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

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

Sec. 10008. Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression (CHANGE)

(a) Short title. This section may be cited as the Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government Expression Act or the CHANGE Act.

(b) Definitions. In this section:

(1) Employee. The term employee has the meaning given the term in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code.

(2) Executive agency. The term Executive agency has the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

(3) Officer. The term officer has the meaning given the term in section 2104 of title 5, United States Code.

(4) Prohibited term. The term prohibited term means—

(A) the term alien, when used to refer to an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States; and

(B) the term illegal alien, when used to refer to an individual who—

(i) is unlawfully present in the United States; or

(ii) lacks a lawful immigration status in the United States.

(c) Modernization of language referring to individuals who are not citizens or nationals of the United States

(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (2), on and after the date of enactment of this Act, an Executive agency may not use a prohibited term in any proposed or final rule, regulation, interpretation, publication, other document, display, or sign issued by the Executive agency.

(2) Exception. An Executive agency may use a prohibited term under paragraph (1) if the Executive agency uses the prohibited term while quoting or reproducing text written by a source that is not an officer or employee of the Executive agency.

(d) Uniform definition

(1) In general. Chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Text this section adds to the law

9. Definition of foreign national. In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress or any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of an administrative bureau or agency of the United States, the term foreign national means any individual who is not an individual who—

(1) is a citizen of the United States; or

(2) though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States.

(2) Technical amendment. The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Text this section adds to the law

9. Definition of foreign national.

(e) References. Any reference in any Federal statute, rule, regulation, Executive order, publication, or other document of the United States—

(1) to the term alien, when used to refer to an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States, is deemed to refer to the term foreign national; and

(2) to the term illegal alien is deemed to refer to the term undocumented foreign national, when used to refer to an individual who—

(A) is unlawfully present in the United States; or

(B) lacks a lawful immigration status in the United States.

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