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

G Investing in Equity

H Miscellaneous

I Territories Health Equity

1 Medicare

A Part A

Sec. 4802. Rebasing target amount for hospitals in territories

Section 1886(b)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

Text this section adds to the law

(M)

(i) For each cost reporting period beginning on or after October 1, 2026, in the case of a hospital located in a territory of the United States, there shall be substituted for the target amount otherwise determined under subparagraph (A) the rebased target amount (as defined in clause (ii)), if such substitution results in an amount of payment under this section to the hospital for such period that is greater than the amount of payment that would be made under this section to the hospital for such period if this subparagraph were not to apply.

(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term rebased target amount has the meaning given the term target amount in subparagraph (A), except that—

(I) for a cost reporting period beginning on or after October 1, 2026, and before September 30, 2031, there shall be substituted for the preceding 12-month cost reporting period the 12-month cost reporting period beginning during fiscal year 2017;

(II) for a cost reporting period beginning on or after October 1, 2031, there shall be substituted for the preceding 12-month cost reporting period the cost reporting period for which the target amount determined under subparagraph (A) is the highest among the 5 cost reporting periods for which the Secretary has the most recent settled cost reports;

(III) any reference in subparagraph (A)(i) to the first such cost reporting period is deemed a reference to the first cost reporting period following the 12-month cost reporting period beginning during fiscal year 2017; and

(IV) the applicable percentage increase shall only be applied under subparagraph (B)(ii) for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2026.

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