II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1219 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide health equity for people 

with disabilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was 

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

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide health 

equity for people with disabilities. 

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 ‘‘Health Equity for Peo5 ple with Disabilities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HEALTH EQUITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 330 of the Public Health 

8 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A), by inserting ‘‘including people with disabil3 ities within these populations;’’ after ‘‘public 

4 housing,’’; and 

5 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘in6 cluding accessible healthcare services’’ before 

7 the semicolon; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

10 (i) in clause (i), in the matter pre11 ceding subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘, includ12 ing accessible healthcare services’’ after 

13 ‘‘health services’’; 

14 (ii) in clause (iv), by inserting ‘‘, in15 cluding people with disabilities,’’ after ‘‘en16 able individuals’’; and 

17 (iii) in clause (v), by inserting ‘‘, in18 cluding people with disabilities,’’ after 

19 ‘‘health center’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) DISABILITY.—The term ‘disability’ has the 

22 meaning given such term in the Americans with Dis23 abilities Act of 1990.’’; 

24 (3) in subsection (c)(1)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A)— 

3 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including people 

4 with disabilities within these medically un5 derserved populations’’ before the first pe6 riod; and 

7 (ii) by inserting ‘‘accessible’’ after 

8 ‘‘lease of’’; and 

9 (B) in subparagraph (E), by inserting 

10 ‘‘non-profit health and wellness agencies,’’ after 

11 ‘‘local hospitals,’’; 

12 (4) in subsection (d)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or 

14 with disabilities’’ before the semicolon; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or for 

16 addressing barriers to care affecting people with 

17 disabilities in their communities’’ before the pe18 riod; 

19 (5) in subsection (e)(6)(A)(ii), insert ‘‘, or will 

20 serve a significant population of people with disabil21 ities’’ after ‘‘other applicants’’; 

22 (6) in subsection (f)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘, in23 cluding people with disabilities,’’ after ‘‘women and 

24 children’’; 


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1 (7) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, in2 cluding people with disabilities’’ before the semi3 colon; 

4 (8) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ‘‘and vet5 erans at risk of homelessness’’ and inserting ‘‘vet6 erans at risk of homelessness, and people with dis7 abilities who are homeless or at risk of homeless8 ness’’; 

9 (9) in subsection (i)(1), by inserting ‘‘, inclusive 

10 of people with disabilities in these communities’’ be11 fore the period; and 

12 (10) in subsection (j)(4)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

16 period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) provide communication devices, aids, 

19 or services to meet disability accessibility re20 quirements.’’. 

21 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

22 amendments made by subsection (a) shall be construed to 

23 modify the manner in which funding is provided to tar24 geted populations on the date of enactment of this Act 

25 or to otherwise shift the focus of programming for such 


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1 populations. Such amendments are intended to ensure 

2 that members of targeted populations with disabilities are 

3 included in such programming, have access to care, and 

4 are served under programs under section 330 of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (as amended by this section). 

Æ 


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