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

D Children’s mental health

Sec. 6401. Grant programs to support pediatric behavioral health care

Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by inserting after subpart V the following new subpart:

Text this section adds to the law

VI Pediatric behavioral health programs

340A–1. Program to improve access to community-based pediatric behavioral health care

(a) In general. The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities for the purpose of supporting pediatric behavioral health care integration and coordination within communities to meet local community needs.

(b) Eligible entities. Entities eligible for grants under subsection (a) include—

(1) health care providers, including family physicians, pediatric medical sub-specialists, and surgical specialists;

(2) children’s hospitals;

(3) facilities that are eligible to receive funds under section 340E or 340H;

(4) nonprofit medical facilities that predominantly treat individuals under the age of 21;

(5) rural health clinics and Federally qualified health centers (as such terms are defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act);

(6) pediatric mental health and substance use disorder providers, such as child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, developmental and behavioral pediatricians, general pediatricians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, licensed professional counselors, and other licensed professionals that provide mental health and substance use disorder services to patients under 21 years of age;

(7) children's advocacy centers described in section 214(c)(2)(B) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990;

(8) school-based health centers; and

(9) other entities as determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(c) Prioritization. In making awards under subsection (a), the Secretary shall prioritize—

(1) applicants that provide children and adolescents from high-need, rural, or under-resourced communities with services across the continuum of children's mental health and substance use disorder care; and

(2) applicants that predominantly provide care to children and adolescents that demonstrate plans to utilize funds to expand provision of care to children, adolescents, and youth under age 21.

(d) Use of funds. Activities that may be funded through an award under subsection (a) include—

(1) increasing the capacity of pediatric practices, family medicine practices, and school-based health centers to integrate pediatric mental, emotional, and behavioral health services into their practices including through co-location of mental, emotional, and behavioral health providers;

(2) training for non-clinical pediatric health care workers, including care coordinators and navigators, on child and adolescent mental health and substance use disorder, trauma-informed care, and local resources to support children and caregivers;

(3) expanding evidence-based, integrated models of care for pediatric mental health and substance use disorder services;

(4) pediatric practice integration for the provision of pediatric mental health and substance use disorder services;

(5) addressing surge capacity for pediatric mental health and substance use disorder needs;

(6) providing pediatric mental, emotional, and behavioral health services to children as delivered by mental health and substance use disorder professionals utilizing telehealth services;

(7) establishing or maintaining initiatives to allow more children to access care outside of emergency departments, including partial hospitalization, step down residency programs, and intensive outpatient programs;

(8) supporting, enhancing, or expanding pediatric mental health and substance use disorder preventive and crisis intervention services;

(9) establishing or maintaining pediatric mental health and substance use disorder urgent care or walk-in clinics;

(10) establishing or maintaining community-based pediatric mental health and substance use disorder initiatives, such as partnerships with schools and early childhood education programs;

(11) addressing other access and coordination gaps to pediatric mental health and substance use disorder services in the community for children; and

(12) supporting the collection of data on children and adolescents’ mental health needs, service utilization and availability, and demographic data, to capture community needs and identify gaps and barriers in children's access to care, in a manner that protects personal privacy, consistent with applicable Federal and State privacy laws.

(e) Authorization of appropriations. To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

340A–2. Pediatric behavioral health workforce training program

(a) In general. The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities for the purpose of supporting evidence-based pediatric mental health and substance use disorder workforce training.

(b) Eligible entities. Entities eligible for grants under subsection (a) include—

(1) children’s hospitals;

(2) facilities that are eligible to receive funds under section 340E or 340H;

(3) nonprofit medical facilities that predominantly treat individuals under the age of 21;

(4) rural health clinics and Federally qualified health centers (as such terms are defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act);

(5) entities that employ mental health and substance use disorder professionals, such as child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, developmental and behavioral pediatricians, general pediatricians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, licensed professional counselors, or other licensed professionals that provide mental health or substance use disorder services to patients under 21 years of age; and

(6) other pediatric health care providers as determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(c) Use of funds. Activities that may be supported through an award under subsection (a) include the following:

(1) Training to enhance the capabilities of the existing pediatric workforce, including pediatricians, primary care physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and other pediatric health care providers, including expanded training in pediatric mental health and substance use disorders, and culturally and developmentally appropriate care for children with mental health conditions.

(2) Training to support multi-disciplinary teams to provide pediatric mental health and substance use disorder treatment, including through integrated care models.

(3) Initiatives to accelerate the time to licensure within the pediatric mental health or substance use disorder workforce.

(4) Activities to expand recruitment and retention, increase workforce diversity, or enhance workforce training for critical pediatric mental health professions, including—

(A) child and adolescent psychiatrists;

(B) psychiatric nurses;

(C) psychologists;

(D) family therapists;

(E) social workers;

(F) mental health counselors;

(G) developmental and behavioral pediatricians;

(H) pediatric substance use disorder specialists; and

(I) other mental health care providers as determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(d) Authorization of appropriations. To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

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