Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 100 Part 5.djvu/279

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PUBLIC LAW 99-000—MMMM. DD, 1986

PUBLIC LAW 99-660—NOV. 14, 1986

100 STAT. 3753

gram; and one shall be the chief State official responsible for administering the State maternal and child health programs. (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall be a member. (5) The Comptroller General of the United States shall be a member. (6) Six at large members, with demonstrated expertise in maternal and child health, including representatives of health care consumer and provider organizations, shall be jointly selected by the majority leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. (c) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The Commission shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among its members. (d) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings. (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson. (f) VACANCIES.—Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

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SEC. 204. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

42 USC 285g '-

(a) DUTIES.—The Commission shall: (1) Identify and examine comprehensively Federal, State, local, and private resources which impact infant mortality, including but not limited to— (A) the effectiveness and adequacy of programs such as the Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants, and Children; the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant; Community Health Centers; prepregnancy services and other programs that increase access to prenatal and postnatal education, care, and nutrition; (B) the effectiveness of current Federal and State policies under the Medicaid Program to ensure adequate access to prenatal and post-natal care for low-income pregnant women, mothers, and infants up to age one; (C) the role of income maintenance and other programs that impact infant mortality such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Federal housing subsidies; (D) the adequacy of current Federal and State efforts to enable an appropriate distribution of properly trained health care professionals to provide comprehensive maternal and child health services; (E) the adequacy of private health care financing systems and mechanisms to enable pregnant women and infants to receive comprehensive health care; and (F) the adequacy of the national biostatistics registration ^ system with respect to the collection and reporting of infant health statistics. (2) Identify current financial, intergovernmental, and within the Federal Government, interagency barriers to the health care needed to prevent high infant mortality. (3) Review recommendations made in recent regional and national reports that promote the health status of childbearing women and their infants and carry forward such recommendations as deemed appropriate.

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