II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1754 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a workplace wellness 

education campaign and an evaluation of employer-based wellness programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2007 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself and Mr. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a workplace wellness education campaign and an evaluation of employer-based wellness programs, 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. CDC AND EMPLOYER-BASED WELLNESS PRO4 GRAMS. 

5 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘PART R—CDC AND EMPLOYER-BASED 

2 WELLNESS PROGRAMS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399Z–1. MOTIVATING EMPLOYERS TO IMPLEMENT 

4 WORKPLACE WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) WORKPLACE WELLNESS MARKETING CAMPAIGN

6 FOR EMPLOYERS.—The Director of the Centers for Dis7 ease Control and Prevention, in coordination with relevant 

8 worksite health promotion organizations, shall conduct an 

9 educational campaign to make employers, employer 

10 groups, and other interested parties aware of the benefits 

11 of employer-based wellness programs. 

12 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYER AWARD PROGRAM.—The Director of 

13 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall de14 velop an annual awards program for employers to encour15 age the development of creative and effective solutions to 

16 help employees maintain or improve their health. The 

17 awards program shall provide that small, medium, and 

18 large employers that are public or private shall be eligible 

19 for the awards. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 399Z–2. EVALUATION OF EMPLOYER-BASED 

21 WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

22 ‘‘The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

23 Prevention shall enter into contracts with entities to— 

24 ‘‘(1) provide employers (including small, me25 dium, and large employers, as determined by the Di26 rector) with technical assistance in evaluating such 


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1 employers’ employer-based wellness programs, in2 cluding— 

3 ‘‘(A) measuring the participation of em4 ployees in such programs; and 

5 ‘‘(B) evaluating such programs as they re6 late to changes in the health status of employ7 ees, the absenteeism of employees, the produc8 tivity of employees, the rate of workplace in9 jury, and the medical costs incurred by employ10 ees; and 

11 ‘‘(2) train employers on how to evaluate such 

12 employers’ employer-based wellness programs. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 399Z–3. NATIONAL WORKSITE HEALTH POLICIES AND 

14 PROGRAMS STUDY. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

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

17 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre18 vention shall conduct a national worksite health policies 

19 and programs study to assess employer-based health poli20 cies and programs. 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—After completing each study under 

22 subsection (a), the Director of the Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention shall submit to Congress a report 

24 that includes the recommendations of the Director for the 


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1 implementation of effective employer-based health policies 

2 and programs. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399Z–4. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) BEHAVIORAL RISK FACTOR SURVEILLANCE

5 SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall expand the Behavioral 

6 Risk Factor Surveillance System to include a workforce 

7 component to enable employers, researchers, and health 

8 officials to assess employee health risks, identify emerging 

9 problems associated with general employee health, prevent 

10 disease within the employee population, and improve em11 ployer-based health programs and policies. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

14 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

15 Control and Prevention, shall award grants to enti16 ties to enable such entities to carry out research 

17 demonstration projects to study the effect of the ap18 plication of new worksite-based health interventions 

19 and models. 

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 grant under paragraph (1), an entity shall submit to 

22 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

23 manner, and containing such information as the Sec24 retary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(3) BROAD PARTICIPATION.—In awarding 

2 grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall en3 sure that demonstration projects are conducted in 

4 both the public and private sectors and in small and 

5 large employer settings. 

6 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF FINDINGS.—An entity 

7 shall submit to the Secretary a report on the results 

8 of the research conducted under the grant within 

9 such period as the Secretary may prescribe. Such re10 port shall include any guidelines or recommendations 

11 developed by the entity based on such research. 

12 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS.— 

13 The Secretary shall carry out activities to implement the 

14 guidelines or recommendations received by the Secretary 

15 under subsection (b)(4) if the Secretary determines that 

16 such guidelines of recommendations would result in im17 proved employee health through worksite-based health 

18 programs or policies.’’. 

Æ 


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