IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1343 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 5, 2008 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide additional 
authorizations of appropriations for the health centers 
program under section 330 of such Act, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Centers Re-
newal Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS FOR HEALTH CENTERS PROGRAM. 
Section 330(r)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 254b(r)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For the purpose of car-
rying out this section, in addition to the amounts 
authorized to be appropriated under subsection (d), 
there are authorized to be appropriated— 
‘‘(A) for fiscal year 2008, $2,213,020,000; 
‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2009, $2,451,394,400; 
‘‘(C) for fiscal year 2010, $2,757,818,700; 
‘‘(D) for fiscal year 2011, $3,116,335,131; 
and 
‘‘(E) 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2012, 
$3,537,040,374.’’. 
SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF HIGH POVERTY AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 330(c) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(c)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) 
RECOGNITION
OF
HIGH
POVERTY 
AREAS.— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In making grants 
under this subsection, the Secretary may recog-
nize the unique needs of high poverty areas. 
‘‘(B) HIGH POVERTY AREA DEFINED.—For 
purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘high 
poverty area’ means a catchment area which is 
established in a manner that is consistent with 
the factors in subsection (k)(3)(J), and the pov-
erty rate of which is greater than the national 
average poverty rate as determined by the Bu-
reau of the Census.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to grants made on or after Jan-
uary 1, 2009. 
SEC. 4. LIABILITY PROTECTIONS FOR HEALTH CENTER 
VOLUNTEER PRACTITIONERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 224 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 233) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (g)(1)(A)— 
(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘or 
employee’’ and inserting ‘‘employee, or (subject 
to subsection (k)(4)) volunteer practitioner’’; 
and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting 
‘‘and subsection (k)(4)’’ after ‘‘subject to para-
graph (5)’’; and 
(2) in each of subsections (g), (i), (j), (k), (l), 
and (m)— 
(A) by striking the term ‘‘employee, or 
contractor’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘employee, volunteer practitioner, or 
contractor’’; 
(B) by striking the term ‘‘employee, and 
contractor’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘employee, volunteer practitioner, and 
contractor’’; 
(C) by striking the term ‘‘employee, or any 
contractor’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘employee, volunteer practitioner, or 
contractor’’; and 
(D) by striking the term ‘‘employees, or 
contractors’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘employees, volunteer practitioners, or 
contractors’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY; DEFINITION.—Section 224(k) of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 233(k)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following paragraph: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
‘‘(4)(A) Subsections (g) through (m) apply with re-
spect to volunteer practitioners beginning with the first 
fiscal year for which an appropriations Act provides that 
amounts in the fund under paragraph (2) are available 
with respect to such practitioners. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of subsections (g) through (m), 
the term ‘volunteer practitioner’ means a practitioner who, 
with respect to an entity described in subsection (g)(4), 
meets the following conditions: 
‘‘(i) In the State involved, the practitioner is a 
licensed physician, a licensed clinical psychologist, or 
other licensed or certified health care practitioner. 
‘‘(ii) At the request of such entity, the practi-
tioner provides services to patients of the entity, at 
a site at which the entity operates or at a site des-
ignated by the entity. The weekly number of hours 
of services provided to the patients by the practi-
tioner is not a factor with respect to meeting condi-
tions under this subparagraph. 
‘‘(iii) The practitioner does not for the provision 
of such services receive any compensation from such 
patients, from the entity, or from third-party payors 
(including reimbursement under any insurance pol-
icy or health plan, or under any Federal or State 
health benefits program).’’. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
SEC. 5. LIABILITY PROTECTIONS FOR HEALTH CENTER 
PRACTITIONERS PROVIDING SERVICES IN 
EMERGENCY AREAS. 
Section 224(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 233(g)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘sub-
paragraph (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C) 
and paragraph (6)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following para-
graph: 
‘‘(6)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), paragraph 
(1)(B)(ii) applies to health services provided to individuals 
who are not patients of the entity involved if, as deter-
mined under criteria issued by the Secretary, the following 
conditions are met: 
‘‘(i) The services are provided by a contractor, 
volunteer practitioner (as defined in subsection 
(k)(4)(B)), or employee of the entity who is a physi-
cian or other licensed or certified health care practi-
tioner and who is otherwise deemed to be an em-
ployee for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) when pro-
viding services with respect to the entity. 
‘‘(ii) The services are provided in an emergency 
area (as defined in subparagraph (D)), with respect 
to a public health emergency or major disaster de-
scribed in subparagraph (D), and during the period 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
for which such emergency or disaster is determined 
or declared, respectively. 
‘‘(iii) The services of the contractor, volunteer 
practitioner, or employee (referred to in this para-
graph as the ‘out-of-area practitioner’) are provided 
under an arrangement with— 
‘‘(I) an entity that is deemed to be an em-
ployee for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) and 
that serves the emergency area involved (re-
ferred to in this paragraph as an ‘emergency- 
area entity’); or 
‘‘(II) a Federal agency that has respon-
sibilities regarding the provision of health serv-
ices in such area during the emergency. 
‘‘(iv) The purposes of the arrangement are— 
‘‘(I) to coordinate, to the extent prac-
ticable, the provision of health services in the 
emergency area by the out-of-area practitioner 
with the provision of services by the emergency- 
area entity, or by the Federal agency, as the 
case may be; 
‘‘(II) to identify a location in the emer-
gency area to which such practitioner should re-
port for purposes of providing health services, 
and to identify an individual or individuals in 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
the area to whom the practitioner should report 
for such purposes; and 
‘‘(III) to verify the identity of the practi-
tioner and that the practitioner is licensed or 
certified by one or more of the States. 
‘‘(v) With respect to the licensure or certifi-
cation of health care practitioners, the provision of 
services by the out-of-area practitioner in the emer-
gency area is not a violation of the law of the State 
in which the area is located. 
‘‘(B) In issuing criteria under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall take into account the need to rapidly enter 
into arrangements under such subparagraph in order to 
provide health services in emergency areas promptly after 
the emergency begins. 
‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) applies with respect to an act 
or omission of an out-of-area practitioner only to the ex-
tent that the practitioner is not immune from liability for 
such act or omission under the Volunteer Protection Act 
of 1997. 
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘emer-
gency area’ means a geographic area for which— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary has made a determination 
under section 319 that a public health emergency 
exists; or 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS
HR 1343 RFS 
‘‘(ii) a presidential declaration of major disaster 
has been issued under section 401 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act.’’. 
SEC. 6. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR INTEGRATED 
HEALTH SYSTEMS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO 
PRIMARY AND PREVENTIVE SERVICES FOR 
THE MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED. 
Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 259b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subpart: 
‘‘Subpart XI—Demonstration Project for Integrated 
Health Systems to Expand Access to Primary 
and Preventive Services for the Medically Un-
derserved 
‘‘SEC. 340H. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR INTEGRATED 
HEALTH SYSTEMS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO 
PRIMARY AND PREVENTIVE CARE FOR THE 
MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 
2009, the Secretary shall establish a demonstration 
project (hereafter in this section referred to as the 
‘demonstration’) under which up to 30 qualifying in-
tegrated health systems receive grants for the costs 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:36 Jun 06, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1343.RFS
H1343
erowe on PRODPC61 with BILLS