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Union Calendar No. 233 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 507 

[Report No. 110–376] 

To establish a grant program to provide vision care to children, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 

SULLIVAN, Mr. PASCRELL, and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

OCTOBER 15, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. CASTOR, Mr. STARK, 

Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. HINOJOSA, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. MACK, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. WYNN, 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. CUELLAR, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

TIBERI, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. MCCOTTER, 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. SPACE, Mr. ROSS, Mr. REYES, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. CLAY, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BRALEY of 

Iowa, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. 

CAPPS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. PERLMUTTER, 

Mr. WU, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GRAVES, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. BOUCHER, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 

ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BOREN, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. BISHOP of 

Georgia, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. 

PORTER, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. CHANVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:07 Oct 16, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H507.RH H507

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DLER, Mr. FILNER, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. KUHL

of New York, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. MILLER

of North Carolina, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WAMP, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. 

JEFFERSON, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. 

LOBIONDO, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. 

JINDAL, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HOLT, 

Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. WATERS, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MORAN of 

Kansas, Mr. HARE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. BERKLEY, 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. GILCHREST, 

Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CLYBURN, Mrs. 

JONES of Ohio, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. ISRAEL, and Mr. ANDREWS

OCTOBER 15, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 17, 2007] 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to provide vision care to 

children, 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 ‘‘Vision Care for Kids 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Millions of children in the United States suf2 fer from vision problems, many of which go unde3 tected. Because children with vision problems can 

4 struggle developmentally, resulting in physical, emo5 tional, and social consequences, good vision is essen6 tial for proper physical development and educational 

7 progress. 

8 (2) Vision problems in children range from com9 mon conditions such as refractive errors, amblyopia, 

10 strabismus, ocular trauma, and infections, to rare but 

11 potentially life- or sight-threatening problems such as 

12 retinoblastoma, infantile cataracts, congenital glau13 coma, and genetic or metabolic diseases of the eye. 

14 (3) Since many serious ocular conditions are 

15 treatable if identified in the preschool and early 

16 school-age years, early detection provides the best op17 portunity for effective treatment and can have far18 reaching implications for vision. 

19 (4) Various identification methods, including vi20 sion screening and comprehensive eye examinations 

21 required by State laws, can be helpful in identifying 

22 children needing services. A child identified as need23 ing services through vision screening should receive a 

24 comprehensive eye examination followed by subse25 quent treatment as needed. Any child identified as 


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1 needing services should have access to subsequent 

2 treatment as needed. 

3 (5) There is a need to increase public awareness 

4 about the prevalence and devastating consequences of 

5 vision disorders in children and to educate the public 

6 and health care providers about the warning signs 

7 and symptoms of ocular and vision disorders and the 

8 benefits of early detection, evaluation, and treatment. 

9 SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHILDREN. 

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

11 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec12 retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis13 ease Control and Prevention, may award grants to States 

14 on the basis of an established review process for the purpose 

15 of complementing existing State efforts for— 

16 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

17 by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for chil18 dren who have been previously identified through a 

19 vision screening or eye examination by a licensed 

20 health care provider or vision screener as needing 

21 such services, with priority given to children who are 

22 under the age of 9 years; 

23 (2) providing treatment or services, subsequent to 

24 the examinations described in paragraph (1), nec25 essary to correct vision problems; and 


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1 (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 

2 teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 

3 materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 

4 in children. 

5 (b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.— 

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

7 with appropriate professional and patient organiza8 tions including individuals with knowledge of age ap9 propriate vision services, shall develop criteria— 

10 (A) governing the operation of the grant 

11 program under subsection (a); and 

12 (B) for the collection of data related to vi13 sion assessment and the utilization of follow-up 

14 services. 

15 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as ap16 propriate, coordinate the program under subsection 

17 (a) with the program under section 330 of the Public 

18 Health Service Act (relating to health centers) (42 

19 U.S.C. 254b), the program under title XIX of the So20 cial Security Act (relating to the Medicaid program) 

21 (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the program under title XXI 

22 of such Act (relating to the State children’s health in23 surance program) (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), and 

24 with other Federal or State programs that provide 

25 services to children. 


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1 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Secretary 

3 an application in such form, made in such manner, and 

4 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

5 including— 

6 (1) information on existing Federal, Federal7 State, or State-funded children’s vision programs; 

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

9 how funds will be used to complement existing State 

10 efforts (including possible partnerships with non-prof11 it entities); 

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

13 has been identified as provided for in subsection (a); 

14 and 

15 (4) a description of how funds will be used to 

16 provide items or services, only as a secondary 

17 payer— 

18 (A) for an eligible child, to the extent that 

19 the child is not covered for the items or services 

20 under any State compensation program, under 

21 an insurance policy, or under any Federal or 

22 State health benefits program; or 

23 (B) for an eligible child, to the extent that 

24 the child receives the items or services from an 


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1 entity that provides health services on a prepaid 

2 basis. 

3 (d) EVALUATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

4 under subsection (a), a State shall agree that, not later than 

5 1 year after the date on which amounts under the grant 

6 are first received by the State, and annually thereafter 

7 while receiving amounts under the grant, the State will sub8 mit to the Secretary an evaluation of the operations and 

9 activities carried out under the grant, including— 

10 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

11 services and the status of children receiving these serv12 ices as a result of the activities carried out under the 

13 grant; 

14 (2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of chil15 dren’s vision data according to guidelines prescribed 

16 by the Secretary; and 

17 (3) such other information as the Secretary may 

18 require. 

19 (e) LIMITATIONS IN EXPENDITURE OF GRANT.—A 

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

21 involved agrees that the State will not expend more than 

22 20 percent of the amount received under the grant to carry 

23 out the purpose described in paragraph (3) of such sub24 section. 

25 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the costs of the 

2 activities to be carried out with a grant under sub3 section (a), a condition for the receipt of the grant is 

4 that the State involved agrees to make available (di5 rectly or through donations from public or private en6 tities) non-Federal contributions toward such costs in 

7 an amount that is not less than 25 percent of such 

8 costs. 

9 (2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT CONTRIB10 UTED.—Non-Federal contributions required in para11 graph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 

12 including plant, equipment, or services. Amounts pro13 vided by the Federal Government, or services assisted 

14 or subsidized to any significant extent by the Federal 

15 Government, may not be included in determining the 

16 amount of such non-Federal contributions. 

17 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

18 term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ includes an assess19 ment of a patient’s history, general medical observation, ex20 ternal and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, oc21 ular alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro22 priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed by 

23 an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 

24 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

25 purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized to 


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1 be appropriated $65,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

2 2009 through 2013. 


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Union Calendar No. 233 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 507 

[Report No. 110

–376] 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to provide vision care 

to children, and for other purposes. 

OCTOBER 15, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


bajohnson on PROD1PC71 with BILLS