Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2016

Bill: 114-hr-5475
Sponsor: Rep. Kelly, Robin L. [D-IL-2]
Introduced: 2016-06-14 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accidents
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Adoption and foster care
Advisory bodies
Air quality
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Allied health services
American Samoa
Assault and harassment offenses
California
Cancer
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Child health
Child safety and welfare
Civil actions and liability
Commemorative events and holidays
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Crime victims
Crimes against women
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Dental care
Department of Agriculture
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Labor
Department of the Treasury
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Disability and paralysis
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Education programs funding
Educational technology and distance education
Elementary and secondary education
Employee benefits and pensions
Endangered and threatened species
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental health
Environmental regulatory procedures
Executive agency funding and structure
Family planning and birth control
Family services
Federal-Indian relations
Foreign language and bilingual programs
Forests, forestry, trees
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Government trust funds
Guam
Gulf of Mexico
HIV/AIDS
Hawaii
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Hereditary and development disorders
Higher education
Immigrant health and welfare
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Marriage and family status
Marshall Islands
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical research
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Mental health
Micronesia
Minority education
Minority employment
Minority health
Musculoskeletal and skin diseases
Neurological disorders
Northern Mariana Islands
Nutrition and diet
Oceania
Oil and gas
Palau
Physical fitness and lifestyle
Poverty and welfare assistance
Prescription drugs
Racial and ethnic relations
Religion
Research administration and funding
Retail and wholesale trades
Rural conditions and development
Sex and reproductive health
Sex offenses
Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
Sexually transmitted diseases
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Student aid and college costs
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Teenage pregnancy
U.S. territories and protectorates
Water quality
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: 

Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2016

 
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act and the Social Security Act (SSAct) to expand the collection and analysis of data in programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
 
The bill sets forth provisions regarding cultural competence in federal health care programs and services, including provisions establishing the Robert T. Matsui Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Health Care.
 
HHS must engage in activities regarding health workforce diversity, including: (1) establishing a working group and a technical clearinghouse; (2) awarding grants to academic institutions; (3) establishing a health and health care disparities education program; and (4) providing for scholarships, student loan repayment and loan forgiveness, and research fellowships.

Health Empowerment Zone Act of 2016

 
HHS may designate areas as health empowerment zones in communities that experience disproportionate disparities in health status and health care.
 
HHS must engage in activities regarding the quality of and access to health care, including expanding access to health care and health care insurance for immigrants, designating centers of excellence at public hospitals and other health systems serving minority patients, increasing Medicaid payments to territories and to Native Hawaiian health centers, and providing for border health grants.
 
The bill establishes: (1) programs to reduce health disparities affecting minorities and rural residents, and (2) an Office of Minority Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
 
This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to revise requirements for qualified health plans, including to require plans to provide information on the availability of care in languages other than English. (Qualified health plans are sold on health insurance exchanges, are the only plans eligible for premium subsidies, and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
 
The bill sets forth provisions regarding the health of women and children, including provisions to expand access to federal programs for immigrant women and children, eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes, and establish programs to reduce teenage pregnancies.
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must develop a multisite gestational diabetes research project.
 
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the SSAct to expand coverage of marriage and family therapist services, mental health counselor services, and substance abuse counselor services.
 

Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2016

 
HHS must implement the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program to achieve a reduction of at least 25% in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2020.
 

Prostate Research, Outreach, Screening, Testing, Access, and Treatment Effectiveness Act of 2016 or the PROSTATE Act

 
The VA must take action to address prostate cancer, including by establishing the Interagency Prostate Cancer Coordination and Education Task Force.
 

Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2016

 
HHS must implement programs to address hepatitis B and C.
 

Bone Marrow Failure Disease Research and Treatment Act of 2016

 
The CDC must establish the National Acquired Bone Marrow Failure Disease Registry.
 
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must develop guidelines to screen minority patient populations which have a higher than average risk for many chronic diseases and cancers. 
 
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the SSAct, including to expand coverage to include routine medical costs when a beneficiary is in an approved clinical trial. 
 
HHS must expand HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention activities, including: (1) identification of issues that impede disease status awareness and retention in appropriate care, (2) research into treatment adherence strategies, (3) grants to public health agencies and faith-based organizations, (4) the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, and (5) health workforce training for culturally competent care.
 
HHS must award grants for comprehensive sex education programs for adolescents. A program that supports abstinence education is eliminated.
 
Community organizations may distribute sexual barrier protection devices (e.g., condoms) and engage in sexually transmitted infection counseling and prevention education in federal correctional facilities.
 

Stop AIDS in Prison Act

 
The Bureau of Prisons must develop a comprehensive policy to provide HIV testing, treatment, and prevention for inmates.
 

Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Disorders Health Disparities Act
 
The National Institutes of Health must expand research addressing sleep health disparities. The CDC must expand activities regarding sleep disorders. 
The bill sets forth provisions regarding the use of health information technology to reduce health disparities, particularly in racial and ethnic minority communities.
 
The bill prohibits discrimination in federal health care programs and research activities.
 
HHS must establish: (1) the Office of Health Disparities in the Office for Civil Rights, (2) civil rights compliance offices in each HHS agency that administers health programs, and (3) a program at the National Center for Environmental Health on health impact assessment, which is the process of determining the potential effects of a policy, program, or project on health. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2016-09-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2016-09-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
action_date: 2016-06-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
action_date: 2016-06-27
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
action_date: 2016-06-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, the Budget, the Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Armed Services, and Natural Resources, 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.
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2016-06-14
text: Introduced in House