Disability:
Summary of the "National Pain Care Policy Act of 2003"

Section 1: Short Title

Provides that the title of the bill shall be the "National Pain Care Policy Act of 2003."

Section 2: White House Conference on Pain Care

Authorizes a White House Conference on Pain Care.

The purposes of the conference would be to:

• Increase the awareness of pain as a significant public health problem
• Assess the adequacy of diagnosis and treatment of pain care
• Identify barriers to appropriate pain care
• Establish an agenda for the Decade of Pain Control and Research, stimulating public and private sector efforts to improve the state of pain care research, education, and clinical care by the year 2010

Establishes a National Center for Pain and Palliative Care Research at the National Institutes of Health. Primary functions of the Center would include:

• Supporting clinical and basic science research into the causes and effective treatments for pain
• Initiating a comprehensive program of collaborative interdisciplinary research among schools, colleges, and universities
• Establishing a national agenda for conducting and supporting pain research, including acute pain; cancer and HIV-related pain; chronic and intractable pain; and other painful conditions
• Coordinating all pain research and related activities being carried out at NIH
• Issuing an annual report on the state of public and private funding for pain care research
• Establishes a National Pain and Palliative Care Research Center Advisory Board at NIH.
• Authorizes six regional pain research centers.
  Requires a national consensus conference of prominent researchers and clinicians in the field of pain care research and treatment.

Section 4: Pain Care Education and Training

Requires the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to:

• Collect and disseminate protocols and evidence-based practices regarding pain and palliative care clinicians and the general public.
• Fund education and training programs for health care professionals in pain and palliative care.

Section 5: Public Awareness Campaign on Pain Management

Requires the Secretary of DHHS to develop and implement a national outreach and awareness campaign to educate consumers, patients, families and other caregivers on:

• The significance of pain as a national public health problem
• The risks to patients if pain is not properly treated
• The availability of treatment options for different types of pain
• The patients right to have pain assessed and treated across health care settings
• Where patients and other consumers can go for help in dealing with pain

Section 6: Pain Care Initiative in Military Health Facilities

Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a pain care initiative in all military health care facilities to ensure that all personnel receiving treatment in military health care facilities are assessed for pain at the time of admission or initial treatment, and that they receive appropriate pain care.

Section 7: Pain Care Standards in Medicare+Choice Plans

Requires managed health care plans that offer Medicare+Choice plans to older persons to offer appropriate care for the treatment of patients in pain, including specialty and tertiary care for patients with intractable pain.

Section 8: Pain Care Standards in TRICARE Plans

Requires similar protections for military personnel and dependents enrolled in TRICARE plans.

Section 9: Annual Report on Medicare Expenditures for Pain Care Services

Requires CMS to submit to Congress an annual report on Medicare expenditures for pain and palliative care.

Section 10: Pain Care Initiative in Veterans Health Care Facilities

Requires the Secretary of the VA to develop and implement a pain care initiative in all VA health care facilities to ensure that all veterans receiving treatment in those facilities are assessed for pain at the time of admission or initial treatment, and that they receive appropriate pain care.