II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2749

To establish a grant program to provide comprehensive eye examinations 

to children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. SARBANES 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 comprehensive eye 

examinations 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 ‘‘Children’s Access to 

5 Vision Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Good vision is essential for proper physical 

9 development and educational progress in growing 

10 children. 
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1 (2) Many serious ocular conditions are treatable 

2 if identified in the preschool and early school-aged 

3 years. 

4 (3) Early detection of ocular conditions provides 

5 the best opportunity for effective, inexpensive treat6 ment and can have far reaching implications for vi7 sion. 

8 (4) Vision screening programs will identify chil9 dren needing comprehensive eye examinations, and 

10 these children should have access to these eye exami11 nations, as well as to subsequent treatment or serv12 ices necessary to correct vision problems. 

13 SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAMI14 NATIONS FOR CHILDREN. 

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

16 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 

18 Disease Control and Prevention, may make grants to 

19 States on the basis of an established review process for 

20 the purpose of—

21 (1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 

22 for children who have been identified by a licensed 

23 health care provider or certified vision screener as 

24 needing such services, with priority given to children 

25 who are under the age of 9; 
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1 (2) providing subsequent treatment or services 

2 necessary to correct vision problems; and 

3 (3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 

4 teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 

5 materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 

6 in children. 

7 (b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.—

8 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation 

9 with appropriate professional and consumer organi10 zations including individuals with knowledge of age 

11 appropriate vision services, shall develop criteria—

12 (A) governing the operation of the grant 

13 program; and 

14 (B) for the collection of data related to vi15 sion assessment and the utilization of followup 

16 services. 

17 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as 

18 appropriate, coordinate the program under sub19 section (a) with the program under section 330 of 

20 the Public Health Service Act ((42 U.S.C. 254b) re21 lating to health centers), the program under title 

22 XIX of the Social Security Act ((42 U.S.C. 1396 et 

23 seq.) relating to the Medicaid program), the pro24 gram under title XXI of such Act ((42 U.S.C. 

25 1397aa et seq.) relating to the State children’s 
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1 health insurance program), and with other Federal 

2 or State program that provide services to children. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.—A grant may be made under sub4 section (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted 

5 to the Secretary and the application is in such form, is 

6 made in such manner, and contains such information as 

7 the Secretary may require, including—

8 (1) information on existing Federal, Federal9 State, or State-funded children’s vision screening 

10 programs; 

11 (2) a plan for the use of grant funds, including 

12 how funds will be used to complement existing State 

13 efforts; 

14 (3) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child 

15 has received an age appropriate vision screening; 

16 and 

17 (4) a description of how funds will be used to 

18 provide items or services only as a secondary payer 

19 to—

20 (A) any State compensation program, 

21 under an insurance policy, or under any Fed22 eral or State health benefits program; or 

23 (B) by any entity that provides health 

24 services on a prepaid basis. 
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1 (d) EVALUATIONS.—A grant may be made under 

2 subsection (a) only if the State involved agrees that, not 

3 later than 1 year after the date on which amounts under 

4 the grant are first received by the State, and annually 

5 thereafter while receiving amounts under the grant, the 

6 State will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the 

7 operations and activities carried out under the grant, in8 cluding—

9 (1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 

10 services and the status of children receiving these 

11 services as a result of the activities carried out 

12 under the grant; 

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

14 children’s vision data according to guidelines pre15 scribed by the Secretary; and 

16 (3) such other information as the Secretary 

17 may require. 

18 (e) LIMITATION ON GRANT EXPENDITURES.—A 

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

20 involved agrees that the State will not expend more than 

21 20 percent of the grant to carry out the purpose described 

22 in paragraph (3) of such subsection. 

23 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ 

25 includes an assessment of a patient’s history, gen-
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1 eral medical observation, external and 

2 ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, ocular 

3 alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro4 priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, per5 formed by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘subsequent treatment or services 

7 necessary to correct vision problems’’ does not in8 clude vision training or vision therapy services. 

9 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

10 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

11 to be appropriated $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and 

12 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

13 2005 through 2007.

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