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. 6707. Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration and subagencies

(a) Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration. The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in section 464H(c) (42 U.S.C. 285n(c)), section 464R(c) (42 U.S.C. 285p(c)), and subsections (b) and (c)(1) of section 2303 (42 U.S.C. 300cc–2), by striking Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration each place it appears and inserting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use;

(2) in title V (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.)—

(A) in the title heading, by striking Abuse and inserting Use; and

(B) in section 501 (42 U.S.C. 290aa)—

(i) in the section heading, by striking Abuse and inserting Use; and

(ii) in subsection (f)(4), by striking Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration and inserting Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration; and

(3) by striking Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration each place it appears and inserting Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration.

(b) Center for Substance Use Services; Center for Substance Use Prevention Services

(1) In general. The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended—

(A) in part B of title V (42 U.S.C. 290bb et seq.)—

(i) in subpart 1, in the subpart heading, by striking Abuse Treatment and inserting Use Services;

(ii) in subpart 2, in the subpart heading, by striking Abuse Prevention and inserting Use Prevention Services;

(iii) in section 507 (42 U.S.C. 290bb), in the section heading, by striking Abuse Treatment and inserting Use Services;

(iv) in section 513(a) (42 U.S.C. 290bb–6(a)), in the subsection heading, by striking Abuse Treatment and inserting Use Services; and

(v) in section 515 (42 U.S.C. 290bb–21), in the section heading, by striking Abuse Prevention and inserting Use Prevention Services;

(B) in section 1932(b)(3) (42 U.S.C. 300x–32(b)(3)), in the paragraph heading, by striking abuse prevention and inserting use prevention services;

(C) in section 1935(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–35(b)(2)), in the paragraph heading, by striking abuse prevention and inserting use prevention services;

(D) by striking Center for Substance Abuse Treatment each place it appears and inserting Center for Substance Use Services; and

(E) by striking Center for Substance Abuse Prevention each place it appears and inserting Center for Substance Use Prevention Services.

(c) Authorities. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall delegate to the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration, the Center for Substance Use Services, and the Center for Substance Use Prevention Services all duties and authorities that, as of the date of enactment of this Act, were vested in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, respectively.

(d) References

(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (2), any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States—

(A) to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shall be deemed to be a reference to the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration;

(B) to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of such Administration shall be deemed to be a reference to the Center for Substance Use Services of such Administration; and

(C) to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of such Administration shall be deemed to be a reference to the Center for Substance Use Prevention Services of such Administration.

(2) Effect. Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to alter or affect section 6001(d) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa note), providing that a reference to the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shall be construed to be a reference to the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use.

(3) References to SAMHSA. Notwithstanding this section or the amendments made by this section, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may continue to use the acronym SAMHSA to refer to the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration in regulations, maps, documents, papers, and other records of the United States.

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