I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9686 

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 

to codify the Panel of Health Advisors within the Congressional Budget 

Office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 

Mr. CARTER of Georgia (for himself and Mr. BURGESS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to codify the Panel of Health Advisors 

within the Congressional Budget Office, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Equipping 

5 And Lending Technical Help Panel Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HEALTH Panel Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE PANEL OF 

2 HEALTH ADVISORS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Congressional 

4 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

5 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 204. PANEL OF HEALTH ADVISORS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Panel of Health Advisors 

9 (in this section referred to as the ‘Panel’) shall be within 

10 the Congressional Budget Office. 

11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES AND PRIORITY TARGET AREAS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The Panel shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) provide technical and functional ex14 pertise and recommendations to the Congres15 sional Budget Office to improve the office’s 

16 studies, analysis, and cost estimates related to 

17 health and health care issues and policies; 

18 ‘‘(B) meet at least once annually; and 

19 ‘‘(C) issue an annual report to the chair 

20 and ranking minority members of the Com21 mittee on the Budget of the House of Rep22 resentatives and the Committee on the Budget 

23 of the Senate which— 

24 ‘‘(i) details the work of the Panel and 

25 includes such recommendations as have 

26 been approved by a vote of at least 9 memVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Sep 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9686.IH H9686

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1 bers of the Panel and provided to the Con2 gressional Budget Office; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes a description prepared 

4 by the Director of the Congressional Budg5 et Office detailing how the office utilized 

6 any such recommendations provided under 

7 clause (i) and the extent to which any such 

8 recommendations were integrated into the 

9 office’s studies and cost estimates. 

10 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY TARGET AREAS.—For the pur11 poses of this section, the Director of the Congres12 sional Budget Office, in consultation with the chairs 

13 and ranking minority members of the Committee on 

14 the Budget of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on the Budget of the Senate, as well as 

16 members on the Panel, shall determine priorities to 

17 address in meetings of the Panel, and the report de18 tailed under paragraph (1)(C). The Panel shall pro19 vide expertise and recommendations under para20 graph (1) with specific respect to the following 

21 areas: 

22 ‘‘(A) Non-economic and economic studies 

23 on health and health care issues and policies 

24 developed by the Congressional Budget Office. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Official cost estimates prepared by 

2 the Congressional Budget Office for proposed 

3 health care legislation. 

4 ‘‘(C) Models developed and utilized by the 

5 Congressional Budget Office to project non-eco6 nomic and economic impacts of health care pol7 icy changes and legislation. 

8 ‘‘(D) Health care components of the Con9 gressional Budget Office’s annual Budget and 

10 Economic Outlook publications, Federal Health 

11 Subsidies for Health Insurance reports, Health 

12 Insurance Coverage Projections, and other offi13 cial publications related to health and health 

14 care by the Congressional Budget Office. 

15 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The Director of the Con16 gressional Budget Office shall publish, on the Of17 fice’s public website, the annual report prepared pur18 suant to paragraph (1)(C). 

19 ‘‘(4) ETHICAL DISCLOSURE; CONFIDEN20 TIALITY.—The Director of the Congressional Budget 

21 Office may establish— 

22 ‘‘(A) a system for public disclosure by 

23 members of the Panel related to potential con24 flicts of interest relating to such members; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) confidentiality agreements with mem2 bers of the Panel to protect information ob3 tained by the Government on a confidential 

4 basis to inform official work products and con5 fidential congressional requests for analytical 

6 reports and budgetary scoring estimates. 

7 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

8 ‘‘(1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The mem9 bership of the Panel shall include 15 members ap10 pointed not later than 90 days after the date of the 

11 enactment of this section, of which— 

12 ‘‘(A) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

13 chair of the Committee on the Budget of the 

14 House of Representatives; 

15 ‘‘(B) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

16 ranking minority member of the Committee on 

17 the Budget of the House of Representatives; 

18 ‘‘(C) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

19 chair of the Committee on the Budget of the 

20 Senate; 

21 ‘‘(D) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

22 ranking minority member of the Committee on 

23 the Budget of the Senate; and 

24 ‘‘(E) 3 members shall be appointed by the 

25 Director of the Congressional Budget Office. 


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1 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The membership of the 

2 Panel shall aim to include, but not be limited to, in3 dividuals with national recognition for their expertise 

4 in health finance and economics, actuarial science, 

5 health facility management, life sciences and drug 

6 development, investment in health care companies, 

7 health plans and integrated delivery systems, reim8 bursement of health facilities, allopathic and osteo9 pathic physicians, and other providers of health serv10 ices, Medicare, Medicaid, and other related fields. 

11 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

12 Members of the Panel shall serve as special Govern13 ment employees (as defined in section 202(a) of title 

14 18, United States Code). 

15 ‘‘(d) TERMS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The terms of the members 

17 of the Panel shall be for 3 years, except that the Di18 rector of the Congressional Budget Office shall des19 ignate staggered terms of the members first ap20 pointed. 

21 ‘‘(2) VACANCIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy in the 

23 Panel shall be filled in the manner in which the 

24 original appointment was made. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TERM OF MEMBER APPOINTED TO

2 FILL VACANCY.—Any member appointed to fill 

3 a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the 

4 term for which the member’s predecessor was 

5 appointed shall be appointed only for the re6 mainder of that term, except that a member 

7 may serve after the expiration of that member’s 

8 term until a successor has taken office. 

9 ‘‘(3) CHAIR; VICE CHAIR.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

11 Congressional Budget Office shall designate a 

12 member of the Panel, at the time of appoint13 ment of the member, as chair and a member as 

14 vice chair for that term of appointment, except 

15 that in the case of vacancy of the chair or vice 

16 chair, the Director of the Congressional Budget 

17 Office may designate another member for the 

18 remainder of that member’s term. 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.— The chair and 

20 vice chair shall be appointed by the Director of 

21 the Congressional Budget Office— 

22 ‘‘(i) after considering recommenda23 tions received from the chairs of the Com24 mittees on the Budget of the House of 

25 Representatives and the Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) without regard to political affili2 ation; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) solely on the basis of their fit4 ness to perform their duties. 

5 ‘‘(4) LIMITS.—Members of the Panel shall be 

6 limited to two 3-year terms, for a total of not to ex7 ceed 6 years of service on the Panel. For purposes 

8 of this paragraph, any year of service on the Panel 

9 by a person appointed to fill a vacancy under para10 graph (2) shall be included in determining the num11 ber of years that such person has served on the 

12 Panel.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

14 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

15 to section 203 the following: 

‘‘204. Panel of Health Advisors.’’. 

Æ 


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