(1) IN
GENERAL.—The local area committee 
shall meet—
(A) as often as may be necessary, and 
whenever one-third or more of the members re-
quest a meeting; and 
(B) in the case of a local administrative 
committee, not less frequently than once each 
month, and, in the case of a local advisory com-
mittee, not less frequently than once in each 
quarter of the year. 
(2) ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING.—At least one 
meeting of the committee each year shall be open to 
the public, notice of which shall be published and at 
which any person in the area may participate. 
(3) ANNUAL STATEWIDE MEETINGS.—
(A) ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS.—At least 
once each year there shall be a statewide meet-
ing of local administrative officers and rep-
resentatives of local administrative committees. 
(B) LOCAL
ADVISORY
COMMITTEES.—At 
least once in each year there shall be a state-
wide meeting of representatives of all local advi-
sory committees in the State, and any reports 
or recommendations made at such meeting shall
on the request of such meeting be transmitted 
through the State agency to the Board. 
SEC. 304. LOCAL PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Local committees representa-
tive of the persons furnishing personal health services in 
the area shall be established in each health-service area. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—Each local professional committee 
shall assist the local administrative committee and its ex-
ecutive officer, or the local administrative officer and the 
local advisory committee, as the case may be, in—
(1) the preservation of the customary freedom 
and responsibility (under applicable State law) of 
practitioners in the exercise of professional judgment 
as to the care of patients; and 
(2) in the solution of technical problems con-
cerning the participation of professional personnel, 
hospitals, and other qualified persons in the provi-
sion of personal health services as benefits, and to 
advise the local administrative or executive officer 
and the local area committee regarding matters of 
professional practice or conduct arising in connec-
tion with the performance of agreements for the pro-
vision of such services. 
(c) MEETINGS.—Such local committees shall meet on 
call of the local administrative committee or officer, as the
case may be, or upon their own motion. The members of 
any such local professional committee may be professional 
members of the local area committee or other professional 
persons or both. 
SEC. 305. METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In each health-service area the 
methods of administration shall be such as to—
(1) insure the prompt and efficient care of indi-
viduals entitled to personal health services as bene-
fits; 
(2) promote personal relationships between phy-
sician and patients; 
(3) promote coordination among and between 
general practitioners, specialists, those who furnish 
auxiliary services, nurses, and hospitals, in the fur-
nishing of services under this Act, between them and 
public-health centers and agencies, and educational 
service, research, and other related agencies or insti-
tutions, and between preventive, diagnostic, and cu-
rative services, public and private; 
(4) aid in the prevention of disease, disability, 
and premature death; 
(5) encourage improvement in the number and 
distribution of professional personnel and facilities; 
and
(6) insure the provision of adequate service with 
the greatest economy consistent with high standards 
of quality. 
(b) APPOINTMENT.—Local administrative officers 
shall be appointed by the State agency or the head thereof, 
in accordance with the merit system provided for in the 
State plan of operations. Local administrative committees 
shall be appointed by such agency or the head thereof, 
from individuals residing in the respective health-service 
areas, and the executive officers of such committees shall 
be appointed by the committees in accordance with the 
merit system. The local health-service areas shall be those 
so designated in such plan. Members of local advisory 
committees and of local professional committees shall be 
selected in accordance with methods set forth in such plan. 
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH PROVISIONS.—In exercising 
their functions and discharging their responsibilities under 
this Act, local administrative officers and communities, 
local advisory committees, and local professional commit-
tees shall observe the provisions of this Act, and of regula-
tions prescribed thereunder, and of any regulations, stand-
ards, and procedures prescribed by the State agency.
TITLE IV—STATE 
ADMINISTRATION 
SEC. 401. DECLARATION OF POLICY. 
It is the intent of Congress that the benefits provided 
under this Act be administered wherever possible by the 
several States, in accordance with plans of operations sub-
mitted and approved as provided in this title, and in each 
State insofar as feasible by the same State agency which 
administers, or supervises the administration of, the 
State’s general public health and maternal and child 
health programs. 
SEC. 402. STATE PLAN OF OPERATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State desiring to assume re-
sponsibility for the administration in the State of the per-
sonal health-service benefits provided under this Act to all 
individuals in the State who are eligible for such benefits, 
may do so for the period beginning October 1, 2004 (when 
benefits first become available under this Act), or for the 
period beginning October 1 of any succeeding year, if it 
has undertaken, through its legislature, to administer such 
benefits in accordance with the provisions of this Act and 
with the provisions of regulations and standards pre-
scribed thereunder, and, at least 12 months in advance, 
has submitted and had approved a State plan of oper-
ations which provides for the following:
(1) The plan must designate as the sole agency 
for the statewide administration of benefits under 
this Act a single State agency duly authorized under 
the law of the State to administer such benefits 
within the State in accordance with the provisions of 
this Act, the provisions of regulations and standards 
prescribed thereunder, and the provisions of the 
State plan. 
(2) The plan must provide for the designation 
of a State advisory committee which shall include 
members who are familiar with the needs for per-
sonal health services in urban and rural areas, and 
who are representative of the interests of individuals 
in the State who are eligible for benefits, such mem-
bers to constitute a majority, and members chosen 
from the several professions, hospitals, and other or-
ganizations in the State by whom such benefits will 
be provided, to advise the State agency in carrying 
out the administration of such benefits in the State. 
(3) The plan must provide for the decentralized 
administration of this Act in the State in accordance 
with title III for the designation of local health-serv-
ice areas, and for such methods of selecting the 
members of local advisory committees and of local 
professional committees as are calculated to insure