I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2233 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate 
health empowerment zones, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2009 
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 
Mr. WATT, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. 
WATSON, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. BISHOP of 
Georgia, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SCOTT 
of Virginia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. 
RANGEL, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS of Flor-
ida, Mr. PIERLUISI, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to designate health empowerment zones, 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 ‘‘Health Empowerment 
Zone Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. Designation of health empowerment zones. 
Sec. 5. Assistance to those seeking designation. 
Sec. 6. Benefits of designation. 
Sec. 7. Definition. 
Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Numerous studies and reports, including 
the National Healthcare Disparities Report and Un-
equal Treatment, the 2002 Institute of Medicine Re-
port, document the extensiveness to which health 
disparities exist across the country. 
(2) These studies have found that, on average, 
racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately 
afflicted with chronic and acute conditions—such as 
cancer, diabetes, and hypertension—and suffer 
worse health outcomes, worse health status, and 
higher mortality rates than their White counter-
parts. 
(3) Several recent studies also show that health 
disparities are a function of not only access to health 
care, but also the social determinants of health—in-
cluding the environment, the physical structure of 
communities, nutrition and food options, educational 
attainment, employment, race, ethnicity, geography, 
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and language preference—that directly and indi-
rectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of 
individuals and communities. 
(4) Integrally involving and fully supporting the 
communities most affected by health inequities in 
the assessment, planning, launch, and evaluation of 
health disparity elimination efforts is among the 
leading recommendations made to adequately ad-
dress and ultimately reduce health disparities. 
(5) Recommendations also include supporting 
the efforts of community stakeholders from a broad 
cross section—including, but not limited to local 
businesses, local departments of commerce, edu-
cation, labor, urban planning, and transportation, 
and community-based and other nonprofit organiza-
tions—to find areas of common ground around 
health disparity elimination and collaborate to im-
prove the overall health and wellness of a community 
and its residents. 
SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HEALTH EMPOWERMENT ZONES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of an eligible com-
munity partnership, the Secretary may designate an eligi-
ble area as a health empowerment zone. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.— 
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(1) ELIGIBLE
COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIP.—A 
community partnership is eligible to submit a re-
quest under this section if the partnership— 
(A) demonstrates widespread public sup-
port from key individuals and entities in the eli-
gible area, including State and local govern-
ments, nonprofit organizations, and community 
and industry leaders, for designation of the eli-
gible area as a health empowerment zone; and 
(B) includes representatives of— 
(i) a broad cross section of stake-
holders and residents from communities in 
the eligible area experiencing dispropor-
tionate disparities in health status and 
health care; and 
(ii) organizations, facilities, and insti-
tutions that have a history of working 
within and serving such communities. 
(2) ELIGIBLE AREA.—An area is eligible to be 
designated as a health empowerment zone under this 
section if one or more communities in the area expe-
rience disproportionate disparities in health status 
and health care. In determining whether a commu-
nity experiences such disparities, the Secretary shall 
consider the data collected by the Department of 
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Health and Human Services focusing on the fol-
lowing areas: 
(A) Access to high-quality health services. 
(B) Arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic 
back conditions. 
(C) Cancer. 
(D) Chronic kidney disease. 
(E) Diabetes. 
(F) Injury and violence prevention. 
(G) Maternal, infant, and child health. 
(H) Medical product safety. 
(I) Mental health and mental disorders. 
(J) Nutrition and overweight. 
(K) Disability and secondary conditions. 
(L) Educational and community-based 
health programs. 
(M) Environmental health. 
(N) Family planning. 
(O) Food safety. 
(P) Health communication. 
(Q) Health disease and stroke. 
(R) HIV/AIDS. 
(S) Immunization and infectious diseases. 
(T) Occupational safety and health. 
(U) Oral health. 
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(V) Physical activity and fitness. 
(W) Public health infrastructure. 
(X) Respiratory diseases. 
(Y) Sexually transmitted diseases. 
(Z) Substance abuse. 
(AA) Tobacco use. 
(BB) Vision and hearing. 
(c) PROCEDURE.— 
(1) REQUEST.—A request under subsection (a) 
shall— 
(A) describe the bounds of the area to be 
designated as a health empowerment zone and 
the process used to select those bounds; 
(B) demonstrate that the partnership sub-
mitting the request is an eligible community 
partnership described in subsection (b)(1); 
(C) demonstrate that the area is an eligible 
area described in subsection (b)(2); 
(D) include a comprehensive assessment of 
disparities in health status and health care ex-
perience by one or more communities in the 
area; 
(E) set forth— 
(i) a vision and a set of values for the 
area; and 
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(ii) a comprehensive and holistic set of 
goals to be achieved in the area through 
designation as a health empowerment zone; 
and 
(F) include a strategic plan for achieving 
the goals described in subparagraph (E)(ii). 
(2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
the receipt of a request for designation of an area 
as a health empowerment zone under this section, 
the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the re-
quest. 
(d) MINIMUM NUMBER.—The Secretary— 
(1) shall designate not more than 110 health 
empowerment zones under this section; and 
(2) shall designate at least one health empower-
ment zone in each of the several States, the District 
of Columbia, and each territory or possession of the 
United States. 
SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO THOSE SEEKING DESIGNATION. 
At the request of any organization or entity seeking 
to submit a request under section 4(a), the Secretary shall 
provide technical assistance, and may award a grant, to 
assist such organization or entity— 
(1) to form an eligible community partnership 
described in subsection (b)(1); 
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(2) to complete a health assessment, including 
an assessment of health disparities under subsection 
(c)(1)(D); or 
(3) to prepare and submit a request, including 
a strategic plan, in accordance with section 4. 
SEC. 6. BENEFITS OF DESIGNATION. 
(a) PRIORITY.—In awarding any competitive grant, 
a Federal official shall give priority to any applicant 
that— 
(1) meets the eligibility criteria for the grant; 
(2) proposes to use the grant for activities in a 
health empowerment zone; and 
(3) demonstrates that such activities will di-
rectly and significantly further the goals of the stra-
tegic plan approved for such zone under section 4. 
(b) GRANTS
FOR INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION
OF 
STRATEGIC PLAN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon designating an eligible 
area as a health empowerment zone at the request 
of an eligible community partnership, the Secretary 
shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
make a grant to the community partnership for im-
plementation of the strategic plan for such zone. 
(2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant under paragraph 
(1) for a health empowerment zone shall be for a pe-
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riod of 2 years and may be renewed, except that the 
total period of grants under paragraph (1) for such 
zone may not exceed 10 years. 
(3) LIMITATION.—In awarding grants under 
this subsection, the Secretary shall not give less pri-
ority to an applicant or reduce the amount of a 
grant because the Secretary rendered technical as-
sistance or made a grant to the same applicant 
under section 5. 
(4) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall require 
each recipient of a grant under this subsection to re-
port to the Secretary not less than every 6 months 
on the progress in implementing the strategic plan 
for the health empowerment zone. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad-
ministration and the Director of the Office of Minority 
Health, and in cooperation with the Director of the Office 
of Community Services and the Director of the National 
Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities. 
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SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 
Æ 
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