I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4622 

To amend the Public Health Service Act with regard to research on asthma, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2019 

Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. KING of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act with regard to 

research on asthma, 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 ‘‘Family Asthma Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con8 trol and Prevention, in 2017 more than 25,100,000 

9 people in the United States had been diagnosed with 

10 asthma, including an estimated 6,200,000 children. 


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1 (2) According to the Centers for Disease Con2 trol and Prevention, asthma usually affects racial 

3 and ethnic minorities, including African Americans, 

4 American Indians, Alaska Natives, Puerto Ricans, 

5 and people of multiple races more than non-Hispanic 

6 Whites. In 2017, Puerto Ricans and African Ameri7 cans had the highest lifetime prevalence of asthma 

8 at 20.6 and 15.2 percent, respectively. 

9 (3) According to the Centers for Disease Con10 trol and Prevention, among children, males have 

11 higher rates of asthma than females, and in adults 

12 women have higher rates of asthma than men. Indi13 viduals living below the poverty threshold also had 

14 significantly higher rates of asthma in 2017 than in15 dividuals living above the poverty threshold. 

16 (4) According to the Centers for Disease Con17 trol and Prevention, in 2017 more than 3,500 people 

18 in the United States died from asthma. The rate of 

19 mortality from asthma is higher among African 

20 Americans and women. 

21 (5) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre22 vention report that asthma accounted for approxi23 mately 180,000 hospitalizations and 1,800,000 visits 

24 to hospital emergency departments in 2016. 


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1 (6) According to the Centers for Disease Con2 trol and Prevention, the annual cost of asthma to 

3 the United States is approximately 

4 $81,900,000,000, including $3,000,000,000 in indi5 rect costs from missed days of school and work. 

6 (7) According to the Centers for Disease Con7 trol and Prevention, 5,200,000 school days and 

8 8,500,000 work days are missed annually as a result 

9 of asthma. 

10 (8) Asthma episodes can be triggered by both 

11 outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution, in12 cluding pollutants such as cigarette smoke and com13 bustion by-products. Asthma episodes can also be 

14 triggered by indoor allergens such as animal dander 

15 and outdoor allergens such as pollen and molds. 

16 (9) Public health interventions and medical care 

17 in accordance with existing guidelines have been 

18 proven effective in the treatment and management 

19 of asthma. Better asthma management could reduce 

20 the numbers of emergency department visits and 

21 hospitalizations due to asthma. Studies published in 

22 medical journals, including the Journal of Asthma 

23 and The Journal of Pediatrics, have shown that bet24 ter asthma management results in improved asthma 

25 outcomes at a lower cost. 


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1 (10) In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control 

2 and Prevention reported that less than half of people 

3 with asthma reported receiving self-management 

4 training for their asthma. More education about 

5 triggers, proper treatment, and asthma management 

6 methods is needed. 

7 (11) The alarming rise in the prevalence of 

8 asthma, its adverse effect on school attendance and 

9 productivity, and its cost for hospitalizations and 

10 emergency room visits, highlight the importance of 

11 public health interventions, including increasing 

12 awareness of asthma as a chronic illness, its symp13 toms, the role of both indoor and outdoor environ14 mental factors that exacerbate the disease, and other 

15 factors that affect its exacerbations and severity. 

16 The goals of the Federal Government and its part17 ners in the nonprofit and private sectors should in18 clude reducing the number and severity of asthma 

19 attacks, asthma’s financial burden, and the health 

20 disparities associated with asthma. 

21 (12) The high health and financial burden 

22 caused by asthma underscores the importance of ad23 herence to the National Asthma Education and Pre24 vention Guidelines of the National Heart, Lung, and 

25 Blood Institute. Increasing adherence to guidelinesVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Oct 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4622.IH H4622

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1 based care and resulting patient management prac2 tices will enhance the quality of life for patients with 

3 asthma and decrease asthma-related morbidity and 

4 mortality. 

5 SEC. 3. ASTHMA-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTERS 

6 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

7 Section 317I of the Public Health Service Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 247b–10) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 317I. ASTHMA-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTERS 

10 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

11 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION AND

12 EDUCATION TO THE PUBLIC.—The Secretary, acting 

13 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

14 and Prevention and the National Center for Environ15 mental Health, shall collaborate with State and local 

16 health departments to conduct activities, including the 

17 provision of information and education to the public re18 garding asthma including— 

19 ‘‘(1) deterring the harmful consequences of un20 controlled asthma; and 

21 ‘‘(2) disseminating health education and infor22 mation regarding prevention of asthma episodes and 

23 strategies for managing asthma. 

