II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2538 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the program 

for viral hepatitis surveillance, education, and testing in order to prevent 

deaths from chronic liver disease and liver cancer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Mr. KIRK (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) 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 revise and extend 

the program for viral hepatitis surveillance, education, 

and testing in order to prevent deaths from chronic 

liver disease and liver cancer, 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 ‘‘Viral Hepatitis Testing 

5 Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REVISION AND EXTENSION OF HEPATITIS SURVEIL2 LANCE, EDUCATION, AND TESTING PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 317N of the Public 

4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–15) is amended— 

5 (1) by amending the section heading to read as 

6 follows: ‘‘SURVEILLANCE, EDUCATION, TESTING, 

7 AND LINKAGE TO CARE REGARDING HEPATITIS

8 VIRUS’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

10 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

11 (3) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in accord14 ance with this section, carry out surveillance, education, 

15 and testing programs with respect to hepatitis B and hep16 atitis C virus infections (referred to in this section as 

17 ‘HBV’ and ‘HCV’, respectively). The Secretary may carry 

18 out such programs directly and through grants to public 

19 and nonprofit private entities, including States, political 

20 subdivisions of States, territories, Indian tribes, and pub21 lic-private partnerships. 

22 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL SYSTEM.—In carrying out subsection 

23 (a), the Secretary shall, in consultation with States and 

24 other public or nonprofit private entities and public-pri25 vate partnerships described in subsection (d), establish a 


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1 national system with respect to HBV and HCV with the 

2 following goals: 

3 ‘‘(1) To determine the incidence and prevalence 

4 of such infections, including providing for the report5 ing of acute and chronic cases. 

6 ‘‘(2) With respect to the population of individ7 uals who have such an infection, to carry out testing 

8 programs to increase the number of individuals who 

9 are aware of their infection to 50 percent by Decem10 ber 31, 2014, and to 75 percent by December 31, 

11 2016. 

12 ‘‘(3) To develop and disseminate public infor13 mation and education programs for the detection 

14 and control of such infections. 

15 ‘‘(4) To improve the education, training, and 

16 skills of health professionals in the detection, con17 trol, and care and treatment, of such infections. 

18 ‘‘(5) To provide appropriate referrals for coun19 seling and medical care and treatment of infected in20 dividuals and to ensure, to the extent practicable, 

21 the provision of appropriate follow-up services. 

22 ‘‘(c) HIGH-RISK POPULATIONS; CHRONIC CASES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deter24 mine the populations that, for purposes of this sec25 tion, are considered at high-risk for HBV or HCV. 


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1 The Secretary shall include the following among 

2 those considered at high-risk: 

3 ‘‘(A) For HBV, individuals born in coun4 tries in which 2 percent or more of the popu5 lation has HBV or who are a part of a high6 risk category as identified by the Centers for 

7 Disease Control and Prevention. 

8 ‘‘(B) For HCV, individuals born between 

9 1945 and 1965 or who are a part of a high-risk 

10 category as identified by the Centers for Dis11 ease Control and Prevention. 

12 ‘‘(C) Those who have been exposed to the 

13 blood of infected individuals or of high-risk in14 dividuals or who are family members of such in15 dividuals. 

16 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY IN PROGRAMS.—In providing for 

17 programs under this section, the Secretary shall give 

18 priority— 

19 ‘‘(A) to early diagnosis of chronic cases of 

20 HBV or HCV in high-risk populations under 

21 paragraph (1); and 

22 ‘‘(B) to education, and referrals for coun23 seling and medical care and treatment, for indi24 viduals diagnosed under subparagraph (A) in 

25 order to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) reduce their risk of dying from 

2 end-stage liver disease and liver cancer, 

3 and of transmitting the infection to others; 

4 ‘‘(ii) determine the appropriateness 

5 for treatment to reduce the risk of progres6 sion to cirrhosis and liver cancer; 

7 ‘‘(iii) receive ongoing medical manage8 ment, including regular monitoring of liver 

9 function and screenings for liver cancer; 

10 ‘‘(iv) receive, as appropriate, drug, al11 cohol abuse, and mental health treatment; 

12 ‘‘(v) in the case of women of child13 bearing age, receive education on how to 

14 prevent HBV perinatal infection, and to al15 leviate fears associated with pregnancy or 

16 raising a family; and 

17 ‘‘(vi) receive such other services as the 

18 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(3) CULTURAL CONTEXT.—In providing for 

20 services pursuant to paragraph (2) for individuals 

21 who are diagnosed under subparagraph (A) of such 

22 paragraph, the Secretary shall seek to ensure that 

23 the services are provided in a culturally and linguis24 tically appropriate manner. 

