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

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

Sec. 8302. Study of health information technology in medically underserved communities

(a) In general. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall—

(1) enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on the development, implementation, and effectiveness of health information technology within medically underserved areas; and

(2) submit a report to Congress describing the results of such study, including any recommendations for legislative or administrative action.

(b) Study. The study described in subsection (a)(1) shall—

(1) identify barriers to successful implementation of health information technology in medically underserved areas;

(2) survey a cross-section of individuals in medically underserved areas and report their opinions about the various topics of study;

(3) examine the degree of interoperability among health information technology and users of health information technology in medically underserved areas, including patients, providers, and community services, which such examination shall consider the exchange of electronic health information, usability of exchanged electronic health information, effective application and use of the exchanged electronic health information, and impact on outcomes of interoperability;

(4) examine the impact of health information technology on providing quality care and reducing the cost of care to individuals in such areas, including the impact of such technology on improved health outcomes for individuals, including which technology worked for which population and how it improved health outcomes for that population;

(5) examine the impact of health information technology on improving health care-related decisions by both patients and providers in such areas;

(6) identify specific best practices for using health information technology to foster the consistent provision of accessibility and reasonable policy accommodations in health care to individuals with disabilities in such areas;

(7) assess the feasibility and costs associated with the use of health information technology in such areas;

(8) evaluate whether the adoption and use of electronic health records is effective in reducing health disparities, including analysis of clinical quality measures reported by providers who are participating in the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) or a State plan under title XIX of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or a waiver of such plan), pursuant to programs to encourage the adoption and use of certified EHR technology;

(9) identify providers in medically underserved areas that are not electing to adopt and use EHRs and determine what barriers are preventing those providers from adopting and using such records; and

(10) examine urban and rural community health systems and determine the impact that health information technology may have on the capacity of primary health providers in those systems.

(c) Medically underserved area. In this section, the term medically underserved area means—

(1) a population that has been designated as a medically underserved population under section 330(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(b)(3));

(2) an area that has been designated as a health professional shortage area under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e);

(3) an area or population that has been designated as a medically underserved community under section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p); or

(4) another area or population that—

(A) experiences significant barriers to accessing quality health services; and

(B) has a high prevalence of diseases or conditions described in title VII, with such diseases or conditions having a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g))) or a subgroup of people with disabilities who have specific functional impairments.

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