I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1948

To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the shortage of

medical laboratory personnel.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 2001

Mr. SHIMKUS (for himself, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr.

BROWN of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to

the shortage of medical laboratory personnel.

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 ‘‘Medical Laboratory

5 Personnel Shortage Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORA2 TORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS OF HEALTH

3 RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRA4 TION.

5 (a) NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS SCHOLAR6 SHIP AND LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS.—

7 (1) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—Section

8 338A(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42

9 U.S.C. 254l(a)(1)) is amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘practi11 tioners,’’; and

12 (B) by inserting before the semicolon the

13 following: ‘‘, and (within the meaning of section

14 799B(12)) medical technologists and medical

15 laboratory technicians’’.

16 (2) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.—Section

17 338B(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42

18 U.S.C. 254l-1(a)(1)) is amended—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘practi20 tioners,’’; and

21 (B) by inserting before the semicolon the

22 following: ‘‘, and (within the meaning of section

23 799B(12)) medical technologists and medical

24 laboratory technicians’’.

25 (b) PROGRAMS UNDER TITLE VII.—
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1 (1) ALLIED HEALTH AND OTHER DIS2 CIPLINES.—

3 (A) PREFERENCE IN MAKING AWARDS.—

4 Section 755 of the Public Health Service Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 294e)) is amended by adding at the

6 end the following subsection:

7 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE IN MAKING AWARDS.—In making

8 awards of grants and contracts under subsection (a), the

9 Secretary shall give preference to making awards to assist

10 entities in meeting the costs associated with expanding or

11 establishing programs that will increase the number of in12 dividuals trained as medical laboratory personnel.’’.

13 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—Section 757 of the Public Health Serv15 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 294g(a)) is amended by add16 ing at the end the following subsection:

17 ‘‘(d) ALLIED HEALTH AND OTHER DISCIPLINES.—

18 For the purpose of carrying out section 755, there are au19 thorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal year

20 2002, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the

21 fiscal years 2003 through 2006. Such authorization is in

22 addition to the authorizations of appropriations under

23 subsection (a) that are available for such purpose.’’.
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1 (2) OTHER TITLE VII PROGRAMS.—Section 740

2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 293d)

3 is amended—

4 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub5 section (e); and

6 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the

7 following subsection:

8 ‘‘(d) MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL.—For the

9 purpose of increasing the number of individuals trained

10 as medical laboratory personnel through making awards

11 of grants or contracts under sections 737 through 739 for

12 appropriate schools of allied health, there are authorized

13 to be appropriated, in addition to authorizations of appro14 priations under subsections (a) through (c) that are avail15 able for such purpose, the following:

16 ‘‘(1) For awards under section 737 to such

17 schools, $11,193,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such

18 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal

19 years 2003 through 2006.

20 ‘‘(2) For awards under section 738 to serve as

21 members of the faculty of such schools, $332,500 for

22 fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may be nec23 essary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through

24 2006.
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1 ‘‘(3) For awards under section 739 to such

2 schools, $8,200,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such

3 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal

4 years 2003 through 2006.’’.

5 (3) DEFINITION OF MEDICAL LABORATORY

6 PERSONNEL.—Section 799B of the Public Health

7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(12) The term ‘medical laboratory personnel’

10 means allied health professionals (as defined in

11 paragraph (5)) who are medical technologists,

12 cytotechnologists, histotechnologists, phlebotomists,

13 or medical laboratory technicians, or who are in

14 other fields that, within the meaning of section

15 353(a) (relating to the certification of clinical lab16 oratories), examine materials derived from the

17 human body for the purpose of providing informa18 tion for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of

19 any disease or impairment of, or the assessment of

20 the health of, human beings.’’.

21 SEC. 3. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORA22 TORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS OF CENTERS

23 FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.

24 (a) PREVENTIVE HEALTH MEASURES WITH RE25 SPECT TO BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER.—Title XV of
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1 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300k et seq.)

2 is amended by inserting after section 1509 the following

3 section:

4 ‘‘SEC. 1509A. SHORTAGE OF TECHNOLOGISTS FOR LABORA5 TORY ANALYSIS REGARDING SCREENING FOR

6 CERVICAL CANCER.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through

8 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services

9 Administration and in collaboration with the Director of

10 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall

11 make grants to appropriate public and nonprofit private

12 entities to provide training to increase the number of

13 cytotechnologists who are available with respect to screen14 ing women for cervical cancer.

15 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

17 for the purpose of carrying out this section, there

18 are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for

19 fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may be nec20 essary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through

21 2006.

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The authorization of appro23 priations established in paragraph (1) is not effec24 tive for a fiscal year unless the amount appropriated
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1 under section 1510(a) for the fiscal year is equal to

2 or greater than $173,928,000.’’.

3 (b) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.—

4 (1) COMBATING ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE.—

5 Section 319E of the Public Health Service Act (42

6 U.S.C. 247d–5), as added by section 102 of Public

7 Law 106–505 (114 Stat. 2315), is amended—

8 (A) in subsection (c)(3), by inserting be9 fore the period the following: ‘‘, and support

10 programs that train medical laboratory per11 sonnel (as defined in section 799B) in dis12 ciplines that recognize or identify the resistance

13 of pathogens’’; and

14 (B) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting after

15 ‘‘societies,’’ the following: ‘‘schools or programs

16 that train medical laboratory personnel (as de17 fined in section 799B),’’.

18 (2) PUBLIC HEALTH COUNTERMEASURES TO

19 BIOTERRORIST ATTACK.—Section 319F of the Pub20 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6), as added

21 by section 102 of Public Law 106–505 (114 Stat.

22 2315), is amended—

23 (A) in subsection (c)(2)—

24 (i) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘clinic,’’;

25 and
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1 (ii) by inserting before the period the

2 following: ‘‘, or a school or program that

3 trains medical laboratory personnel (as de4 fined in section 799B)’’; and

5 (B) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting be6 fore the period the following: ‘‘, and support

7 programs that train medical laboratory per8 sonnel (as defined in section 799B) in dis9 ciplines that recognize or identify a potential bi10 ological agent’’.

11 SEC. 4. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL LABORA12 TORY PERSONNEL; PROGRAMS OF NATIONAL

13 HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE.

14 Section 422(c)(3)(C) of the Public Health Service Act

15 (42 U.S.C. 285b–4(c)(3)(C)) is amended by inserting

16 after ‘‘allied health professionals’’ the following: ‘‘, with

17 emphasis given in the training of such professionals to the

18 training of medical laboratory personnel (as defined in sec19 tion 799B) in medical laboratory disciplines with respect

20 to which there are needs for increased numbers of per21 sonnel’’.

Æ