Asthma Care and Prevention in Rural Communities Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4548 To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award grants to eligible counties for the use of mobile clinics and distance learning and telemedicine to diagnose and treat children with asthma in rural areas and medically underserved communities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Mr. VARGAS (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. COX of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award grants to eligible counties for the use of mobile clinics and distance learning and tele- medicine to diagnose and treat children with asthma in rural areas and medically underserved communities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asthma Care and Pre- 4 vention in Rural Communities Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4548.IH H4548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4548 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Asthma has a high morbidity and can even 3 lead to death if not properly managed. 4 (2) Nationally, over 25 million people suffer 5 from asthma according to the most recent statistics 6 from the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 7 tion. 8 (3) Nationally, of those who suffer from asth- 9 ma, 43.6 percent of adults report one or more asth- 10 ma attacks annually, and of all children who suffer 11 from asthma, 51.6 percent report one or more asth- 12 ma attacks annually. 13 (4) Nationally the prevalence of asthma among 14 children is 8.4 percent. 15 (5) When asthma is controlled, it can lead to 16 fewer school and work days missed, hospitalizations, 17 and emergency room visits. 18 (6) While asthma is often believed to be a 19 greater problem for urban centers, the burden of 20 asthma on rural communities in the United States 21 is understudied. 22 (7) Some research suggests that certain rural 23 areas face the same risk factors as cities. 24 (8) Research shows that rural communities may 25 have a harder time accessing care for asthma, due 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4548.IH H4548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4548 IH to lack of transportation to and the distance of resi- 1 dents from health care services. 2 (9) Mobile asthma clinics have been proven to 3 help medically underserved communities manage this 4 disease while providing cost-saving measures. 5 SEC. 3. ADDRESSING THE BURDEN OF ASTHMA IN RURAL 6 AREAS AND MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED COM- 7 MUNITIES. 8 (a) GRANTS FOR MOBILE CLINICS AND DISTANCE 9 LEARNING AND TELEMEDICINE.— 10 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Director of the Cen- 11 ters for Disease Control and Prevention may award 12 grants to eligible counties for the use of mobile clin- 13 ics and distance learning and telemedicine— 14 (A) to diagnose and treat children with 15 asthma in rural areas, and medically under- 16 served communities, in eligible counties; and 17 (B) to educate individuals in such areas 18 and communities about asthma. 19 (2) SUBGRANTS.—An eligible county receiving a 20 grant under paragraph (1) may use the grant funds 21 to award subgrants to schools, hospitals, or other 22 local organizations to administer mobile clinics and 23 distance learning and telemedicine in the county for 24 the purposes listed in paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4548.IH H4548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4548 IH (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 1 (A) The term ‘‘children’’ means individuals 2 under 18 years of age. 3 (B) The term ‘‘eligible counties’’ means 4 counties that each have a prevalence of asthma 5 of 12 percent or higher among children. 6 (C) The term ‘‘medically underserved com- 7 munity’’ has the meaning given such term in 8 section 799B of the Public Health Service Act 9 (42 U.S.C. 295p). 10 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 11 carry out this subsection, there is authorized to be 12 appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 13 2020 through 2024. 14 (b) STUDY.—The Director of the Centers for Disease 15 Control and Prevention shall— 16 (1) conduct a study on— 17 (A) the burden of asthma in rural areas of 18 the United States; 19 (B) risk and protective factors for asthma 20 in such areas; and 21 (C) best practices for preventing and treat- 22 ing asthma in such areas; 23 (2) ensure that data used in such study is 24 disaggregated such that no racial or ethnic subgroup 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4548.IH H4548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4548 IH is overlooked due to the absence of asthma in the 1 larger group to which that subgroup belongs; and 2 (3) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 3 actment of this Act, complete such study and submit 4 a report to the Congress on the results of such 5 study. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4548.IH H4548 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS