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

C Pregnancy-Related care

D Federal agency coordination on maternal health

E Reproductive and Sexual Health

Sec. 5405. Compassionate assistance for rape emergencies

(a) Medicare

(1) Limitation on payment. Section 1866(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc(a)(1)), as amended by section 5201(e), is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (W), by moving the indentation 2 ems to the left;

(B) in subparagraph (X), by moving the indentation 2 ems to the left;

(C) in subparagraph (Y)(ii)(V), by striking and at the end;

(D) in subparagraph (Z)(iii), by striking the period and inserting , and; and

(E) by inserting after subparagraph (Z) the following new subparagraph:

Text this section adds to the law

(AA) in the case of a hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital, to adopt and enforce a policy to ensure compliance with the requirements of subsection (l) and to meet the requirements of such subsection.

(2) Assistance to victims. Section 1866 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

Text this section adds to the law

(l) Compassionate assistance for rape emergencies

(1) In general. For purposes of subsection (a)(1)(AA), a hospital meets the requirements of this subsection if the hospital provides each of the services described in paragraph (2) to each individual, whether or not eligible for benefits under this title or under any other form of health insurance, who comes to the hospital on or after January 1, 2027, and—

(A) who states to hospital personnel that they are victims of sexual assault;

(B) who is accompanied by an individual who states to hospital personnel that the individual is a victim of sexual assault; or

(C) whom hospital personnel, during the course of treatment and care for the individual, have reason to believe is a victim of sexual assault.

(2) Required services described. For purposes of paragraph (1), the services described in this subparagraph are the following:

(A) Provision of medically and factually accurate and unbiased written and oral information about emergency contraception that—

(i) is written in clear and concise language;

(ii) is readily comprehensible;

(iii) includes an explanation that emergency contraceptives—

(I) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for individuals and are a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse or contraceptive failure if taken in a timely manner;

(II) are more effective the sooner it is taken; and

(III) do not cause an abortion and cannot interrupt an established pregnancy;

(iv) meet such conditions regarding the provision of such information in languages other than English as the Secretary may establish; and

(v) are provided without regard to the ability of the individual or their family to pay costs associated with the provision of such information to the individual.

(B) Immediate offer to provide emergency contraception to the individual at the hospital and, in the case that such individual accepts such offer, immediate provision to such individual of such contraception on the same day it is requested without regard to the inability of the individual or their family to pay costs associated with the offer and provision of such contraception.

(C) Development and implementation of a written policy to ensure that an individual is present at the hospital, or on-call, who—

(i) has authority to dispense or prescribe emergency contraception, independently, or under a protocol prepared by a physician for the administration of emergency contraception at the hospital to a victim of sexual assault; and

(ii) is trained to comply with the requirements of this section.

(D) Provision of medically and factually accurate and unbiased written and oral information and counseling about post-exposure prophylaxis (referred to in this paragraph as PEP) protocol for the prevention of HIV.

(E) Immediate offer to begin PEP to the individual at the hospital except in cases where the medical professional’s best judgement is that further evaluation is required or that such a regimen will be substantially detrimental to the health of such individual. Such provision shall be offered regardless of the individual’s ability to pay. Hospitals shall be responsible for ensuring adequate supply of PEP medications to provide to patients.

(3) Hospital defined. In this subsection, the term hospital has the meaning given such term in section 1861(e), except that for purposes of this subsection, such term shall include a critical access hospital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1)) and a rural emergency hospital (as defined in section 1861(kkk)).

(b) Limitation on payment under Medicaid. Section 1903(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(i)), as amended by section 4106(b)(2), is further amended—

(1) in paragraph (27), by striking or after the semicolon;

(2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period and inserting ; or; and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the following new paragraph:

Text this section adds to the law

(29) with respect to any amount expended for care or services furnished under the plan by a hospital on or after January 1, 2027, unless such hospital meets the requirements specified in section 1866(l) for purposes of title XVIII.

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