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

VII Addressing high-impact minority diseases

A Cancer

Sec. 7004. Prostate cancer detection research and education

(a) Plan to develop and validate a test or tests for prostate cancer

(1) In general. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the Secretary), acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall establish an advisory council on prostate cancer (referred to in this section as the advisory council) to draft a plan for the development and validation of an accurate test or tests, such as biomarkers or imaging, to detect and diagnose prostate cancer.

(2) Advisory council

(A) Membership

(i) Federal members. The advisory council shall be composed of the following experts:

(I) A designee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(II) A designee of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

(III) A designee of the Office of the Director of the National Cancer Institute.

(IV) A designee of the Director of the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

(V) A designee of the Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

(VI) A designee of the Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

(VII) A designee of the Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

(VIII) A designee of the Director of the National Institutes of Health.

(IX) A designee of the Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

(X) A designee of the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

(XI) A designee of the Director of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center of the Department of Defense.

(ii) Non-federal members. In addition to the members described in clause (i), the advisory council shall include 8 expert members from outside the Federal Government to be appointed by the Secretary, which shall include—

(I) 2 prostate cancer patient advocates;

(II) 2 health care providers with a range of expertise and experience in prostate cancer; and

(III) 4 leading researchers with prostate cancer-related expertise in a range of clinical disciplines.

(B) Meetings. The advisory council shall meet quarterly and such meetings shall be open to the public.

(C) Advice. The advisory council shall advise the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee.

(D) Annual report. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the advisory council shall provide to the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, and Congress—

(i) an initial evaluation of all federally funded efforts in prostate cancer research relating to the development and validation of an accurate test or tests to detect and diagnose prostate cancer;

(ii) a plan for the development and validation of a reliable test or tests for the detection and accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer; and

(iii) a set of standards for prostate cancer screening, developed in coordination with the United States Preventive Services Task Force, to ensure that any tools for screening, detection, and diagnosis developed in accordance with the plan under clause (ii) will meet the requirements of the Task Force for recommendation as a proven preventive or diagnostic service.

(E) Termination. The advisory council shall terminate on December 31, 2028.

(3) Funding. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may make available $1,000,000, from any unobligated amounts appropriated to the National Institutes of Health, for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out this subsection.

(b) Coordination and intensification of prostate cancer research

(1) In general. The Director of the National Institutes of Health, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall coordinate and intensify research in accordance with the plan provided under subsection (a)(2)(D)(ii), with particular attention provided to leveraging existing research to develop and validate a test or tests, such as biomarkers or imaging, to detect and accurately diagnose prostate cancer in order to improve quality of life for millions of individuals in the United States, and decrease health care system costs.

(2) Funding. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may make available $30,000,000, from any unobligated amounts appropriated to the National Institutes of Health, for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out this subsection.

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