H.R. 9877

Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026

Sponsor: Raul Ruiz

26 cosponsors
Follow this bill

Official summary

No official summary yet.

Text of the bill

Expand all

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

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

Sec. 5102. Birth defects prevention, risk reduction, and awareness

(a) In general. The Secretary shall establish and implement a birth defects prevention and public awareness program, consisting of the activities described in subsections (b) and (c).

(b) Nationwide media campaign. In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct or support a nationwide media campaign to increase awareness among health care providers and at-risk populations about pregnancy and breastfeeding information services.

(c) Grants for pregnancy and breastfeeding information services

(1) In general. In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall award grants to State or regional agencies or organizations for any of the following:

(A) Information services. The provision of, or campaigns to increase awareness about, pregnancy and breastfeeding information services.

(B) Surveillance and research. The conduct or support of—

(i) surveillance of or research on—

(I) maternal exposures and maternal health conditions that may influence the risk of birth defects, prematurity, or other adverse pregnancy outcomes; and

(II) maternal exposures that may influence health risks to a breastfed infant; or

(ii) networking to facilitate surveillance or research described in this subparagraph.

(2) Preference for certain States. The Secretary, in making any grant under this subsection, shall give preference to States, otherwise equally qualified, that have pregnancy and breastfeeding information services in place.

(3) Matching funds. The Secretary may only award a grant under this subsection to a State or regional agency or organization that agrees, with respect to the costs to be incurred in carrying out the grant activities, to make available (directly or through donations from public or private entities) non-Federal funds toward such costs in an amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the amount of the grant.

(4) Coordination. The Secretary shall ensure that activities funded through a grant under this subsection are coordinated, to the maximum extent practicable, with other birth defects prevention and environmental health activities of the Federal Government, including with respect to pediatric environmental health specialty units and children’s environmental health centers.

(d) Evaluation. The Secretary shall provide for an evaluation of pregnancy and breastfeeding information services carried out by States to identify efficient and effective models of—

(1) providing information;

(2) raising awareness and increasing knowledge about birth defects prevention measures and targeting education to at-risk groups;

(3) modifying risk behaviors; or

(4) other outcome measures as determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(e) Definitions. In this section:

(1) Maternal. The term maternal refers to people who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

(2) Pregnancy and breastfeeding information services. The term pregnancy and breastfeeding information services includes only—

(A) information services to provide accurate, evidence-based, clinical information regarding maternal exposures during pregnancy or breastfeeding that may be associated with birth defects, health risks to a breastfed infant, or other health risks, such as exposures to medications, chemicals, infections, foodborne pathogens, illnesses, nutrition, lifestyle, or climate- and weather-related factors;

(B) the provision of accurate, evidence-based information weighing risks of exposures during breastfeeding against the benefits of breastfeeding; and

(C) the provision of information described in subparagraph (A) or (B) through counselors, websites, fact sheets, telephonic or electronic communication, community outreach efforts, or other appropriate means.

(3) Secretary. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(f) Authorization of appropriations. To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated—

(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2027;

(2) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2028;

(3) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2029;

(4) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2030; and

(5) $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2031.

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