I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2468 

To improve minority inclusion in clinical trials. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2015 

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

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To improve minority inclusion in clinical trials. 

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 ‘‘Minority Inclusion in 

5 Clinical Trials Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INCENTIVIZING INCLU7 SION OF UNDERREPRESENTED COMMU8 NITIES IN CLINICAL TRIALS. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that the National Institute 

10 on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) 

11 shall include within its strategic plan ways to increase repVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 May 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2468.IH H2468

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1 resentation of underrepresented communities in clinical 

2 trials. 

3 SEC. 3. CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR SCIENTISTS AND RE4 SEARCHERS. 

5 The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this 

6 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through the 

7 Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Director 

8 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

9 Commissioner of Food and Drugs, the Director of the 

10 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Ad11 ministrator of the Health Resources and Services Admin12 istration, shall award grants for— 

13 (1) expanding existing opportunities for sci14 entists and researchers; and 

15 (2) promoting the inclusion of underrepresented 

16 minorities in the health professions. 

17 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR INSTITUTIONS COMMITTED TO 

18 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN UNDERREP19 RESENTED COMMUNITIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec22 retary’’), acting through the Administrator of the Health 

23 Resources and Services Administration and the Centers 

24 for Disease Control and Prevention, shall award grants 

25 to eligible entities that demonstrate a commitment to 


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1 health workforce development in underrepresented com2 munities. 

3 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

4 under subsection (a), an entity shall— 

5 (1) be an educational institution or entity that 

6 historically produces or trains meaningful numbers 

7 of underrepresented minority health professionals, 

8 including— 

9 (A) historically Black colleges and univer10 sities; 

11 (B) Hispanic-serving health professions 

12 schools; 

13 (C) Hispanic-serving institutions; 

14 (D) tribal colleges and universities; 

15 (E) Asian-American, Native American, and 

16 Pacific Islander-serving institutions; 

17 (F) institutions that have programs to re18 cruit and retain underrepresented minority 

19 health professionals, in which a significant 

20 number of the enrolled participants are under21 represented minorities; 

22 (G) health professional associations, which 

23 may include underrepresented minority health 

24 professional associations; and 

25 (H) institutions— 


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1 (i) located in communities with pre2 dominantly underrepresented minority pop3 ulations; 

4 (ii) with whom partnerships have been 

5 formed for the purpose of increasing work6 force diversity; and 

7 (iii) in which at least 20 percent of 

8 the enrolled participants are underrep9 resented minorities; and 

10 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

11 such time, in such manner, and containing such in12 formation as the Secretary may require. 

13 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a 

14 grant under subsection (a) shall be used to expand existing 

15 workforce diversity programs, implement new workforce 

16 diversity programs, or evaluate existing or new workforce 

17 diversity programs, including with respect to mental 

18 health care professions. Such programs shall enhance di19 versity by considering minority status as part of an indi20 vidualized consideration of qualifications. Possible activi21 ties may include— 

22 (1) educational outreach programs relating to 

23 opportunities in the health professions; 

24 (2) scholarship, fellowship, grant, loan repay25 ment, and loan cancellation programs; 


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1 (3) postbaccalaureate programs; 

2 (4) academic enrichment programs, particularly 

3 targeting those who would not be competitive for 

4 health professions schools; 

5 (5) kindergarten through 12th grade and other 

6 health pipeline programs; 

7 (6) mentoring programs; 

8 (7) internship or rotation programs involving 

9 hospitals, health systems, health plans, and other 

10 health entities; 

11 (8) community partnership development for 

12 purposes relating to workforce diversity; or 

13 (9) leadership training. 

14 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after receiving 

15 a grant under this section, and annually for the term of 

16 the grant, a grantee shall submit to the Secretary a report 

17 that summarizes and evaluates all activities conducted 

18 under the grant. 

19 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Asian20 American, Native American, and Pacific Islander-serving 

21 institutions’’ has the same meaning as the term ‘‘Asian 

22 American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving 

23 institution’’ as defined in section 371(c) of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)). 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

4 2015 through 2020. 

5 SEC. 5. ELIMINATING DISPARITIES IN MATERNITY HEALTH 

6 OUTCOMES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) (in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Sec10 retary for Minority Health, the Director of the National 

11 Institutes of Health, the Director of the Centers for Dis12 ease Control and Prevention, the Administrator of the 

13 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Admin14 istrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, 

15 and in consultation with relevant national stakeholder or16 ganizations such as national medical specialty organiza17 tions, national maternal child health organizations, na18 tional groups that represent minority populations, and na19 tional health disparity organizations) shall carry out the 

20 following activities to eliminate disparities in maternal 

21 health outcomes: 

22 (1) Conduct research into the determinants and 

23 the distribution of disparities in maternal care, 

24 health risks, and health outcomes, and improve the 


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1 capacity of the performance measurement infrastruc2 ture to measure such disparities. 

