I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7546 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that minority 

and medically underserved communities have meaningful and immediate 

access to public health interventions and medically necessary health care 

services during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2020 

Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

ensure that minority and medically underserved communities have meaningful and immediate access to public 

health interventions and medically necessary health care 

services during the COVID–19 pandemic, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Minority Community Public Health Emergency Response 

4 Act of 2020’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—RAPID RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM 

Sec. 101. Rapid response grant program. 

TITLE II—EQUALITY IN MEDICARE AND MEDICAID TREATMENT 

Sec. 201. Improving access to care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. 

7 TITLE I—RAPID RESPONSE 

8 GRANT PROGRAM 

9 SEC. 101. RAPID RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM. 

10 Title XXVIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 

11 U.S.C. 300hh et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following new subtitle: 

13 ‘‘Subtitle D—Rapid Response 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2831. RAPID RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services shall award grants to eligi17 ble entities described in subsection (b) for COVID–19 pre18 paredness and response efforts. 

19 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 

20 a grant under this section, an entity shall be a qualified 

21 government entity seeking a grant for a qualified commu22 nity within its jurisdiction that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) is, or contains, a medically underserved 

2 community; and 

3 ‘‘(2) has a percentage of COVID–19 cases, hos4 pitalizations, or deaths for any racial and ethnic mi5 nority group that is greater than the percentage of 

6 such cases in the State or county in which the com7 munity is located. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

9 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 

10 an application at such time, in such form, and containing 

11 such information as the Secretary determines appropriate, 

12 including— 

13 ‘‘(1) documentation that the entity is an eligible 

14 entity; 

15 ‘‘(2) a plan for carrying out the activities de16 scribed in subsection (f) with amounts received 

17 under this section; 

18 ‘‘(3) an oversight plan for tracking and security 

19 of resources and supplies; and 

20 ‘‘(4) a schedule for resource expenditure and re21 sponse readiness. 

22 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION.—Prior to awarding a grant 

23 under this section, the Secretary shall obtain a certifi24 cation from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 

25 Health, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s 


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1 Health, and the Director of the Office of Rural Health 

2 Policy that the application involved addresses health dis3 parities and social determinants of health as appropriate 

4 for populations to be cared for through the grant. 

5 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this sec6 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

7 that are local governments and county health depart8 ments. 

9 ‘‘(f) GRANT USES.—A recipient of a grant under this 

10 section may use grant funds with respect to COVID–19 

11 preparedness and rapid response efforts for any of the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(1) Purchasing medical supplies. 

14 ‘‘(2) Providing nutrition assistance. 

15 ‘‘(3) Warehousing stockpiled supplies, including 

16 rent and security costs. 

17 ‘‘(4) Constructing and operating testing sites. 

18 ‘‘(5) Providing quarantine housing. 

19 ‘‘(6) Providing public education related to the 

20 pandemic, including misinformation response. 

21 ‘‘(7) Contact tracing. 

22 ‘‘(8) Providing vaccinations. 

23 ‘‘(9) Distributing, dispensing, and admin24 istering antiviral medications. 

25 ‘‘(10) Providing community mitigation. 


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1 ‘‘(11) Performing laboratory epidemiology. 

2 ‘‘(12) Performing surveillance. 

3 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 1 

5 month after the date of enactment of this subtitle, 

6 6 months after such date of enactment, and 1 year 

7 after such date of enactment, and annually there8 after, the recipient of a grant under this section 

9 shall report to the Secretary on the program funded 

10 through the grant, with respect to— 

11 ‘‘(A) program oversight as described in 

12 subsection (c)(3); 

13 ‘‘(B) delays in funding expenditures; and 

14 ‘‘(C) resource distribution. 

15 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—Not later than 6 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this subtitle and 1 

17 year after such date of enactment, and annually 

18 thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Con19 gress on the programs funded by grants under this 

20 section, with respect to— 

21 ‘‘(A) program oversight as described in 

22 subsection (c)(3); and 

23 ‘‘(B) unmet needs in grant recipient pan24 demic response infrastructure. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2832. PLANNING GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award a 

3 planning grant to any entity that certifies that— 

4 ‘‘(1) it is an eligible entity under section 

5 2831(b); and 

6 ‘‘(2) it intends to submit to the Secretary an 

7 application for a grant under section 2831. 

8 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Any grant awarded under this 

9 section, for purposes of developing an application for a 

10 grant under section 2831, shall be used to— 

11 ‘‘(1) identify community needs to rapidly and 

12 effectively respond to the COVID–19 pandemic; 

13 ‘‘(2) estimate the cost of such a response and 

14 maintaining a state of readiness; and 

15 ‘‘(3) hire staff to carry out paragraphs (1) and 

16 (2). 

