II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1117 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 16, 2007 

Mr. BOND (for himself and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

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 unde10 tected. Because children with vision problems can 

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1 struggle developmentally, resulting in physical, emo2 tional, and social consequences, good vision is essen3 tial for proper physical development and educational 

4 progress. 

5 (2) Vision problems in children range from 

6 common conditions such as refractive errors, ambly7 opia, strabismus, ocular trauma, and infections, to 

8 rare but potentially life- or sight-threatening prob9 lems such as retinoblastoma, infantile cataracts, con10 genital glaucoma, and genetic or metabolic diseases 

11 of the eye. 

12 (3) Since many serious ocular conditions are 

13 treatable if identified in the preschool and early 

14 school-aged years, early detection provides the best 

15 opportunity for effective treatment and can have far16 reaching implications for vision. 

17 (4) Various identification methods, including vi18 sion screening and comprehensive eye examinations 

19 required by State laws, can be helpful in identifying 

20 children needing services. A child identified as need21 ing services through vision screening should receive 

22 a comprehensive eye examination followed by subse23 quent treatment as needed. Any child identified as 

24 needing services should have access to subsequent 

25 treatment as needed. 

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

2 about the prevalence and devastating consequences 

3 of vision disorders in children and to educate the 

4 public and health care providers about the warning 

5 signs and symptoms of ocular and vision disorders 

6 and the benefits of early detection, evaluation, and 

7 treatment. 

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

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

10 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec11 retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 

12 Disease Control and Prevention, may award grants to 

13 States on the basis of an established review process for 

14 the purpose of complementing existing State efforts for— 

15 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

16 by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for chil17 dren who have been previously identified through a 

18 vision screening or eye examination by a licensed 

19 health care provider or vision screener as needing 

20 such services, with priority given to children who are 

21 under the age of 9 years; 

22 (2) providing treatment or services, subsequent 

23 to the examinations described in paragraph (1), nec24 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 consumer organi8 zations including individuals with knowledge of age 

9 appropriate 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 

16 appropriate, coordinate the program under sub17 section (a) with the program under section 330 of 

18 the Public Health Service Act (relating to health 

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

20 XIX of the Social Security Act (relating to the Med21 icaid program) (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the pro22 gram under title XXI of such Act (relating to the 

23 State children’s health insurance program) (42 

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

25 State programs that provide 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 non11 profit 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 

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

6 grant are first received by the State, and annually there7 after while receiving amounts under the grant, the State 

8 will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the oper9 ations and activities carried out under the grant, includ10 ing— 

11 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

12 services and the status of children receiving these 

13 services as a result of the activities carried out 

14 under the grant; 

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

16 children’s vision data according to guidelines pre17 scribed by the Secretary; and 

18 (3) such other information as the Secretary 

19 may require. 

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

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

22 involved agrees that the State will not expend more than 

23 20 percent of the amount received under the grant to 

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

25 subsection. 

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

2 term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ includes an assess3 ment of a patient’s history, general medical observation, 

4 external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, 

5 ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro6 priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed 

7 by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 

8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

9 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

10 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 

11 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

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