II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 333 

To amend title XI and title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

funding for State strike teams, technical assistance, and infection control 

for resident and worker safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing 

facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2021 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. 

SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. REED, Ms. HIRONO, and 

Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XI and title XVIII of the Social Security 

Act to provide funding for State strike teams, technical 

assistance, and infection control for resident and worker 

safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities, 

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 ‘‘COVID–19 Nursing 

5 Home Protection Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE STRIKE TEAMS FOR RESIDENT AND WORKER 

2 SAFETY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social 

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1150C. STATE STRIKE TEAMS FOR RESIDENT AND 

7 WORKER SAFETY. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

9 under subsection (c), the Secretary shall allocate funds 

10 among the States for purposes of establishing and imple11 menting strike teams in accordance with subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives funds 

13 under this section shall use such funds to establish and 

14 implement a strike team that will be deployed to a skilled 

15 nursing facility (as defined in section 1819(a)) or nursing 

16 facility (as defined in section 1919(a)) in the State with 

17 diagnosed or suspected cases of COVID–19 among resi18 dents or staff for the purposes of assisting with COVID– 

19 19 vaccinations, clinical care, infection control, or staffing. 

20 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—There are hereby appropriated to 

21 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program 

22 Management Account, out of any money in the Treasury 

23 not otherwise appropriated, $750,000,000 for the fiscal 

24 year ending September 30, 2021, to remain available 

25 through September 30, 2022, for purposes of carrying out 

26 this section.’’. 


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1 (b) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided by 

3 this section are designated as an emergency require4 ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay5 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

6 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 

7 this section is designated as an emergency require8 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 

9 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 

10 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 

11 SEC. 3. PROVIDING FOR INFECTION CONTROL SUPPORT TO 

12 SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES THROUGH 

13 CONTRACTS WITH QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 

14 ORGANIZATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1862(g) of the Social Se16 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(g)) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that at least 

22 1 contract with a quality improvement organization 

23 described in paragraph (1) entered into on or after 

24 the date of the enactment of this paragraph and be25 fore the end of the emergency period described in 


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1 section 1135(g)(1)(B) (or in effect as of such date) 

2 includes the requirement that such organization pro3 vide to skilled nursing facilities with cases of 

4 COVID–19 (or facilities attempting to prevent out5 breaks of COVID–19) infection control support de6 scribed in subparagraph (B) during such period. 

7 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the in8 fection control support described in this subpara9 graph is, with respect to skilled nursing facilities de10 scribed in such subparagraph, the development and 

11 dissemination to such facilities of protocols relating 

12 to the prevention or mitigation of COVID–19 at 

13 such facilities and the provision of training materials 

14 to such facilities relating to such prevention or miti15 gation.’’. 

16 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Health and Human 

17 Services shall provide for the transfer from the Federal 

18 Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (as de19 scribed in section 1841 of the Social Security Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 1395t)) and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust 

21 Fund (as described in section 1817 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 1395i)), in such proportions as determined appropriate by 

23 the Secretary, to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

24 Services Program Management Account, of $210,000,000, 

25 to remain available until expended, for purposes of enterVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333

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1 ing into contracts with quality improvement organizations 

2 under part B of title XI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320c 

3 et seq.). Of the amount transferred pursuant to the pre4 vious sentence, not less than $110,000,000 shall be used 

5 for purposes of entering into such a contract that includes 

6 the requirement described in section 1862(g)(2)(A) of 

7 such Act (as added by subsection (a)). 

8 SEC. 4. REQUIRING LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES TO RE9 PORT CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATING TO 

10 COVID–19 CASES AND DEATHS. 

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

12 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) shall, as soon as practicable, require that the in14 formation described in paragraph (1) of section 483.80(g) 

15 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, or a successor 

16 regulation, be reported by a facility (as defined for pur17 poses of such section). 

18 (b) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

19 shall post the following information with respect to skilled 

20 nursing facilities (as defined in section 1819(a) of the So21 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(a))) and nursing fa22 cilities (as defined in section 1919(a) of such Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 1396r(a))) on the Nursing Home Compare website 

24 (as described in section 1819(i) of the Social Security Act 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(i))), or a successor website, aggre2 gated by State: 

3 (1) The age, race/ethnicity, and preferred lan4 guage of the residents of such skilled nursing facili5 ties and nursing facilities with suspected or con6 firmed COVID–19 infections, including residents 

7 previously treated for COVID–19. 

8 (2) The age, race/ethnicity, and preferred lan9 guage relating to total deaths and COVID–19 

10 deaths among residents of such skilled nursing facili11 ties and nursing facilities. 

12 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any information reported 

13 under this section that is made available to the public shall 

14 be made so available in a manner that protects the identity 

15 of residents of skilled nursing facilities and nursing facili16 ties. 

17 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may imple18 ment the provisions of this section by program instruction 

19 or otherwise. 

Æ 


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