25 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec2 tion, and not later than 60 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of the Viral Hepatitis Testing Act of 

4 2014, the Secretary shall, in consultation with the 

5 Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the 

6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

7 Health Resources and Services Administration, the 

8 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad9 ministration, the Office of Minority Health, the In10 dian Health Service, other relevant agencies, and 

11 non-government stakeholder entities, establish and 

12 support public-private partnerships that facilitate 

13 the surveillance, education, screening, testing, and 

14 linkage to care programs authorized by this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—Public-private partnerships es16 tablished or supported under paragraph (1) shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) focus primarily on the surveillance, 

18 education, screening, testing, and linkage to 

19 care programs authorized by this section; 

20 ‘‘(B) generate resources, in addition to the 

21 funds made available pursuant to subsection 

22 (f), to carry out the surveillance, education, 

23 screening, testing, and linkage to care programs 

24 authorized in this section by leveraging Federal 

25 funding with non-Federal funding and support; 


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1 ‘‘(C) allow for investments in such pro2 grams of financial or in-kind resources by each 

3 of the partners involved in the partnership; 

4 ‘‘(D) include corporate and industry enti5 ties, academic institutions, public and non-prof6 it organizations, community and faith-based or7 ganizations, foundations, and other govern8 mental and non-governmental organizations; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(E) advance the core goals of each of the 

11 partners of the partnership as determined by 

12 the Secretary in development of the partner13 ship. 

14 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall 

15 provide to the Congress an annual report on the 

16 public-private partnerships established under this 

17 subsection. Each such report shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) the number of public-private partner19 ships established; 

20 ‘‘(B) specific and quantifiable information 

21 on the surveillance, education, screening, test22 ing, and linkage to care activities conducted as 

23 well as the outcomes achieved through each of 

24 the public-private partnerships; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the amount of Federal funding or re2 sources dedicated to the public-private partner3 ships; 

4 ‘‘(D) the amount of non-Federal funding 

5 or resources leveraged through the public-pri6 vate partnerships; and 

7 ‘‘(E) a plan for the following year that out8 lines future activities. 

9 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—No more than 25 percent of 

10 the funds made available to carry out this section 

11 may be used for public-private partnerships estab12 lished or supported under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(5) LINKAGE TO CARE.—For purposes of this 

14 section, the term ‘linkage to care’ means, with re15 spect to an individual with a diagnosis of HBV or 

16 HCV, the referral of such individual to clinical care 

17 for a thorough evaluation of their clinical status to 

18 determine the need for treatment, vaccination for 

19 HBV, or other therapy. 

20 ‘‘(e) AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND

21 QUALITY HBV AND HCV GUIDELINES.—Due to the rap22 idly evolving standard of care associated with diagnosing 

23 and treating viral hepatitis infection, the Director of the 

24 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shall convene 

25 the Preventive Services Task Force under section 915(a) 


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1 to review its recommendation for screening for HBV and 

2 HCV infection every 3 years. 

3 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any amounts 

5 otherwise authorized by this Act, there are author6 ized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 

7 ‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

8 ‘‘(B) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

9 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

10 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—Of the amounts appropriated 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Sec12 retary shall reserve not less than 80 percent for 

13 making grants under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(3) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The funds made 

15 available to carry out this section shall be derived 

16 exclusively from the funds appropriated or otherwise 

17 made available for planning and evaluation under 

18 this Act.’’. 

19 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall not be construed to require termination 

21 of any program or activity carried out by the Secretary 

22 of Health and Human Services under section 317N of the 

23 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–15) as in efVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:46 Jul 04, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2538.IS S2538

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1 fect on the day before the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

Æ 


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