quality education, and decent employment signifi-
cantly impact the ability of individuals to take care 
of their most basic health needs. Communities of 
color are more likely to experience homelessness and 
struggle with low-paying jobs or unemployment. To 
date, experts have cited that 2 in 5 Latino residents 
in New York City, the current epicenter of the 
COVID–19 pandemic, are recently unemployed as a 
direct consequence of COVID–19. And at a time 
when sheltering in place will save lives, less than 1 
in 5 Black workers and roughly 1 in 6 Latino work-
ers are able to work from home. 
(8) Communities of color experience higher 
rates of chronic disease and disabilities, such as dia-
betes, hypertension, and asthma, than non-Hispanic 
White communities, which predisposes them to 
greater risk of complications and mortality should 
they contract COVID–19. 
(9) Such communities are made even more vul-
nerable to the uncertainty of the preparation, re-
sponse, and events surrounding the pandemic public 
health crisis, COVID–19. For instance, in the recent 
past, multiple epidemiologic studies and reviews have 
reported higher rates of hospitalization due to the 
2009 H1N1 pandemic among the poor, individuals 
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with disabilities and preexisting conditions, those liv-
ing in impoverished neighborhoods, and individuals 
of color and ethnic backgrounds in the United 
States. These findings highlight the urgency to 
adapt the COVID–19 response to monitor and act 
on these inequities via data collection and research 
by race and ethnicity. 
(10) Research experts recognize that there are 
underlying differences in illness and death when 
each of these factors are examined through socio-
economic and racial or ethnic lenses. These socially 
determinant factors of health accelerate disease and 
degradation. 
(11) Language barriers are highly correlated 
with medication noncompliance and inconsistent en-
gagement with health systems. Without language ac-
cessibility data and research around COVID–19, 
these communities are less likely to receive critical 
testing and preventive health services. Yet, to date, 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do 
not disseminate COVID–19 messaging in critical 
languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, 
and Korean within the same timeframe as informa-
tion in English despite requirements to ensure lim-
ited English proficient populations are not discrimi-
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nated against under title VI of the Civil Rights Act 
of 1964 and subsequent laws and Federal policies. 
(12) Further, it is critical to disaggregate data 
further by ancestry to address disparities among 
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Is-
lander groups. According to the National Equity 
Atlas, while 13 percent of the Asian population over-
all lived in poverty in 2015, 39 percent of Burmese 
people, 29 percent of Hmong people, and 21 percent 
of Pacific Islanders lived in poverty. 
(13) Utilizing disaggregation of enrollment in 
Affordable Care Act-sponsored health insurance, the 
Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum 
found that prior to the passage of the Patient Pro-
tection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111– 
148), Korean Americans had a high uninsured rate 
of 23 percent, compared to just 12 percent for all 
Asian Americans. Developing targeted outreach ef-
forts assisted 1,000,000 people and resulted in a 56- 
percent decrease in the uninsured among the Asian, 
Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population. 
Such efforts show that disaggregated data is essen-
tial to public health mobilizations efforts. 
(14) Without clear understanding of how 
COVID–19 impacts marginalized racial and ethnic 
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communities, there will be exacerbated risk of en-
dangering the most historically vulnerable of our 
Nation. 
(15) The consequences of misunderstanding the 
racial and ethnic impact of COVID–19 expound be-
yond communities of color such that it would impact 
all. 
(16) Race and ethnicity are valuable research 
and practice variables when used and interpreted ap-
propriately. Health data collected on patients by 
race and ethnicity will boost and more efficiently di-
rect critical resources and inform risk communica-
tion development in languages and at appropriate 
health literacy levels, which resonate with historically 
vulnerable communities of color. 
(17) To date, there is no public standardized 
and comprehensive race and ethnicity data reposi-
tory of COVID–19 testing, hospitalizations, or mor-
tality. The inconsistency of data collection by Fed-
eral, State, and local health authorities, and the in-
ability to access data by public research institutions 
and academic organizations, poses a threat to anal-
ysis and synthesis of the pandemic impact on com-
munities of color. However, research and medical ex-
perts of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 
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academic health care institutions which are histori-
cally and geographically embedded in minoritized 
and marginalized communities, generally also pos-
sess rapport with the communities they serve. They 
are well-positioned, as trusted thought leaders and 
health care service providers, to collect data and con-
duct research toward creating holistic solutions to 
remedy the inequitable impact of this and future 
public health crises. 
(18) Well-designed, ethically sound research 
aligns with the goals of medicine, addresses ques-
tions relevant to the population among whom the 
study will be carried out, balances the potential for 
benefit against the potential for harm, employs 
study designs that will yield scientifically valid and 
significant data, and generates useful knowledge. 
(19) The dearth of racially and ethnically 
disaggregated data reflecting the health of commu-
nities of color underlies the challenges of a fully in-
formed public health response. 
(20) Without collecting race and ethnicity data 
associated with COVID–19 testing, hospitalizations, 
morbidities, and mortalities, as well as publicly dis-
closing it, communities of color will remain at great-
er risk of disease and death. 
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SEC. 3. EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR FEDERAL DATA COL-
LECTION ON THE RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND 
OTHER 
DEMOGRAPHIC 
DISPARITIES 
OF 
COVID–19. 
To conduct or support data collection on the racial, 
ethnic, and other demographic implications of COVID–19 
in the United States and its territories, including support 
to assist in the capacity building for State and local public 
health departments to collect and transmit racial, ethnic, 
and other demographic data to the relevant Department 
of Health and Human Services agencies, there is author-
ized to be appropriated— 
(1) to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, $12,000,000; 
(2) to State, territorial, and Tribal public 
health agencies, distributed proportionally based on 
the total population of their residents who are en-
rolled in Medicaid or who have no health insurance, 
$15,000,000; 
(3) to the Indian Health Service, Indian Tribes 
and Tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act), and urban Indian organizations (as de-
fined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Im-
provement Act), $3,000,000; 
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(4) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services, $5,000,000; 
(5) to the Food and Drug Administration, 
$5,000,000; 
(6) to the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality, $5,000,000; and 
(7) to the Office of the National Coordinator 
for Health Information Technology, $5,000,000. 
SEC. 4. COVID–19 DATA COLLECTION AND DISCLOSURE. 
(a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’), acting through the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of 
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, shall make 
publicly available on the website of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention data collected across all surveil-
lance systems relating to COVID–19, disaggregated by 
race, ethnicity, sex, age, primary language, socioeconomic 
status, disability status, and county, including the fol-
lowing: 
(1) Data related to all COVID–19 testing, in-
cluding the number of individuals tested and the 
number of tests that were positive. 
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(2) Data related to treatment for COVID–19, 
including hospitalizations and intensive care unit ad-
missions. 
(3) Data related to COVID–19 outcomes, in-
cluding total fatalities and case fatality rates (ex-
pressed as the proportion of individuals who were in-
fected with COVID–19 and died from the virus). 
(b) APPLICATION OF STANDARDS.—To the extent 
practicable, data collection under this section shall follow 
standards developed by the Department of Health and 
Human Services Office of Minority Health and be col-
lected, analyzed, and reported in accordance with the 
standards promulgated by the Assistant Secretary for 
Planning and Evaluation under title XXXI of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300kk et seq.). 
(c) TIMELINE.—The data made available under this 
section shall be updated on a daily basis throughout the 
public health emergency. 
(d) PRIVACY.—In publishing data under this section, 
the Secretary shall take all necessary steps to protect the 
privacy of individuals whose information is included in 
such data, including— 
(1) complying with privacy protections provided 
under the regulations promulgated under section 
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264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac-
countability Act of 1996; and 
(2) protections from all inappropriate internal 
use by an entity that collects, stores, or receives the 
data, including use of such data in determinations of 
eligibility (or continued eligibility) in health plans, 
and from inappropriate uses. 
(e) CONSULTATION
WITH
TRIBES.—The Indian 
Health Service shall consult with Indian Tribes and confer 
with urban Indian organizations on data collection and re-
porting. 
(f) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 
on which the Secretary certifies that the public health 
emergency related to COVID–19 has ended, the Secretary 
shall make publicly available a summary of the final statis-
tics related to COVID–19. 
(g) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 
on which the Secretary certifies that the public health 
emergency related to COVID–19 has ended, the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services shall compile and 
submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep-
resentatives a preliminary report— 
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(1) describing the testing, hospitalization, mor-
tality rates, and preferred language of patients asso-
ciated with COVID–19 by race and ethnicity; and 
(2) proposing evidenced-based response strate-
gies to safeguard the health of these communities in 
future pandemics. 
