H.R. 9877

Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026

Sponsor: Raul Ruiz

26 cosponsors
Follow this bill

Official summary

No official summary yet.

Text of the bill

Expand all

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

D Closing Gaps in Funding To Adopt Certified EHRs

E Expanding Access to Telehealth Services

IX Accountability and Evaluation

Sec. 9005. Sense of Congress concerning full funding of activities to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities

It is the sense of the Congress that—

(1) health disparities negatively impact outcomes for health and human security of the Nation;

(2) reducing racial, ethnic, age, sexual, and gender disparities in prevention and treatment are unique civil and human rights challenges and, as such, Federal agencies and health care entities and systems receiving Federal funds should be accountable for their role in causing disparities and inequity;

(3) funding for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Minority Health should be doubled by fiscal year 2027, to effectively address racial and ethnic disparities elimination in health and health care as a matter of health and national security;

(4) adequate funding by fiscal year 2027, and subsequent funding increases, should be provided for health and human service professions training programs, the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Excellence Centers to Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities Program at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program initiatives, programs, policies, projects, and activities that are the backbone of the Nation’s agenda to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities and inequities;

(5) adequate funding for fiscal year 2027 and increased funding for future years should be provided for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative’s United States Risk Factor Survey to ensure adequate data collection to track health disparities, and there should be appropriate avenues provided to disseminate findings to the general public;

(6) current and newly created health disparity elimination incentives, programs, agencies, and departments under this Act (and the amendments made by this Act) should receive adequate staffing and funding by fiscal year 2027; and

(7) stewardship and accountability should be provided to the Congress and the President for measurable and sustainable progress toward health disparity elimination under programs under this Act, including increased data collection and reporting, capacity building for impacted communities, technical assistance, training programs, and avenues to disseminate program details and successes to the public and to policymakers.

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