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

F Reports

G Miscellaneous provisions

Sec. 6701. Strengthening mental health supports for BIPOC communities

(a) In general. Section 1942(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–52(a)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

Text this section adds to the law

(2) services provided by the State to adults with a serious mental illness and children with a serious emotional disturbance who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, including—

(A) the extent to which such services are provided to such adults and children; and

(B) the outcomes experienced by such adults and children as a result of the provision of such services, including with respect to—

(i) diversions from hospitalization and criminal justice system involvement;

(ii) treatment for first episode psychosis or undefined psychosis;

(iii) reductions in suicide and increased utilization of appropriate treatments and interventions for suicidal ideation;

(iv) response through crisis services, including mobile crisis services;

(v) treatment of individuals who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and individuals residing in rural communities; and

(vi) increased patient family and caregiver engagement and education on serious mental illness to reduce social stigma and promote healthy social support for patients;

(3) any outreach by the State to, and the hiring of, providers of mental health services from multiple disciplines (such as a psychologist, psychiatrist, peer support provider, or social worker) who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups;

(4) any outreach by the State to providers from multiple disciplines of mental health services—

(A) to provide training on culturally effective, culturally affirming, and linguistically competent services; and

(B) to increase awareness of community-defined practices by practitioners of racial and ethnic minority groups;

(b) Applicability. The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to funding agreements entered into under section 1911 or 1921 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x; 42 U.S.C. 300x–21) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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