SEC. 5. COMMISSION ON ENSURING HEALTH EQUITY DUR-
ING THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER-
GENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 
a commission, to be known as the ‘‘Commission on Ensur-
ing Health Equity During the COVID–19 Public Health 
Emergency’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commis-
sion’’) to provide clear and robust guidance on how to im-
prove the collection, analysis, and use of demographic data 
in responding to future waves of the coronavirus. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP AND CHAIRPERSON.— 
(1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 
composed of— 
(A) the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention; 
(B) the Director of the National Institutes 
of Health; 
(C) the Commissioner of Food and Drugs; 
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(D) the Administrator of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency; 
(E) the Director of the National Institute 
on Minority Health and Health Disparities; 
(F) the Director of the Indian Health 
Service; 
(G) the Administrator of the Centers for 
Medicare & Medicaid Services; 
(H) the Director of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality; 
(I) the Surgeon General; 
(J) the Administrator of the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration; 
(K) the Director of the Office of Minority 
Health; 
(L) the Director of the Office of Women’s 
Health; 
(M) the Chairperson of the National Coun-
cil on Disability; 
(N) at least 4 State, local, territorial, and 
Tribal public health officials representing de-
partments of public health, who shall represent 
jurisdictions from different regions of the 
United States with relatively high concentra-
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tions of historically marginalized populations, to 
be appointed by the Secretary; and 
(O) racially and ethnically diverse rep-
resentation from at least 3 independent experts 
with knowledge or field experience with racial 
and ethnic disparities in public health appointed 
by the Secretary. 
(2) CHAIRPERSON.—The President of the Na-
tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Med-
icine, or designee, shall serve as the chairperson of 
the Commission. 
(c) DUTIES.—The Commission shall— 
(1) examine barriers to collecting, analyzing, 
and using demographic data; 
(2) determine how to best use such data to pro-
mote health equity across the United States and re-
duce racial, Tribal, and other demographic dispari-
ties in COVID–19 prevalence and outcomes; 
(3) gather available data related to COVID–19 
treatment of individuals with disabilities, including 
denial of treatment for pre-existing conditions, re-
moval or denial of disability related equipment (in-
cluding ventilators and CPAP), and data on comple-
tion of DNR orders, and identify barriers to obtain-
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ing accurate and timely data related to COVID–19 
treatment of such individuals; 
(4) solicit input from public health officials, 
community-connected organizations, health care pro-
viders, State and local agency officials, and other ex-
perts on barriers to, and best practices for, collecting 
demographic data; and 
(5) recommend policy changes that the data in-
dicates are necessary to reduce disparities. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter 
until the Secretary certifies that the public health emer-
gency related to COVID–19 has ended, the Commission 
shall submit a written report of its findings and rec-
ommendations to Congress and post such report on a 
website of the Department of Health and Human Services. 
Such reports shall contain information concerning— 
(1) how to enhance State, local, territorial, and 
Tribal capacity to conduct public health research on 
COVID–19, with a focus on expanded capacity to 
analyze data on disparities correlated with race, eth-
nicity, income, sex, age, disability status, specific ge-
ographic areas, and other relevant demographic 
characteristics, and an analysis of what demographic 
data is currently being collected about COVID–19, 
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the accuracy of that data and any gaps, how this 
data is currently being used to inform efforts to 
combat COVID–19, and what resources are needed 
to supplement existing public health data collection; 
(2) how to collect, process, and disclose to the 
public the data described in paragraph (1) in a way 
that maintains individual privacy while helping di-
rect the State and local response to the virus; 
(3) how to improve demographic data collection 
related to COVID–19 in the short- and long-term, 
including how to continue to grow and value the 
Tribal sovereignty of data and information con-
cerning Tribal communities; 
(4) to the extent possible, a preliminary anal-
ysis of racial and other demographic disparities in 
COVID–19 mortality, including an analysis of 
comorbidities and case fatality rates; 
(5) to the extent possible, a preliminary anal-
ysis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender 
identity disparities in COVID–19 treatment and 
mortality; 
(6) an analysis of COVID–19 treatment of indi-
viduals with disabilities, including equity of access to 
treatment and equipment and intersections of dis-
ability status with other demographic factors, includ-
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ing race, and recommendations for how to improve 
transparency and equity of treatment for such indi-
viduals during the COVID–19 public health emer-
gency and future emergencies; 
(7) how to support State, local, and Tribal ca-
pacity to eliminate barriers to COVID–19 testing 
and treatment; and 
(8) to the extent possible, a preliminary anal-
ysis of Federal Government policies that disparately 
exacerbate the COVID–19 impact, and recommenda-
tions to improve racial and other demographic dis-
parities in health outcomes. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section. 
Æ 
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