Equal Health Care for All Act
Latest action · Oct 1, 2020 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H5120)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 29, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Equal Health Care for All Act
This bill prohibits discrimination in health care based on race, ethnicity, and other characteristics. It also revises reporting requirements, adds equity-related measures to certain Medicare programs, and makes other changes to reduce health disparities.
To enforce the prohibition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must establish an administrative process to resolve complaints about inequitable health care. HHS must investigate these complaints and mediate agreements to resolve issues. In the event of noncompliance with a mediated agreement, an aggrieved individual may bring a civil action.
Health care providers must also report data in formats that allow disaggregation by demographic factors. HHS must issue proposed regulations to carry out this requirement within 90 days.
Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must include measures related to equitable health care in the Medicare value-based purchasing program for hospitals. This program provides incentive payments based on quality of care. The CMS may also exclude providers that furnish inequitable health care from its programs.
In addition, the bill establishes the Federal Health Equity Commission to monitor implementation of the bill and establishes a grant program for hospitals to promote equitable health care.
Cosponsors 9
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 29, 2020 to Oct 1, 2020; 8 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-TN | Jim Cooper | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-PA | Mary Gay Scanlon | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Original | Sep 29, 2020 |
| D-FL | Alcee L. Hastings | Oct 1, 2020 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Sep 29, 2020 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Sep 29, 2020 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 1, 2020Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H5120)
- Sep 29, 2020Introduced in House
- Sep 29, 2020Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H5120 | Adam B. Schiff D-CA | Oct 1, 2020 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 169, September 29, 2020, page H5053.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To prohibit discrimination in health care and require the provision of equitable health care, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Equal Health Care for All Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Administrative remedies
- Age discrimination
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Disability and health-based discrimination
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal officials
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Health
- Health care coverage and access
- Health care quality
- Health information and medical records
- Health programs administration and funding
- Hospital care
- Medicare
- Minority health
- Racial and ethnic relations
- Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 29, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
