COVID–19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 726 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID–19, and related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units and, as necessary, at individuals’ residences, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 2, 2021 Mr. RUSH (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE of Wis- consin, Mr. MORELLE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SIRES, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID–19, and related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units and, as nec- essary, at individuals’ residences, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H726.IH H726 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 726 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Testing, 2 Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. COVID–19 TESTING AND CONTACT TRACING USING 4 MOBILE HEALTH UNITS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 6 Human Services, acting through the Director of the Cen- 7 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, may award 8 grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for 9 COVID–19, to trace and monitor the contacts of infected 10 individuals, and to support the quarantine of such con- 11 tacts, through— 12 (1) mobile health units; and 13 (2) as necessary, testing individuals and pro- 14 viding individuals with services related to testing and 15 quarantine at their residences. 16 (b) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—A grant recipi- 17 ent under this section may use the grant funds, in support 18 of the activities described in subsection (a)— 19 (1) to hire, train, compensate, and pay the ex- 20 penses of individuals; and 21 (2) to purchase personal protective equipment 22 and other supplies. 23 (c) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 24 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H726.IH H726 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 726 IH (1) applicants proposing to conduct activities 1 funded under this section in hot spots and medically 2 underserved communities; and 3 (2) applicants that agree, in hiring individuals 4 to carry out activities funded under this section, to 5 hire residents of the area or community where the 6 activities will primarily occur, with higher priority 7 among applicants described in this paragraph given 8 based on the percentage of individuals to be hired 9 from such area or community. 10 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting grant recipients 11 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that grants 12 are distributed across urban and rural areas. 13 (e) FEDERAL PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in 14 this section shall be construed to supersede any Federal 15 privacy or confidentiality requirement, including the regu- 16 lations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health 17 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 18 (Public Law 104–191; 110 Stat. 2033) and section 543 19 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd–2). 20 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 (1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 22 (A) a federally qualified health center (as 23 defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Secu- 24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa))); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H726.IH H726 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 726 IH (B) a school-based health clinic; 1 (C) a disproportionate share hospital (as 2 defined under the applicable State plan under 3 title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 4 1396 et seq.) pursuant to section 1923(a)(1)(A) 5 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–4)); 6 (D) an academic medical center; 7 (E) a nonprofit organization (including any 8 such faith-based organization); 9 (F) an institution of higher education (as 10 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 12 (G) a high school (as defined in section 13 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); or 15 (H) any other type of entity that is deter- 16 mined by the Secretary to be an eligible entity 17 for purposes of this section. 18 (2) The term ‘‘emergency period’’ has the 19 meaning given to that term in section 1135(g)(1)(B) 20 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b– 21 5(g)(1)(B)). 22 (3) The term ‘‘hot spot’’ means a geographic 23 area where the rate of infection with the virus that 24 causes COVID–19 exceeds the national average. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H726.IH H726 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 726 IH (4) The term ‘‘medically underserved commu- 1 nity’’ has the meaning given to that term in section 2 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 3 295p). 4 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 5 of Health and Human Services. 6 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 7 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated— 8 (1) $100,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 9 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 10 fiscal year 2022 and any subsequent fiscal year dur- 11 ing which the emergency period continues. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Feb 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H726.IH H726 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS