I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7948 
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to the collection and 
availability of health data with respect to Indian Tribes, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 7, 2020 
Mr. GIANFORTE (for himself, Mr. LUJA´N, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. 
MULLIN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to 
the collection and availability of health data with respect 
to Indian Tribes, 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 ‘‘Tribal Health Data 
Improvement Act of 2020’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. COLLECTION AND AVAILABILITY OF HEALTH DATA 
WITH RESPECT TO INDIAN TRIBES. 
(a) DATA COLLECTION.—Section 3101(a)(1) of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300kk(a)(1)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘, by not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this title,’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘Tribal,’’ 
after ‘‘State,’’. 
(b) DATA REPORTING AND DISSEMINATION.—Sec-
tion 3101(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300kk(c)) is amended— 
(1) by amending subparagraph (F) of para-
graph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(F) the Indian Health Service, Indian 
Tribes, and epidemiology centers;’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Indian 
Tribes, epidemiology centers,’’ after ‘‘Federal agen-
cies,’’. 
(c) PROTECTION AND SHARING OF DATA.—Section 
3101(e) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300kk(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) TRIBAL
PUBLIC
HEALTH
AUTHORITY.— 
Beginning not later than 30 days after the date of 
the enactment of the Tribal Health Data Improve-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
ment Act of 2020, the Secretary shall make avail-
able all data collected pursuant to this title with re-
spect to health care and public health surveillance 
programs and activities, including such programs 
and activities that are federally supported or con-
ducted, to— 
‘‘(A) the Indian Health Service; 
‘‘(B) Indian Tribes; and 
‘‘(C) epidemiology centers.’’. 
(d) TECHNICAL UPDATES.—Section 3101 of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300kk) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking subsections (g) and (h); and 
(2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 
(h). 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—After executing the amendments 
made by subsection (d), section 3101 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300kk) is amended by inserting 
after subsection (f) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the meaning 
given to the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) The term ‘epidemiology center’ means an 
epidemiology center established under section 214 of 
the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.’’. 
(f) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 3101(b) of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300kk(b)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘DATA ANALYSIS.—’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘For each federally’’ and inserting ‘‘DATA 
ANALYSIS.—For each federally’’. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING HEALTH STATISTICS REPORTING WITH 
RESPECT TO INDIAN TRIBES. 
(a) TECHNICAL AID TO STATES AND LOCALITIES.— 
Section 306(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 242k(d)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, Indian Tribes, 
and epidemiology centers’’ after ‘‘jurisdictions’’. 
(b) COOPERATIVE HEALTH STATISTICS SYSTEM.— 
Section 306(e)(3) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 242k(e)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, Indian 
Tribes, and epidemiology centers’’ after ‘‘health agencies’’. 
(c) FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATION.—Section 306(f) 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k(f)) is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘the Indian Health Service,’’ 
before ‘‘the Departments of Commerce’’; 
(2) by inserting a comma after ‘‘the Depart-
ments of Commerce and Labor’’; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
(f) GRANTS FOR ASSEMBLY AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 
ON
ETHNIC
AND
RACIAL
POPULATIONS.—Section 
306(m)(4) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
242k(m)(4)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Subject to subparagraph 
(B), the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘and major Hispanic sub-
population groups and American Indians’’ and 
inserting ‘‘, major Hispanic subgroups, and 
American Indians and Alaska Natives’’; and 
(2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(B) In carrying out subparagraph (A), with respect 
to American Indians and Alaska Natives, the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(i) consult with Indian Tribes, Tribal organi-
zations, the Tribal Technical Advisory Group of the 
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services main-
tained under section 5006(e) of the American Recov-
ery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the Tribal 
Advisory Committee established by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention to develop guidelines 
for State and local health agencies to improve the 
quality and accuracy of data with respect to the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
birth and death records of American Indians and 
Alaska Natives; 
‘‘(ii) enter into cooperative agreements with In-
dian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Urban Indian or-
ganizations, and epidemiology centers to address 
misclassification and undersampling of American In-
dians and Alaska Natives with respect to— 
‘‘(I) birth and death records; and 
‘‘(II) health care and public health surveil-
lance systems; and 
‘‘(iii) encourage States to enter into data shar-
ing agreements with Indian Tribes and epidemiology 
centers to improve the quality and accuracy of 
health data.’’. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—Section 306 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242k) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (n) as sub-
section (o); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(n) In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the meaning 
given to the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) The term ‘epidemiology center’ means an 
epidemiology center established under section 214 of 
the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘Urban Indian organization’ has 
the meaning given to that term in section 4 of the 
Indian Health Care Improvement Act.’’. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
306(o) of the Public Health Service Act, as redesignated 
by subsection (g), is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(o)(1) To carry out this section, there is authorized 
to be appropriated $174,397,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2021 through 2025. 
‘‘(2) Of the amount authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 
not use more than 10 percent for the combined costs of— 
‘‘(A) administration of this section; and 
‘‘(B) carrying out subsection (m)(2).’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:42 Aug 28, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H7948.IH
H7948
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS