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

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

Sec. 6301. Building an effective workforce in mental health

(a) In general. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Secretary of Labor, and advocacy and behavioral and mental health organizations serving vulnerable populations, including youth and young adults, people with low incomes, and people of color, shall—

(1) develop, strengthen, and implement strategies to bolster career pathways for diverse mental health professionals;

(2) identify the breadth of settings where mental health care and behavioral health care can take place; and

(3) identify current mental health professional workforce shortages, inclusive of shortages of diverse mental health professionals.

(b) Contents. Strategies under subsection (a) shall include—

(1) the variety of settings where mental health professionals are needed, including community-based organizations, women’s centers, shelters, organizations focused on youth development, workforce agencies, job placement and development centers, emergency rooms, the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786), food banks, legal aid, and benefit issuers (as defined in section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012));

(2) defining career pathways in mental and behavioral health, to help diverse communities understand the variety of careers in mental and behavioral health that are available;

(3) building career pathways in mental and behavioral health as part of the curriculum at the postsecondary education level;

(4) providing accessible training and certification pathways for diverse lay health workers such as community health workers and other peer support specialists to ensure that careers pay a living wage;

(5) creating incentives for students in the fields of occupational therapy, social work, psychology, medicine, and nursing to learn more about mental health, and to include a mental health rotation, with a particular focus in racially and ethnically diverse communities, as a part of the health professional curricula;

(6) including training and education for teachers about the basics of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and individualized education programs (as defined in section 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)));

(7) researching, developing, and implementing programs for mental and behavioral health professionals to prevent burnout; and

(8) finding better and increased avenues to ensure equity by providing better loan forgiveness programs, including a focus area within the National Health Service Corps focused on community trauma.

(c) Use of funds. Programs and activities funded under this section shall be consistent with subsection (a)(1) and shall include the following:

(1) Subgrants to entities serving youth and young adults which demonstrate a need for an increased mental health workforce, using strategies described in subsection (a)(1).

(2) Funding towards the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program.

(3) Funding towards the development and implementation of a National Health Service Corps program focused on community trauma.

(d) Authorization of appropriations. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2037.

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