I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8938 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to 
establish a standardized procedure for all States to submit weekly reports 
on hospital policies and metrics related to the response to COVID– 
19, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 10, 2020 
Ms. GABBARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, to establish a standardized pro-
cedure for all States to submit weekly reports on hospital 
policies and metrics related to the response to COVID– 
19, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. STANDARDIZING COVID–19 DATA REPORTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
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of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention and in collaboration with the Administrator 
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
shall establish a standardized procedure for all 
States, acting through the State departments of 
health (or other State agencies that administer pub-
lic health programs), to submit in an electronic for-
mat, on a weekly basis, to the Secretary reports that 
include the information specified in paragraphs (3) 
and (4). 
(a) HOSPITAL REPORTS.—Beginning on the date 
that is 2 weeks after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and every 2 weeks thereafter until the date that is 
6 months after the date on which the emergency period 
ends, each hospital (or affiliated facility or site thereof) 
that received COVID–19 response funding shall, as a con-
dition on receipt of such funding, submit to the relevant 
State department of health the following information re-
garding COVID–19: 
(1) With respect to the hospital’s (or affiliated 
facility or site thereof) COVID–19 caseload— 
(A) the total number (if greater than zero) 
of COVID–19 cases during the emergency pe-
riod; 
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(B) the number of such cases to date; 
(C) how many patients infected with 
COVID–19— 
(i) have been discharged; and 
(ii) have died (and the underlying 
cause, other than COVID–19, for such 
deaths); and 
(D) how many staff members of the hos-
pital (or affiliated facility or site thereof) have 
been infected with COVID–19 and the out-
comes from those cases. 
(2) With respect to testing for COVID–19 con-
ducted by the hospital (or affiliated facility or site 
thereof)— 
(A) the type of tests conducted; 
(B) the location where the tests are being 
sent for analysis; 
(C) the turnaround time on results of such 
tests; 
(D) the total tests performed to date; and 
(E) the results of such tests, disaggregated 
by positive, negative, or antibodies present. 
(3) With respect to the hospital’s (or affiliated 
facility or site thereof) COVID–19 surge capacity— 
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(A) the current bed availability in the hos-
pital (or affiliated facility or site thereof) under 
non-surge conditions and the availability of in-
tensive care unit beds; 
(B) whether the hospital (or affiliated fa-
cility or site thereof) has established or retro-
fitted new COVID–19 wards; 
(C) the current ventilator capacity; and 
(D) any other relevant statistics are deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
(4) With respect to personal protective equip-
ment, the current availability of all relevant personal 
protective equipment at the hospital (or affiliated fa-
cility or site thereof), including whether there are 
shortages of such equipment or other necessary 
treatment equipment for COVID–19. 
(e) HOSPITAL POLICY REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 
is 2 weeks after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and every 2 weeks thereafter until the date that 
is 6 months after the date on which the emergency 
period ends, each hospital (or affiliated facility or 
site thereof) that received COVID–19 response fund-
ing shall, as a condition on receipt of such funding, 
maintain a standardized, comprehensive, publicly 
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available website detailing the hospital’s (or affili-
ated facility or site thereof) COVID–19-related poli-
cies and procedures that— 
(A) is available in multiple languages; 
(B) is published in an accessible manner; 
(C) is updated on a weekly basis; and 
(D) contains the information described in 
paragraph (2). 
(2) INFORMATION
DESCRIBED.—The informa-
tion described in this section is the following: 
(A) COVID–19 testing standards, policies, 
requirements, and criteria for patients, visitors, 
and staff (medical and non-medical). 
(B) COVID–19 infection control and pre-
vention, including personal protective equipment 
usage and disinfection, visitor guidance, patient 
placement and triage (such as procedures to 
isolate patients infected with COVID–19), best 
practices for staff, patients, and visitors, and 
whether staff are working both within and out-
side of COVID–19 units or wards. 
(C) Protocols for staff to leave from and 
return to work after being in contact with a 
COVID–19 positive case or testing positive for 
COVID–19. 
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(D) The availability of telehealth, access to 
services (including the rate of payment for such 
services). 
(E) Policies and procedures for surgeries 
unrelated to COVID–19. 
(F) Internal contact tracing policies, if 
any. 
(G) Any other policy the Secretary, acting 
through the Director, determines is applicable. 
(f) DATA REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) DISAGGREGATION.—All data reported under 
this section with respect to COVID–19 patients shall 
be disaggregated by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and 
other demographic factors as may be specified by 
the Secretary. 
(2) PRIVACY.—Any information collected pursu-
ant to this section with respect to COVID–19 pa-
tients shall be de-identified and otherwise subject to 
all applicable Federal and State privacy laws. 
(g) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use to carry out 
this section funding made available under the third para-
graph under the heading ‘‘Department of Health and 
Human Services—Office of the Secretary—Public Health 
and Social Services Emergency Fund’’ of the CARES Act 
(Public Law 116–136; 134 Stat. 563). 
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(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives; 
(B) the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives; 
(C) the Committee on Ways and Means of 
the House of Representatives; 
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate; 
(E) the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 
(F) the Committee on Finance of the Sen-
ate. 
(2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 response funding’’ 
means Federal funding received under— 
(A) the Coronavirus Preparedness and Re-
sponse Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 
(Public Law 116–123), or an amendment made 
by that Act; 
(B) the Families First Coronavirus Re-
sponse Act (Public Law 116–127), or an 
amendment made by that Act; 
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(C) the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 
136), or an amendment made by that Act; 
(D) the Paycheck Protection Program and 
Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 
116–139), or an amendment made by that Act; 
or 
(E) any other Federal law under which 
Federal assistance is provided to States and 
other non-Federal entities for purposes of re-
sponding to COVID–19. 
(3) The term ‘‘emergency period’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 1135(g)(1)(B) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b– 
5(g)(1)(B)). 
(4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention. 
(5) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
Virgin Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Is-
lands, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 
Æ 
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