I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10297 

To advance research, promote awareness and education, and improve health 

care, with respect to thyroid disease, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2024 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, 

Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. CARSON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To advance research, promote awareness and education, and 

improve health care, with respect to thyroid disease, 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 ‘‘Thyroid Disease Cov5 erage, Awareness, Research, and Education Act of 2024’’ 

6 or the ‘‘Thyroid Disease CARE Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. THYROID DISEASE RESEARCH. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

3 with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

4 and Medicine, shall— 

5 (1) conduct or support research and related ac6 tivities regarding thyroid disease, including re7 search— 

8 (A) to investigate the root causes of thy9 roid disease; 

10 (B) to improve diagnostic techniques and 

11 develop improved treatments; 

12 (C) to improve thyroid cancer-related care, 

13 including the prevention, diagnosis, and treat14 ment of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer; 

15 (D) to enhance the quality of thyroid can16 cer survivorship, including understanding how a 

17 thyroid cancer diagnosis impacts women of re18 productive years and beyond; 

19 (E) to understand the symptoms of pa20 tients treated for thyroid disease and to design 

21 studies to improve symptom management; 

22 (F) to assess— 

23 (i) thyroid disease prevalence, detec24 tion, treatment, and outcome disparties by 

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1 tity, disability status, and insurance status, 

2 and related topics as determined by the 

3 Secretary; and 

4 (ii) with respect to thyroid cancer pa5 tients, such disparities relating to primary 

6 tumor site, tumor morphology, stage at di7 agnosis, and first course of treatment; and 

8 (G) to study the effects of thyroid disease, 

9 including subclinical hypothyroidism, in patients 

10 who continue to experience symptoms despite 

11 their test results becoming normal; and 

12 (2) propose recommendations on how to address 

13 research gaps relating to disparities referred to in 

14 paragraph (1)(F). 

15 (b) INTERIM REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

16 (1) not later than 24 months after the date of 

17 enactment of this Act, transmit an interim report on 

18 the status and results of the research and related ac19 tivities under this section to the Committee on En20 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

22 and Pensions of the Senate; and 

23 (2) make such report publicly available. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

2 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

3 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

4 SEC. 3. ANALYZING RESEARCH GAPS AND DISPROPOR5 TIONATE IMPACTS WITH RESPECT TO THY6 ROID DISEASE. 

7 (a) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall— 

8 (1) identify and analyze gaps in research on di9 agnosing and treating thyroid disease; 

10 (2) analyze— 

11 (A) the disproportionate impacts of thyroid 

12 disease on specific populations, disaggregated 

13 by race, ethnicity, geography, primary language, 

14 sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, dis15 ability status, and insurance status, with a par16 ticular focus on such disproportionate impacts 

17 on women; 

18 (B) the reasons for the disproportionate 

19 impacts referred to in subparagraph (A) in such 

20 specific populations, including with respect to 

21 disproportionate access to specialized care; and 

22 (C) the level of knowledge of health care 

23 professionals about such disproportionate im24 pacts; and 


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1 (3) analyze, and formulate recommendations 

2 with respect to, better options for— 

3 (A) diagnosing and treating thyroid disease 

4 in such populations; and 

5 (B) paying for such diagnosis and treat6 ment. 

7 (b) TOPICS.—In carrying out the analysis under sub8 section (a), the Secretary may assess— 

9 (1) data from the Transformed Medicaid Statis10 tical Information System related to services fur11 nished to individuals diagnosed with thyroid disease 

12 for the treatment of thyroid disease symptoms under 

13 State Medicaid programs and State children’s health 

14 insurance programs; 

15 (2) data collected through the Surveillance, Epi16 demiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the 

17 National Cancer Institute; 

18 (3) data collected through the Medicare pro19 gram under title XVIII of the Social Security Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.); 

21 (4) data related to services furnished to individ22 uals diagnosed with thyroid disease for the treat23 ment of thyroid disease symptoms under group 

24 health plans or group or individual health insurance 

25 coverage offered by a health insurance issuer; 


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1 (5) data from nationally representative sample 

2 surveys (such as the National Health Interview Sur3 vey of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven4 tion (or any successor survey)); and 

5 (6) such other data as the Secretary determines 

6 relevant. 

