native Health and 

5 Wellness Act of 2019’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4534 IH

1 SEC. 2. TRIBAL HEALTH BLOCK GRANT. 

2 Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended 

3 by inserting after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 247b–22) the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 317U. TRIBAL HEALTH BLOCK GRANT. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent and in the 

7 amounts made available in advance by appropriations, the 

8 Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 

9 Disease Control and Prevention, shall award a grant, in 

10 an amount determined pursuant to the formula developed 

11 under subsection (e), to each eligible Indian tribe or tribal 

12 organization for the purposes of promoting health, pre13 venting disease, and reducing health disparities among 

14 American Indians and Alaska Natives. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

16 this section, including the development of the formula re17 quired by subsection (e), in consultation with eligible In18 dian tribes and tribal organizations. 

19 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 

20 this section for a fiscal year, an Indian tribe or tribal orga21 nization shall submit to the Secretary a plan at such time, 

22 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

23 Secretary may require. 

24 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Each grantee under this sec25 tion shall use the grant funds— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4534 IH

1 ‘‘(1) to establish or support preventive health 

2 service programs that facilitate the achievement of 

3 health-status goals; 

4 ‘‘(2) to establish or support public health serv5 ices that reduce the prevalence of chronic disease 

6 among American Indians and Alaska Natives; or 

7 ‘‘(3) to strengthen public health infrastructure 

8 to facilitate the surveillance and response to infec9 tious disease and foodborne illness outbreaks. 

10 ‘‘(e) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall develop a for11 mula to be used in allocating the total amount of funds 

12 made available to carry out this section for a fiscal year 

13 among the eligible Indian tribes and tribal organizations. 

14 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—Each grantee under this section 

15 shall submit reports at such time, in such manner, and 

16 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

17 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘In18 dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the meanings 

19 given to such terms in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 

20 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

21 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

22 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro23 priated $56,700,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

24 2024.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4534 IH

1 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO RECRUIT AND MENTOR AMER2 ICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH 

3 AND YOUNG ADULTS. 

4 Subpart 3 of part E of title VII of the Public Health 

5 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295f et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 779. RECRUITMENT AND MENTORING OF AMERICAN 

8 INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE YOUTH AND 

9 YOUNG ADULTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 

11 to Indian tribes and tribal organizations for the purpose 

12 of recruiting and mentoring American Indian and Alaska 

13 Native youth and young adults in health professions. 

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An Indian tribe or tribal orga15 nization receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall use 

16 the grant funds— 

17 ‘‘(1) to expose American Indian and Alaska Na18 tive adolescent youth or young adults to health pro19 fessions; 

20 ‘‘(2) to promote science education; 

21 ‘‘(3) to establish mentoring relationships be22 tween— 

23 ‘‘(A) American Indian and Alaska Native 

24 youth or young adults; and 

25 ‘‘(B) health professionals; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4534 IH

1 ‘‘(4) to provide hands-on learning experiences in 

2 a health care setting; 

3 ‘‘(5) to establish partnerships with institutions 

4 of higher education (including tribal colleges), local 

5 educational agencies, and other community-based en6 tities to develop a larger and more competitive appli7 cant pool for health professional careers; or 

8 ‘‘(6) to provide counseling, mentoring, and 

9 other services designed to assist American Indian 

10 and Alaska Native youth or young adults in the pur11 suit of higher education with respect to health pro12 fessions. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) HEALTH PROFESSION.—The term ‘health 

15 profession’ has the meaning given to the term 

16 ‘Health profession’ in section 4 of the Indian Health 

17 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

18 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

19 has the meaning given to such term in section 4 of 

20 the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 

21 1603). 

22 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

23 organization’ has the meaning given such term in 

24 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu25 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4534 IH

1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

2 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

4 2024.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS