services as provided for under the Medicare, Med-
icaid, or SCHIP programs under titles XVIII, XIX, 
or XXI of the Social Security Act. 
‘‘(2) MODEL
LANGUAGE
ASSISTANCE
PRO-
GRAMS.—The Center shall provide for the collection 
and dissemination of information on current model 
language assistance programs and strategies to im-
prove language access to health care for individuals 
with limited English proficiency, including case stud-
ies using de-identified patient information, program 
summaries, and program evaluations. 
‘‘(3) INTERNET
HEALTH
CLEARINGHOUSE.— 
The Center shall develop and maintain an Internet 
clearinghouse to reduce medical errors and improve 
medical outcomes and reduce health care costs 
caused by miscommunication with individuals with 
limited English proficiency or low functional health 
literacy and reduce or eliminate the duplication of 
effort to translate materials by— 
‘‘(A) developing and making available tem-
plates for standard documents that are nec-
essary for patients and consumers to access and 
make educated decisions about their health 
care, including— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
19:56 Jul 14, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3014.IH
H3014
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
‘‘(i) administrative and legal docu-
ments such as informed consent, advanced 
directives, and waivers of rights; 
‘‘(ii) clinical information such as how 
to take medications, how to prevent trans-
mission of a contagious disease, and other 
prevention and treatment instructions; 
‘‘(iii) patient education and outreach 
materials such as immunization notices, 
health warnings, or screening notices; and 
‘‘(iv) additional health or health care- 
related materials as determined appro-
priate by the Director of the Center; 
‘‘(B) ensuring that the documents posted 
in English and non-English languages are cul-
turally appropriate; 
‘‘(C) allowing public review of the docu-
ments before dissemination in order to ensure 
that the documents are understandable and cul-
turally appropriate for the target populations; 
‘‘(D) allowing health care providers to cus-
tomize the documents for their use; 
‘‘(E) facilitating access to these docu-
ments; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
19:56 Jul 14, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3014.IH
H3014
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
‘‘(F) providing technical assistance with 
respect to the access and use of such informa-
tion; and 
‘‘(G) carrying out any other activities the 
Secretary determines to be useful to fulfill the 
purposes of the Clearinghouse. 
‘‘(4) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The Cen-
ter shall provide information relating to culturally 
and linguistically competent health care for minority 
populations residing in the United States to all 
health care providers and health care organizations 
at no cost. Such information shall include— 
‘‘(A) tenets of culturally and linguistically 
competent care; 
‘‘(B) cultural and linguistic competence 
self-assessment tools; 
‘‘(C) cultural and linguistic competence 
training tools; 
‘‘(D) strategic plans to increase cultural 
and linguistic competence in different types of 
health care organizations, including regional 
collaborations among health care organizations; 
and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
19:56 Jul 14, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3014.IH
H3014
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
‘‘(E) resources for cultural and linguistic 
competence information for educators, practi-
tioners and researchers. 
‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be headed by a 
Director who shall be appointed by, and who shall report 
to, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health. 
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF LANGUAGE ACCESS.—The Di-
rector shall collaborate with all agencies within the De-
partment of Health and Human Services to notify health 
care providers and health care organizations about the 
availability of language access services by the Center. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
2008 through 2012. 
‘‘SEC. 3004. INNOVATIONS IN CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC 
COMPETENCE GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services, the Administrator of the Health Resources and 
Services Administration, the Secretary of Education, and 
the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, shall 
award grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to 
design, implement, and evaluate innovative, cost-effective 
programs to improve cultural and linguistic competence in 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
19:56 Jul 14, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3014.IH
H3014
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
health care for individuals with limited English pro-
ficiency. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under subsection (a) an entity shall— 
‘‘(1) be a city, county, Indian tribe, State, terri-
tory, community-based and other nonprofit organiza-
tion, health center or community clinic, university, 
college, or other entity designated by the Secretary; 
and 
‘‘(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an 
application, at such time, in such manner, and ac-
companied by such additional information as the 
Secretary may require. 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity shall use funds re-
ceived under a grant under this section to— 
‘‘(1) develop, implement, and evaluate models of 
providing real-time cultural competence and inter-
pretation services through in-person interpretation, 
communications, and computer technology, including 
the Internet, teleconferencing, or video conferencing; 
‘‘(2) develop short-term medical interpretation 
training courses and incentives for bilingual health 
care staff who are asked to interpret in the work-
place; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
19:56 Jul 14, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3014.IH
H3014
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS