H.R. 9877

Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026

Sponsor: Raul Ruiz

26 cosponsors
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I Data collection and reporting

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

Sec. 4502. Requiring equitable health care in the hospital value-based purchasing program

(a) Equitable health care as value measurement. Section 1886(b)(3)(B)(viii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)(viii)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subclause:

Text this section adds to the law

(XIII)

(aa) Effective for payments beginning with fiscal year 2027, in expanding the number of measures under subclause (III), the Secretary shall adopt measures that relate to equitable health care furnished by hospitals in inpatient settings.

(bb) In carrying out this subclause, the Secretary shall solicit input and recommendations from individuals and groups representing communities of color and other protected classes and ensure measures adopted pursuant to this subclause account for social determinants of health, as defined in section 4505(e)(10) of the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026.

(cc) For purposes of this subclause, the term equitable health care refers to the principle that high-quality care should be provided to all individuals and health care treatment and services should not vary on account of the real or perceived race, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, or age of an individual, as well as any other factor that the Secretary determines would be useful for determining a pattern of provision of inequitable health care.

(b) Inclusion of equitable health care measures. Section 1886(o)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(o)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following new clause:

Text this section adds to the law

(iv) Inclusion of equitable health care measures. Beginning in fiscal year 2027, measures selected under subparagraph (A) shall include the equitable health care measures described in subsection (b)(3)(B)(viii)(XIII).

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