A bill to provide loans to hospitals and nonprofit health care institutions to implement green building technologies, waste management techniques, and other environmentally sustainable practices to improve employee performance, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patient outcomes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Green Hospitals, Healthy Hospitals 
Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. LOANS FOR HEALTH CARE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary''), acting in conjunction 
with the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, shall make available to eligible non-profit hospitals 
and non-profit health care institutions 30-year no interest loans to be 
used to assist such entities to carry out new construction or to make 
renovations that will--
            (1) enable such entities to achieve compliance with the 
        guidelines of the ``Green Guide for Health Care''; or
            (2) enable such entities to achieve compliance with any 
        successor regulations determined appropriate by the Secretary.
    (b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a loan under subsection 
(a), a non-profit hospital or non-profit health care institution shall 
submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information and agreements as the Secretary may 
require.
    (c) General Provisions Relating to Loans.--
            (1) Terms and conditions.--The Secretary may not approve an 
        application for a loan under this section unless the Secretary 
        determines that the terms, conditions, security, and schedule 
        and amount of repayments with respect to the loan are 
        sufficient to protect the financial interests of the United 
        States and are otherwise reasonable.
            (2) Payments.--The Secretary may not approve an application 
        for a loan under this section unless--
                    (A) the Secretary is reasonably satisfied that the 
                applicant therefore will be able to make payments of 
                principal thereon when due; and
                    (B) the applicant provides the Secretary with 
                reasonable assurances that there will be available to 
                such applicant such additional funds as may be 
                necessary to complete the project or undertaking with 
                respect to which such loan is requested.
            (3) Requirements.--A loan made under this section shall--
                    (A) have such security;
                    (B) have such maturity date;
                    (C) be repayable in such installments; and
                    (D) be subject to such other terms and conditions 
                (including provisions for recovery in case of default), 
                as the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry 
                out the purposes of this section while adequately 
                protecting the financial interests of the United 
                States.
            (4) Waiver or right of recovery.--The Secretary may, for 
        good cause but with due regard to the financial interests of 
        the United States, waive any right of recovery which the 
        Secretary has by reason of the failure of a applicant to make 
        payments of principal on a loan made under this section.
    (d) Regulations.--Not later than 150 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, shall promulgate final regulations and rules 
(with a comment period that does not exceed 60 days), that shall be in 
addition to, and consistent with this Act that shall be used to 
determine eligibility for participation in the program under this 
section, the scope of such program, the purposes for which loan funds 
may be used, the application requirements, the security requirements, 
and the requirements for the administration and oversight of the 
program which shall include a system in which such loans are repaid to 
the United States. Such regulations shall provide that in determining 
the entities that are eligible for participation in such loan program 
and in approving the applications of such entities, the Secretary shall 
give priority consideration to non-profit hospitals or non-profit 
health institutions that have a low income utilization rate (as defined 
in section 1923(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-
4(b)(3))) that is greater than 25 percent.
    (e) Evaluations.--Not later than 1 year after making a loan under 
this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct an 
evaluation of new or updated green health care guidelines developed by 
entities such as the United States Green Building Council, and 
determine whether such guidelines should be included in the 
requirements for the loan program established under this section.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2009 through 2013. Of the amount appropriate for any fiscal year 
under the preceding sentence, such sums as are determined necessary by 
the Secretary shall be allocated to the Health Resource and Services 
Administration for the Administration of the program under this 
section.
    (g) Carryover.--Amounts appropriated for a fiscal year under 
subsection (f) that are not disbursed in such fiscal year may be 
carried forward to the next fiscal year to be used under this section 
and applied to that fiscal year's allocation.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH FOR HEALTH CARE.

    (a) Institute of Medicine.--The Secretary shall enter into a 
contract with the Institute of Medicine for the submission of a report 
on the ways in which the use of green building technologies, waste 
management techniques, and other environmentally sustainable practices 
improve employee performance, reduce health care costs, and improve 
patient outcomes.
    (b) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.--Not later than 3 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years 
thereafter, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shall 
include in the health care quality report under section 913(b)(2) of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299b-2(b)(2)), a section that 
summarizes the most recent research on green health care and the ways 
in which environmentally sustainable practices can improve employee 
performance, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patient outcomes.

Summary: Green Hospitals, Healthy Hospitals Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting in conjunction with the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to provide nonprofit hospitals and health care institutions with 30-year no interest loans to enable such institutions to comply with the guidelines of the Green Guide for Health Care or successor regulations of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on green building technologies.

Directs the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine for a report on the use of green building technologies, waste management techniques, and other environmentally sustainable practices to improve employee performance, reduce health care costs, and improve patient outcomes. Requires the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to include in its annual report on health care quality a summary of the most recent research on green health care and the ways in which environmentally sustainable practices can improve employee performance, reduce health care costs, and improve patient outcomes.