SEC. 263. CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP AND DUTIES OF NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON VITAL AND
HEALTH STATISTICS.
Title[ Title II\Subtitle F Contents
Section 306(k) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k(k))
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``16'' and inserting
``18'';
(2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) The members of the Committee shall be appointed from among
persons who have distinguished themselves in the fields of health
statistics, electronic interchange of health care information, privacy
and security of electronic information, population-based public health,
purchasing or financing health care services, integrated computerized
health information systems, health services research, consumer interests
in health information, health data standards, epidemiology, and the
provision of health services. Members of the Committee shall be
appointed for terms of 4 years.'';
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as
paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively, and inserting after
paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Of the members of the Committee--
``(A) 1 shall be appointed, not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996, by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives after consultation with the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives;
``(B) 1 shall be appointed, not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996, by the President pro tempore of the
Senate after consultation with the Minority Leader of the
Senate; and
``(C) 16 shall be appointed by the Secretary.'';
(4) by amending paragraph (5) (as so redesignated) to read
as follows:
``(5) The Committee--
``(A) shall assist and advise the Secretary--
``(i) to delineate statistical problems bearing on
health and health services which are of national or
international interest;
``(ii) to stimulate studies of such problems by
other organizations and agencies whenever possible or to
make investigations of such problems through
subcommittees;
``(iii) to determine, approve, and revise the terms,
definitions, classifications, and guidelines for
assessing health status and health services, their
distribution and costs, for use (I) within the
Department of Health and Human Services, (II) by all
programs administered or funded by the Secretary,
including the Federal-State-local cooperative health
statistics system referred to in subsection (e), and
(III) to the extent possible as determined by the head
of the agency involved, by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the Department of Defense, and other Federal
agencies concerned with health and health services;
``(iv) with respect to the design of and approval of
health statistical and health information systems
concerned with the collection, processing, and
tabulation of health statistics within the Department of
Health and Human Services, with respect to the
Cooperative Health Statistics System established under
subsection (e), and with respect to the standardized
means for the collection of health information and
statistics to be established by the Secretary under
subsection (j)(1);
``(v) to review and comment on findings and
proposals developed by other organizations and agencies
and to make recommendations for their adoption or
implementation by local, State, national, or
international agencies;
``(vi) to cooperate with national committees of
other countries and with the World Health Organization
and other national agencies in the studies of problems
of mutual interest;
``(vii) to issue <<NOTE: Reports.>> an annual
report on the state of the Nation's health, its health
services, their costs and distributions, and to make
proposals for improvement of the Nation's health
statistics and health information systems; and
``(viii) in complying with the requirements imposed
on the Secretary under part C of title XI of the Social
Security Act;
``(B) shall study the issues related to the adoption of
uniform data standards for patient medical record information
and the electronic exchange of such information;
``(C) shall <<NOTE: Reports.>> report to the Secretary not
later than 4 years after the date of the enactment of the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
recommendations and legislative proposals for such standards and
electronic exchange; and
``(D) shall be responsible generally for advising the
Secretary and the Congress on the status of the implementation
of part C of title XI of the Social Security Act.''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(7) <<NOTE: Reports.>> Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996, and annually thereafter, the Committee shall submit to the
Congress, and make public, a report regarding the implementation of part
C of title XI of the Social Security Act. Such report shall address the
following subjects, to the extent that the Committee determines
appropriate:
``(A) The extent to which persons required to comply with
part C of title XI of the Social Security Act are cooperating in
implementing the standards adopted under such part.
``(B) The extent to which such entities are meeting the
security standards adopted under such part and the types of
penalties assessed for noncompliance with such standards.
``(C) Whether the Federal and State Governments are
receiving information of sufficient quality to meet their
responsibilities under such part.
``(D) Any problems that exist with respect to implementation
of such part.
``(E) The extent to which timetables under such part are
being met.''.
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