Title: To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital infrastructure.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and makes changes to a grant program for constructing and modernizing health care facilities, including by prioritizing projects that address public health emergency preparedness or cybersecurity.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1846 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1846

    To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital 
                            infrastructure.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2021

Mr. O'Halleran introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to hospital 
                            infrastructure.

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

SECTION 1. HOSPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1610(a) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300r(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``or'' at the end; 
                and
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(iii) increase capacity and update hospitals and other 
        medical facilities in order to better serve communities in 
        need.''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following 
        paragraphs:
    ``(3) Priority.--In awarding grants under this subsection, the 
Secretary shall give priority to applicants whose projects will 
include, by design, public health emergency preparedness or 
cybersecurity against cyber threats.
    ``(4) American Iron and Steel Products.--
            ``(A) In general.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
        under this subsection for a project, an entity shall ensure 
        that all of the iron and steel products used in the project are 
        produced in the United States.
            ``(B) Application.--Subparagraph (A) shall be waived in any 
        case or category of cases in which the Secretary finds that--
                    ``(i) applying subparagraph (A) would be 
                inconsistent with the public interest;
                    ``(ii) iron and steel products are not produced in 
                the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
                available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or
                    ``(iii) inclusion of iron and steel products 
                produced in the United States will increase the cost of 
                the overall project by more than 25 percent.
            ``(C) Waiver.--If the Secretary receives a request for a 
        waiver under this paragraph, the Secretary shall make available 
        to the public, on an informal basis, a copy of the request and 
        information available to the Secretary concerning the request, 
        and shall allow for informal public input on the request for at 
        least 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request. 
        The Secretary shall make the request and accompanying 
        information available by electronic means, including on the 
        official public internet site of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services.
            ``(D) International agreements.--This paragraph shall be 
        applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations 
        under international agreements.
            ``(E) Management and oversight.--The Secretary may retain 
        up to 0.25 percent of the funds appropriated for this 
        subsection for management and oversight of the requirements of 
        this paragraph.
            ``(F) Effective date.--This paragraph does not apply with 
        respect to a project if a State agency approves the engineering 
        plans and specifications for the project, in that agency's 
        capacity to approve such plans and specifications prior to a 
        project requesting bids, prior to the date of enactment of this 
        paragraph.
    ``(5) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this 
subsection, there is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.''.
    (b) Technical Update.--Section 1610(b) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 300r(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (3).
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