H.R. 9877

Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026

Sponsor: Raul Ruiz

26 cosponsors
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I Data collection and reporting

Sec. 1010. Data collection regarding pandemic preparedness, testing, infections, and deaths

(a) Skilled nursing Facilities Quality Reporting. Section 1819 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

Text this section adds to the law

(l) Requirements relating to reporting during public health emergencies. During a public health emergency declared by the Secretary pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, a skilled nursing facility shall, not later than 1 year after the first day of such declaration, and monthly thereafter during the application of such declaration, submit to the Secretary the following information, with respect to such facility and the residents of such facility:

(1) Information described in section 483.80(g)(1) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations.

(2) The age, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and preferred language of the residents of such skilled nursing facility.

(b) Transparency of demographic information in certain settings

(1) Demographic information. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall post the following information with respect to skilled nursing facilities (as defined in section 1819(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(a))), congregate care settings (including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, prisons and jails, residential behavioral health care and psychiatric facilities, and facilities providing services for aging adults and people with disabilities), and nursing facilities (as defined in section 1919(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r(a))) on the Nursing Home Compare website (as described in section 1819(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(i))), or a successor website, aggregated by State:

(A) The age, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and preferred language of the residents of such skilled nursing facilities, congregate care settings (including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, prisons and jails, residential behavioral health care and psychiatric facilities, and facilities providing services for aging adults and people with disabilities), and nursing facilities with suspected or confirmed infections, including residents previously treated for COVID–19.

(B) The age, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and preferred language relating to total deaths and public health emergency-related deaths among residents of such skilled nursing facilities, congregate settings (including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, prisons and jails, residential behavioral health care and psychiatric facilities, and facilities providing services for aging adults and people with disabilities), and nursing facilities.

(2) Confidentiality. Any information reported under this subsection that is made available to the public shall be made so available in a manner that protects the identity of residents of skilled nursing facilities, congregate care settings (including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, prisons and jails, residential behavioral health care and psychiatric facilities, and facilities providing services for aging adults and people with disabilities), and nursing facilities.

(3) Implementation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may implement the provisions of this subsection by program instruction or otherwise.

(c) Equitable data collection and disclosure regarding pandemics. Part A of title XI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) as amended by section 1003, is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:

Text this section adds to the law

1150E. Equitable data collection and disclosure regarding pandemics

(a) In general. Not later than 60 days after the Secretary submits to Congress written notification of the determination that a disease or disorder presents a public health emergency or that a public health emergency otherwise exists, subject to subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and in consultation with the Director of the Indian Health Service, shall collect and make publicly available on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and update every day during a pandemic, data collected across all surveillance systems relating to a public health emergency declared under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act that is caused by a disease (as determined by the Secretary), disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, preferred language, socioeconomic status, disability status, and county. Such data shall include the following:

(1) Data relating to all testing for the pathogen or pathogens causing the pandemic, including the number of individuals tested and the number of tests that were positive.

(2) Data relating to treatment for the pathogen causing the pandemic, including hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions.

(3) Data relating to pandemic outcomes, including total fatalities and case fatality rates (expressed as the proportion of individuals who were infected with the pathogen causing the pandemic and died from the pathogen).

(4) In the case a vaccine is developed in response to a pandemic, data relating to such vaccination, including—

(A) the number of vaccines administered;

(B) the number of vaccinations offered, accepted, and refused;

(C) the most common reasons for refusal; and

(D) the percentage of vaccine doses allocated and administered to each priority group.

(b) Application of certain standards with respect to data collection. To the extent practicable, data collected under subsection (a) shall follow standards developed by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and be collected, analyzed, and reported in accordance with the standards promulgated by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation under title XXXI of the Public Health Service Act.

(c) Privacy. In publishing data pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall take all necessary steps to protect the privacy of individuals whose information is included in such data, including—

(1) complying with privacy protections provided under the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance and Accountability Act of 1996; and

(2) protections from all inappropriate internal use by an entity that collects, stores, or receives the data, including use of such data in determinations of eligibility (or continued eligibility) in health plans, and from inappropriate uses.

(d) Report requirements following public health emergencies

(1) Publicly available summary. Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary of Health and Human Services certifies that a public health emergency declared under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act has ended, the Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services a summary of the final statistics related to such emergency.

(2) Report to Congress. Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary of Health and Human Services certifies that a public health emergency declared under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act has ended, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report—

(A) describing the testing, hospitalization, mortality rates, vaccination rates, and preferred language of patients associated with the pandemic by race and ethnicity, rural and urban areas (as defined in section 1886(d)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(2)(D))), and congregate care settings (including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, prisons and jails, residential behavioral health care and psychiatric facilities, and facilities providing services for aging adults and people with disabilities) and noncongregate care settings (as such terms are defined by the Secretary); and

(B) proposing evidenced-based response strategies to safeguard the health of these communities in future pandemics.

II Culturally and linguistically appropriate health and health care

III Health workforce diversity

A Diversifying the health care workplace

B Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce

C ACCESS in Mental Health Act

D Developing the Community Health Workforce Act

IV Improving Health Care Access and Quality

A Reducing Barriers to Accessing Care

B Improvement of Coverage

C Expansion of Access

1 General Provisions

2 Rural

3 Indian Communities

4 Providers

5 Dental

D Advancing Health Equity Through Payment and Delivery Reform

E Health Empowerment Zones

F Equitable Health Care for All

G Investing in Equity

H Miscellaneous

I Territories Health Equity

1 Medicare

A Part A

B Part B

C Medicare Advantage (Part C)

D Part D

2 Miscellaneous

V Improving health outcomes for women, gender-diverse people, children, and families

A Underserved communities

B Pregnancy screening

C Pregnancy-Related care

D Federal agency coordination on maternal health

E Reproductive and Sexual Health

F Children’s Health

G Elder Care

H Miscellaneous provisions

VI Mental health and substance use disorders

A Access to care and funding streams

B Interprofessional care

C Workforce development

D Children’s mental health

E Community-Based care

F Reports

G Miscellaneous provisions

VII Addressing high-impact minority diseases

A Cancer

B Viral hepatitis and liver cancer control and prevention

C Acquired bone marrow failure diseases

D Cardiovascular disease, chronic disease, obesity, and other disease issues

E HIV/AIDS

F Diabetes

G Lung disease

H Tuberculosis

I Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases

J Sleep and circadian rhythm disorders

K Kidney disease research, surveillance, prevention, and treatment

L Diversity in clinical trials

M Additional provisions addressing high-impact minority diseases

N Health Equity and Rare Disease Act

O Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention

P New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease

VIII Health Information Technology

A Reducing Health Disparities Through Health IT

B Modifications To Achieve Parity in Existing Programs

C Additional Research and Studies

D Closing Gaps in Funding To Adopt Certified EHRs

E Expanding Access to Telehealth Services

IX Accountability and Evaluation

X Addressing Social Determinants and Improving Environmental Justice

A In General

B Gun Violence

C Nutrition for women, children, families

1 Senior hunger prevention

2 Closing the meal gap

D Universal school meals

1 School breakfast program

2 School lunch program

3 Elementary and secondary education data

4 Amendments to other programs and laws

XI Protections to combat regulatory harm to health equity