Title: Reducing COVID–19 Disparities by Investing in Public Health Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Reducing COVID-19 Disparities by Investing in Public Health Act
This bill appropriates additional funding for 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.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6638 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6638

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2020

  Mrs. Hayes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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 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 suffer higher mortality rates from COVID-19. 
        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.
            (4) According to the American Diabetes Association, 12.1 
        percent of Hispanic Americans, 12.7 percent of African 
        Americans, 8 percent of Asian Americans, and 15.1 percent of 
        American Indians/Alaska Natives have been diagnosed with 
        diabetes, compared to just 7.4 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.
            (5) 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.
            (6) 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. The 
        prevalence of childhood asthma for African Americans is 12.7 
        percent compared to 8 percent for White Americans, while 
        mortality rates in children and adults are eightfold and 
        threefold higher, respectively, for African Americans compared 
        to White Americans.
            (7) President Trump has consistently proposed budgets that 
        would cut the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 
        Fund. In fiscal year 2021, the President proposed to 
        consolidate the CDC's primary chronic disease prevention 
        activities, including tobacco, diabetes, heart disease, and 
        stroke, and nutrition and physical activity, into a single 
        block grant to States, while proposing a $427,000,000 cut to 
        the account. In fiscal year 2020, the President proposed a 
        $236,500,000 cut to the account. In fiscal year 2019, the 
        President proposed a $138,300,000 cut to the account. In fiscal 
        year 2018, the President proposed a $222,300,000 cut to the 
        account.
            (8) Cuts to this 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.
            (9) 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.
            (10) 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.
            (11) 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.
            (12) 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 2020 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 2020 and each subsequent fiscal year, 
$672,000,000.
    (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 2020.
    (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 2020.
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