II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3772 

To direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop, submit, 

and allocate funding to advance a plan for efficiently building testing 

capacity for facilities serving significant populations of individuals aged 

65 and older. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2020 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Department of Health and Human Services 

to develop, submit, and allocate funding to advance a 

plan for efficiently building testing capacity for facilities 

serving significant populations of individuals aged 65 

and older. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Our Seniors 

5 from the Pandemic Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTING OUR SENIORS PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’), in consultation with relevant stakeholders, de6 partments, and agencies, shall develop a Protecting Our 

7 Seniors Plan and submit such plan to the Committee on 

8 Appropriations, the Committee on Health, Education, 

9 Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on Finance, and the 

10 Special Committee on Aging of the Senate and to the 

11 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Energy 

12 and Commerce, and the Committee on Ways and Means 

13 of the House of Representatives. 

14 (b) PLAN CONTENT.—The Protecting Our Seniors 

15 Plan under subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) outline the portions of previous and planned 

17 allocations from the Public Health and Social Serv18 ices Emergency Fund related to COVID–19 testing 

19 capacity that have been targeted or will be targeted 

20 to meet the needs of nursing facilities, long-term 

21 care facilities, senior living communities, and other 

22 facilities that serve a significant population of indi23 viduals aged 65 and older; 

24 (2) establish national goals and objectives re25 lated to meeting the COVID–19 testing needs of 

26 such providers and facilities and bolstering testing 


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1 capacity for workers and other individuals who regu2 larly interact with individuals aged 65 and older; 

3 (3) describe progress at the Federal, State, 

4 local, and Tribal levels towards meeting the COVID– 

5 19 testing needs of such providers and facilities; 

6 (4) identify remaining COVID–19 testing ac7 cess challenges and needs related to protecting sen8 iors served by or residing in nursing facilities, long9 term care facilities, senior living communities, and 

10 other facilities that provide treatment, care, or other 

11 services to a significant population of individuals 

12 aged 65 and older; 

13 (5) issue recommendations to Congress regard14 ing the authorities, flexibility, and additional appro15 priations needed to address COVID–19 testing ac16 cess and capacity challenges; and 

17 (6) include such other information as the Sec18 retary determines appropriate. 

19 (c) STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION.—In developing 

20 the Protecting Our Seniors Plan, the Secretary shall con21 sult, where appropriate, with relevant stakeholders, de22 partments, and agencies, including— 

23 (1) the governors or designees of States and 

24 territories, and local governments, Tribes, and Trib25 al organizations; 


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1 (2) the Director of the National Institutes of 

2 Health; 

3 (3) the Director of the Centers for Disease 

4 Control and Prevention; 

5 (4) the Administrator of the Centers for Medi6 care & Medicaid Services; 

7 (5) the Administrator of the Health Resources 

8 and Services Administration; 

9 (6) the Administrator of the Federal Emer10 gency Management Agency; 

11 (7) administrators and other leaders from nurs12 ing facilities, long-term care facilities, senior living 

13 communities, and other facilities that serve a signifi14 cant population of individuals aged 65 and older; 

15 (8) health care workers and other essential 

16 workers who regularly interact with individuals aged 

17 65 and older; 

18 (9) individuals who reside in, or receive care 

19 from, nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, sen20 ior living communities, or other facilities that serve 

21 a significant population of individuals aged 65 and 

22 older; 

23 (10) public health laboratories, commercial lab24 oratories, academic laboratories, and other clinical 


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1 laboratories that process tests associated with 

2 COVID–19; 

3 (11) manufacturers and developers of diag4 nostic tests associated with COVID–19; and 

5 (12) epidemiologists and other health care ex6 perts. 

7 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section and in section 3, 

8 the term ‘‘senior living communities’’ includes independent 

9 living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care 

10 retirement communities, and personal care homes, adult 

11 care homes, and residential care facilities for the elderly 

12 with 15 or more residential units. 

13 SEC. 3. ALLOCATING APPROPRIATE FUNDING TO PROTECT 

14 OUR SENIORS. 

15 (a) FUNDING FOR TESTING CAPACITY TO PROTECT

16 SENIORS.—Out of the amounts appropriated under divi17 sion B of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health 

18 Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139) for nec19 essary expenses associated with COVID–19 tests, the Sec20 retary shall allocate not less than $3,500,000,000, from 

21 amounts not otherwise allocated, for expenses related to 

22 building consistent and sustainable testing capacity for 

23 nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, senior living 

24 communities, and other facilities that serve a significant 


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1 population of individuals aged 65 and older, as determined 

2 by the Secretary. 

3 (b) FUNDING FOR PROVIDERS FOR TESTING-RE4 LATED PURPOSES.—Out of the amounts appropriated 

5 under division B of the Paycheck Protection Program and 

6 Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139) for 

7 eligible health care providers, the Secretary shall allocate 

8 not less than $6,500,000,000, from amounts not otherwise 

9 allocated, for nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, 

10 senior living communities, and other facilities that serve 

11 a significant population of individuals aged 65 and older, 

12 as determined by the Secretary, to be used for expenses 

13 related directly or indirectly to COVID–19 testing. 

Æ 


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