Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2527 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2527
5	5	To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve children’s vision and
6	6	eye health through grants to States, territories, and Tribal organizations,
7	7	and the provision of technical assistance to support those efforts.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	MARCH31, 2025
10	10	Mr. V
11	11	EASEY(for himself and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced the following bill;
12	12	which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve chil-
15	15	dren’s vision and eye health through grants to States,
16	16	territories, and Tribal organizations, and the provision
17	17	of technical assistance to support those efforts.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Detection of Vi-4
22	22	sion Impairments for Children Act of 2025’’. 5
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25	25	•HR 2527 IH
26	26	SEC. 2. STATEWIDE EARLY VISION DETECTION AND INTER-1
27	27	VENTION PROGRAMS AND SYSTEMS RELATED 2
28	28	TO CHILDREN’S VISION AND EYE HEALTH. 3
29	29	Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act 4
30	30	(42 U.S.C. 280h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5
31	31	the following: 6
32	32	‘‘SEC. 399Z–3. STATEWIDE EARLY VISION DETECTION AND 7
33	33	INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND SYSTEMS 8
34	34	RELATED TO CHILDREN’S VISION AND EYE 9
35	35	HEALTH. 10
36	36	‘‘(a) G
37	37	RANTS ORCOOPERATIVEAGREEMENTS.— 11
38	38	‘‘(1) I
39	39	N GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 12
40	40	through the Administrator of the Health Resources 13
41	41	and Services Administration, shall make awards of 14
42	42	grants or cooperative agreements to eligible entities 15
43	43	to develop and implement statewide early detection 16
44	44	and intervention programs and systems related to 17
45	45	children’s vision and eye health. 18
46	46	‘‘(2) E
47	47	LIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 19
48	48	grant or cooperative agreement under paragraph (1), 20
49	49	an entity shall— 21
50	50	‘‘(A) be a State, territory, Indian Tribe or 22
51	51	Tribal organization, or Urban Indian organiza-23
52	52	tion, including a State or community depart-24
53	53	ment of children and families, health, or public 25
54	54	health, or a State educational agency; and 26
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57	57	•HR 2527 IH
58	58	‘‘(B) submit to the Secretary an applica-1
59	59	tion at such time, in such manner, and con-2
60	60	taining such information as the Secretary may 3
61	61	require. 4
62	62	‘‘(3) U
63	63	SE OF AWARDS .—Amounts provided 5
64	64	under a grant or cooperative agreement under para-6
65	65	graph (1) shall be used for three or more of the fol-7
66	66	lowing activities: 8
67	67	‘‘(A) Implementing early detection prac-9
68	68	tices (such as vision screening) and intervention 10
69	69	initiatives for the purpose of identifying vision 11
70	70	concerns in children as they engage in the med-12
71	71	ical, home, public educational, or early learning 13
72	72	setting, promoting referrals to eye care, and 14
73	73	promoting the use of evidence-based and age- 15
74	74	appropriate standards guided by nationally rec-16
75	75	ognized and uniform guidelines. 17
76	76	‘‘(B) Developing an integrated approach to 18
77	77	State-level data collection and management to 19
78	78	advance State-based performance improvement 20
79	79	systems and uniform children’s vision and eye 21
80	80	health guidelines across relevant and appro-22
81	81	priate State-level jurisdictions. 23
82	82	‘‘(C) Identifying strategies to improve eye 24
83	83	health outcomes, expand access to care, and re-25
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86	86	•HR 2527 IH
87	87	duce health disparities for the detection, diag-1
88	88	nosis, and treatment of ocular disease and eye 2
89	89	conditions in children who experience barriers 3
90	90	to eye care from rural and underserved popu-4
91	91	lations. 5
92	92	‘‘(D) Raising awareness by providing the 6
93	93	public, including families, guardians (perma-7
94	94	nent, legal, or temporary), family or community 8
95	95	caregivers, and early learning settings with chil-9
96	96	dren’s vision and eye health information that is 10
97	97	accurate, accessible, culturally and linguistically 11
98	98	competent, comprehensive, up-to-date, and evi-12
99	99	dence-based or evidence-informed. 13
100	100	‘‘(E) Establishing a coordinated public 14
101	101	health system for vision care and eye health, in-15
102	102	cluding early detection, referral to eye care, di-16
103	103	agnosis and intervention, and follow-up for chil-17
104	104	dren. 18
105	105	‘‘(F) Providing referrals to wrap-around 19
106	106	vision services, as necessary, for a future of 20
107	107	independent living. 21
108	108	‘‘(4) C
109	109	OLLABORATION WITH NECESSARY COM -22
110	110	MUNITY AND STATE PARTNERS .—In carrying out ac-23
111	111	tivities under this subsection, the recipient of a 24
112	112	grant or cooperative agreement shall consult with 25
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115	115	•HR 2527 IH
116	116	necessary community and State partners, including 1
117	117	State agencies responsible for the administration of 2
118	118	title V of Social Security Act (the Maternal and 3
119	119	Child Health Block Grant Program), title XIX of 4
120	120	such Act (the Medicaid Early Periodic Screening, 5
121	121	Diagnosis, and Treatment Program), title XXI of 6
122	122	such Act (the State Children’s Health Insurance 7
123	123	Program), and parts B and C of the Individuals 8
124	124	with Disabilities Education Act, the Indian Health 9
125	125	Service, and consumer groups for the purposes of 10
126	126	program and policy development, collaboration, and 11
127	127	improvement. 12
128	128	‘‘(5) E
129	129	VALUATION AND REPORT .— 13
130	130	‘‘(A) I
131	131	N GENERAL.—An entity that re-14
132	132	ceives a grant or cooperative agreement under 15
133	133	this subsection shall annually submit to the 16
134	134	Secretary a report that describes the activities 17
135	135	carried out under the grant or agreement, in-18
136	136	cluding a description of the period of perform-19
