I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 507 

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 

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: 

8 (1) Millions of children in the United States 

9 suffer from vision problems, many of which go undeVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:54 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H507.IH H507

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1 tected. Because children with vision problems can 

2 struggle developmentally, resulting in physical, emo3 tional, and social consequences, good vision is essen4 tial for proper physical development and educational 

5 progress. 

6 (2) Vision problems in children range from 

7 common conditions such as refractive errors, ambly8 opia, strabismus, ocular trauma, and infections, to 

9 rare but potentially life- or sight-threatening prob10 lems such as retinoblastoma, infantile cataracts, con11 genital glaucoma, and genetic or metabolic diseases 

12 of the eye. 

13 (3) Since many serious ocular conditions are 

14 treatable if identified in the preschool and early 

15 school-aged years, early detection provides the best 

16 opportunity for effective treatment and can have far17 reaching implications for vision. 

18 (4) Various identification methods, including vi19 sion screening and comprehensive eye examinations 

20 required by State laws, can be helpful in identifying 

21 children needing services. A child identified as need22 ing services through vision screening should receive 

23 a comprehensive eye examination followed by subse24 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 

5 of vision disorders in children and to educate the 

6 public and health care providers about the warning 

7 signs and symptoms of ocular and vision disorders 

8 and the benefits of early detection, evaluation, and 

9 treatment. 

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

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

12 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 

14 Disease Control and Prevention, may award grants to 

15 States on the basis of an established review process for 

16 the purpose of complementing existing State efforts for— 

17 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

18 by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for chil19 dren who have been previously identified through a 

20 vision screening or eye examination by a licensed 

21 health care provider or vision screener as needing 

22 such services, with priority given to children who are 

23 under the age of 9 years; 


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1 (2) providing treatment or services, subsequent 

2 to the examinations described in paragraph (1), nec3 essary to correct vision problems; and 

4 (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 

5 teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 

6 materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 

7 in children. 

8 (b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.— 

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

10 with appropriate professional and consumer organi11 zations including individuals with knowledge of age 

12 appropriate vision services, shall develop criteria— 

13 (A) governing the operation of the grant 

14 program under subsection (a); and 

15 (B) for the collection of data related to vi16 sion assessment and the utilization of follow up 

17 services. 

18 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as 

19 appropriate, coordinate the program under sub20 section (a) with the program under section 330 of 

21 the Public Health Service Act (relating to health 

22 centers) (42 U.S.C. 254b), the program under title 

23 XIX of the Social Security Act (relating to the Med24 icaid program) (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the pro25 gram under title XXI of such Act (relating to the 


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1 State children’s health insurance program) (42 

2 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), and with other Federal or 

3 State programs that provide services to children. 

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

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

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

7 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

8 including— 

9 (1) information on existing Federal, Federal10 State, or State-funded children’s vision programs; 

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

12 how funds will be used to complement existing State 

13 efforts (including possible partnerships with non14 profit entities); 

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

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

17 and 

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

19 provide items or services, only as a secondary 

20 payer— 

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

22 the child is not covered for the items or services 

23 under any State compensation program, under 

24 an insurance policy, or under any Federal or 

25 State health benefits program; or 


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

2 the child receives the items or services from an 

3 entity that provides health services on a prepaid 

4 basis. 

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

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

7 than 1 year after the date on which amounts under the 

8 grant are first received by the State, and annually there9 after while receiving amounts under the grant, the State 

10 will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the oper11 ations and activities carried out under the grant, includ12 ing— 

13 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

14 services and the status of children receiving these 

15 services as a result of the activities carried out 

16 under the grant; 

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

18 children’s vision data according to guidelines pre19 scribed by the Secretary; and 

20 (3) such other information as the Secretary 

21 may require. 

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

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

24 involved agrees that the State will not expend more than 

25 20 percent of the amount received under the grant to 


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1 carry out the purpose described in paragraph (3) of such 

2 subsection. 

3 (f) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ includes an assess5 ment of a patient’s history, general medical observation, 

6 external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, 

7 ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro8 priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed 

9 by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 

10 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

11 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

12 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 

13 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

Æ 


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