COVID–19 Prevention and Awareness Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 173 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements with entities to expand and support activities with respect to the prevention and treatment of a covered condition, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. DEAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. MENG, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements with entities to expand and support activities with respect to the prevention and treatment of a covered condition, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Prevention 4 and Awareness Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 173 IH SEC. 2. COVID–19 PREVENTION AND AWARENESS GRANTS. 1 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 2 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 330N. PROGRAM TO PREVENT AND TREAT COVERED 5 CONDITIONS. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 7 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 8 vention, may award grants and enter into cooperative 9 agreements with covered entities to expand and support 10 activities with respect to the prevention and treatment of 11 covered conditions, including— 12 ‘‘(1) conducting screenings, surveillance, and di- 13 agnostic testing for covered conditions; 14 ‘‘(2) providing guidance to individuals on such 15 prevention and treatment activities; and 16 ‘‘(3) providing guidance on vaccinations rec- 17 ommended by the Advisory Committee on Immuniza- 18 tion Practices established by the Secretary. 19 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 20 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 21 at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 22 information as the Secretary may require. 23 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or entering into 24 cooperative agreements under this section, the Secretary 25 shall give priority to— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(1) federally qualified health centers (as de- 1 fined in section 330A); 2 ‘‘(2) community-based organizations; and 3 ‘‘(3) entities that have an agreement with a fed- 4 erally-qualified health center. 5 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—An entity that 7 receives a grant or enters into a cooperative agree- 8 ment under this section shall submit to the Sec- 9 retary a report that includes— 10 ‘‘(A) a description of each activity carried 11 out— 12 ‘‘(i) pursuant to the cooperative 13 agreement; or 14 ‘‘(ii) with amounts received through 15 the grant; and 16 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 17 each such activity. 18 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 19 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 20 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 21 the effectiveness of the grants and cooperative agree- 22 ments entered into under this section. 23 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An entity re- 24 ceiving a grant under this section shall use grant amounts 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 173 IH to supplement, not supplant, any other Federal, State, and 1 local funds that would otherwise be expended by such enti- 2 ty to carry out the activities described in this section. 3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 ‘‘(1) COVERED CONDITION.—The term ‘covered 5 condition’ means a disease or condition that has 6 been identified by the Centers for Disease Control 7 and Prevention to increase, or likely increase, the 8 risk of mortality from COVID–19 or to increase, or 9 likely increase, the risk of severe illness from 10 COVID–19, including the following: 11 ‘‘(A) Asthma. 12 ‘‘(B) Cancer. 13 ‘‘(C) Cerebrovascular disease. 14 ‘‘(D) Chronic kidney disease. 15 ‘‘(E) Chronic obstructive pulmonary dis- 16 ease. 17 ‘‘(F) Cystic fibrosis. 18 ‘‘(G) Hypertension or high blood pressure. 19 ‘‘(H) Liver disease. 20 ‘‘(I) Neurologic conditions, including de- 21 mentia. 22 ‘‘(J) Obesity. 23 ‘‘(K) Pregnancy. 24 ‘‘(L) Pulmonary fibrosis. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(M) Serious heart conditions, including 1 heart failure, coronary artery disease, and car- 2 diomyopathy. 3 ‘‘(N) Sickle cell disease. 4 ‘‘(O) Pulmonary conditions resulting from 5 tobacco use. 6 ‘‘(P) Thalassemia. 7 ‘‘(Q) Tobacco use. 8 ‘‘(R) Type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus. 9 ‘‘(S) Weakened immune system, including 10 from— 11 ‘‘(i) a solid organ transplant; 12 ‘‘(ii) a blood or bone marrow trans- 13 plant; 14 ‘‘(iii) the human immunodeficiency 15 virus; and 16 ‘‘(iv) the use of a corticosteroid or 17 other immune weakening medicine. 18 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en- 19 tity’ includes the following: 20 ‘‘(A) Federally qualified health center (as 21 defined in section 330A). 22 ‘‘(B) Entity that has an agreement with a 23 federally qualified health center. 24 ‘‘(C) Community-based organization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(D) Faith-based organization. 1 ‘‘(E) Nonprofit organization. 2 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 3 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 4 priated $2,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021 5 through 2022, to remain available until expended. 6 ‘‘SEC. 330O. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE AWARENESS 7 OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COVERED 8 CONDITIONS AND COVID–19. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 10 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 11 vention, may award grants to entities to carry out a cam- 12 paign to increase awareness of the relationship between— 13 ‘‘(1) covered conditions; and 14 ‘‘(2) the increased risk of developing a severe 15 illness or mortality from COVID–19. 16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 17 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 18 at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 19 information as the Secretary may require, including a de- 20 scription of how the entity intends to carry out the activi- 21 ties specified in subsection (c). 22 ‘‘(c) CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the 23 campaign under subsection (a), an entity shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(1) develop and disseminate informational ma- 1 terial— 2 ‘‘(A) that is culturally and linguistically 3 appropriate; 4 ‘‘(B) targeted toward communities and 5 populations that are at a high risk of— 6 ‘‘(i) developing a covered condition; 7 and 8 ‘‘(ii) contracting COVID–19; 9 ‘‘(C) that increases awareness of the safety 10 and effectiveness of a COVID–19 vaccine; and 11 ‘‘(D) that identifies locations in the com- 12 munity served by the entity where COVID–19 13 vaccines are administered; 14 ‘‘(2) consult with members of such communities 15 and populations to develop the informational mate- 16 rial under paragraph (1); and 17 ‘‘(3) disseminate informational material on 18 treatments available for covered conditions, includ- 19 ing, if applicable, treatments provided by the entity. 20 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 21 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to— 22 ‘‘(1) federally qualified health centers (as de- 23 fined in section 330A); 24 ‘‘(2) community-based organizations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(3) entities that have an agreement with a fed- 1 erally qualified health center. 2 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—An entity that 4 receives a grant under this section shall submit to 5 the Secretary a report that includes— 6 ‘‘(A) a description of each activity carried 7 out with amounts received through the grant; 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 10 each such activity. 11 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 12 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 13 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 14 the effectiveness of the grants entered into under 15 this section. 16 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An entity re- 17 ceiving a grant under this section shall use grant amounts 18 to supplement, not supplant, any other Federal, State, and 19 local funds that would otherwise be expended by such enti- 20 ty to carry out the activities described in this section. 21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) COVERED CONDITION.—The term ‘covered 23 condition’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 24 tion 330N. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 173 IH ‘‘(2) COVID–19 VACCINE.—The term ‘COVID– 1 19 vaccine’ means a vaccine that is intended to pre- 2 vent, mitigate, or treat the virus that causes 3 COVID–19 and— 4 ‘‘(A) is licensed under section 351 of the 5 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262); or 6 ‘‘(B) authorized under section 564 of the 7 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 8 U.S.C. 360bbb–3). 9 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 10 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 11 priated $120,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2021 12 through 2022, to remain available until expended.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Jan 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H173.IH H173 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS