I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6935 
To provide for the establishment of a National COVID–19 Resource Center 
for Older Adults, to authorize a Healthy Aging Program, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2020 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mrs. DINGELL, and Ms. SHALALA) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 
Labor, 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 provide for the establishment of a National COVID– 
19 Resource Center for Older Adults, to authorize a 
Healthy Aging Program, 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 ‘‘Protecting the Health 
of America’s Older Adults During COVID–19 and Beyond 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. NATIONAL COVID–19 RESOURCE CENTER FOR 
OLDER ADULTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall establish within the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Health a National COVID–19 Resource 
Center for Older Adults (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Center’’) to identify, curate, and disseminate, promising 
and proven practices and tools for the care of older adults 
in their homes, community-based care settings, hospitals, 
and nursing and acute care facilities. 
(b) INVOLVEMENT BY FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND 
ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.—The Center shall— 
(1) be advised by a team of senior officials 
from— 
(A) agencies across the Department of 
Health and Human Services, including the Ad-
ministration for Community Living (including 
the Administration on Aging), the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for 
Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration, the Indian 
Health Service, and the Office of Minority 
Health in the Office of the Secretary; and 
(B) other Federal departments, including 
the Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
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opment and the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs; and 
(2) collaborate with State and local govern-
ments, Indian tribes and Tribal organizations, and 
nonprofit organizations. 
(c) ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall perform the fol-
lowing activities: 
(1) Develop a set of best practices for older 
adult health and wellbeing during and beyond the 
period of the COVID–19 pandemic, including such 
best practices with respect to the following focus 
areas: 
(A) Providing specialized services to over-
come the risks associated with social isolation, 
such as additional resources for home-delivered 
meals and other nutrition programs to provide 
not only food but also face-to-face interactions. 
(B) Streamlining and improving access to 
screening, testing, and health care services and 
resources, and prioritizing venues older adults 
can reach. 
(C) Expanding the use of telemedicine, in-
cluding the provision of technology to execute 
televisits that safely and comprehensively ad-
dress older adults’ health care needs. 
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(D) Supporting family caregivers, includ-
ing those with additional responsibilities for 
homebound individuals. 
(E) Reducing disparities among under-
served populations. 
(F) Developing cross-sector collaborative 
efforts. 
(2) Create and disseminate tools, technical as-
sistance, training, and funding to State, local, Trib-
al, and territorial governments to adopt best prac-
tices developed under subparagraphs (E) and (F) of 
paragraph (1). 
(3) Establish mechanisms for providing training 
and technical assistance to State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial governments to ensure that complemen-
tary cross-sector activities are replicated at the 
State, local, Tribal, and territorial levels. 
(4) Facilitate the development of learning net-
works of practitioners at the hospital, nursing facil-
ity, and community levels to disseminate the best 
practices developed under paragraph (1) and ensure 
implementation of such best practices to reduce mor-
bidity and mortality of older adults affected by 
COVID–19. 
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(5) Identify and disseminate approaches that 
strengthen public health and health care system ca-
pacity to serve older Americans with regard to 
health issues during and beyond the COVID–19 
pandemic. 
SEC. 3. HEALTHY AGING PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion, shall establish a Healthy Aging Program for the pur-
pose of promoting the health and wellbeing of older adults 
by— 
(1) improving the coordination of public health 
interventions that promote the health and wellbeing 
of older adults; 
(2) disseminating and implementing evidence- 
based best practices and programs with respect to 
promoting the health and wellbeing of older adults; 
and 
(3) coordinating multisectoral efforts to pro-
mote the health and wellbeing of older adults across 
governmental and nongovernmental health and re-
lated agencies. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—For the purpose described in sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall design the Healthy Aging 
Program to carry out the following activities: 
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(1) Regularly assess the health-related needs of 
older adults and promote policies addressing those 
needs through evidence-based public health interven-
tions to promote overall health and wellbeing among 
older adults and reduce health care costs. 
(2) Identify disparities in health among vulner-
able populations of older adults. 
(3) Identify gaps in existing public health pro-
grams and policies that focus on older adults. 
(4) Promote public health partnerships with 
aging and other sector stakeholders to ensure non-
duplication of efforts and increase efficiency by 
working collaboratively across sectors. 
(5) Work with multisectoral agencies to improve 
emergency preparedness plans and activities for vul-
nerable older adult populations. 
(6) Coordinate efforts to promote the health of 
older adults with the Administration for Community 
Living, other Federal departments and agencies, and 
nonprofit organizations. 
(7) Identify resources and evidence-based pro-
grams available to local and State health depart-
ments, including resources and programs that could 
be coordinated across sectors, to address the health 
and wellbeing of older adults. 
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(c) GRANTS TO HEALTH DEPARTMENTS.—The Sec-
retary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, shall award grants or cooper-
ative agreements to eligible health departments to carry 
out any of the following activities: 
(1) Improving availability of data on the older 
adult population, including through data-sharing 
with elder affairs agencies. 
(2) Linking the health care sector with the 
community services sector (including aging services 
and supports) to coordinate and promote commu-
nity-based prevention services. 
(3) Ensuring that State and local emergency 
preparedness plans and activities address the special 
needs of older adults, particularly the most vulner-
able populations. 
(4) Training State and local public health per-
sonnel to implement or adapt evidence-based and in-
novative health promotion and disease prevention 
programs and policies. 
(5) Improving community conditions and ad-
dressing social determinants to promote health and 
wellbeing and foster independence among older 
adults, such as efforts to advance age-friendly com-
munities and dementia-friendly communities. 
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(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 
(directly or through grants, cooperative agreements, or 
contracts) provide technical assistance to eligible health 
departments in carrying out activities described in sub-
section (c). 
(e) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall (directly or 
through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts) pro-
vide for the evaluation of activities carried out under sub-
sections (a), (b), and (c) in order to determine the extent 
to which such activities have been effective in carrying out 
the purpose described in subsection (a), including the ef-
fects of such activities on addressing health disparities. 
(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 
health department’’ means a health department of a State, 
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, a Tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self- 
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
5304)), or a large city (as defined by the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for purposes 
of this section). 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated— 
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(1) $10,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 
2020 through 2024 to carry out section 2, to remain 
available until September 30, 2024; and 
(2) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 
through 2025 to carry out section 3, including for 
grants under section 3(c), to remain available until 
September 30, 2025. 
Æ 
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