Reducing COVID–19 Disparities by Investing in Public Health Act
Bill: H.R.3904 | Sponsor: Rep. Hayes, Jahana (D-CT)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Reducing COVID-19 Disparities by Investing in Public Health Act
This bill provides additional funding for FY2021 and subsequent fiscal years to specified components of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute on Minority Health and Disparities, and the Office of Minority Health.

To increase the annual funding for the Chronic Disease Prevention and 
 Health Promotion Fund, the National Institute on Minority Health and 
   Health Disparities, and the Offices of Minority Health within the 
 Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Agency for 
 Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Food and 
Drug Administration, the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
 and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to 
  enable the United States and State departments of public health to 
better combat disparities that have emerged during the COVID-19 crisis 
                  and beyond, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reducing COVID-19 Disparities by 
Investing in Public Health Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Funding under this Act is essential to core efforts at 
        the Department of Health and Human Services and in local and 
        State health departments to prevent and control the spread of 
        chronic disease and conditions. The National Center for Chronic 
        Disease Prevention and Health Promotion works to raise 
        awareness of health disparities faced by minority populations 
        of the United States such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, 
        Asian Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, and 
        Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders. One of the primary 
        functions of the Center is to reduce risk factors for groups 
        affected by health disparities.
            (2) Six in ten Americans live with at least one chronic 
        disease, like heart disease and stroke, cancer, or diabetes. 
        These and other chronic diseases are the leading causes of 
        death and disability in America. Specifically, chronic diseases 
        are responsible for 7 in 10 deaths each year. According to the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (``CDC''), 
        individuals who are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-
        19 are people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe 
        asthma, people with serious heart conditions, people who are 
        immunocompromised--sometimes because of cancer or HIV/AIDS, 
        people with diabetes, people with liver disease, people with 
        severe obesity, and people with chronic kidney disease 
        undergoing dialysis.
            (3) According to the CDC, adults suffering from cancer, 
        chronic kidney disease, chronic lung diseases, including 
        chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, 
        interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary 
        hypertension, dementia or other neurological conditions, 
        diabetes, Down syndrome, heart conditions, including heart 
        failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or 
        hypertension, HIV infection, liver disease, sickle cell 
        disease, stroke, or cerebrovascular disease are more likely to 
        get severely ill from COVID-19 and face increased rates of 
        hospitalization, intensive care, assisted ventilation, or even 
        death.
            (4) According to hospital data from the first month of the 
        COVID-19 epidemic in the United States released by the CDC, 
        roughly 1 in 3 people who required hospitalizations from COVID-
        19 were African American. While 33 percent of total 
        hospitalized patients are Black, African Americans constitute 
        just 13 percent of the entire American population. Early data 
        released by States and municipalities show that African 
        Americans suffered higher mortality rates from COVID-19.
            (5) Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 
        hospitalization were driven by both a higher risk of exposure 
        to the disease, often from essential frontline work performed 
        at disproportionate rates by Black and Latino workers, and 
        social determinants of health. Social inequities and 
        environmental injustices, such as differing access to healthy 
        food, clean air, safe drinking water, safe neighborhoods, 
        education, job security, and reliable transportation, affect 
        health risks and outcomes, reinforcing disparities in health 
        and access to care.
            (6) Socioeconomic factors further contribute to racial 
        disparities seen in both prevalence of chronic conditions and 
        exposure to COVID-19. Individuals in low-income communities and 
        people of color are more likely to have many of the chronic 
        health conditions that have been identified as risk factors for 
        complications from COVID-19, yet suffer decreased access to 
        care, compounded by a decreased likelihood of undergoing 
        appropriate treatment.
            (7) According to the American Diabetes Association, 12.5 
        percent of Hispanic Americans, 11.7 percent of African 
        Americans, 9.2 percent of Asian Americans, and 14.7 percent of 
        American Indians/Alaska Natives have been diagnosed with 
        diabetes, compared to just 7.5 percent of White Americans. The 
        CDC calculated that compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics 
        are 40 percent more likely to die from diabetes, African 
        Americans are twice as likely to die from diabetes, and 
        American Indians/Alaska Natives are almost twice as likely to 
        die from the disease.
            (8) According to the National Institutes of Health, African 
        Americans are more than 30 percent more likely to die from 
        heart disease, are twice as likely to have a stroke--which 
        tends to be more severe with a higher morbidity and results in 
        higher mortality, are 40 percent more likely to have high blood 
        pressure, and have a higher rate of hypertension and heart 
        failure than their White counterparts.
            (9) Minority groups suffer from asthma at a 
        disproportionate rate, have the highest number of emergency 
        room visits and hospital stays due to asthma, and have higher 
        mortality rates from asthma than their White counterparts. 
        African Americans, American Indians, and Alaska Natives are 42 
        percent more likely than their White counterparts to have 
        asthma. The prevalence of childhood asthma for African 
        Americans is 11.7 percent higher than for White Americans, 
        while mortality rates in children and adults are eightfold and 
        threefold higher, respectively, for African Americans compared 
        to White Americans.
            (10) Vaccinations are key to disease prevention and overall 
        health outcomes, especially in the case of COVID-19. However, a 
        longstanding history and legacy of systemic racism, 
        discrimination, and mistreatment has contributed to a larger 
        distrust of the health care system and medical establishment 
        within communities of color, which can further engender 
        disparities and perpetuate rates of chronic disease. According 
        to data from the CDC, despite higher COVID-19 mortality, 
        hospitalization, and infection rates amongst African Americans, 
        the rate of COVID-19 vaccination amongst Black Americans still 
        lags behind those of White individuals in almost every State. 
        This necessitates increased funding for education, increased 
        access to care, and targeted efforts to reach communities of 
        color and address racial inequities.
            (11) Cuts to, or even level funding for, the Chronic 
        Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Fund and other public 
        health prevention efforts undermine efforts to create an 
        affordable and accessible health care system, and a better 
        quality of life for Americans of all ethnic, racial, and 
        socioeconomic backgrounds. Cuts to this Fund would also 
        exacerbate existing disparities and underlying health 
        conditions that have created seemingly vast disparities in 
        hospitalization and mortality rates due to COVID-19.
            (12) Prevention efforts have proven to be effective. 
        Funding increases for community-based public health programs 
        reduce preventable disease caused by diabetes, cancer, and 
        cardiovascular disease. Improved access to intervention, 
        treatment, and affordable care is also proven to mitigate the 
        development of associated chronic diseases and mortality rates.
            (13) Increasing the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health 
        Promotion Fund funding to $2,400,000,000 annually will allow 
        the Fund to invest in more innovative, evidence-based public 
        health programs, maintain and expand investments in programs 
        with demonstrated success, and help reduce racial health 
        disparities and rates of chronic disease that can put persons 
        of color at greater risk of hospitalization or death from 
        COVID-19.
            (14) Further, the Office of Minority Health in the Office 
        of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (established by 
        section 1707 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-
        6)) was designed for the purpose of ``improving minority health 
        and the quality of health care minorities receive, and 
        eliminating racial and ethnic disparities''. The Office of 
        Minority Health and Health Equity at the CDC serves to decrease 
        health disparities, address social determinants of health, and 
        promote access to high-quality preventative health care. The 
        Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the Food and 
        Drug Administration promotes and protects the health of diverse 
        populations through research and communication of science that 
        addresses health disparities. The National Institute on 
        Minority Health and Health Disparities leads scientific 
        research that advances understanding of minority health and 
        health disparities.
            (15) Increasing funding for these and other critical health 
        programs will enable the United States and State departments of 
        public health to better combat disparities that have emerged 
        during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

