I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8245 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments 

to hospitals in COVID–19 hot spots to provide hero pay to eligible 

workers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 

Mr. RUPPERSBERGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

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

on Education and Labor, and 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 authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to make payments to hospitals in COVID–19 hot spots 

to provide hero pay to eligible workers, 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 Dr. Joseph Costa 

5 Honoring Essential Americans Risking Their Safety Act 

6 of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HERO PAY FOR ELIGIBLE WORKERS AT HOSPITALS 

2 IN COVID–19 HOT SPOTS. 

3 (a) HERO PAYMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

5 appropriations, the Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec7 retary’’) shall make a payment to each eligible hos8 pital to provide hero pay to each eligible worker of 

9 the hospital. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE HOSPITALS.—To be eligible to 

11 seek a payment under this section, a hospital shall— 

12 (A) be located in an area that is or was a 

13 COVID–19 hot spot identified pursuant to sub14 section (b); and 

15 (B) submit an application at such time, in 

16 such manner, and containing such information 

17 and assurances as the Secretary may require. 

18 (3) ELIGIBLE WORKERS.—To be eligible to re19 ceive hero pay pursuant to this section, a worker 

20 shall— 

21 (A) be a health care professional (including 

22 individuals charged with assisting in health care 

23 services, the nonmedical care of patients, or 

24 maintaining order and cleanliness) serving as 

25 the employee or agent of a hospital receiving a 

26 payment under this section; and 


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1 (B) provide treatment or other applicable 

2 services at the hospital directly to patients with 

3 COVID–19. 

4 (4) PAYMENT PERIOD.—A hospital receiving a 

5 payment under this section may provide hero pay to 

6 a worker under this section only with respect to 

7 months during which— 

8 (A) the hospital is located, for any number 

9 of days, in a COVID–19 hot spot identified 

10 pursuant to subsection (b); and 

11 (B) the worker provides treatment or other 

12 applicable services, as described in paragraph 

13 (3), for a minimum of 10 work days. 

14 (5) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of the 

15 hero pay with respect to an eligible worker shall 

16 be— 

17 (A) $110 for March, 2020, if the payment 

18 period for such worker includes such month; 

19 and 

20 (B) $225 for any other applicable month. 

21 (6) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—For 

22 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

23 gross income shall not include hero pay under this 

24 section. 

25 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF HOT SPOTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 

2 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

3 Prevention (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc4 tor’’) shall identify all COVID–19 hot spots in the 

5 United States. 

6 (2) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘COVID–19 hot spot’’ means an area— 

8 (A) for which a State declaration of emer9 gency is in effect in connection with COVID– 

10 19; and 

11 (B) that has, as determined by the Direc12 tor, a high rate of hospitalization associated 

13 with COVID–19. 

14 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY REGISTRY OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

15 WHO WORK AT HIGH RISK DURING COVID–19 

16 PANDEMIC. 

17 (a) REGISTRY OF EMPLOYEES AT RISK OF COVID– 

18 19.—Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act, acting through the Director of 

20 the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

21 shall maintain a registry of individuals who worked, dur22 ing the emergency period, as a physician, nurse, or non23 physician health care specialist in a hospital or COVID– 

24 19 alternative care site. 


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1 (b) CONSENT REQUIRED FOR INCLUSION.—The Di2 rector shall— 

3 (1) include an individual in the registry under 

4 this section only with the individual’s consent; and 

5 (2) allow individuals in the registry, at any 

6 time, to opt out of the registry under this section 

7 and health monitoring under subsection (d). 

8 (c) GRANTS TO STATES.—The Director may award 

9 grants to States to encourage and facilitate the inclusion 

10 of eligible individuals in the registry under this section. 

11 (d) HEALTH MONITORING.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 

13 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

14 the Director shall monitor the health of the individ15 uals in the registry under this section who, at some 

16 point during or after the emergency period, tested 

17 positive through diagnostic or serological testing for 

18 a present or past infection with the virus that causes 

19 COVID–19. 

20 (2) DURATION.—Subject to subsection (b)(2), 

21 in carrying out monitoring under paragraph (1), the 

22 Director shall, with respect to each individual in the 

23 registry under this section, conduct such monitoring 

24 for the lifetime of the individual. 