24 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE STRATEGIC PLANS

25 FOR ASTHMA CONTROL.—The Secretary, acting through 


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1 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre2 vention, shall collaborate with State and local health de3 partments to develop State strategic plans for asthma con4 trol incorporating public health responses to reduce the 

5 burden of asthma, particularly regarding disproportion6 ately affected populations. 

7 ‘‘(c) COMPILATION OF DATA.—The Secretary, acting 

8 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

9 and Prevention, shall, in cooperation with State and local 

10 public health officials— 

11 ‘‘(1) conduct asthma surveillance activities to 

12 collect data on the prevalence and severity of asth13 ma, the effectiveness of public health asthma inter14 ventions, and the quality of asthma management, in15 cluding— 

16 ‘‘(A) collection of data on or among people 

17 with asthma to monitor the impact on health 

18 and quality of life; 

19 ‘‘(B) surveillance of health care facilities; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) collection of data not containing indi22 vidually identifiable information from electronic 

23 health records or other electronic communica24 tions; 


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1 ‘‘(2) compile and annually publish data regard2 ing the prevalence of childhood asthma, the child 

3 mortality rate, and the number of hospital admis4 sions and emergency department visits by children 

5 associated with asthma nationally and in each State 

6 by age, sex, race, and ethnicity, as well as lifetime 

7 and current prevalence; and 

8 ‘‘(3) compile and annually publish data regard9 ing the prevalence of adult asthma, the adult mor10 tality rate, and the number of hospital admissions 

11 and emergency department visits by adults associ12 ated with asthma nationally and in each State by 

13 age, sex, race, and ethnicity, as well as lifetime and 

14 current prevalence. 

15 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION OF DATA COLLECTION.—The 

16 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven17 tion, in conjunction with State and local health depart18 ments, shall coordinate data collection activities under 

19 subsection (c)(2) so as to maximize the comparability of 

20 results. 

21 ‘‘(e) COLLABORATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention are encouraged to collabo24 rate with national, State, and local nonprofit organi25 zations to provide information and education about 


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1 asthma, and to strengthen such collaborations when 

2 possible. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.—The Division of 

4 Population Health is encouraged to expand its ac5 tivities with non-Federal partners, especially State6 level entities. 

7 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

8 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro9 priated $65,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021 

10 through 2025. 

11 ‘‘(g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, and once 2 

14 years thereafter, the Secretary shall, in consultation 

15 with patient groups, nonprofit organizations, medical 

16 societies, and other relevant governmental and non17 governmental entities, submit to Congress a report 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(A) catalogs, with respect to asthma pre20 vention, management, and surveillance— 

21 ‘‘(i) the activities of the Federal Gov22 ernment, including an assessment of the 

23 progress of the Federal Government and 

24 States, with respect to achieving the goals 

25 of the Healthy People 2030 initiative; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the activities of other entities 

2 that participate in the program under this 

3 section, including nonprofit organizations, 

4 patient advocacy groups, and medical soci5 eties; and 

6 ‘‘(B) makes recommendations for the fu7 ture direction of asthma activities, in consulta8 tion with researchers from the National Insti9 tutes of Health and other member bodies of the 

10 Asthma Disparities Subcommittee, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) a description of how the Federal 

12 Government may improve its response to 

13 asthma, including identifying any barriers 

14 that may exist; 

15 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the Federal 

16 Government may continue, expand, and 

17 improve its private-public partnerships 

18 with respect to asthma, including identi19 fying any barriers that may exist; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the identification of steps that 

21 may be taken to reduce the— 

22 ‘‘(I) morbidity, mortality, and 

23 overall prevalence of asthma; 

24 ‘‘(II) financial burden of asthma 

25 on society; 


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1 ‘‘(III) burden of asthma on dis2 proportionately affected areas, par3 ticularly those in medically under4 served populations (as defined in sec5 tion 330(b)(3)); and 

6 ‘‘(IV) burden of asthma as a 

7 chronic disease that can be worsened 

8 by environmental exposures; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the identification of programs 

10 and policies that have achieved the steps 

11 described under clause (iii), and steps that 

12 may be taken to expand such programs 

13 and policies to benefit larger populations; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(v) recommendations for future re16 search and interventions. 

17 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) CONGRESSIONAL REQUEST.—During 

19 the 5-year period following the submission of 

20 the second report under paragraph (1), the Sec21 retary shall submit updates and revisions of the 

22 report upon the request of the Congress. 

23 ‘‘(B) FIVE-YEAR REEVALUATION.—At the 

24 end of the 5-year period referred to in subpara25 graph (A), the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) evaluate the analyses and rec2 ommendations made in previous reports; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) determine whether an additional 

5 updated report is needed and if so submit 

6 such an additional updated report to the 

7 Congress, including appropriate recommen8 dations.’’. 

Æ 


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