IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 507 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 16, 2007 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To establish a grant program to provide vision care to 
children, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vision Care for Kids 
Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Millions of children in the United States 
suffer from vision problems, many of which go unde-
tected. Because children with vision problems can 
struggle developmentally, resulting in physical, emo-
tional, and social consequences, good vision is essen-
tial for proper physical development and educational 
progress. 
(2) Vision problems in children range from 
common conditions such as refractive errors, ambly-
opia, strabismus, ocular trauma, and infections, to 
rare but potentially life- or sight-threatening prob-
lems such as retinoblastoma, infantile cataracts, con-
genital glaucoma, and genetic or metabolic diseases 
of the eye. 
(3) Since many serious ocular conditions are 
treatable if identified in the preschool and early 
school-age years, early detection provides the best 
opportunity for effective treatment and can have far- 
reaching implications for vision. 
(4) Various identification methods, including vi-
sion screening and comprehensive eye examinations 
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required by State laws, can be helpful in identifying 
children needing services. A child identified as need-
ing services through vision screening should receive 
a comprehensive eye examination followed by subse-
quent treatment as needed. Any child identified as 
needing services should have access to subsequent 
treatment as needed. 
(5) There is a need to increase public awareness 
about the prevalence and devastating consequences 
of vision disorders in children and to educate the 
public and health care providers about the warning 
signs and symptoms of ocular and vision disorders 
and the benefits of early detection, evaluation, and 
treatment. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHILDREN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, may award grants to 
States on the basis of an established review process for 
the purpose of complementing existing State efforts for— 
(1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 
by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for chil-
dren who have been previously identified through a 
vision screening or eye examination by a licensed 
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health care provider or vision screener as needing 
such services, with priority given to children who are 
under the age of 9 years; 
(2) providing treatment or services, subsequent 
to the examinations described in paragraph (1), nec-
essary to correct vision problems; and 
(3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 
teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 
materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 
in children. 
(b) CRITERIA AND COORDINATION.— 
(1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with appropriate professional and patient organiza-
tions including individuals with knowledge of age ap-
propriate vision services, shall develop criteria— 
(A) governing the operation of the grant 
program under subsection (a); and 
(B) for the collection of data related to vi-
sion assessment and the utilization of follow-up 
services. 
(2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall, as 
appropriate, coordinate the program under sub-
section (a) with the program under section 330 of 
the Public Health Service Act (relating to health 
centers) (42 U.S.C. 254b), the program under title 
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XIX of the Social Security Act (relating to the Med-
icaid program) (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the pro-
gram under title XXI of such Act (relating to the 
State children’s health insurance program) (42 
U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), and with other Federal or 
State programs that provide services to children. 
(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under subsection (a), a State shall submit to the Secretary 
an application in such form, made in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
including— 
(1) information on existing Federal, Federal- 
State, or State-funded children’s vision programs; 
(2) a plan for the use of grant funds, including 
how funds will be used to complement existing State 
efforts (including possible partnerships with non- 
profit entities); 
(3) a plan to determine if a grant eligible child 
has been identified as provided for in subsection (a); 
and 
(4) a description of how funds will be used to 
provide items or services, only as a secondary 
payer— 
(A) for an eligible child, to the extent that 
the child is not covered for the items or services 
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under any State compensation program, under 
an insurance policy, or under any Federal or 
State health benefits program; or 
(B) for an eligible child, to the extent that 
the child receives the items or services from an 
entity that provides health services on a prepaid 
basis. 
(d) EVALUATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under subsection (a), a State shall agree that, not later 
than 1 year after the date on which amounts under the 
grant are first received by the State, and annually there-
after while receiving amounts under the grant, the State 
will submit to the Secretary an evaluation of the oper-
ations and activities carried out under the grant, includ-
ing— 
(1) an assessment of the utilization of vision 
services and the status of children receiving these 
services as a result of the activities carried out 
under the grant; 
(2) the collection, analysis, and reporting of 
children’s vision data according to guidelines pre-
scribed by the Secretary; and 
(3) such other information as the Secretary 
may require. 
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(e) LIMITATIONS IN EXPENDITURE OF GRANT.—A 
grant may be made under subsection (a) only if the State 
involved agrees that the State will not expend more than 
20 percent of the amount received under the grant to 
carry out the purpose described in paragraph (3) of such 
subsection. 
(f) MATCHING FUNDS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the costs of 
the activities to be carried out with a grant under 
subsection (a), a condition for the receipt of the 
grant is that the State involved agrees to make 
available (directly or through donations from public 
or private entities) non-Federal contributions toward 
such costs in an amount that is not less than 25 
percent of such costs. 
(2) DETERMINATION
OF
AMOUNT
CONTRIB-
UTED.—Non-Federal contributions required in para-
graph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evalu-
ated, including plant, equipment, or services. 
Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or 
services assisted or subsidized to any significant ex-
tent by the Federal Government, may not be in-
cluded in determining the amount of such non-Fed-
eral contributions. 
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(g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘comprehensive eye examination’’ includes an assess-
ment of a patient’s history, general medical observation, 
external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, 
ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and as appro-
priate, binocular vision or gross visual fields, performed 
by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized 
to be appropriated $65,000,000 for the period of fiscal 
years 2009 through 2013. 
Passed the House of Representatives October 15, 
2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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