17 ‘‘(c) TIMING.—Not later than 30 days after receipt 

18 of an application for an award under this section, the Sec19 retary shall determine whether to award the grant. 

20 ‘‘(d) FUNDING CONDITION.—As a condition on re21 ceipt of a planning grant under this section, an applicant 

22 shall agree to submit to the Secretary an application for 

23 a grant under section 2831 no later than 90 days after 

24 receiving the planning grant. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2833. COMMUNITY INFECTIOUS DISEASE HEALTH 

2 SERVICES PLANNING COUNCIL. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To be eligible for assistance 

4 under this subtitle, the chief elected official of the qualified 

5 government entity applying for such assistance shall es6 tablish or designate a COVID–19/infectious disease health 

7 services planning council (in this section referred to as a 

8 ‘COVID–19/infectious disease health services planning 

9 council’) that shall reflect in its composition the demo10 graphics of the populations of individuals with COVID– 

11 19 and other infectious diseases in the qualified commu12 nity involved, with particular consideration given to dis13 proportionately affected and historically underserved 

14 groups and subpopulations. 

15 ‘‘(b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Nominations for mem16 bership on a COVID–19/infectious disease health services 

17 planning council shall be identified through an open proc18 ess and candidates shall be selected based on locally delin19 eated and publicized criteria. Such criteria shall include 

20 a conflict-of-interest standard that is in accordance with 

21 subsection (f). 

22 ‘‘(c) REPRESENTATION.—A COVID–19/infectious 

23 disease health services planning council— 

24 ‘‘(1) shall include representatives of— 

25 ‘‘(A) health care providers, including feder26 ally qualified health centers; 


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1 ‘‘(B) community-based organizations serv2 ing affected populations and AIDS service orga3 nizations; 

4 ‘‘(C) social service providers, including pro5 viders of housing and homeless services; 

6 ‘‘(D) mental health and substance abuse 

7 providers; 

8 ‘‘(E) local public health agencies; 

9 ‘‘(F) hospital planning agencies or health 

10 care planning agencies; 

11 ‘‘(G) affected communities, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) individuals with COVID–19 or 

13 another infectious disease designated by 

14 the council as having a disproportionate ef15 fect on a racial and ethnic minority group; 

16 ‘‘(ii) members of a federally recog17 nized Indian Tribe as represented in the 

18 affected communities; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) historically underserved groups 

20 and subpopulations; 

21 ‘‘(H) nonelected community leaders; 

22 ‘‘(I) State government (including the State 

23 Medicaid agency); 

24 ‘‘(J) grantees under this subtitle, or, if 

25 none are operating in the area, representatives 


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1 of organizations with a history of serving chil2 dren, youth, women, and families living with 

3 COVID–19 or other infectious diseases and op4 erating in the area; 

5 ‘‘(K) grantees who receive funding from 

6 other Federal COVID–19 or other infectious 

7 disease programs; and 

8 ‘‘(L) representatives of individuals who for9 merly were Federal, State, or local prisoners, 

10 were released from the custody of the penal sys11 tem during the preceding 3 years, and had 

12 COVID–19 or another infectious disease as of 

13 the date on which the individuals were so re14 leased; and 

15 ‘‘(2) to the extent possible, shall include individ16 uals who have had COVID–19. 

17 ‘‘(d) METHOD OF PROVIDING FOR COUNCIL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In providing for a council 

19 for purposes of subsection (a), a chief elected official 

20 of a qualified government entity receiving a grant 

21 under this subtitle may establish the council directly 

22 or designate an existing entity to serve as the coun23 cil, subject to paragraph (2). 

24 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION REGARDING DESIGNATION

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1 er to establish or designate a council under para2 graph (1), a chief elected official of a qualified gov3 ernment entity receiving a grant under this subtitle 

4 shall give priority to the designation of an existing 

5 entity that has demonstrated experience in planning 

6 for the COVID–19 and other infectious diseases 

7 health care service needs within the qualified com8 munity and in the implementation of such plans in 

9 addressing those needs. Any existing entity so des10 ignated shall be expanded to include a broad rep11 resentation of the full range of entities that provide 

12 such services within the geographic area to be 

13 served. 