SEC. 3. REDUCING COVID-19 DISPARITIES BY INVESTING IN PUBLIC HEALTH.

    (a) Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.--There is 
authorized to be appropriated, and there is hereby appropriated, out of 
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for ``Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention--Chronic Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion'', for fiscal year 2021 and each subsequent fiscal year, 
$2,400,000,000.
    (b) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.--
There is authorized to be appropriated, and there is hereby 
appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, to the National Institute on Minority Health and Health 
Disparities, for fiscal year 2021 and each subsequent fiscal year, 
$782,000,000.
    (c) Office of Minority Health.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated, and there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the Office of Minority Health 
in the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(established by section 1707 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300u-6)), for fiscal year 2021 and each subsequent fiscal year, 
the amount that is twice the amount of funds made available to such 
Office of Minority Health for fiscal year 2021.
    (d) Other Offices of Minority Health Within the Department of 
Health and Human Services.--There is authorized to be appropriated, and 
there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, to the Office of Minority Health of the Agency 
for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Office of Minority Health of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of Minority 
Health of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Office of 
Minority Health of the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of 
Minority Health of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
and the Office of Minority Health of Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration (as established pursuant to section 1707A of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u-6a)), for fiscal year 
2021 and each subsequent fiscal year, the amount that is twice the 
amount of funds made available to the respective Office of Minority 
Health for fiscal year 2021.
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