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

Sec. 4203. Critical access hospital improvements

(a) Elimination of isolation test for cost-Based ambulance reimbursement

(1) In general. Section 1834(l)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(l)(8)) is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (B)—

(i) by striking owned and; and

(ii) by inserting (including when such services are provided by the entity under an arrangement with the hospital) after hospital; and

(B) by striking the comma at the end of subparagraph (B) and all that follows and inserting a period.

(2) Effective date. The amendments made by this subsection shall apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 2027.

(b) Provision of a more flexible alternative to the CAH designation 25 inpatient bed limit requirement

(1) In general. Section 1820(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4(c)(2)) is amended—

(A) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking provides not more than and inserting subject to subparagraph (F), provides not more than; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

Text this section adds to the law

(F) Alternative to 25 inpatient bed limit requirement

(i) In general. A State may elect to treat a facility, with respect to the designation of the facility for a cost reporting period, as satisfying the requirement of subparagraph (B)(iii) relating to a maximum number of acute care inpatient beds if the facility elects, in accordance with a method specified by the Secretary and before the beginning of the cost reporting period, to meet the requirement under clause (ii).

(ii) Alternate requirement. The requirement under this clause, with respect to a facility and a cost reporting period, is that the total number of inpatient bed days described in subparagraph (B)(iii) during such period will not exceed 7,300. For purposes of this subparagraph, an individual who is an inpatient in a bed in the facility for a single day shall be counted as one inpatient bed day.

(iii) Withdrawal of election. The option described in clause (i) shall not apply to a facility for a cost reporting period if the facility (for any two consecutive cost reporting periods during the previous 5 cost-reporting periods) was treated under such option and had a total number of inpatient bed days for each of such two cost reporting periods that exceeded the number specified in such clause.

(2) Effective date. The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply to cost reporting periods beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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

3 Elementary and secondary education data

4 Amendments to other programs and laws

XI Protections to combat regulatory harm to health equity