14 ‘‘(e) DUTIES.—A COVID–19/infectious disease 

15 health services planning council shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) determine the size and demographics of 

17 the population of individuals who have or had 

18 COVID–19 or other infectious disease, as well as the 

19 size and demographics of the estimated population 

20 of individuals with COVID–19 or other infectious 

21 disease who are unaware of their COVID–19 or 

22 other infectious disease status; 

23 ‘‘(2) determine the needs of such population, 

24 with particular attention to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) individuals who have or had COVID– 

2 19 or other infectious disease and are not re3 ceiving health care with respect to COVID–19 

4 or such disease; 

5 ‘‘(B) disparities in access and services 

6 among affected subpopulations and historically 

7 underserved communities; and 

8 ‘‘(C) individuals who are unaware that 

9 such individual has or had COVID–19 or other 

10 infectious disease; 

11 ‘‘(3) establish priorities for the allocation of 

12 funds within the qualified community, including how 

13 best to meet each such priority and additional fac14 tors that a grantee should consider in allocating 

15 funds under a grant based on the— 

16 ‘‘(A) size and demographics of the popu17 lation of individuals who have or had COVID– 

18 19 (as determined under paragraph (1)) or 

19 other infectious disease and the needs of such 

20 population (as determined under paragraph 

21 (2)); 

22 ‘‘(B) demonstrated (or probable) cost ef23 fectiveness and outcome effectiveness of pro24 posed strategies and interventions, to the extent 

25 that data are reasonably available; 


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1 ‘‘(C) priorities of the communities of indi2 viduals who have or had COVID–19 or other 

3 infectious disease for whom the services are in4 tended; 

5 ‘‘(D) availability of other governmental 

6 and nongovernmental resources, including the 

7 State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the So8 cial Security Act and the State Children’s 

9 Health Insurance Program under title XXI of 

10 such Act to cover health care costs of eligible 

11 individuals and families with respect to 

12 COVID–19 or other infectious disease; and 

13 ‘‘(E) capacity development needs resulting 

14 from disparities in the availability of COVID– 

15 19 or other infectious disease-related services in 

16 historically underserved communities; 

17 ‘‘(4) develop a comprehensive plan for the orga18 nization and delivery of health and support services 

19 described in section 2831 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) includes a strategy for identifying in21 dividuals who have or had COVID–19 or other 

22 infectious disease and for informing the individ23 uals of and enabling the individuals to utilize 

24 the services, giving particular attention to elimi25 nating disparities in access and services among 


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1 affected subpopulations and historically under2 served communities, and including discrete 

3 goals, a timetable, and an appropriate alloca4 tion of funds; 

5 ‘‘(B) includes a strategy to coordinate the 

6 provision of such services with programs to pre7 vent the spread of COVID–19 or other infec8 tious disease; 

9 ‘‘(C) is compatible with any State or local 

10 plan for the provision of services to individuals 

11 who have COVID–19 or other infectious dis12 ease; and 

13 ‘‘(D) includes a strategy, coordinated as 

14 appropriate with other community strategies 

15 and efforts, including discrete goals, a time16 table, and appropriate funding, for identifying 

17 individuals who have COVID–19 or other infec18 tious disease or who are unaware that such in19 dividuals have COVID–19 or other infectious 

20 disease, making such individuals aware of such 

21 status, and enabling such individuals to use the 

22 health and support services described in section 

23 2831, with particular attention to reducing bar24 riers to routine testing and disparities in access 


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1 and services among affected subpopulations and 

2 historically underserved communities; 

3 ‘‘(5) assess the efficiency of the administrative 

4 mechanism in rapidly allocating funds to the areas 

5 of greatest need within the qualified community, and 

6 at the discretion of a COVID–19/infectious disease 

7 health services planning council, assess the effective8 ness, either directly or through contractual arrange9 ments, of the services offered in meeting the identi10 fied needs; 

11 ‘‘(6) establish methods for obtaining input on 

12 community needs and priorities which may include 

13 public meetings (in accordance with subsection (h)), 

14 conducting focus groups, and convening ad-hoc pan15 els; and 

16 ‘‘(7) coordinate with Federal grantees that pro17 vide COVID–19 or other infectious disease-related 

18 services in the qualified community. 

19 ‘‘(f) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A COVID–19/infectious 

21 disease health services planning council may not be 

22 directly involved in the administration of a grant 

23 under this subtitle. With respect to compliance with 

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1 ignate (or otherwise be involved in the selection of) 

2 particular entities as recipients of any of the 

3 amounts provided in the grant. 

4 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED AGREEMENTS.—An individual 

5 may serve on a COVID–19/infectious disease health 

6 services planning council only if the individual 

7 agrees that if the individual has a financial interest 

8 in an entity, if the individual is an employee of a 

9 public or private entity, or if the individual is a 

10 member of a public or private organization, and such 

11 entity or organization is seeking amounts from a 

12 grant under this subtitle, the individual will not, 

13 with respect to the purpose for which the entity 

14 seeks such amounts, participate (directly or in an 

15 advisory capacity) in the process of selecting entities 

16 to receive such amounts for such purpose. 

