II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3846 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of electronic personal 

health records for individuals and family members enrolled in Federal 

employee health benefits plans under chapter 89 of title 5, United States 

Code, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of electronic personal health records for individuals and family 

members enrolled in Federal employee health benefits 

plans under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, 

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 ‘‘Federal Employees 

5 Electronic Personal Health Records Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS FOR 

2 FEDERAL EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFITS 

3 PLANS. 

4 (a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENT.—Section 8902 of title 

5 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(p) Each contract under this chapter shall require 

8 the carrier to provide for the establishment and mainte9 nance of electronic personal health records in accordance 

10 with section 8915.’’. 

11 (b) ELECTRONIC PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS.— 

12 Chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

13 adding after section 8914 the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 8915. Electronic personal health records 

15 ‘‘(a) In this section, the term— 

16 ‘‘(1) ‘claims data’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive record of health care 

18 services provided to an individual, including 

19 prescriptions; and 

20 ‘‘(B) contact information for providers of 

21 health care services; and 

22 ‘‘(2) ‘standard electronic format’ means a for23 mat that— 

24 ‘‘(A) uses open electronic standards; 


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1 ‘‘(B) enables health information technology 

2 to be used for the collection of clinically specific 

3 data; 

4 ‘‘(C) promotes the interoperability of 

5 health care information across health care set6 tings, including reporting under this section 

7 and to other Federal agencies; 

8 ‘‘(D) facilitates clinical decision support; 

9 ‘‘(E) is useful for diagnosis and treatment 

10 and is understandable for the individual or fam11 ily member; and 

12 ‘‘(F) is based on the Federal messaging 

13 and health vocabulary standards— 

14 ‘‘(i) developed by the Consolidated 

15 Health Informatics Initiative; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) developed and endorsed by the 

17 Office of the National Coordinator for 

18 Health Information Technology, the Amer19 ican Health Information Community, or 

20 the Secretary of Health and Human Serv21 ices. 

22 ‘‘(b)(1) Each carrier entering into a contract for a 

23 health benefits plan under section 8915 shall provide for 

24 the establishment and maintenance of electronic personal 

25 health records for each individual and family member enVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:24 Sep 08, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3846.IS S3846

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1 rolled in that health benefits plan in accordance with this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(2) In the administration of this section, the Office 

4 of Personnel Management— 

5 ‘‘(A) shall ensure that each individual and fam6 ily member is provided— 

7 ‘‘(i) timely notice of the establishment and 

8 maintenance of electronic personal health 

9 records; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to file an election at 

11 any time to— 

12 ‘‘(I) not participate in the establish13 ment or maintenance of an electronic per14 sonal health record for that individual or 

15 family member; and 

16 ‘‘(II) in the case of an electronic per17 sonal health record that is established 

18 under this section, terminate that elec19 tronic personal health record; 

20 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that each electronic personal 

21 health record shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) be based on standard electronic for23 mats; 

24 ‘‘(ii) be available for electronic access 

25 through the Internet for the use of the indiVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:24 Sep 08, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3846.IS S3846

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1 vidual or family member to whom the record 

2 applies; 

3 ‘‘(iii) enable the individual or family mem4 ber to— 

5 ‘‘(I) share any contents of the elec6 tronic personal health record through 

7 transmission in standard electronic format, 

8 fax transmission, or other additional 

9 means to providers of health care services 

10 or other persons; 

11 ‘‘(II) copy or print any contents of the 

12 electronic personal health record; and 

13 ‘‘(III) add supplementary health infor14 mation, such as information relating to— 

15 ‘‘(aa) personal, medical, and 

16 emergency contacts; 

17 ‘‘(bb) laboratory tests; 

18 ‘‘(cc) social history; 

19 ‘‘(dd) health conditions; 

20 ‘‘(ee) allergies; 

21 ‘‘(ff) dental services; 

22 ‘‘(gg) immunizations; 

23 ‘‘(hh) prescriptions; 

24 ‘‘(ii) family health history; 

25 ‘‘(jj) alternative treatments; 


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1 ‘‘(kk) appointments; and 

2 ‘‘(ll) any additional information 

3 as needed; 

4 ‘‘(iv) contain— 

5 ‘‘(I) claims data from— 

6 ‘‘(aa) providers of health care 

7 services that participate in health ben8 efits plans under this chapter; 

9 ‘‘(bb) to the extent feasible, other 

10 providers of health care services; and 

11 ‘‘(cc) to the extent feasible, other 

12 health benefits plans in which the in13 dividual or family members have par14 ticipated; 

15 ‘‘(II) clinical care, pharmaceutical, 

16 and laboratory records; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the name of the source for each 

18 item of health information; 

19 ‘‘(v) authenticate the identity of each indi20 vidual upon accessing the electronic personal 

21 health record; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) contain an audit trail to list the iden23 tity of individuals who access the electronic per24 sonal health record; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) shall ensure that the individual or family 

2 member may designate— 

3 ‘‘(i) any other individual to access and ex4 ercise control over the sharing of the electronic 

5 personal health record; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) any other individual to access the 

7 electronic personal health record in an emer8 gency; 

9 ‘‘(D) shall require each health benefits plan to 

10 comply with all privacy and security regulations pro11 mulgated under section 246(c) of the Health Insur12 ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 

13 U.S.C. 1320d–2) and other relevant laws relating to 

14 privacy and security; 

15 ‘‘(E) shall require each carrier that enters into 

16 a contract for a health benefits plan to provide for 

17 the electronic transfer of the contents of an elec18 tronic personal health record to another electronic 

19 personal health record under a different health bene20 fits plan maintained under this section or a similar 

21 record not maintained under this section if— 

22 ‘‘(i) coverage in a health benefits plan 

23 under this chapter for an individual or family 

24 member terminates; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that individual or family member 

2 elects such a transfer; 

3 ‘‘(F) shall require each carrier to provide for 

4 education, awareness, and training on electronic per5 sonal health records for individuals and family mem6 bers enrolled in health benefits plans; and 

7 ‘‘(G) may require each carrier to provide for an 

8 electronic personal health record to be made avail9 able for electronic access, other than through the 

10 Internet, for the use of the individual or family 

11 member to whom the record applies, if that indi12 vidual or family member requests such access.’’. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

14 The table of sections for chapter 89 of title 5, United 

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 8915. Electronic personal health records.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATES AND APPLICATION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub19 section (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take 

20 effect 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF ELEC22 TRONIC PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS.—The requirement 

23 for the establishment and maintenance of electronic per24 sonal health records under sections 8902(p) and 8915 of 

25 title 5, United States Code (as added by this Act), shall 


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1 apply with respect to contracts for health benefits plans 

2 under chapter 89 of that title which take effect on and 

3 after January of the earlier of— 

4 (1) the first calendar year following 2 years 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act; or 

6 (2) any calendar year determined by the Office 

7 of Personnel Management. 

Æ 


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