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

E Community-Based care

Sec. 6501. Asian American, African American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Indigenous, Middle Eastern and North African, and Hispanic and Latino behavioral health outreach and education strategy

Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.), as amended by section 6203, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Text this section adds to the law

556. Behavioral outreach and education strategy

(a) In general. The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall, in coordination with advocacy and behavioral organizations serving populations of Asian American, African American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Indigenous, Middle Eastern and North African (in this section referred to as MENA), and Hispanic and Latino/a/x individuals or communities, develop and implement an outreach and education strategy to promote behavioral health, emphasize that behavioral health conditions are treatable and that reasonable accommodations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 are necessary and may help, as well as reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance use disorder among the Asian American, African American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Indigenous, MENA, and Hispanic and Latino/a/x populations. Such strategy shall—

(1) be designed to—

(A) meet the diverse cultural and language needs of the various Asian American, African American, Indigenous, MENA, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic and Latino/a/x populations; and

(B) ensure that approaches recommended in the strategy are developmentally (with respect to the beneficiary’s relative age and experience) and age appropriate, as well as cognitively accessible to persons with cognitive disabilities;

(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental illnesses common among such populations, taking into account differences within subgroups (such as gender, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability, and ethnicity) of such populations;

(3) provide information on evidence-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate and adapted interventions and treatments;

(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, both consumers and community members representing the communities of focus in the development and implementation of materials; and

(5) seek to broaden the perspective among both individuals in such communities and stakeholders serving such communities to use a comprehensive public health approach to promoting behavioral health that addresses a holistic view of health by focusing on the intersection between behavioral and physical health.

(b) Reports. Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary, shall submit to the Congress, and make publicly available, a report on the extent to which the strategy developed and implemented under subsection (a) increased behavioral health outcomes associated with mental health conditions and substance use disorder among Asian American, African American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Indigenous, MENA, and Hispanic and Latino/a/x populations.

(c) Authorization of appropriations. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

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