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. 10332. Reimbursement of school meal delinquent debt program

(a) Definitions. In this section:

(1) Delinquent debt. The term delinquent debt means the debt owed by a parent or guardian of a child to a school—

(A) as of the effective date specified in section 10302; and

(B) for meals served by the school under—

(i) the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773);

(ii) the school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); or

(iii) both of the programs described in clauses (i) and (ii).

(2) Program. The term program means the program established under subsection (b)(1).

(3) Secretary. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.

(b) Reimbursement program

(1) Establishment. Not later than 60 days after the effective date specified in section 10302, the Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall reimburse each school participating in a program described in clause (i) or (ii) of subsection (a)(1)(B) for all delinquent debt.

(2) Form for reimbursement. To carry out the program, the Secretary shall design and distribute to State agencies a form to collect data relating to all delinquent debt in applicable schools in the State, organized by school food authority.

(3) Completion date. The Secretary shall provide all reimbursements under the program not later than 180 days after the effective date specified in section 10302.

(c) Report. Not later than 2 years after the effective date specified in section 10302, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress and make publicly available a report that describes the successes and challenges of the program.

3 Elementary and secondary education data

4 Amendments to other programs and laws

XI Protections to combat regulatory harm to health equity