IIB 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 577 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 1, 2009 
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 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHILDREN. 
Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 280h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 399Z–1. GRANTS REGARDING VISION CARE FOR CHIL-
DREN. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, may award grants to States on the basis of an 
established review process for the purpose of comple-
menting existing State efforts for— 
‘‘(1) providing comprehensive eye examinations 
(as defined in subsection (i)) by a licensed optom-
etrist or ophthalmologist for eligible children (as de-
fined in subsection (b)) who have been previously 
identified through a vision screening or eye examina-
tion by a licensed 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 to such 
children, subsequent to the examinations described 
in paragraph (1), that are necessary to correct vision 
problems; and 
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‘‘(3) developing and disseminating, to parents, 
teachers, and health care practitioners, educational 
materials on recognizing signs of visual impairment 
in children. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘eligible child’ means, with respect to 
an examination described in paragraph (1) of sub-
section (a) or a treatment or service described in 
paragraph (2) of such subsection and with respect to 
a State, a child who is a low-income child (as de-
fined by the State) and who— 
‘‘(A) is not eligible for medical assistance 
under the State plan under title XIX of such 
Act; 
‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2)(A), is not 
eligible for child health assistance under the 
State child health plan under title XXI of the 
Social Security Act; 
‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (2)(B), does not 
have health insurance coverage (as defined in 
section 2791) in the group market or in the in-
dividual market (as such terms are defined in 
such section) and is not a beneficiary or partici-
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pant under a group health plan (as defined in 
such section); and 
‘‘(D) is not receiving assistance under any 
State health compensation program or under 
any other Federal or State health benefits pro-
gram for such examination, treatment, or serv-
ice, respectively. 
‘‘(2) INCLUSION
OF
CERTAIN
LOW-INCOME 
CHILDREN WITH HEALTH BENEFITS.—With respect 
to an examination described in paragraph (1) of sub-
section (a) or a treatment or service described in 
paragraph (2) of such subsection and with respect to 
a State— 
‘‘(A) paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to a 
child who is eligible for child health assistance 
under the State child health plan under title 
XXI of the Social Security Act (whether or not 
such child is enrolled under such plan), if such 
plan does not provide for coverage of such ex-
amination, treatment, or service, respectively; 
and 
‘‘(B) paragraph (1)(C) shall not apply to a 
child described in such paragraph if no amount 
is payable under the coverage or plan described 
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in such paragraph for such examination, treat-
ment, or service, respectively. 
‘‘(c) CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in consultation with 
appropriate professional and patient organizations includ-
ing individuals with knowledge of age appropriate vision 
services, shall develop criteria— 
‘‘(1) governing the operation of the grant pro-
gram under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) for the collection of data related to vision 
assessment and the utilization of follow-up services. 
‘‘(d) 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, includ-
ing how funds will be used to complement existing 
State efforts (including possible partnerships with 
non-profit entities); 
‘‘(3) a plan to determine if an eligible child has 
been identified as provided for in subsection (a); 
‘‘(4) an assurance that funds will be used con-
sistent with this section; 
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‘‘(5) a description of how funds will be used to 
provide examinations, treatments, and services, con-
sistent with this section; and 
‘‘(6) an assurance that, in providing examina-
tions, treatments, and services through use of such 
grant, the State will give priority to eligible children 
with the lowest income. 
‘‘(e) 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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‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS IN EXPENDITURE OF GRANT.—A 
grant may be made under subsection (a) only if the State 
involved agrees that the State will expend amounts re-
ceived under such grant as follows: 
‘‘(1) The State will expend at least 80 percent 
of such amounts for the purposes described in para-
graphs (1) and (2) of such subsection. 
‘‘(2) The State will not expend more than 10 
percent of such amounts to carry out the purpose 
described in paragraph (3) of such subsection. 
‘‘(3) The State will not expend more than 10 
percent of such amounts for administrative pur-
poses. 
‘‘(g) 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-
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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. 
‘‘(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State that 
receives a grant under this section shall ensure that 
amounts received under such grant will be used to supple-
ment, and not supplant, any other Federal, State, or local 
funds available to carry out activities of the type carried 
out under the grant. 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi-
vidual who— 
‘‘(A) has not attained 18 years of age; or 
‘‘(B) has not attained 19 years of age and 
is a full-time student in a secondary school (or 
in the equivalent level of vocational or technical 
training). 
‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE
EYE
EXAMINATION.— 
The term ‘comprehensive eye examination’ includes 
an assessment of a patient’s history, general medical 
observation, external and ophthalmoscopic examina-
tion, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, re-
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fraction, and as appropriate, binocular vision or 
gross visual fields, performed by an optometrist or 
an ophthalmologist. 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 
to be appropriated— 
‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 
‘‘(2) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 
‘‘(3) $14,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 
2012 through 2014.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 31, 
2009. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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