HeLP America Act

Bill: 109-s-1074
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2005-05-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Advertising
Agriculture and Food
Ambulatory care
Beverages
Bicycles
Bikeways
Breast feeding
Business records
Cancer
Cardiovascular diseases
Child health
Child nutrition
Cigarettes
Coinsurance
Commerce
Community health services
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Congressional veto
Consumer education
Curricula
Deceptive advertising
Dental care
Department of Agriculture
Department of Health and Human Services
Diet
Disabled
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug therapy
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Educational facilities
Elementary and secondary education
Employee health benefits
Employee rights
Employee training
Employment of the disabled
Environmental Protection
Exercise
Families
Family leave
Federal Trade Commission
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to child health services
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Federal aid to research
Federal aid to transportation
Federal employees
Finance and Financial Sector
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Fringe benefits
Fruit
Government Operations and Politics
Government employees' health insurance
Government paperwork
Government trust funds
Health counseling
Health education
Health surveys
Health warnings
Higher education
Hospital personnel
Hospitals
Hours of labor
Income tax
Independent regulatory commissions
Infant formulas
Labeling
Labor and Employment
Law
Local laws
Lung cancer
Lung diseases
Marketing
Maternal health services
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical fees
Medical research
Medical residents
Medicare
Mental depression
Mental health
Mental health services
Nicotine
Nonprofit organizations
Nutrition
Obesity
Occupational health and safety
Oils and fats
Packaging
Pedestrians
Physical education and training
Physical fitness
Physicians
Poverty
Pregnant women
Preschool education
Preventive medicine
Problem children
Public health personnel
Public service advertising
Restaurants
Restrictive trade practices
Sales promotion
Salt
School health programs
School lunch program
Science, Technology, Communications
Self-help devices for the disabled
Small business
Smokeless tobacco
Smoking
Smoking and youth
Smuggling
Social Welfare
Sports and Recreation
State laws
Stroke
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Taxation
Tobacco
Tobacco exports
Tobacco industry
Tobacco research
Traffic accidents and safety
Trails
Transportation and Public Works
Transportation and the disabled
Transportation planning
User charges
Vegetables
Vending machines
Women
Women's employment
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2005-05-18
text: 
Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention America Act or the HeLP America Act - Sets forth provisions for the establishment of, and incentives for, wellness programs.
 
Provides for: (1) healthy school nutrition environment incentive grants; (2) school mental health program grants; (3) the establishment of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to certify a hospital as a baby friendly hospital/center for breastfeeding excellence; and (4) programs for children at risk for emotional or behavioral problems due to family distress.
 
Healthy Workforce Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to: (1) allow a wellness program credit for employers; and (2) exclude from an employee's income the fees paid by an employer to an athletic or fitness facility on the employee's behalf.
 
Provides for grants to promote individual and community health, prevent the incidence of chronic disease, and implement Living Well With a Disability Programs.
 
Requires the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) develop enhanced standards for the design of roads and intersection controls to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety; and (2) double the percentage of trips made by foot or bicycle while simultaneously reducing crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians by 10 percent.
 Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to implement public health monitoring measures to address mental and behavioral health needs. 
Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to require employers to provide lactation periods and lactation facilities to permit employees to breastfeed eligible children. Applies such requirements to the federal civil service.
 
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Secretary to: (1) regulate tobacco products (through the Food and Drug Administration); and (2) establish the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee. Sets forth tobacco product standards and registration, recordkeeping, reporting, manufacturer and importer user fee, labeling, advertising, and marketing requirements.
 
Requires vending machines and certain restaurants to provide nutritional information about each food offered, including the number of calories.
 
Restores the ability of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to restrict the marketing or advertising of foods to children.
 
Deems infant formula to be misbranded if it does not contain a statement regarding the nutritional superiority of breast milk.
 
Requires the Secretary to impose penalties on the tobacco industry for failure to achieve specified goals to reduce youth smoking.
 
Amends the Social Security Act to provide coverage for certain counseling and screening services. Requires the Secretary to encourage a State program to utilize school-based health centers to deliver primary care to children eligible for federal medical assistance.
 
Establishes the HeLP (Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention) America Trust Fund to fund smoking cessation efforts and other efforts required by this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-05-18
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-05-18
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5446-5447)
action_date: 2005-05-18
text: Introduced in Senate