with the resolution of a complaint or a dismissal by 
the Assistant Secretary, the Assistant Secretary 
shall, to the extent feasible, engage in conciliation 
with respect to such complaint. 
(2) CONCILIATION AGREEMENT.—A conciliation 
agreement arising out of such conciliation shall be 
an agreement between the respondent and the com-
plainant, and shall be subject to approval by the As-
sistant Secretary. 
(3) RIGHTS PROTECTED.—The Assistant Sec-
retary shall approve a conciliation agreement only if 
it protects the rights of the aggrieved person and 
other persons similarly situated. 
(4) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), a redacted copy of a conciliation 
agreement entered into pursuant to this section 
shall be made available to the public unless the 
complainant and respondent otherwise agree, 
and the Secretary determines, that disclosure is 
not required to further the purposes of this sec-
tion. 
(B) LIMITATION.—A conciliation agree-
ment that is made available to the public pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A) may not disclose per-
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sonally identifiable information or individually 
identifiable health information. 
(5) REPORT.— 
(A) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of each 
investigation under this section, the Assistant 
Secretary shall prepare a final investigative re-
port. 
(B) MODIFICATION OF REPORT.—A final 
report under this paragraph may be modified if 
additional evidence is later discovered. 
(c) FAILURE
TO
COMPLY
WITH
CONCILIATION 
AGREEMENT.—Whenever the Assistant Secretary has rea-
sonable cause to believe that a health care provider has 
breached a conciliation agreement, the Assistant Secretary 
shall refer the matter to the Attorney General for consid-
eration of the filing of a civil action for the enforcement 
of such agreement. 
(d) PROHIBITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS WITH RE-
SPECT TO DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) WRITTEN
CONSENT
FOR
DISCLOSURE.— 
Nothing said or done in the course of conciliation 
under this section may be made public or used as 
evidence in a subsequent proceeding under this sec-
tion or section 9 or 10 without the written consent 
of the persons concerned. 
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(2) INVESTIGATION
DISCLOSURES.—Notwith-
standing paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary 
shall make available to the aggrieved person and the 
respondent, at any time, upon request following 
completion of the Assistant Secretary’s investigation, 
information derived from an investigation and any 
final investigative report relating to that investiga-
tion. 
(e) PROMPT JUDICIAL ACTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Assistant Secretary 
concludes at any time following the filing of a com-
plaint that prompt judicial action is necessary to 
carry out the purposes of this section or section 9 
or 10, the Assistant Secretary may recommend that 
the Attorney General promptly commence an action. 
(2) IMMEDIATE
SUIT.—If the Assistant Sec-
retary determines that the public interest would be 
served by allowing the complainant to bring a civil 
action in a State or Federal court immediately, the 
Assistant Secretary shall certify that the administra-
tive process has concluded and that the complainant 
may file such a suit immediately. 
(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there-
after, the Assistant Secretary shall make publicly available 
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a report detailing the activities of the Office under this 
section, including— 
(1) the number of complaints filed and the 
basis on which they were filed; 
(2) the number of investigations undertaken as 
a result of such complaints; and 
(3) the disposition of all investigations. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section and sections 9 and 
10: 
(1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-
ant Secretary’’ refers to the Assistant Secretary of 
Health and Human Services for Civil Rights and 
Health Equity. 
(2) AGGRIEVED PERSON.—The term ‘‘aggrieved 
person’’ means a person who believes that they were 
injured by a violation of section 7, or the personal 
representative or estate of the deceased person. 
(3) CONCILIATION.—The term ‘‘conciliation’’ 
means the attempted resolution of issues raised by 
a complaint, or by the investigation of such com-
plaint, through informal negotiations involving the 
aggrieved person, the respondent, and the Secretary. 
(4) CONCILIATION
AGREEMENT.—The term 
‘‘conciliation agreement’’ means a written agreement 
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setting forth the resolution of the issues in concilia-
tion. 
(5) INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH IN-
FORMATION.—The term ‘‘individually identifiable 
health information’’ means any information, includ-
ing demographic information collected from an indi-
vidual, that— 
(A) is created or received by a health care 
provider, health plan, employer, or health care 
clearinghouse; and 
(B) relates to the past, present, or future 
physical or mental health or condition of an in-
dividual, the provision of health care to an indi-
vidual, or the past, present, or future payment 
for the provision of health care to an individual, 
and— 
(i) identifies the individual; or 
(ii) with respect to which there is a 
reasonable basis to believe that the infor-
mation can be used to identify the indi-
vidual. 
(6) INEQUITABLE
HEALTH
CARE.—The term 
‘‘inequitable health care’’ has the meaning given the 
term under section 7. 
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