I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3068 
To prohibit discrimination in health care and require the provision of equitable 
health care, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 2, 2023 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BUSH, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit discrimination in health care and require the 
provision of equitable health care, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Health Care 
for All Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said 
‘‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health 
care is the most shocking and inhuman because it 
often results in physical death.’’. 
(2) Inequity in health care remains a persistent 
and devastating reality for many communities, but, 
in particular, communities of color. 
(3) The provision of inequitable health care has 
complex causes, many stemming from systemic in-
equality in access to health care, housing, nutrition, 
economic opportunity, education, and other factors. 
(4) Health care outcomes for Black commu-
nities in particular lag far behind those of the popu-
lation as a whole. 
(5) Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 
said on April 7, 2020, the coronavirus outbreak is 
‘‘shining a bright light’’ on ‘‘unacceptable’’ health 
disparities in the Black community. 
(6) A contributing factor in health disparities is 
explicit and implicit bias in the delivery of health 
care, resulting in inferior care and poorer outcomes 
for some patients on the basis of factors including 
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race, national origin, sex (including sexual orienta-
tion or gender identity), disability, age, or religion. 
(7) The National Academy of Medicine (for-
merly known as the ‘‘Institute of Medicine’’) issued 
a report in 2002 titled ‘‘Unequal Treatment’’, find-
ing that racial and ethnic minorities receive lower- 
quality health care than Whites do, even when insur-
ance status, income, age, and severity of condition is 
comparable. 
(8) Just as Congress has sought to eliminate 
bias, both explicit and implicit, in employment, hous-
ing, and other parts of our society, the elimination 
of bias and the legacy of structural racism in health 
care is of paramount importance. 
SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. 
(a) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in consultation with the Director of 
Civil Rights and Health Equity, the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health, the Administrator of 
the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the 
Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 
Health, and the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall by regulation require 
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all health care providers and facilities that are re-
quired under other provisions of law to report data 
on specific health outcomes to the Department of 
Health and Human Services in aggregate form, to 
disaggregate such data by demographic characteris-
tics, including by race, national origin, sex (including 
sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, 
and age, as well as any other factor that the Sec-
retary determines would be useful for determining a 
pattern of provision of inequitable health care. 
(2) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue 
proposed regulations to carry out paragraph (1). 
(b) REPOSITORY.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall— 
(1) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, establish a repository of the 
disaggregated data reported pursuant to subsection 
(a); 
(2) subject to paragraph (3), make the data in 
such repository publicly available; and 
(3) ensure that such repository does not contain 
any data that is individually identifiable. 
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SEC. 4. REQUIRING EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE IN THE HOS-
PITAL 
VALUE-BASED 
PURCHASING 
PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE AS VALUE MEASURE-
MENT.—Section 1886(b)(3)(B)(viii) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(B)(viii)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subclause: 
‘‘(XIII)(aa) Effective for payments beginning with 
fiscal year 2025, in expanding the number of measures 
under subclause (III), the Secretary shall adopt measures 
that relate to equitable health care furnished by hospitals 
in inpatient settings. 
‘‘(bb) In carrying out this subclause, the Secretary 
shall solicit input and recommendations from individuals 
and groups representing communities of color and other 
protected classes and ensure measures adopted pursuant 
to this subclause account for social determinants of health, 
as defined in section 7(e)(10) of the Equal Health Care 
for All Act. 
‘‘(cc) For purposes of this subclause, the term ‘equi-
table health care’ refers to the principle that high-quality 
care should be provided to all individuals and health care 
treatment and services should not vary on account of the 
real or perceived race, national origin, sex (including sex-
ual orientation and gender identity), disability, or age of 
an individual, as well as any other factor that the Sec-
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retary determines would be useful for determining a pat-
tern of provision of inequitable health care.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION OF EQUITABLE HEALTH CARE MEAS-
URES.—Section 1886(o)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395ww(o)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new clause: 
‘‘(iv) 
INCLUSION
OF
EQUITABLE 
HEALTH CARE MEASURES.—Beginning in 
fiscal year 2025, measures selected under 
subparagraph (A) shall include the equi-
table health care measures described in 
subsection (b)(3)(B)(viii)(XIII).’’. 
SEC. 5. PROVISION OF INEQUITABLE HEALTH CARE AS A 
BASIS FOR PERMISSIVE EXCLUSION FROM 
MEDICARE AND STATE HEALTH CARE PRO-
GRAMS. 
Section 1128(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1320a–7(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(18) PROVISION
OF
INEQUITABLE
HEALTH 
CARE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), any health care provider that the 
Secretary determines has engaged in a pattern 
of providing inequitable health care (as defined 
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in section 7(e)(7) of the Equal Health Care for 
All Act) on the basis of race, national origin, 
sex (including sexual orientation and gender 
identity), disability, or age of an individual. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of car-
rying out subparagaph (A), the Secretary shall 
not exclude any health care provider from par-
ticipation in the Medicare program under title 
XVIII of the Social Security Act or the Med-
icaid program under title XIX of such Act if 
the exclusion of such health care provider would 
result in increased difficulty in access to health 
care services for underserved or low-income 
communities.’’. 
SEC. 6. OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND HEALTH EQUITY OF 
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
SERVICES. 
(a) NAME OF OFFICE.—Beginning on the date of en-
actment of this Act, the Office for Civil Rights of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services shall be known 
as the ‘‘Office for Civil Rights and Health Equity’’ of the 
Department of Health and Human Services. Any ref-
erence to the Office for Civil Rights of the Department 
of Health and Human Services in any law, regulation, 
map, document, record, or other paper of the United 
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States shall be deemed to be a reference to the Office for 
Civil Rights and Health Equity. 
(b) HEAD OF OFFICE.—The head of the Office for 
Civil Rights and Health Equity shall be the Director for 
Civil Rights and Health Equity, to be appointed by the 
President. Any reference to the Director of the Office for 
Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human 
Services in any law, regulation, map, document, record, 
or other paper of the United States shall be deemed to 
be a reference to the Director for Civil Rights and Health 
Equity. 
SEC. 7. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE. 
(a) PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—No health care provider 
may, on the basis, in whole or in part, of race, sex 
(including sexual orientation and gender identity), 
disability, age, or religion, subject an individual to 
the provision of inequitable health care. 
(2) NOTICE
OF
PATIENT
RIGHTS.—The Sec-
retary shall provide to each patient a notice of a pa-
tient’s rights under this section. 
(b) ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT AND CONCILIATION 
PROCESS.— 
(1) COMPLAINTS AND ANSWERS.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—An aggrieved person 
may, not later than 1 year after an alleged vio-
lation of subsection (a) has occurred or con-
cluded, file a complaint with the Director alleg-
ing inequitable provision of health care by a 
provider described in subsection (a). 
(B) COMPLAINT.—A complaint submitted 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be in writ-
ing and shall contain such information and be 
in such form as the Director requires. 
(C) OATH
OR
AFFIRMATION.—The com-
plaint and any answer made under this sub-
section shall be made under oath or affirmation, 
and may be reasonably and fairly modified at 
any time. 
(2) RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the filing of a 
complaint under this subsection, the following 
procedures shall apply: 
(i) COMPLAINANT NOTICE.—The Di-
rector shall serve notice upon the com-
plainant acknowledging receipt of such fil-
ing and advising the complainant of the 
time limits and procedures provided under 
this section. 
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