I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8080 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to establish and implement a department-wide afteraction program and a risk communication strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2024 

Mr. TORRES of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and 

implement a department-wide after-action program and 

a risk communication strategy, 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 ‘‘Coordinated Agency 

5 Response Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘CARE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HHS AFTER-ACTION PROGRAM. 

2 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 399V–8. DEPARTMENT-WIDE AFTER-ACTION PRO6 GRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

8 maintain, and implement an after-action program to— 

9 ‘‘(1) identify and implement solutions for issues 

10 found following any public health emergency re11 sponse of the Department of Health and Human 

12 Services; and 

13 ‘‘(2) encourage collaboration among the agen14 cies of the Department, including by integrating any 

15 public health emergency after-action programs of 

16 such agencies. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall establish and 

18 begin implementation of the after-action program under 

19 subsection (a) not later than 1 year after the date of en20 actment of this section. 

21 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—The 

22 after-action program under subsection (a) shall include 

23 input from, and coordinate with, relevant external stake24 holders involved in each public health emergency response 

25 of the Department of Health and Human Services, such 


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1 as other Federal agencies, jurisdictions, and nongovern2 mental partners. 

3 ‘‘(d) OVERSIGHT BY INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The In4 spector General of the Department of Health and Human 

5 Services shall, on an annual basis— 

6 ‘‘(1) evaluate the efficacy and compliance of the 

7 after-action program under subsection (a), including 

8 by evaluating the ability of the program to identify 

9 challenges, propose solutions, and prevent issues 

10 from reoccurring; and 

11 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress a report summarizing 

12 the evaluation under paragraph (1). 

13 ‘‘(e) COMPREHENSIVE GUIDELINES FOR AFTER-AC14 TION PROGRAM REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, as the 

16 Secretary determines appropriate, incorporate in any 

17 report of the after-action program under subsection 

18 (a) the elements described in subparagraphs (A) 

19 through (M) of paragraph (2). 

20 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

21 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN, CON22 TINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLAN, AND BUSINESS

23 CONTINUITY PLAN REVIEWS.—A description of 

24 the process and outcomes of reviewing and up25 dating emergency operations plans, continuity 


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1 of operations plans, and business continuity 

2 plans both annually and after significant public 

3 health emergencies. Such description may in4 clude insights into the relevancy and efficiency 

5 of such plans in practice. 

6 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION SHARING, SITUA7 TIONAL AWARENESS.—A description of the es8 tablishment and effectiveness of protocols for 

9 efficient information sharing and situational 

10 awareness among health care facilities and 

11 partners, including the development and deploy12 ment of an integrated public joint information 

13 system. 

14 ‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH STATE, LOCAL, 

15 HEALTH CARE COALITION, AND COMMUNITY

16 PARTNERS.—Descriptions of— 

17 ‘‘(i) strategies for coordination with 

18 State, local, health care coalition, and com19 munity partners, focusing on active en20 gagement and information sharing; 

21 ‘‘(ii) information technology solutions 

22 used for coordination during public health 

23 emergencies; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) how medical operations coordi25 nation cells were implemented for effective 


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1 patient load balancing during surges to as2 sure regional health care coordination. 

3 ‘‘(D) INCIDENT MANAGEMENT.—A descrip4 tion of incident management structures, includ5 ing the maintenance of the incident command 

6 system and the establishment of an incident ac7 tion planning process. 

8 ‘‘(E) COMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION

9 SHARING.—A description of strategies for the 

10 development and maintenance of a dynamic 

11 communications framework for real-time infor12 mation sharing and situational awareness. 

13 ‘‘(F) STAFF, SPACE, AND RESIDENT MAN14 AGEMENT.—A description of strategies for com15 prehensive staff management plans, scalable 

16 space management strategies, and policies 

17 adopted to maintain patient and resident well18 being. 

19 ‘‘(G) LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MAN20 AGEMENT.—A description of strategies for de21 veloping comprehensive logistics and supply 

22 chain management strategies to ensure a steady 

23 and sufficient supply of personal protective 

24 equipment, medical equipment, pharma25 ceuticals, and other items. 


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1 ‘‘(H) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.—A de2 scription of strategies for implementing crisis 

3 standards of care protocols to optimize the allo4 cation and use of medical and non-medical as5 sets during emergencies, including guidelines 

6 for the conservation, reuse, or repurposing of 

7 supplies. 

8 ‘‘(I) INFECTION PREVENTION.—A descrip9 tion of strategies for enhancing infection pre10 vention measures, including staff training, envi11 ronmental cleaning, and patient screening, to 

12 mitigate the spread of infectious diseases within 

13 health care facilities. 

14 ‘‘(J) TREATMENT, TRANSPORT, AND DIS15 CHARGE PROTOCOLS.—A description of how 

16 treatment, transport, and discharge protocols 

17 were standardized to ensure consistency and ef18 ficiency in patient care and movement, includ19 ing the incorporation of telehealth and remote 

20 monitoring solutions where feasible, explaining 

21 the choices made, the technologies used, and 

22 the outcomes of the interventions. 

23 ‘‘(K) CASE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS.— 

24 Descriptions of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) how case management protocols 

2 were refined to address both clinical and 

3 non-clinical needs of patients and resi4 dents; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the measures taken to ensure co6 ordinated care and support throughout the 

7 treatment and recovery phases, detailing 

8 the challenges faced and the strategies em9 ployed to overcome such challenges. 

10 ‘‘(L) MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES.—De11 scriptions of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the strategy employed to accel13 erate the development, distribution, and 

14 administration of medical counter15 measures, such as vaccines, therapeutics, 

16 diagnostic tests, and treatments; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) strategies to streamline the 

18 emergency use authorization process for 

19 such countermeasures, including any chal20 lenges encountered and how such chal21 lenges were addressed. 

22 ‘‘(M) RECOVERY.—A description of any 

23 implemented recovery strategies focusing on ad24 ministrative, financial, policy, and equity con25 siderations.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. RISK COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. 

2 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.), as amended by section 2, is fur4 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 399V–9. RISK COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

7 maintain, and implement a comprehensive strategy to en8 sure that communications about infectious diseases and 

9 other public health risks by agencies and offices of the 

10 Department of Health and Human Services, including the 

11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are clear, ac12 curate, inclusive, and culturally sensitive. 

13 ‘‘(b) COMPONENTS.—The strategy under subsection 

14 (a) shall be designed to— 

15 ‘‘(1) clearly identify at-risk populations during 

16 public health emergencies; 

17 ‘‘(2) ensure that communications are targeted, 

18 understandable, and accessible; and 

19 ‘‘(3) ensure the translation of public health 

20 communications into multiple languages, including 

21 most commonly spoken languages within each demo22 graphic in each area targeted by the communica23 tions, which languages might include Spanish, Man24 darin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, 

25 French (including Cajun), Korean, Portuguese, RusVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 01, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8080.IH H8080

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1 sian, Haitian, Hindi, or any other language that the 

2 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(c) INITIAL STRATEGY.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish and begin implementation of the initial strategy under 

5 subsection (a) not later than 1 year after the date of en6 actment of this section.’’. 

Æ 


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