PRINTER'S NO. 449
No. 444 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY SCHWARTZ, KASUNIC, COSTA, BODACK, BELAN, KUKOVICH,
O'PAKE, BOSCOLA, STOUT AND KITCHEN, FEBRUARY 22, 1999
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, FEBRUARY 22, 1999
AN ACT
1 Providing for community health partnerships and for grants;
2 establishing the Community Health Partnership Technical
3 Assistance Fund; providing additional powers and duties of
4 the Department of Health; and making appropriations.
5 The General Assembly finds as follows:
6 (1) That all Pennsylvanians must have access to
7 appropriate and necessary quality health care.
8 (2) That health care in this Commonwealth must be
9 affordable.
10 (3) That improvements in the health status of
11 Pennsylvanians must be the primary measure of the success of
12 our health care system.
13 (4) That health care and health care needs vary from
14 community to community.
15 (5) That to insure that health care resources are best
16 allocated to meet the particular health care needs of a
17 community, communities must collect the information needed to
18 make these allocations and planning decisions and this
19 information should be available and used by communities to
1 plan for immediate and future health needs.
2 (6) That improvements in the overall quality of life in
3 a community requires coordination between health care
4 providers, human service providers, educators and other
5 leaders in the community.
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Community
8 Health Partnership Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Community health partnership" or "partnership." A nonprofit
14 corporation capable of carrying out the purposes of this act.
15 "Department." The Department of Health of this Commonwealth.
16 Section 3. Community health partnership.
17 (a) Board of directors.--A partnership shall be governed by
18 a board of directors, the members of which shall be fairly
19 representative of the community which the partnership serves and
20 shall include at least one of each of the following:
21 (1) A local government official.
22 (2) A representative of the business community.
23 (3) A representative of organized labor.
24 (4) A health care consumer.
25 (5) An educator.
26 (6) A health care provider.
27 (7) A human service provider.
28 (8) A health care insurer.
29 (b) Geographic boundaries.--The geographic boundaries of the
30 community health partnerships shall be the health service
19990S0444B0449 - 2 -
1 regions established by the Health Care Cost Containment Council.
2 Section 4. Grant program.
3 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established the
4 Community Health Partnership Grant Program. This program shall
5 be administered by the department.
6 (b) Purpose.--Grants made under this program shall be used
7 for all of the following purposes which the partnership is
8 required to perform:
9 (1) To conduct a community health status assessment to
10 define the health status of the region's population,
11 determine unmet health care needs and identify other health
12 care problems and opportunities.
13 (2) To encourage cooperative action and pilot
14 initiatives to address specific health care needs and improve
15 the efficiency and effectiveness of health delivery system.
16 (3) To encourage health providers in the region to
17 utilize health assessment data in making decisions on health
18 care resource allocations and capital expansions.
19 (4) To educate the community on local health issues.
20 (5) To advise the department of community health care
21 needs, opportunities and deficiencies in the allocation of
22 health care resources.
23 (c) Optional use.--A partnership may use grant money for any
24 other related purpose, provided it has or will perform the
25 requirements of subsection (b).
26 (d) Application.--A partnership may apply to the department
27 for a grant in such manner as the department shall prescribe.
28 (e) Allocation formula.--The department shall develop a
29 formula to allocate grant funds based on the population within
30 boundaries of the partnership. A grant shall be made only when
19990S0444B0449 - 3 -
1 the partnership can demonstrate that it can match 50% of the
2 grant award from non-State sources.
3 Section 5. Community Health Partnership Technical Assistance
4 Fund.
5 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a separate
6 account in the State Treasury to be known as the Community
7 Health Partnership Technical Assistance Fund. This fund shall be
8 administered by the Department of Health.
9 (b) Purpose.--The department shall use moneys of this fund
10 to purchase, up to a maximum of $50,000 per year, the services
11 of any Commonwealth academic health center, graduate school of
12 public health, State agency or private nonprofit health research
13 organization approved by the department to provide the technical
14 resources which a community health partnership may need to
15 fulfill the purposes of this act.
16 (c) Procedure.--A partnership shall make its request to the
17 department for purchase of technical assistance. The department
18 shall respond to the request within 30 days. The department
19 shall not unreasonably deny a request for purchase of technical
20 assistance.
21 Section 6. Rules and regulations.
22 The department shall, in the manner provided by law,
23 promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to carry out this
24 act.
25 Section 7. Appropriation.
26 (a) Grants.--The sum of $1,000,000 is hereby appropriated to
27 the Department of Health for grants under section 4.
28 (b) Technical assistance.--The sum of $400,000 is hereby
29 appropriated to the Department of Health for the fund
30 established under section 5.
19990S0444B0449 - 4 -
1 (c) No lapse.--The appropriations made under this section
2 shall not lapse.
3 Section 8. Effective date.
4 This act shall take effect July 1, 1999, or immediately,
5 whichever is later.
A7L35DMS/19990S0444B0449 - 5 -