I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6109 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to ensure that each HHS health service program 

or HHS health survey provides, to the extent the Secretary determines 

appropriate and practicable, for the voluntary collection of data on the 

sexual orientation and gender identity of individuals who apply for or 

receive health services through such program, or who respond to such 

survey. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PALLONE, and Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that 

each HHS health service program or HHS health survey 

provides, to the extent the Secretary determines appropriate and practicable, for the voluntary collection of 

data on the sexual orientation and gender identity of 

individuals who apply for or receive health services 

through such program, or who respond to such survey. 

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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Data Collection 

3 Improvement Act of 2010’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DATA COLLECTION ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND 

5 GENDER IDENTITY. 

6 Title XXXI of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 300kk et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec8 tion 3101 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3102. DATA COLLECTION ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION 

10 AND GENDER IDENTITY. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that, 

12 beginning not later than 1 year after the dissemination 

13 of standards under subsection (c)(3), each HHS health 

14 service program and HHS health survey provides, to the 

15 extent the Secretary determines appropriate and prac16 ticable, for the collection of data on the sexual orientation 

17 and gender identity of individuals who apply for or receive 

18 health services through such program, or who respond to 

19 such survey. 

20 ‘‘(b) PROVISION AND USE OF INFORMATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) VOLUNTARY BASIS.—Provision of informa22 tion by an individual in response to a collection pur23 suant to subsection (a) shall be only on a voluntary 

24 basis. 

25 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—An agency or person that 

26 collects data from an individual pursuant to subVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:46 Sep 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6109.IH H6109

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1 section (a) shall not use such data, or the decision 

2 of the individual not to provide such data, in any 

3 manner that adversely affects the individual. 

4 ‘‘(c) DATA STANDARDS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary, in con6 sultation with the Office for Civil Rights of the De7 partment of Health and Human Services and rel8 evant data collection agencies, shall develop stand9 ards for the measurement of, and collection of infor10 mation about, sexual orientation and gender iden11 tity. In developing the standards, the Secretary shall 

12 take into account recommendations made by the In13 stitute of Medicine Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bi14 sexual, and Transgender Health Issues and Re15 search Gaps and Opportunities. 

16 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN STANDARDS.— 

17 The standards developed under paragraph (1) shall 

18 include standards— 

19 ‘‘(A) for categorization of sexual orienta20 tion and gender identity, including questions to 

21 facilitate categorization; 

22 ‘‘(B) for appropriate methods to collect in23 formation to maximize voluntary participation, 

24 preserve privacy and confidentiality, and avoid 


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1 unintended negative consequences to an indi2 vidual or program; and 

3 ‘‘(C) that address the feasibility of data 

4 collection in different contexts and the appro5 priateness and analytical validity of collection 

6 within specific programs or types of programs. 

7 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec9 retary shall disseminate the standards developed 

10 under paragraph (1) to the offices and agencies of 

11 the Department of Health and Human Services, 

12 other Federal departments and agencies that admin13 ister health service programs, and other interested 

14 parties. 

15 ‘‘(4) REVISION.—The Secretary shall revise the 

16 standards developed under paragraph (1), and dis17 seminate the revised standards, as the Secretary de18 termines appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(d) ANALYSIS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENTAL ANALYSIS.—For each 

21 HHS health service program and HHS health sur22 vey, the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) analyze data collected under sub24 section (a) to detect and monitor health dispariVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:46 Sep 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6109.IH H6109

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1 ties based on sexual orientation and gender 

2 identity at the Federal and State levels; and 

3 ‘‘(B) report to the Congress and the public 

4 the results of such analyses. 

5 ‘‘(2) INTEGRATION OF DATA ANALYSES.—The 

6 Secretary shall integrate data analyses conducted 

7 under paragraph (1) with other activities of the De8 partment of Health and Human Services that iden9 tify and analyze health disparities by race, ethnicity, 

10 sex, disability, primary language, or other popu11 lation. 

12 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Secretary 

13 shall, as appropriate, enter into data use agreements 

14 between the Department of Health and Human 

15 Services (or offices and agencies thereof) and other 

16 governmental agencies and nongovernmental entities, 

17 pursuant to which the Secretary shall make available 

18 to such agencies and entities aggregated data (ex19 cluding any personally identifiable information about 

20 an individual) collected under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(e) PRIVACY AND OTHER SAFEGUARDS.—The pro22 tections and safeguards described in section 3101(e)(1) 

23 shall apply to data collected pursuant to subsection (a) 

24 of this section to the same extent and in the same manner 


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1 as such protections and safeguards apply to data collected 

2 pursuant to section 3101(a). 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘HHS health service program’ 

5 means a program conducted or supported by the De6 partment of Health and Human Services through 

7 which direct preventive health or medical treatment 

8 services are delivered to individuals, either in a clin9 ical or community setting. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘HHS health survey’ means data 

11 collection efforts conducted or supported by the De12 partment of Health and Human Services to obtain 

13 information directly from individual respondents for 

14 the purpose of aggregating statistical information.’’. 

Æ 


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