109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1812 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to author-
ize a demonstration grant program to provide pa-
tient navigator services to reduce barriers and 
improve health care outcomes, and for other pur-
poses.
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1812 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a 
demonstration grant program to provide patient navi-
gator services to reduce barriers and improve health care 
outcomes, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Patient Navigator Out-
reach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. PATIENT NAVIGATOR GRANTS. 
Subpart V of part D of title III of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 340A. PATIENT NAVIGATOR GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the 
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad-
ministration, may make grants to eligible entities for the 
development and operation of demonstration programs to 
provide patient navigator services to improve health care 
outcomes. The Secretary shall coordinate with, and ensure 
the participation of, the Indian Health Service, the Na-
tional Cancer Institute, the Office of Rural Health Policy, 
and such other offices and agencies as deemed appropriate 
by the Secretary, regarding the design and evaluation of 
the demonstration programs. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall require 
each recipient of a grant under this section to use the 
grant to recruit, assign, train, and employ patient naviga-
tors who have direct knowledge of the communities they 
serve to facilitate the care of individuals, including by per-
forming each of the following duties:
‘‘(1) Acting as contacts, including by assisting 
in the coordination of health care services and pro-
vider referrals, for individuals who are seeking pre-
vention or early detection services for, or who fol-
lowing a screening or early detection service are 
found to have a symptom, abnormal finding, or diag-
nosis of, cancer or other chronic disease. 
‘‘(2) Facilitating the involvement of community 
organizations in assisting individuals who are at risk 
for or who have cancer or other chronic diseases to 
receive better access to high-quality health care serv-
ices (such as by creating partnerships with patient 
advocacy groups, charities, health care centers, com-
munity hospice centers, other health care providers, 
or other organizations in the targeted community). 
‘‘(3) Notifying individuals of clinical trials and, 
on request, facilitating enrollment of eligible individ-
uals in these trials. 
‘‘(4) Anticipating, identifying, and helping pa-
tients to overcome barriers within the health care 
system to ensure prompt diagnostic and treatment 
resolution of an abnormal finding of cancer or other 
chronic disease. 
‘‘(5) Coordinating with the relevant health in-
surance ombudsman programs to provide informa-
tion to individuals who are at risk for or who have 
cancer or other chronic diseases about health cov-
erage, including private insurance, health care sav-
ings accounts, and other publicly funded programs 
(such as Medicare, Medicaid, health programs oper-
ated by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the 
Department of Defense, the State children’s health 
insurance program, and any private or governmental 
prescription assistance programs). 
‘‘(6) Conducting ongoing outreach to health dis-
parity populations, including the uninsured, rural 
populations, and other medically underserved popu-
lations, in addition to assisting other individuals who 
are at risk for or who have cancer or other chronic 
diseases to seek preventative care. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) REFERRAL FEES.—The Secretary shall re-
quire each recipient of a grant under this section to 
prohibit any patient navigator providing services 
under the grant from accepting any referral fee, 
kickback, or other thing of value in return for refer-
ring an individual to a particular health care pro-
vider. 
‘‘(2) LEGAL FEES AND COSTS.—The Secretary 
shall prohibit the use of any grant funds received