17 ‘‘(3) COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL.—The following 

18 applies regarding the membership of a COVID–19/ 

19 infectious disease health services planning council: 

20 ‘‘(A) Not less than 33 percent of the coun21 cil shall be individuals who— 

22 ‘‘(i) are not officers, employees, or 

23 consultants to any entity that receives 

24 amounts from such a grant, and do not 

25 represent any such entity; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) reflect the demographics of the 

2 population of individuals who have 

3 COVID–19 or other infectious diseases as 

4 determined under subsection (e)(1). 

5 ‘‘(B) With respect to membership on a 

6 COVID–19/infectious disease health services 

7 planning council, subparagraph (A) may not be 

8 construed as having any effect on entities that 

9 receive any Federal funds with respect to 

10 COVID–19 or other infectious disease but do 

11 not receive funds from grants under section 

12 2831, on officers or employees of such entities, 

13 or on individuals who represent such entities. 

14 ‘‘(g) GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES.—A COVID–19/in15 fectious disease health services planning council shall de16 velop procedures for addressing grievances with respect to 

17 funding under this subtitle, including procedures for sub18 mitting grievances that cannot be resolved to binding arbi19 tration. Such procedures shall be described in the by-laws 

20 of a COVID–19/infectious disease health services planning 

21 council and be consistent with the requirements of sub22 section (c). 

23 ‘‘(h) PUBLIC DELIBERATIONS.—With respect to a 

24 planning council under subsection (a), the following ap25 plies: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The council may not be chaired solely by 

2 an employee of the grantee under this subtitle. 

3 ‘‘(2) In accordance with criteria established by 

4 the Secretary: 

5 ‘‘(A) The meetings of the council shall be 

6 open to the public and shall be held only after 

7 adequate notice to the public. 

8 ‘‘(B) The records, reports, transcripts, 

9 minutes, agenda, or other documents which 

10 were made available to or prepared for or by 

11 the council shall be available for public inspec12 tion and copying at a single location. 

13 ‘‘(C) Detailed minutes of each meeting of 

14 the council shall be kept. The accuracy of all 

15 minutes shall be certified to by the chair of the 

16 council. 

17 ‘‘(D) This paragraph does not apply to any 

18 disclosure of information of a personal nature 

19 that would constitute a clearly unwarranted in20 vasion of personal privacy, including any disclo21 sure of medical information or personnel mat22 ters. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 2834. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘(1) MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.— 

2 The term ‘medically underserved community’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 799B(6). 

4 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED COMMUNITY.—The term 

5 ‘qualified community’ means either of the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) A political subdivision of a State. 

7 ‘‘(B) A group of political subdivisions of 

8 one or more States. 

9 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED GOVERNMENT ENTITY.—The 

10 term ‘qualified government entity’ means any of the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(A) A State. 

13 ‘‘(B) A political subdivision of a State. 

14 ‘‘(C) A group of political subdivisions of 

15 one or more States. 

16 ‘‘(D) A county health department. 

17 ‘‘(4) RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUP.— 

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

19 meaning given the term in section 1707(g). 

20 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

21 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

22 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

23 the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 

24 territories and possessions of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2835. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION. 

2 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this subtitle $1,000,000,000, to remain available until ex4 pended.’’. 

5 TITLE II—EQUALITY IN MEDI6 CARE AND MEDICAID TREAT7 MENT 

8 SEC. 201. IMPROVING ACCESS TO CARE FOR MEDICARE 

9 AND MEDICAID BENEFICIARIES. 

10 Section 1115A of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 1315a) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

13 (A) by inserting after ‘‘relevant Federal 

14 agencies,’’ the following: ‘‘including the Office 

15 of Minority Health of the Centers for Medicare 

16 & Medicaid Services, the Office of Rural Health 

17 Policy of the Health Resources and Services 

18 Administration, and the Office on Women’s 

19 Health in the Office of the Secretary,’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting after ‘‘medicine’’ the fol21 lowing: ‘‘, the causes of health disparities and 

22 social determinants of health,’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

25 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (I) by inserting after the first 

2 sentence, the following new sentence: 

3 ‘‘Prior to model selection, the Sec4 retary shall consult with the Office of 

5 Minority Health of the Centers for 

6 Medicare & Medicaid Services, the 

7 Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, 

8 and the Office on Women’s Health to 

9 ensure that models under consider10 ation address health disparities and 

11 social determinants of health as ap12 propriate for populations to be cared 

13 for under the model.’’; 