3 (2) Expand access to services that have been 

4 demonstrated to improve the quality and outcomes 

5 of maternity care for vulnerable populations. 

6 (3) Establish a demonstration project to com7 pare the effectiveness of interventions to reduce dis8 parities in maternity services and outcomes, and im9 plement and assess effective interventions. 

10 (b) SCOPE AND SELECTION OF STATES FOR DEM11 ONSTRATION PROJECT.—The demonstration project 

12 under subsection (a)(3) shall be conducted in no more 

13 than 8 States, which shall be selected by the Secretary 

14 based on— 

15 (1) applications submitted by States, which 

16 specify which regions and populations the State in17 volved will serve under the demonstration project; 

18 (2) criteria designed by the Secretary to ensure 

19 that, as a whole, the demonstration project is, to the 

20 greatest extent possible, representative of the demo21 graphic and geographic composition of communities 

22 most affected by disparities; 

23 (3) criteria designed by the Secretary to ensure 

24 that a variety of types of models are tested through 

25 the demonstration project and that such models inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 May 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2468.IH H2468

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1 clude interventions that have an existing evidence 

2 base for effectiveness; and 

3 (4) criteria designed by the Secretary to assure 

4 that the demonstration projects and models will be 

5 carried out in consultation with local and regional 

6 provider organizations, such as community health 

7 centers, hospital systems, and medical societies rep8 resenting providers of maternity services. 

9 (c) DURATION OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The 

10 demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) shall begin 

11 on January 1, 2015, and end on December 31, 2019. 

12 (d) GRANTS FOR EVALUATION AND MONITORING.— 

13 The Secretary may make grants to States and health care 

14 providers participating in the demonstration project under 

15 subsection (a)(3) for the purpose of collecting data nec16 essary for the evaluation and monitoring of such project. 

17 (e) REPORTS.— 

18 (1) STATE REPORTS.—Each State that partici19 pates in the demonstration project under subsection 

20 (a)(3) shall report to the Secretary, in a time, form, 

21 and manner specified by the Secretary, the data nec22 essary to— 

23 (A) monitor the— 

24 (i) outcomes of the project; 

25 (ii) costs of the project; and 


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1 (iii) quality of maternity care provided 

2 under the project; and 

3 (B) evaluate the rationale for the selection 

4 of the items and services included in any bun5 dled payment made by the State under the 

6 project. 

7 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than December 

8 31, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

9 report on the results of the demonstration project 

10 under subsection (a)(3). 

11 SEC. 6. HEALTH DISPARITIES EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

13 through the National Institute on Minority Health and 

14 Health Disparities and in collaboration with the Office of 

15 Minority Health, the Office for Civil Rights, the Centers 

16 for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medi17 care & Medicaid Services, the Health Resources and Serv18 ices Administration, and other appropriate public and pri19 vate entities, shall establish and coordinate a health and 

20 health care disparities education program to support, de21 velop, and implement educational initiatives and outreach 

22 strategies that inform health care professionals and the 

23 public about the existence of and methods to reduce racial 

24 and ethnic disparities in health and health care. 


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1 (b) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary, through the edu2 cation program established under subsection (a), shall, 

3 through the use of public awareness and outreach cam4 paigns targeting the general public and the medical com5 munity at large— 

6 (1) disseminate scientific evidence for the exist7 ence and extent of racial and ethnic disparities in 

8 health care, including disparities that are not other9 wise attributable to known factors such as access to 

10 care, patient preferences, or appropriateness of 

11 intervention, as described in the 2002 Institute of 

12 Medicine Report entitled ‘‘Unequal Treatment: Con13 fronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health 

14 Care’’, as well as the impact of disparities related to 

15 age, disability status, socioeconomic status, sex, gen16 der identity, and sexual orientation on racial and 

17 ethnic minorities; 

18 (2) disseminate new research findings to health 

19 care providers and patients to assist them in under20 standing, reducing, and eliminating health and 

21 health care disparities; 

22 (3) disseminate information about the impact of 

23 linguistic and cultural barriers on health care quality 

24 and the obligation of health providers who receive 

25 Federal financial assistance to ensure that people 


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1 with limited-English proficiency have access to lan2 guage access services; 

3 (4) disseminate information about the impor4 tance and legality of racial, ethnic, disability status, 

5 socioeconomic status, sex, gender identity, and sex6 ual orientation, and primary language data collec7 tion, analysis, and reporting; 

8 (5) design and implement specific educational 

9 initiatives to health care providers relating to health 

10 and health care disparities; and 

11 (6) assess the impact of the programs estab12 lished under this section in raising awareness of 

13 health and health care disparities and providing in14 formation on available resources. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

18 2015 through 2020. 

Æ 


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