Title: Protecting the Health of America’s Older Adults During COVID–19 and Beyond Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Protecting the Health of America's Older Adults During COVID-19 and Beyond Act
This bill establishes a resource center and other programs to address the health needs of older adults. Specifically, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must establish the National COVID-19 Resource Center for Older Adults and the Healthy Aging Program, respectively.
The center must collaborate with state and local governments, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, and nonprofits to disseminate, and support the implementation of, best practices related to the care and well-being of older adults in a variety of settings during and after the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
As part of the Healthy Aging Program, the CDC must, among other activities, coordinate public health interventions and multi-sector efforts, disseminate evidence-based practices and programs, and award grants or cooperative agreements to promote the health and well-being of older adults. Eligible grant recipients include health departments in states, specified territories and tribes, and large cities. Permitted uses of funds include improving data on older adult populations and linking health care and community services. In addition, the CDC must evaluate the activities of this program, including its impact on health disparities.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6935 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 
Energy 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 
                jurisdiction 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 Representatives 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''.

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 ``Secretary'') 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 Administration for 
                Community Living (including the Administration on 
                Aging), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
                the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the 
                Health Resources 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 Development and the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs; and
            (2) collaborate with State and local governments, Indian 
        tribes and Tribal organizations, and nonprofit organizations.
    (c) Activities.--The Center shall perform the following 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 overcome 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, including 
                the provision of technology to execute televisits that 
                safely and comprehensively address older adults' health 
                care needs.
                    (D) Supporting family caregivers, including those 
                with additional responsibilities for homebound 
                individuals.
                    (E) Reducing disparities among underserved 
                populations.
                    (F) Developing cross-sector collaborative efforts.
            (2) Create and disseminate tools, technical assistance, 
        training, and funding to State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
        governments to adopt best practices 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 complementary cross-sector 
        activities are replicated at the State, local, Tribal, and 
        territorial levels.
            (4) Facilitate the development of learning networks of 
        practitioners at the hospital, nursing facility, and community 
        levels to disseminate the best practices developed under 
        paragraph (1) and ensure implementation of such best practices 
        to reduce morbidity and mortality of older adults affected by 
        COVID-19.
            (5) Identify and disseminate approaches that strengthen 
        public health and health care system capacity 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 Prevention, shall establish a Healthy 
Aging Program for the purpose 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 promote the 
        health and wellbeing of older adults across governmental and 
        nongovernmental health and related agencies.
    (b) Activities.--For the purpose described in subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall design the Healthy Aging Program to carry out the 
following activities:
            (1) Regularly assess the health-related needs of older 
        adults and promote policies addressing those needs through 
        evidence-based public health interventions to promote overall 
        health and wellbeing among older adults and reduce health care 
        costs.
            (2) Identify disparities in health among vulnerable 
        populations of older adults.
            (3) Identify gaps in existing public health programs and 
        policies that focus on older adults.
            (4) Promote public health partnerships with aging and other 
        sector stakeholders to ensure nonduplication of efforts and 
        increase efficiency by working collaboratively across sectors.
            (5) Work with multisectoral agencies to improve emergency 
        preparedness plans and activities for vulnerable 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 programs 
        available to local and State health departments, including 
        resources and programs that could be coordinated across 
        sectors, to address the health and wellbeing of older adults.
    (c) Grants to Health Departments.--The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall 
award grants or cooperative 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 community-based prevention services.
            (3) Ensuring that State and local emergency preparedness 
        plans and activities address the special needs of older adults, 
        particularly the most vulnerable populations.
            (4) Training State and local public health personnel to 
        implement or adapt evidence-based and innovative health 
        promotion and disease prevention programs and policies.
            (5) Improving community conditions and addressing social 
        determinants to promote health and wellbeing and foster 
        independence among older adults, such as efforts to advance 
        age-friendly communities and dementia-friendly communities.
    (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 subsection (c).
    (e) Evaluations.--The Secretary shall (directly or through grants, 
cooperative agreements, or contracts) provide for the evaluation of 
activities carried out under subsections (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 
effects 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 
Islands, 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--
            (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.
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