I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 726 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID–19, and 
related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units 
and, as necessary, at individuals’ residences, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2021 
Mr. RUSH (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 
CARSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. DEMINGS, 
Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. 
KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wis-
consin, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SCANLON, 
Mr. SIRES, Mr. THOMPSON
of Mississippi, and Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic 
testing for COVID–19, and related activities such as 
contact tracing, through mobile health units and, as nec-
essary, at individuals’ residences, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Testing, 
Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COVID–19 TESTING AND CONTACT TRACING USING 
MOBILE HEALTH UNITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, may award 
grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for 
COVID–19, to trace and monitor the contacts of infected 
individuals, and to support the quarantine of such con-
tacts, through— 
(1) mobile health units; and 
(2) as necessary, testing individuals and pro-
viding individuals with services related to testing and 
quarantine at their residences. 
(b) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A grant recipi-
ent under this section may use the grant funds, in support 
of the activities described in subsection (a)— 
(1) to hire, train, compensate, and pay the ex-
penses of individuals; and 
(2) to purchase personal protective equipment 
and other supplies. 
(c) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 
this section, the Secretary shall give priority to— 
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(1) applicants proposing to conduct activities 
funded under this section in hot spots and medically 
underserved communities; and 
(2) applicants that agree, in hiring individuals 
to carry out activities funded under this section, to 
hire residents of the area or community where the 
activities will primarily occur, with higher priority 
among applicants described in this paragraph given 
based on the percentage of individuals to be hired 
from such area or community. 
(d) DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting grant recipients 
under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that grants 
are distributed across urban and rural areas. 
(e) FEDERAL PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to supersede any Federal 
privacy or confidentiality requirement, including the regu-
lations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health 
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 
(Public Law 104–191; 110 Stat. 2033) and section 543 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2). 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 
(A) a federally qualified health center (as 
defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa))); 
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(B) a school-based health clinic; 
(C) a disproportionate share hospital (as 
defined under the applicable State plan under 
title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1396 et seq.) pursuant to section 1923(a)(1)(A) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–4)); 
(D) an academic medical center; 
(E) a nonprofit organization (including any 
such faith-based organization); 
(F) an institution of higher education (as 
defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 
(G) a high school (as defined in section 
8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); or 
(H) any other type of entity that is deter-
mined by the Secretary to be an eligible entity 
for purposes of this section. 
(2) The term ‘‘emergency period’’ has the 
meaning given to that term in section 1135(g)(1)(B) 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b– 
5(g)(1)(B)). 
(3) The term ‘‘hot spot’’ means a geographic 
area where the rate of infection with the virus that 
causes COVID–19 exceeds the national average. 
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(4) The term ‘‘medically underserved commu-
nity’’ has the meaning given to that term in section 
799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
295p). 
(5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated— 
(1) $100,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 
(2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 
fiscal year 2022 and any subsequent fiscal year dur-
ing which the emergency period continues. 
Æ 
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