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. 6706. Opioid grants to support caregivers, kinship care families, and kinship caregivers

(a) Opioid grants. Section 1003(b)(4) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290ee–3a(b)(4)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G); and

(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:

Text this section adds to the law

(F) Supporting opioid abuse prevention and treatment services within a State provided by State and local agencies for children and caregivers, kinship care families, and kinship caregivers through—

(i) workforce recruitment and training;

(ii) health care services (including such services described in subparagraph (D)); and

(iii) foster and adoptive parent recruitment and training.

(b) Definitions. Section 1003(h) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290ee–3a(h)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (4) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; and

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

Text this section adds to the law

(2) Kinship care family. The term kinship care family means a family with a kinship caregiver.

(3) Kinship caregiver. The term kinship caregiver means a relative of a child by blood, marriage, or adoption, who—

(A) lives with the child;

(B) is the primary caregiver of the child because the biological or adoptive parent of the child is unable or unwilling to serve as the primary caregiver of the child; and

(C) has a legal relationship to the child or is raising the child informally.

(c) Authorization of appropriations. Section 1003(i)(1) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290ee–3a(i)(1)) is amended by striking 2023 through 2027 and inserting 2027 through 2031.

(d) Set aside. Section 1003(i)(3) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290ee–3a(i)(3)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end , and set aside 1 percent to carry out subsection (b)(4)(F).

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