Patient Advocate Act of 2008
Latest action · Sep 27, 2008 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2044)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 25, 2008
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Patient Advocate Act of 2008 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program under which the Secretary may make grants for the development and operation of programs to provide services for patients to resolve health insurance, job retention, and debt crisis matters related to the patients' diagnosis and illness. Includes as services to be provided by grant recipients: (1) acting as contacts for individuals who are seeking prevention or early detection services or treatment for an adverse health condition; (2) facilitating the involvement of community organizations in assisting individuals to receive better access to high-quality health care services; (3) notifying individuals of clinical trials and facilitating enrollment of individuals in trials; (4) anticipating, identifying, and helping individuals to overcome barriers within the health care system to ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment; (5) coordinating with the relevant health insurance ombudsman programs to provide information to individuals about health coverage; and (6) conducting ongoing outreach to health disparity populations in addition to assisting other individuals to seek preventive care.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) require grantees to prohibit any patient health advocate providing services under the grant from accepting any referral fee, kickback, or other thing of value in return for referring an individual to a particular health care provider; and (2) prohibit the use of any grant funds to pay any fees or costs resulting from any proceeding to resolve a legal dispute.
Sets forth provisions prohibiting discrimination in any program or activities funded or otherwise financially assisted under this Act.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 29, 2008 to Oct 2, 2008.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Edolphus Towns | Sep 29, 2008 | |
| D-VI | Donna M. Christensen | Oct 2, 2008 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 27, 2008Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2044)
- Sep 25, 2008Introduced in House
- Sep 25, 2008Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Sep 25, 2008Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Access to health care
- Clinical trials
- Conflict of interests
- Continuum of care
- Debt
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Government Operations and Politics
- Grants-in-aid
- Health
- Health insurance
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Legal fees
- Medical ethics
- Medical tests
- Minorities
- Minority health
- Ombudsman
- Patient satisfaction
- Patients' rights
- Preventive medicine
- Social Welfare
- Social work
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 25, 2008Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.