137	137	ance covered under the report, the scope of ac-20
138	138	tivities carried out during such period, the out-21
139	139	comes of such activities, and a demonstration of 22
140	140	whether funding recipients have met project 23
141	141	goals for the designated time period outlined in 24
142	142	the initial application under paragraph (2). 25
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145	145	•HR 2527 IH
146	146	‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS .—The 1
147	147	Secretary shall make available to the general 2
148	148	public the annual reports under subparagraph 3
149	149	(A). 4
150	150	‘‘(b) T
151	151	ECHNICALASSISTANCE.— 5
152	152	‘‘(1) I
153	153	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 6
154	154	eligible entities under subsection (a) with technical 7
155	155	support in the development, implementation, and en-8
156	156	hancement of activities described in such subsection. 9
157	157	‘‘(2) G
158	158	RANTS.—The Secretary, acting through 10
159	159	the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 11
160	160	Prevention, shall award grants or cooperative agree-12
161	161	ments to provide technical assistance to eligible enti-13
162	162	ties to— 14
163	163	‘‘(A) develop, maintain, and improve data 15
164	164	collection systems related to children’s vision 16
165	165	screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and interven-17
166	166	tion services; 18
167	167	‘‘(B) disseminate information for stake-19
168	168	holders, including States and local governments, 20
169	169	Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Urban In-21
170	170	dian organizations, public health departments, 22
171	171	and nonprofit organizations, to launch effective 23
172	172	strategies and interventions in preventing and 24
173	173	treating childhood vision disorders; 25
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176	176	•HR 2527 IH
177	177	‘‘(C) conduct applied research related to 1
178	178	early vision screening and intervention pro-2
179	179	grams and outcomes; 3
180	180	‘‘(D) ensure quality monitoring of vision 4
181	181	screening, evaluation, and intervention pro-5
182	182	grams and systems; and 6
183	183	‘‘(E) assist eligible entities in coordinating 7
184	184	on best practices and maintaining national 8
185	185	goals related to vision and eye health. 9
186	186	‘‘(3) E
187	187	VALUATION.— 10
188	188	‘‘(A) I
189	189	N GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 11
190	190	after the date of enactment of this section, the 12
191	191	recipient of a grant or cooperative agreement 13
192	192	under this subsection shall evaluate the activi-14
193	193	ties conducted with funds received under this 15
194	194	section and submit a report to the Secretary on 16
195	195	the outcomes, costs, and program effectiveness 17
196	196	of such activities. 18
197	197	‘‘(B) C
198	198	ONTENTS.—A report under sub-19
199	199	paragraph (A) shall be in such form and con-20
200	200	tain such information as the Secretary deter-21
201	201	mines appropriate. 22
202	202	‘‘(C) S
203	203	UBMISSION.—Upon determination 23
204	204	by the Secretary that a report under subpara-24
205	205	graph (A) meets the requirements of this para-25
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208	208	•HR 2527 IH
209	209	graph, the recipient shall submit the report to 1
210	210	Congress. 2
211	211	‘‘(4) E
212	212	LIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 3
213	213	grant or cooperative agreement under this sub-4
214	214	section, an entity shall be a public or nonprofit pri-5
215	215	vate organization or institution, with expertise, or 6
216	216	demonstrated proficiency, in developing systems- 7
217	217	based approaches to children’s vision and eye health 8
218	218	for the purpose of providing technical assistance in 9
219	219	relation to one or more of the activities described in 10
220	220	subsection (a). 11
221	221	‘‘(c) C
222	222	OORDINATION AND CONSULTATION.—The Sec-12
223	223	retary shall coordinate and consult with the Health Re-13
224	224	sources and Services Administration, the Centers for Dis-14
225	225	ease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & 15
226	226	Medicaid Services, the Administration for Communities 16
227	227	and Families, the Indian Health Service, and the Depart-17
228	228	ment of Education on recommendations for policy develop-18
229	229	ment at the Federal, State, and Tribal levels with the pri-19
230	230	vate sector, including consumer, medical, and other health 20
231	231	and education child serving not-for-profit organizations 21
232	232	with respect to early detection and intervention programs 22
233	233	and systems. 23
234	234	‘‘(d) D
235	235	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 24
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238	238	•HR 2527 IH
239	239	‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 1
240	240	has the meaning given to the term ‘Indian tribe’ in 2
241	241	section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian 3
242	242	Tribe List Act of 1994. 4
243	243	‘‘(2) S
244	244	TATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY .—The term 5
245	245	‘State educational agency’ has the meaning given 6
246	246	such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 7
247	247	Secondary Education Act of 1965. 8
248	248	‘‘(3) T
249	249	RIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Tribal 9
250	250	organization’ has the meaning given such term in 10
251	251	section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-11
252	252	cation Assistance Act. 12
253	253	‘‘(4) U
254	254	RBAN INDIAN ORGANIZATION .—The term 13
255	255	‘Urban Indian organization’ has the meaning given 14
256	256	such term in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 15
257	257	Improvement Act. 16
258	258	‘‘(e) A
259	259	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 17
260	260	are authorized to be appropriated— 18
261	261	‘‘(1) to carry out this section, other than sub-19
262	262	section (a)(5), $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20
263	263	2026 through 2030; and 21
264	264	‘‘(2) to carry out subsection (a)(5), $5,000,000 22
265	265	for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.’’. 23
266	266	Æ
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