7 (c) DATA COLLECTION.—To carry out the analysis 

8 under subsection (a), the Secretary may request— 

9 (1) group health plans (as defined in section 

10 2791 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 300gg–91)), health insurance issuers offering group 

12 or individual health insurance coverage (as so de13 fined), and health benefits plans offered under the 

14 Federal Employee Health Benefits Program under 

15 chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, to provide 

16 such information as may be required to assess bar17 riers that individuals diagnosed with thyroid disease 

18 face in accessing treatments for thyroid disease 

19 symptoms, including a lack of insurance coverage 

20 and cost-sharing requirements for such treatments; 

21 and 

22 (2) State Medicaid programs and State chil23 dren’s health insurance programs to collect and re24 port, through the Transformed Medicaid Statistical 

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1 nished to individuals diagnosed with thyroid disease 

2 for the treatment of thyroid disease symptoms, in3 cluding data stratified by relevant demographic 

4 characteristics. 

5 (d) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the 

6 analysis under subsection (a), including making requests 

7 under subsection (c), and in submitting the report under 

8 subsection (e), the Secretary shall ensure that the privacy 

9 and confidentiality of individual patients are protected in 

10 a manner consistent with relevant privacy and confiden11 tiality laws. 

12 (e) REPORT.—The Secretary shall— 

13 (1) not later than two years after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress and make 

15 publicly available on the website of the Department 

16 of Health and Human Services a preliminary report 

17 on the analysis carried out under this section; and 

18 (2) not later than the end of fiscal year 2029, 

19 submit to Congress and make publicly available on 

20 the website of the Department of Health and 

21 Human Services a final report on such analysis. 

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

23 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

24 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 


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1 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN WITH RESPECT TO 

2 THYROID DISEASE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

4 public awareness campaign regarding thyroid disease, in5 cluding by developing and disseminating information on— 

6 (1) the awareness, incidence, and prevalence of 

7 thyroid disease and associated impacts, with a par8 ticular focus on the disparities and disproportionate 

9 impacts described in sections 2(a)(1)(F) and 

10 3(a)(2), especially on women; 

11 (2) the availability, as medically appropriate, of 

12 the range of treatment options for symptoms of thy13 roid disease; 

14 (3) how patients can better recognize the signs 

15 and symptoms of thyroid disease; and 

16 (4) whether there are benefits of routine screen17 ing, especially during pregnancy and reproductive 

18 stages. 

19 (b) INFORMATION TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.— 

20 In carrying out the public awareness campaign under sub21 section (a), the Secretary, in consultation with relevant 

22 health care professional societies and associations, shall 

23 disseminate information to health care professionals, 

24 health care-related organizations, and health systems to 

25 promote evidence-based care for individuals with thyroid 

26 disease, including information related to— 


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1 (1) detecting and diagnosing thyroid disease 

2 with an emphasis on better addressing thyroid dis3 ease in populations at increased risk for the disease; 

4 (2) providing care for individuals with thyroid 

5 disease; 

6 (3) communicating with patients about thyroid 

7 disease; 

8 (4) enhancing the prevention of implicit bias in 

9 the provision of care; and 

10 (5) related topics, including research on the 

11 reasons why thyroid disease occurs. 

12 (c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec13 retary may disseminate information under subsection (a) 

14 directly or through arrangements with intra-agency initia15 tives, nonprofit organizations, consumer groups, institu16 tions of higher education, or Federal, State, or local pub17 lic-private partnerships. 

18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

19 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

20 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

21 SEC. 5. COLLABORATION WITH RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL 

22 SOCIETIES. 

23 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall collabo24 rate with— 

25 (1) relevant professional societies; and 


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1 (2) relevant agencies of the Department of 

2 Health and Human Services, including the National 

3 Institutes of Health. 

4 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

8 meaning given to such term in section 101 of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

10 (2) RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUP.— 

11 The term ‘‘racial and ethnic minority group’’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 1707(g) of the 

13 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)). 

14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

16 (4) THYROID DISEASE.—The term ‘‘thyroid dis17 ease’’ means— 

18 (A) disorders and abnormalities of thyroid 

19 gland function; and 

20 (B) abnormalities of thyroid structure, in21 cluding thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. 

Æ 


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