Rep. SIMRILL proposes the following Amendment No. to H.5150 as Passed By The House

(Doc Name h:\legwork\house\amend\h-wm\001\h2-nola program.docx):

EXPLANATION: Appropriate $250,000 from HHS to NOLA program.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 33, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, page 366, after line 21, by adding an appropriately numbered proviso to read:

/(DHHS: NOLA Program) Of the funds appropriated to the department for the current fiscal year, $250,000 shall be utilized for No One Left Alone (NOLA) which is a community-based program designed to address the health equity challenges faced by individuals experiencing poverty in select South Carolina counties related to access to cancer care and support. The program shall include several sub-components including, but not limited to:

(1)access to precision medicine or comprehensive genomic profiling testing;

(2)hereditary cancer or GC testing;

(3)cancer screening services;

(4)cancer treatment;

(5)clinical trials; and;

(6)cancer care resources.

The program shall also identify issues that restrict patients access to care including, but not limited to:

(1)insurance status;

(2)mean family income;

(3)distance to travel to care and transportation options;

(4)food insecurity

(5)language barriers, and;

(6)literacy levels and cultural barriers in adoption of care.

Additionally, the program shall mobilize appropriate resources to support cancer patients, such as financial assistance for out-of-pocket costs for food, transportation to care, and household needs provided by CancerCare. In collaboration with North Central Family Medicine and Plexus Health, direct linkages between clinics and Carolina Blood and CancerCare Associates (CBCCA) may be utilized when the clinics identify cancer patients, cancer caregivers, and the bereaved. CBCCA shall be charged with:

(1)studying local resources the clinics use to assist their clients that might also prove helpful for cancer patients;

(2)collecting information through the NOLA intake form administered at CBCCA to identify barriers to care;

(3)utilizing the above data to carry out support services to CBCCA cancer patients via CBCCA and/or CancerCare;

(4)identifying the correlation of social determinants of health ( SDOH) to gaps in uptake in cancer screening services, biomarker testing, genetic testing, cancer care, and clinical trials; and;

(5)providing a report of these findings to the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee no later than the June 30, 2023. /

Amend totals and titles to conform.