II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3771 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional authorizations 

of appropriations for the health centers program under section 330 

of such Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2006 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. DODD, Mr. BURR, 

Mr. HARKIN, Mr. BOND, Ms. MIKULSKI, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. JEFFORDS, 

Mr. TALENT, Mr. BINGAMAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CHAFEE, 

Mr. REED, Mr. SMITH, and Mrs. CLINTON) 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 additional 

authorizations of appropriations for the health centers 

program under section 330 of such Act. 

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 ‘‘Health Centers Re5 newal Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Community, migrant, public housing, and 

2 homeless health centers are vital to thousands of 

3 communities across the United States. 

4 (2) There are more than 1,000 such health cen5 ters serving over 15,000,000 people at over 3,700 

6 health delivery sites, located in all 50 States of the 

7 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto 

8 Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and other territories 

9 of the United States. 

10 (3) Health centers provide cost-effective, quality 

11 health care to poor and medically underserved people 

12 in the States, the District of Columbia, and the ter13 ritories, including the working poor, the uninsured, 

14 and many high-risk and vulnerable populations, and 

15 have done so for over 40 years. 

16 (4) Health centers provide care to 1 of every 8 

17 uninsured Americans, 1 of every 4 Americans in 

18 poverty, and 1 of every 9 rural Americans. 

19 (5) Health centers provide primary and preven20 tive care services to more than 700,000 homeless 

21 persons and more than 725,000 farm workers in the 

22 United States. 

23 (6) Health centers are community-oriented and 

24 patient-focused and tailor their services to fit the 

25 special needs and priorities of local communities, 


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1 working together with schools, businesses, churches, 

2 community organizations, foundations, and State 

3 and local governments. 

4 (7) Health centers are built through community 

5 initiative. 

6 (8) Health centers encourage citizen participa7 tion and provide jobs for 50,000 community resi8 dents. 

9 (9) Congress established the program as a 

10 unique public-private partnership, and has continued 

11 to provide direct funding to community organiza12 tions for the development and operation of health 

13 centers systems that address pressing local health 

14 needs and meet national performance standards. 

15 (10) Federal grants assist participating commu16 nities in finding partners and recruiting doctors and 

17 other health professionals. 

18 (11) Federal grants constitute, on average, 24 

19 percent of the annual budget of such health centers, 

20 with the remainder provided by State and local gov21 ernments, Medicare, Medicaid, private contributions, 

22 private insurance, and patient fees. 

23 (12) Health centers make health care respon24 sive and cost-effective through aggressive outreach, 


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1 patient education, translation, and other enabling 

2 support services. 

3 (13) Health centers help reduce health dispari4 ties, meet escalating health care needs, and provide 

5 a vital safety net in the health care delivery system 

6 of the United States. 

7 (14) Health centers increase the use of preven8 tive health services, including immunizations, pap 

9 smears, mammograms, and HBa1c tests for diabetes 

10 screenings. 

11 (15) Expert studies have demonstrated the im12 pact that these community-owned and patient-con13 trolled primary care delivery systems have achieved 

14 both in the reduction of traditional access barriers 

15 and the elimination of health disparities among their 

16 patients. 

17 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIA18 TIONS FOR HEALTH CENTERS PROGRAM OF 

19 PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT. 

20 Section 330(r) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

21 U.S.C. 254b(r)) is amended by amending paragraph (1) 

22 to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of car24 rying out this section, in addition to the amounts 

25 authorized to be appropriated under subsection (d), 


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1 there are authorized to be appropriated 

2 $1,963,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums 

3 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

4 2008 through 2011.’’. 

Æ 


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