I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1762

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to States for

the creation or enhancement of systems for the air transport of rural

victims of medical emergencies, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1993

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Mr. SLATTERY, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. BEREUTER, and Mr. GUNDERSON) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants

to States for the creation or enhancement of systems

for the air transport of rural victims of medical emergencies, 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 ‘‘Rural Medical Emer5 gencies Air Transport Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES REGARDING AIRCRAFT FOR

2 TRANSPORTING RURAL VICTIMS OF MEDICAL

3 EMERGENCIES.

4 Title XII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

5 300d et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof

6 the following new part:

7 ‘‘PART D—MISCELLANEOUS GRANT PROGRAMS AND

8 REQUIREMENTS

9 ‘‘SEC. 1241. GRANTS FOR SYSTEMS TO TRANSPORT RURAL

10 VICTIMS OF MEDICAL EMERGENCIES.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants

12 to States to assist such States in the creation or enhance13 ment of air medical transport systems that provide victims

14 of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treat15 ments for the injuries or other conditions resulting from

16 such emergencies.

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION AND PLAN.—

18 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a

19 grant under subsection (a), a State shall prepare

20 and submit to the Secretary an application in such

21 form, made in such manner, and containing such

22 agreements, assurances, and information, including

23 a State plan as required in paragraph (2), as the

24 Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out

25 this section.
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1 ‘‘(2) STATE PLAN.—An application submitted

2 under paragraph (1) shall contain a State plan that

3 shall—

4 ‘‘(A) describe the intended uses of the

5 grant proceeds and the geographic areas to be

6 served;

7 ‘‘(B) demonstrates that the geographic

8 areas to be served, as described under subpara9 graph (A), are rural in nature;

10 ‘‘(C) demonstrate that there is a lack of

11 facilities available and equipped to deliver ad12 vanced levels of medical care in the geographic

13 areas to be served;

14 ‘‘(D) demonstrate that in utilizing the

15 grant proceeds for the establishment or en16 hancement of air medical services the State

17 would be making a cost-effective improvement

18 to existing ground-based or air emergency medi19 cal service systems;

20 ‘‘(E) demonstrate that the State will not

21 utilize the grant proceeds to duplicate the capa22 bilities of existing air medical systems that are

23 effectively meeting the emergency medical needs

24 of the populations they serve;
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1 ‘‘(F) demonstrate that in utilizing the

2 grant proceeds the State is likely to achieve a

3 reduction in the morbidity and mortality rates

4 of the areas to be served, as determined by the

5 Secretary;

6 ‘‘(G) demonstrate that the State, in utiliz7 ing the grant proceeds, will—

8 ‘‘(i) maintain the expenditures of the

9 State for air and ground medical transport

10 systems at a level equal to not less than

11 the level of such expenditures maintained

12 by the State for the fiscal year preceding

13 the fiscal year for which the grant is re14 ceived; and

15 ‘‘(ii) ensure that recipients of direct

16 financial assistance from the State under

17 such grant will maintain expenditures of

18 such recipients for such systems at a level

19 at least equal to the level of such expendi20 tures maintained by such recipients for the

21 fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for

22 which the financial assistance is received;

23 ‘‘(H) demonstrate that persons experienced

24 in the field of air medical service delivery were

25 consulted in the preparation of the State plan;
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1 ‘‘(I) contain such other information as the

2 Secretary may determine appropriate.

3 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS IN AWARDING GRANTS.—In

4 determining whether to award a grant to a State under

5 this section, the Secretary shall—

6 ‘‘(1) consider the rural nature of the areas to

7 be served with the grant proceeds and the services

8 to be provided with such proceeds, as identified in

9 the State plan submitted under subsection (b); and

10 ‘‘(2) give preference to States with State plans

11 that demonstrate an effective integration of the pro12 posed air medical transport systems into a com13 prehensive network or plan for regional or statewide

14 emergency medical service delivery.

15 ‘‘(d) STATE ADMINISTRATION AND USE OF

16 GRANT.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not

18 make a grant to a State under subsection (a) unless

19 the State agrees that such grant will be adminis20 tered by the State agency with principal responsibil21 ity for carrying out programs regarding the provi22 sion of medical services to victims of medical emer23 gencies or trauma.

24 ‘‘(2) PERMITTED USES.—A State may use

25 amounts received under a grant awarded under this
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1 section to award subgrants to public and private en2 tities operating within the State.

3 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—

4 The Secretary may not make a grant to a State

5 under subsection (a) unless that State agrees that,

6 in developing and carrying out the State plan under

7 subsection (b)(2), the State will provide public notice

8 with respect to the plan (including any revisions

9 thereto) and facilitate comments from interested

10 persons.

11 ‘‘(e) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall

12 award grants under this section to not less than 7 States.

13 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—A State that receives a

15 grant under this section shall annually (during each

16 year in which the grant proceeds are used) prepare

17 and submit to the Secretary a report that shall con18 tain—

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the manner in which

20 the grant proceeds were utilized;

21 ‘‘(B) a description of the effectiveness of

22 the air medical transport programs assisted

23 with grant proceeds; and

24 ‘‘(C) such other information as the Sec25 retary may require.
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1 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF FUNDING.—In reviewing

2 reports submitted under paragraph (1), if the Sec3 retary determines that a State is not using amounts

4 provided under a grant awarded under this section

5 in accordance with the State plan submitted by the

6 State under subsection (b), the Secretary may termi7 nate the payment of amounts under such grant to

8 the State until such time as the Secretary deter9 mines that the State comes into compliance with

10 such plan.

11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

12 ‘rural areas’ means geographic areas that are located out13 side of standard metropolitan statistical areas, as identi14 fied by the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

16 are authorized to be appropriated to make grants under

17 this section, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and such

18 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995

19 and 1996.

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