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1 (e) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—The data collection 

2 and analysis necessary for the registry under this section 

3 and monitoring under subsection (d) shall be conducted 

4 and maintained in a manner that protects the confiden5 tiality of individually identifiable health information con6 sistent with applicable statutes and regulations, including, 

7 as applicable, HIPAA privacy and security law (as defined 

8 in section 3009(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 300jj–19(a)(2)) and section 552a of title 5, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (f) AVAILABILITY FOR RESEARCH.—Subject to sub12 section (e), in addition to using the registry under this 

13 subsection for health monitoring under subsection (d), the 

14 Director shall make the information in the registry avail15 able to researchers for public health research. 

16 (g) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

18 shall submit to Congress a preliminary report on overall 

19 health outcomes of individuals in the registry under sub20 section (a), including— 

21 (1) recommendations on best practices for pro22 tecting workers described in subsection (a) during 

23 the COVID–19 pandemic; and 

24 (2) recommendations on how to compensate in25 dividuals in the registry under subsection (a) for 


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1 health care costs, which may include costs for acute 

2 and chronic conditions and mental health conditions, 

3 that develop as a result of contracting the virus that 

4 causes COVID–19. 

5 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

7 the Director of the National Institute of Occupa8 tional Safety and Health. 

9 (2) EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘emer10 gency period’’ has the meaning given to that term 

11 in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)) 

13 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

14 the several States and the District of Columbia. 

15 SEC. 4. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR SERVICE IN A LONG-TERM 

16 CARE OR NURSING HOME FACILITY. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—During a qualifying COVID–19 

18 emergency, the Secretary of Education or the Secretary 

19 of Health and Human Services, as applicable, shall repay 

20 or cancel 10 percent of the outstanding balance of prin21 cipal and interest due on the eligible Federal loans and 

22 the private education loans of a borrower for each 6-month 

23 period of service completed by the borrower. 

24 (b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of loans of a 

25 borrower repaid or cancelled under paragraph (1) may not 


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1 exceed 50 percent of the outstanding balance of principal 

2 and interest due on such loans on the first day of the first 

3 6-month period of service with respect to which such loans 

4 are repaid or cancelled. 

5 (c) TREATMENT UNDER IRC.—The amount of a 

6 loan, and interest on a loan, which is canceled or repaid 

7 under this section shall not be considered income to the 

8 borrower for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986. 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LOAN.—The term ‘‘eli12 gible Federal loan’’ means— 

13 (A) made, insured, or guaranteed under 

14 part B, part D, or part E of title IV of the 

15 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 

16 et seq., 1087a et seq., or 1087aa et seq.); 

17 (B) made under subpart II of part A of 

18 title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 292q et seq.); or 

20 (C) made under part E of title VIII of the 

21 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297a et 

22 seq.). 

23 (2) QUALIFYING COVID–19 EMERGENCY.—The 

24 term ‘‘qualifying COVID–19 emergency’’ has the 

25 meaning given to the term ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ 


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1 in section 3502(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 

2 116–136). 

3 (3) PERIOD OF SERVICE.—The term ‘‘period of 

4 service’’, used with respect to a borrower, means a 

5 period in which the borrower— 

6 (A) is employed in a long-term care facil7 ity, nursing home facility, skilled nursing facil8 ity, or post-acute care facility located in a juris9 diction with respect to which a qualifying 

10 COVID–19 emergency has been declared; and 

11 (B) provides care directly to an individual 

12 in such facility at least 10 days per month. 

13 (4) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.—The term 

14 ‘‘private education loan’’ has the meaning given such 

15 term under section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending 

16 Act. 

17 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING. 

18 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Health 

19 and Human Services shall pay to each eligible individual 

20 who submits an application under subsection (b), a grant 

21 equal to 50 percent of the cost of the tuition and fees for 

22 eligible professional training, which may not exceed 

23 $1,000 per individual. 

24 (b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec25 tion, an eligible individual shall submit an application to 


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1 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con2 taining such information as the Secretary may require, 

3 which shall include an agreement to commit to employ4 ment, for not less than a 2-year period after receiving the 

5 eligible professional training for which the grant is award6 ed, at a long-term care facility, nursing home facility, 

7 skilled nursing facility, or post-acute care facility and at 

8 which the individual will provide care directly to an indi9 vidual in such facility at least 10 days per month for such 

10 2-year period. 

11 (c) REPAYMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that an eligible 

13 individual fails or refuses to comply with the employ14 ment commitment under subsection (b), the sum of 

15 the amounts of any grant received by such individual 

16 may, upon a determination of such a failure or re17 fusal in such employment commitment, be subject to 

18 repayment, together with interest thereon accruing 

19 from the date of the grant award, in accordance 

20 with terms and conditions specified by the Secretary 

21 in regulations under this section. 

22 (2) EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Sec23 retary may waive any repayment requirement under 

24 paragraph (1) in the event of extenuating cir25 cumstances. 


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1 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

2 (1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

3 individual’’ means an individual who is employed, 

4 and provides the care, as described in section 

5 4(d)(3). 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING.—The 

7 term ‘‘eligible professional training’’ means training 

8 that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential 

9 for a health care career in a long-term care facility, 

10 nursing home facility, skilled nursing facility, or 

11 post-acute care facility. 

12 (3) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN13 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden14 tial’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 

15 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

16 U.S.C. 3102). 

Æ 


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