Title: Isolate COVID–19 Act of 2020
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Isolate COVID-19 Act of 2020
This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to provide payments to states, tribes, and territories in order to lease hotels to temporarily house individuals with confirmed or presumed cases of COVID-19 who are unable to self-isolate at home and do not need inpatient or outpatient health care.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7634 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7634

 To reduce the spread of COVID-19 through payments to States to lease 
      hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible 
                  individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2020

  Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. 
 Gonzalez of Texas, and Mr. Gottheimer) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reduce the spread of COVID-19 through payments to States to lease 
      hotels to temporarily house, on a voluntary basis, eligible 
                  individuals, 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 ``Isolate COVID-19 Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. REDUCING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 THROUGH PAYMENTS TO STATES TO 
              LEASE HOTELS TO TEMPORARILY HOUSE ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
make payments to States to lease hotels to temporarily house, on a 
voluntary basis, eligible individuals.
    (b) Formula.--The Secretary shall allocate the amount appropriated 
to carry out this section pursuant to a formula developed by the 
Secretary that--
            (1) distributes the amount among the States that--
                    (A) submit applications in accordance with 
                subsection (c); and
                    (B) are determined by the Secretary to need such 
                payments; and
            (2) takes into consideration--
                    (A) the number of active cases of individuals 
                infected with COVID-19 in the applying State relative 
                to the overall population of the State; and
                    (B) the average income of individuals in the 
                applying State relative to the average income of 
                individuals in the United States.
    (c) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--To seek a payment under this section, a 
        State shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
        time, in such manner, and containing such information and 
        assurances as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Process.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) not later than 15 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, publish the process for States 
                to apply for payments under this section; and
                    (B) not later than 15 days after the submission of 
                an application in accordance with such process, approve 
                or disapprove the application.
            (3) Contents.--The Secretary shall require the application 
        of a State under this section to include--
                    (A) a plan for leasing hotels as described in 
                subsection (a);
                    (B) health guidelines which the State will require 
                to be implemented to protect the staff of the hotels;
                    (C) the rates to be paid to lease the hotels;
                    (D) a plan to ensure that the hotels each have--
                            (i) workplace safety standards for their 
                        staff;
                            (ii) proper personal protective equipment 
                        and sanitation supplies;
                            (iii) a cleaning protocol for rooms and 
                        facilities; and
                            (iv) at least one qualified health care 
                        professional onsite or on call to monitor the 
                        health of individuals being housed at the 
                        hotels;
                    (E) a plan to feed and provide other necessary 
                materials to individuals described in subsection (a) at 
                the hotels, including medications and hygiene products, 
                without letting such individuals leave their rooms or 
                accept visitors;
                    (F) a plan to assist the hotels in removing 
                individuals who attempt to continue their stay after 
                the allotted time;
                    (G) a plan for hospital networks, local health 
                departments, and the hotels to coordinate on the 
                exchange and protection of patient information in 
                accordance with other applicable law;
                    (H) a plan to effectively communicate the State's 
                program funded through this section to racial and 
                ethnic minority groups and low-income communities; and
                    (I) each funding assurance listed in subsection 
                (e).
    (d) No Responsibility for Diet or Administration of Medicine.--
Notwithstanding subsection (c)(3)(E), a contract between a State and a 
hotel pursuant to this section shall not make the hotel responsible for 
the diet of, or the administration of medications to, individuals 
described in subsection (a).
    (e) Funding Assurances.--As a condition on receipt of a payment of 
this section, a State shall give such assurances as the Secretary may 
require that--
            (1) each contract between the State and a hotel pursuant to 
        this section will be entered into on a voluntary basis, and no 
        hotel will be required by the State to participate in the 
        program under this section;
            (2) individuals described in subsection (a) will not be 
        charged for their lodging at a hotel pursuant to this section, 
        except that such individuals may be required to reimburse the 
        costs of receiving food and beverages;
            (3) individuals described in subsection (a) will retain the 
        option of self-isolating at home (including the option of 
        checking out early and returning to their homes) rather than 
        being required to stay at a hotel funded pursuant to this 
        section;
            (4) before an individual is allowed to stay at a hotel 
        pursuant to this section, the individual will be required to 
        present, in such form and manner as may be required by the 
        local department of health, documentation from a physician that 
        the individual meets the criteria described in subsection (a);
            (5) any non-transient homeless population residing at a 
        hotel will not be displaced for purposes of entering into or 
        carrying out a contract between the State and the hotel under 
        this section; and
            (6) the State will pay (from funds provided to the State 
        under this section or from other State funds)--
                    (A) at least 40 percent of the costs of the 
                personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies 
                needed by individuals staying at a hotel pursuant to 
                this section and the staff of such hotel; and
                    (B) all of the costs of having one or more 
                qualified health care professionals described in 
                subsection (c)(3)(D)(iii) for the provision of 
                monitoring described in such subsection (whether by 
                being onsite or on call).
    (f) Review.--At the conclusion of the program under this section, 
the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services 
shall--
            (1) review the program and activities of each State funded 
        pursuant to this section; and
            (2) submit a report on the results of the review to--
                    (A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
                Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Finance and the Committee on 
                Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
    (g) Liability Protection.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), a 
        hotel or member of the staff shall not be liable under Federal 
        or State law for--
                    (A) any harm caused by an act or omission in the 
                provision of hotel services pursuant to this section; 
                or
                    (B) failing to keep an individual who is staying at 
                a hotel pursuant to this section isolated from people 
                other than the staff of the hotel and any qualified 
                health care professional described in subsection 
                (c)(3)(D)(iii).
            (2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) does not apply in the case 
        that the harm was caused by an act or omission constituting 
        willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless 
        misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the rights 
        or safety of the individual harmed.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``eligible individual'' means an individual 
        who is unable to self-isolate at home, does not require 
        inpatient or outpatient health care treatment, and--
                    (A) has a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19;
                    (B) has a presumptive positive case of COVID-19; or
                    (C) is a person under investigation who is 
                displaying symptoms of COVID-19.
            (2) The terms ``Indian tribe'' and ``tribal organization'' 
        have the meanings given to those terms in section 4 of the 
        Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
        U.S.C. 5304).
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
            (4) The term ``State'' includes each of 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, each Indian Tribe and tribal 
        organization, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 
        Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth 
        of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    (i) Funding.--To carry out this section, there is authorized to be 
appropriated $1,000,000,000, to remain available through the earlier 
of--
            (1) the end of calendar year 2021; or
            (2) the end of the emergency period (as defined in section 
        1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-
        5(g)(1)(B)).
                                 <all>