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

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

Sec. 10328. Meals and supplements for children in afterschool care

Section 17A of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766a) is amended—

(1) in the section heading, by striking Meal supplements and inserting Meals and supplements;

(2) in subsection (a)(1), by striking meal supplements and inserting free meals and supplements;

(3) in subsection (b), by inserting meals and before supplements; and

(4) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

Text this section adds to the law

(c) Reimbursement

(1) In general

(A) Meals. A free meal provided under this section to a child shall be reimbursed at a rate of $4.63, adjusted annually for inflation in accordance with paragraph (3)(A) and rounded in accordance with paragraph (3)(B).

(B) Supplements. A free supplement provided under this section to a child shall be reimbursed at the rate at which free supplements are reimbursed under section 17(c)(2)(C).

(2) Limitation to reimbursements. An institution may claim reimbursement under this section for not more than 1 meal and 1 supplement per day per child served on a regular school day.

(3) Inflation; rounding

(A) Inflation adjustment

(i) In general. The annual inflation adjustment under paragraph (1)(A) shall reflect changes in the cost of operating the program under this section, as indicated by the change in the Consumer Price Index for food away from home for all urban consumers.

(ii) Basis. Each inflation annual adjustment under paragraph (1)(A) shall reflect the changes in the Consumer Price Index for food away from home for the most recent 12-month period for which those data are available.

(B) Rounding. On July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the reimbursement rate for a free meal under this section shall be—

(i) adjusted to the nearest lower-cent increment; and

(ii) based on the unrounded amounts for the preceding 12-month period.

3 Elementary and secondary education data

4 Amendments to other programs and laws

XI Protections to combat regulatory harm to health equity