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. 6303. Health professions competencies to address racial and ethnic minority mental health disparities

(a) In general. The Secretary of Health and Human Services may award grants to qualified national organizations for the purposes of—

(1) developing, and disseminating to health professional educational programs, best practices or core competencies addressing mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups for use in the training of students in the professions of social work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, and substance use disorder counseling; and

(2) certifying community health workers and peer wellness specialists with respect to such best practices and core competencies and integrating and expanding the use of such workers and specialists into health care to address mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups.

(b) Best practices; core competencies. Organizations receiving funds under subsection (a) may use the funds to engage in the following activities related to the development and dissemination of best practices or core competencies described in subsection (a)(1):

(1) Formation of committees or working groups composed of experts from accredited health professions schools to identify best practices and core competencies relating to mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups.

(2) Planning of workshops at the national level to allow for public input into the educational needs associated with mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups.

(3) Dissemination and promotion of the use of best practices or core competencies for culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services in undergraduate and graduate health professions training programs nationwide.

(4) Establishing external stakeholder advisory boards to provide meaningful input into policy and program development and best practices to reduce mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups.

(c) Definitions. In this section:

(1) Qualified national organization. The term qualified national organization means a national organization that focuses on the education of students in one or more of the professions of social work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, and substance misuse counseling.

(2) Racial and ethnic minority group. The term racial and ethnic minority group has the meaning given to such term in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)).

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