42 U.S.C. § 255 — Home health services

Page 427 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 255 (b) Obligated service (1) In general Any service described in subsection (a) that a participant provides may count towards such participant’s completion of any obligated serv- ice requirements under the Scholarship Pro- gram or the Loan Repayment Program, sub- ject to any limitation imposed under para- graph (2). (2) Limitation The Secretary may impose a limitation on the number of hours of service described in subsection (a) that a participant may credit towards completing obligated service require- ments, provided that the limitation allows a member to credit service described in sub- section (a) for not less than 50 percent of the total hours required to complete such obli- gated service requirements. (c) Rule of construction The authorization under subsection (a) shall be notwithstanding any other provision of this subpart or subpart II. (July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, § 338N, as added Pub. L. 115–271, title VII, § 7072, Oct. 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 4030.) SUBPART IV—HOME HEALTH SERVICES Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Pub. L. 100–177, title II, § 202(f)(1), Dec. 1, 1987, 101 Stat. 999, substituted ‘‘IV’’ for ‘‘III’’ as subpart designa- tion. Pub. L. 97–414, § 6(a), Jan. 4, 1983, 96 Stat. 2057, added heading ‘‘Subpart III—Home Health Services’’. Pub. L. 95–626, title I, § 105(b), title II, § 207(a), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3560, 3585, struck out heading ‘‘Part D— Lepers’’ and added heading ‘‘Subpart III—Home Health Services’’. § 255. Home health services (a) Purpose; authorization of grants and loans; considerations; conditions on loans; appro- priations (1) For the purpose of encouraging the estab- lishment and initial operation of home health programs to provide home health services in areas in which such services are inadequate or not readily accessible, the Secretary may, in ac- cordance with the provisions of this section, make grants to public and nonprofit private en- tities and loans to proprietary entities to meet the initial costs of establishing and operating such home health programs. Such grants and loans may include funds to provide training for paraprofessionals (including homemaker home health aides) to provide home health services. (2) In making grants and loans under this sub- section, the Secretary shall— (A) consider the relative needs of the several States for home health services; (B) give preference to areas in which a high percentage of the population proposed to be served is composed of individuals who are el- derly, medically indigent, or disabled; and (C) give special consideration to areas with inadequate means of transportation to obtain necessary health services. (3)(A) No loan may be made to a proprietary entity under this section unless the application of such entity for such loan contains assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that— (i) at the time the application is made the entity is fiscally sound; (ii) the entity is unable to secure a loan for the project for which the application is sub- mitted from non-Federal lenders at the rate of interest prevailing in the area in which the en- tity is located; and (iii) during the period of the loan, such enti- ty will remain fiscally sound. (B) Loans under this section shall be made at an interest rate comparable to the rate of inter- est prevailing on the date the loan is made with respect to the marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities, ad- justed to provide for administrative costs. (4) Applications for grants and loans under this subsection shall be in such form and con- tain such information as the Secretary shall prescribe. (5) There are authorized to be appropriated for grants and loans under this subsection $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending on September 30, 1983, September 30, 1984, September 30, 1985, September 30, 1986, and September 30, 1987. (b) Grants and contracts for training programs for paraprofessionals; considerations; appli- cations; appropriations (1) The Secretary may make grants to and enter into contracts with public and private en- tities to assist them in developing appropriate training programs for paraprofessionals (includ- ing homemaker home health aides) to provide home health services. (2) Any program established with a grant or contract under this subsection to train home- maker home health aides shall— (A) extend for at least forty hours, and con- sist of classroom instruction and at least twenty hours (in the aggregate) of supervised clinical instruction directed toward preparing students to deliver home health services; (B) be carried out under appropriate profes- sional supervision and be designed to train students to maintain or enhance the personal care of an individual in his home in a manner which promotes the functional independence of the individual; and (C) include training in— (i) personal care services designed to assist an individual in the activities of daily living such as bathing, exercising, personal groom- ing, and getting in and out of bed; and (ii) household care services such as main- taining a safe living environment, light housekeeping, and assisting in providing good nutrition (by the purchasing and prepa- ration of food). (3) In making grants and entering into con- tracts under this subsection, special consider- ation shall be given to entities which establish or will establish programs to provide training for persons fifty years of age and older who wish to become paraprofessionals (including home- maker home health aides) to provide home health services. Page 428 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 256 (4) Applications for grants and contracts under this subsection shall be in such form and con- tain such information as the Secretary shall prescribe. (5) There are authorized to be appropriated for grants and contracts under this subsection $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years ending Sep- tember 30, 1983, September 30, 1984, September 30, 1985, September 30, 1986, and September 30, 1987. (c) Report to Congress with respect to grants and loans and training of personnel The Secretary shall report to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives on or before Janu- ary 1, 1984, with respect to— (1) the impact of grants made and contracts entered into under subsections (a) and (b) (as such subsections were in effect prior to Octo- ber 1, 1981); (2) the need to continue grants and loans under subsections (a) and (b) (as such sub- sections are in effect on the day after January 4, 1983); and (3) the extent to which standards have been applied to the training of personnel who pro- vide home health services. (d) ‘‘Home health services’’ defined For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘home health services’’ has the meaning prescribed for the term by section 1395x(m) of this title. (July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, § 339, as added Pub. L. 97–414, § 6(a), Jan. 4, 1983, 96 Stat. 2057; amend- ed Pub. L. 98–555, § 6, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2856.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Subsections (a) and (b) (as such subsections were in effect prior to October 1, 1981), referred to in subsec. (c)(1), mean subsections (a) and (b) of section 255 of this title prior to repeal of section 255 by Pub. L. 97–35, title IX, § 902(b), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 559, effective Oct. 1, 1981. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 255, act July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, § 339, as added Nov. 10, 1978, Pub. L. 95–626, title II, § 207(a), 92 Stat. 3585, related to grant authority, etc., for home health services, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 97–35, title IX, § 902(b), (h), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 559, 561, eff. Oct. 1, 1981. Another prior section 339 of act July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, formerly § 331, 58 Stat. 698; June 25, 1948, ch. 654, § 4, 62 Stat. 1018; June 25, 1952, ch. 460, 66 Stat. 157; July 12, 1960, Pub. L. 86–624, § 29(b), 74 Stat. 419; renum- bered § 339, Oct. 12, 1976, Pub. L. 94–484, title IV, § 407(b)(2), 90 Stat. 2268, which related to reception of persons suffering from leprosy in any hospital, was re- numbered section 320 of act July 1, 1944, and transferred to section 247e of this title. AMENDMENTS 1984—Subsecs. (a)(5), (b)(5). Pub. L. 98–555 inserted provisions authorizing appropriations for fiscal years ending Sept. 30, 1985, 1986, and 1987. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Committee on Labor and Human Resources of Senate changed to Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of Senate by Senate Resolution No. 20, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 19, 1999. Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104–14, set out as a note preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress. Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives changed to Committee on En- ergy and Commerce of House of Representatives, and jurisdiction over matters relating to securities and ex- changes and insurance generally transferred to Com- mittee on Financial Services of House of Representa- tives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Jan. 3, 2001. REPORT TO CONGRESS CONCERNING RESULTS OF STUD- IES EVALUATING HOME AND COMMUNITY BASED HEALTH SERVICES; STUDIES OF REIMBURSEMENT METHODOLOGIES; INVESTIGATION OF FRAUD; DEM- ONSTRATION PROJECTS; HOME HEALTH SERVICES, DE- FINED Pub. L. 97–414, § 6(b)–(f), Jan. 4, 1983, 96 Stat. 2058, 2059, directed Secretary of Health and Human Services to re- port results of studies evaluating home and community based health services, and any recommendations for legislative action which might improve the provision of such services, to Congress prior to Jan. 1, 1985, to com- pile and analyze results of significant public or private studies relating to reimbursement methodologies for home health services and to report recommendations to Congress within 180 days after Jan. 4, 1983, to inves- tigate methods available to stem medicare and med- icaid fraud and abuse and extent to which such meth- ods are applied and to report results to Congress within 18 months of Jan. 4, 1983, and to develop and carry out demonstration projects commencing no later than Jan. 1, 1984, to test methods for identifying patients at risk of institutionalization who could be treated more cost- effectively with home health services, and to test alter- native reimbursement methodologies for home health agencies in order to determine most cost-effective way of providing home health services, and to report to Congress with regard to the demonstrations no later than Jan. 1, 1985; and defined ‘‘home health services’’ for purposes of this section. SUBPART V—HEALTHY COMMUNITIES ACCESS PROGRAM Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior subpart VI, consisting of section 256a, related to health services for residents of public housing, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–299, § 4(a)(3), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3645. § 256. Grants to strengthen the effectiveness, effi- ciency, and coordination of services for the uninsured and underinsured (a) In general The Secretary may award grants to eligible entities to assist in the development of inte- grated health care delivery systems to serve communities of individuals who are uninsured and individuals who are underinsured— (1) to improve the efficiency of, and coordi- nation among, the providers providing services through such systems; (2) to assist communities in developing pro- grams targeted toward preventing and man- aging chronic diseases; and (3) to expand and enhance the services pro- vided through such systems. (b) Eligible entities To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an entity shall be an entity that—