Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 4.djvu/599

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PUBLIC LAW 101-590 —NOV. 16, 1990 104 STAT. 2915 Public Law 101-590 101st Congress An Act To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve emergency medical services and trauma care, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the "Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1990". SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) the Federal Government and the governments of the States have established a history of cooperation in the development, implementation, and monitoring of integrated, comprehensive systems for the provision of emergency medical services throughout the United States; (2) physical trauma is the leading cause of death of Americans between the ages of 1 and 44 and is the third leading cause of death in the general population of the United States; (3) physical trauma in the United States results in an aggregate annual cost of $180,000,000,000 in medical expenses, insurance, lost wages, and property damage; (4) barriers to the provision of prompt and appropriate emergency medical services exist in many areas of the United States; (5) few States and communities have developed and implemented trauma care systems; (6) many trauma centers have incurred substantial uncompensated costs in providing trauma care, and such costs have caused many such centers to cease participation in trauma care systems; and (7) the number of incidents of physical trauma in the United States is a serious medical and social problem, and the number of deaths resulting from such incidents can be substantially reduced by improving the trauma-care components of the systems for the provision of emergency medical services in the United States. SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAMS WITH RESPECT TO TRAUMA CARE. The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title XI the following new title: Nov. 16, 1990 [H.R. 1602] Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1990. Intergovernmental relations. 42 USC 201 note. 42 USC 300d note.