Title: COVID–19 Cold Storage Expansion Act of 2021
Policy area: Health

Summary:
COVID-19 Cold Storage Expansion Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to reimburse health care providers for costs to obtain and operate certain equipment capable of maintaining cold storage of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines.
To receive this reimbursement, health care providers must sign an agreement to participate in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 Vaccination Program. The agreement sets out prioritization, reporting, and other requirements for the program.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 223 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 223

   To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reimburse 
 qualified health care providers for the costs of purchasing, leasing, 
   installing, and operating qualified equipment for cold storage of 
                           COVID-19 vaccines.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2021

  Mr. Espaillat (for himself and Mr. Sires) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reimburse 
 qualified health care providers for the costs of purchasing, leasing, 
   installing, and operating qualified equipment for cold storage of 
                           COVID-19 vaccines.

    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 ``COVID-19 Cold Storage Expansion Act 
of 2021''.

SEC. 2. REIMBURSING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS FOR EQUIPMENT FOR COLD 
              STORAGE OF COVID-19 VACCINES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
reimburse qualified health care providers for the costs of purchasing, 
leasing, installing, and operating qualified equipment for cold storage 
of COVID-19 vaccines.
    (b) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) The term ``COVID-19 vaccine'' means a vaccine to 
        prevent or mitigate the virus that causes COVID-19.
            (2) The term ``qualified equipment'' means equipment that 
        meets such criteria as the Food and Drug Administration may 
        specify for cold storage of a COVID-19 vaccine.
            (3) The term ``qualified health care provider'' means a 
        health care provider that--
                    (A) is licensed or credentialed in the jurisdiction 
                where vaccination takes place; and
                    (B) completes and signs the CDC COVID-19 
                Vaccination Program Provider Agreement.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this Act, there 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary, to be 
derived from amounts made available to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 
Act (Public Law 116-136) and allocated for Operation Warp Speed.
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