II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3354 

To award grants for the establishment of demonstration programs to enable 

States to develop volunteer healthcare programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29 (legislative day, JULY 28), 2008 

Mr. ENZI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To award grants for the establishment of demonstration programs to enable States to develop volunteer healthcare 

programs. 

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 ‘‘Volunteer Healthcare 

5 Program Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to provide grants to 

8 States to— 


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1 (1) promote access to quality health and dental 

2 care for the medically underserved and uninsured 

3 through the commitment of volunteers; and 

4 (2) encourage and enable healthcare providers 

5 to provide health services to eligible individuals by 

6 providing sovereign immunity protection for the pro7 vision of uncompensated services. 

8 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES TO ESTABLISH AND EVALUATE 

9 HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEER INDEMNITY PRO10 GRAMS. 

11 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 399R. GRANTS TO STATES TO ESTABLISH AND EVALU15 ATE HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEER INDEMNITY 

16 PROGRAMS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 

18 grant to an eligible State to enable such State to establish 

19 a demonstration program to— 

20 ‘‘(1) promote access to quality health and den21 tal care for the medically underserved and uninsured 

22 through the commitment of volunteer healthcare 

23 providers; and 

24 ‘‘(2) encourage and enable healthcare providers 

25 to provide health services to eligible individuals, and 


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1 ensure that eligible individuals have the right to re2 cover damages for medical malpractice (in accord3 ance with State law) by providing sovereign immu4 nity protection for the provision of uncompensated 

5 services. 

6 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

7 under subsection (a), a State shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) submit to the Secretary an application at 

9 such time, in such manner, and containing such in10 formation as the Secretary may require; 

11 ‘‘(2) provide assurances that the State will not 

12 permit hospitals to enroll individuals seeking care in 

13 emergency departments into the State program; and 

14 ‘‘(3) provide assurances that the State will pro15 vide matching funds in accordance with subsection 

16 (e). 

17 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use amounts 

19 received under a grant under this section to estab20 lish a demonstration program under which— 

21 ‘‘(A) the State will arrange for the provi22 sion of health and dental care to eligible indi23 viduals (as determined under subsection (d)) 

24 participating in the State program; 


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1 ‘‘(B) ensure that the health and dental 

2 care under paragraph (1) is provided by quali3 fied healthcare providers that do not receive 

4 any form of compensation or reimbursement for 

5 the provision of such care; 

6 ‘‘(C) sovereign immunity is extended to 

7 qualified healthcare providers (as defined in 

8 paragraph (2)) for the provision of care to eligi9 ble individuals under the State program under 

10 this section; 

11 ‘‘(D) the State will agree not to impose 

12 any additional limitations or restrictions on the 

13 recovery of damages for negligent acts, other 

14 than those in effect on date of the establish15 ment of the demonstration program; 

16 ‘‘(E) the State will use more than 5 per17 cent of amounts received under the grant to 

18 conduct an annual evaluation, and submit to 

19 the Secretary a report concerning such evalua20 tion, of the State program and the activities 

21 carried out under the State program. 

22 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

24 healthcare provider’ means a healthcare pro25 vider described in subparagraph (B) that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is licensed by the State to provide 

2 the care involved and is providing such 

3 care in good faith while acting within the 

4 scope of the provider’s training and prac5 tice; 

6 ‘‘(ii) is in good standing with respect 

7 to such license and not on probation; 

8 ‘‘(iii) is not, or has not been, subject 

9 to Medicare or Medicaid sanctions under 

10 title XVIII or XIX of the Social Security 

11 Act; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) is authorized by the State to 

13 provide health or dental care services 

14 under the State program under this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(B) PROVIDER DESCRIBED.—A 

17 healthcare provider described in this subpara18 graph includes— 

19 ‘‘(i) an ambulatory surgical center; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a hospital or nursing home; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a physician or physician of os22 teopathic medicine; 

23 ‘‘(iv) a physician assistant; 

24 ‘‘(v) a chiropractic practitioner; 

25 ‘‘(vi) a physical therapist; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) a registered nurse, nurse mid2 wife, licensed practical nurse, or advanced 

3 registered nurse practitioner; 

4 ‘‘(viii) a dentist or dental hygienist; 

5 ‘‘(ix) a professional association, pro6 fessional corporation, limited liability com7 pany, limited liability partnership, or other 

8 entity that provides, or has members that 

9 provide, health or dental care services; 

10 ‘‘(x) a non-profit corporation qualified 

11 as exempt from Federal income taxation 

12 under section 501(c) of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986; and 

14 ‘‘(xi) a federally funded community 

15 health center, volunteer corporation, or vol16 unteer healthcare provider that provides 

17 health or dental care services. 

18 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—Priority in awarding grants under 

19 this section shall be given the States that will provide 

20 health or dental care under the State program under this 

21 section, to individuals that— 

22 ‘‘(1) have a family income that does not exceed 

23 200 percent of the Federal poverty line (as defined 

24 in section 673(2) of the Community Health Services 

25 Block Grant Act) for a family of the size involved; 


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1 ‘‘(2) are not be covered under any health or 

2 dental insurance policy or program (as determined 

3 under applicable State law); and 

4 ‘‘(3) are determined to be eligible for care, and 

5 referred for such care, by the State department of 

6 health or other entity authorized by the State for 

7 purposes of administering the State program under 

8 this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—A State shall en10 sure that prior to the enrollment under a State program 

11 under this section, the individual involved shall be fully 

12 informed of the limitation on liability provided for under 

13 subsection (c)(1)(C) with respect to the provider involved 

14 and shall sign a waiver consenting to such care. 

15 ‘‘(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

17 award a grant to a State under this section unless 

18 the State agrees, with respect to the costs to be in19 curred by the State in carrying out activities under 

20 the grant, to make available non-Federal contribu21 tions (in cash or in kind under paragraph (2)) to22 ward such costs in an amount equal to not less than 

23 $1 for each $3 of Federal funds provided in the 

24 grant. Such contributions may be made directly or 

25 through donations from public or private entities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF NON2 FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Non-Federal contribu4 tions required in paragraph (1) may be in cash 

5 or in kind, fairly evaluated, including equipment 

6 or services (and excluding indirect or overhead 

7 costs). Amounts provided by the Federal Gov8 ernment, or services assisted or subsidized to 

9 any significant extent by the Federal Govern10 ment, may not be included in determining the 

11 amount of such non-Federal contributions. 

12 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—In 

13 making a determination of the amount of non14 Federal contributions for purposes of paragraph 

15 (1), the Secretary may include only non-Federal 

16 contributions in excess of the average amount 

17 of non-Federal contributions made by the State 

18 involved toward the purpose for which the grant 

19 was made for the 2-year period preceding the 

20 first fiscal year for which the State is applying 

21 to receive a grant under this section. 

22 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a 

24 grant under this section shall not exceed $600,000 

25 per year for not more than 5 fiscal years. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 

2 shall not award more than 15 grants under this sec3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(h) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years after the 

5 date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 

6 the Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of the activities 

7 carried out by States under this section, and submit to 

8 the appropriate committees of Congress a report con9 cerning the results of such evaluation. 

10 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

12 appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 

13 carry out this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall use 5 

15 percent of the amount appropriated under para16 graph (1) for each fiscal year to carry out evalua17 tions under subsection (h).’’. 

Æ 


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