14 (II) by inserting ‘‘, as well as im15 proving access to care received by in16 dividuals receiving benefits under such 

17 title,’’ after ‘‘title’’; and 

18 (III) by adding at the end the 

19 following new sentence: ‘‘The models 

20 selected under this subparagraph shall 

21 include the social determinants of 

22 health payment model described in 

23 subparagraph (D), the testing of 

24 which shall begin not later than De25 cember 31, 2020.’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by adding at 

2 the end the following new clauses: 

3 ‘‘(ix) Whether the model will affect 

4 access to care from providers and suppliers 

5 caring for high-risk patients or operating 

6 in underserved areas. 

7 ‘‘(x) Whether the model has the po8 tential to produce reductions in minority 

9 and rural health disparities.’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(D) SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

13 PAYMENT MODEL.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The social deter15 minants of health payment model described 

16 in this subparagraph is a payment model 

17 that tests each of the payment and service 

18 delivery innovations described in clause (ii) 

19 in a region determined appropriate by the 

20 Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT AND SERVICE DELIV22 ERY INNOVATIONS DESCRIBED.—For pur23 poses of clause (i), the payment and serv24 ice delivery innovations described in this 

25 clause are the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Payment and service delivery 

2 innovations for behavioral health serv3 ices, focusing on gathering actionable 

4 data to address the higher costs asso5 ciated with beneficiaries with diag6 nosed behavioral conditions. 

7 ‘‘(II) Payment and service deliv8 ery innovations targeting conditions or 

9 comorbidities of individuals entitled or 

10 enrolled under the Medicare program 

11 under title XVIII and enrolled under 

12 a State plan under the Medicaid pro13 gram under title XIX to increase ca14 pacity in underserved areas. 

15 ‘‘(III) Payment and service deliv16 ery innovations targeted on Medicaid17 eligible pregnant and postpartum 

18 women, up to one year after delivery. 

19 ‘‘(IV) Payment and service deliv20 ery innovations targeted on commu21 nities where a percentage of COVID– 

22 19 cases, hospitalizations, or deaths 

23 for any racial or ethnic minority 

24 group that is greater than the per25 centage of such cases in the State or 


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1 county in which the community is lo2 cated.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

4 (i) in clause (i) at the end, by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’; 

6 (ii) in clause (ii), at the end, by strik7 ing the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new clause: 

10 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which the model 

11 improves access to care or the extent to 

12 which the model improves care for high13 risk patients, patients from racial or ethnic 

14 minorities, or patients in underserved 

15 areas.’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking at the 

18 end ‘‘and’’; 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

20 paragraph (4); 

21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

22 following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(3) the Office of Minority Health of the Cen24 ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services certifies that 


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1 such expansion will not reduce access to care for 

2 low-income, minority, or rural beneficiaries; and’’; 

3 (D) in paragraph (4), as redesignated by 

4 subparagraph (B), by inserting before the pe5 riod at the end the following: ‘‘nor increase 

6 health disparities experienced by low-income, 

7 minority, or rural beneficiaries’’; and 

8 (E) in the matter following paragraph (4), 

9 as redesignated by subparagraph (B), by insert10 ing ‘‘, improve access to care,’’ after ‘‘care’’; 

11 and 

12 (4) in subsection (g)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(or, beginning with 2021, 

14 once every year thereafter)’’ after ‘‘thereafter’’; 

15 and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

17 sentence: ‘‘For reports for 2021 and each sub18 sequent year, each such report shall include in19 formation on the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) The extent and severity of minority and 

21 rural health disparities in Medicare and Medicaid 

22 beneficiaries. 

23 ‘‘(2) The interventions that address social de24 terminants of health in payment models selected by 


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1 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation for 

2 testing. 

3 ‘‘(3) The interventions that address social de4 terminants of health in payment models not selected 

5 by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation 

6 for testing. 

7 ‘‘(4) The effectiveness of interventions in miti8 gating negative health outcomes and higher costs as9 sociated with social determinants of health within 

10 models selected by the Center for Medicare and 

11 Medicaid Innovation for testing. 

12 ‘‘(5) Changes in disparities among minorities 

13 and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in under14 served areas that are attributable to provider and 

15 supplier participation in a Phase II model. 

16 ‘‘(6) In consultation with the Comptroller Gen17 eral of the United States, estimated Federal savings 

18 achieved through the reduction of rural and minority 

19 health disparities. 

20 ‘‘(7) Other areas determined appropriate by the 

21 Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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