I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 577 
To establish a grant program to provide vision care to children, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 15, 2009 
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. 
ROS-LEHTINEN, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
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, 
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: 
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‘‘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 
by a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist for chil-
dren who have been previously identified through a 
vision screening or eye examination 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, subse-
quent to the examinations described in paragraph 
(1), necessary 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— 
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‘‘(A) governing the operation of the grant 
program under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(B) for the collection of data related to 
vision 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 (re-
lating to health centers), the program under title 
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.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—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— 
‘‘(A) information on existing Federal, Fed-
eral-State, or State-funded children’s vision 
programs; 
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‘‘(B) a plan for the use of grant funds, in-
cluding how funds will be used to complement 
existing State efforts (including possible part-
nerships with non-profit entities); 
‘‘(C) a plan to determine if a grant eligible 
child has been identified as provided for in sub-
section (a); 
‘‘(D) a description of how funds will be 
used to provide items or services, only as a sec-
ondary payer for an eligible child; 
‘‘(E) an assurance that the State will not 
eliminate or otherwise reduce vision care bene-
fits for children under the State plan under title 
XIX of the Social Security Act for purposes of 
receiving such a grant; and 
‘‘(F) an assurance that amounts received 
under the grant are expended on an eligible 
child as defined in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), the term eligible child means a child 
that— 
‘‘(A) is not covered under a health insur-
ance policy that provides coverage for vision 
services; 
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‘‘(B) is not otherwise eligible to receive 
coverage of such services under a State plan 
under title XIX of the Social Security Act, 
under the program under title XXI of such Act, 
under any State health care compensation pro-
gram, or under any other Federal or State 
health benefits program; and 
‘‘(C) is a low income child (as defined by 
the State). 
‘‘(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 
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‘‘(3) such other information as the Secretary 
may require. 
‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to States submitting 
applications that provide that services under the grant will 
be provided to the lowest income children within the State 
submitting the application. 
‘‘(f) 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. 
‘‘(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) 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. 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 
to be appropriated $65,000,000 for the 5-fiscal year pe-
riod beginning in fiscal year 2009.’’. 
Æ 
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