COVID–19 Nursing Home Protection Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 333 To amend title XI and title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide funding for State strike teams, technical assistance, and infection control for resident and worker safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. REED, Ms. HIRONO, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XI and title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide funding for State strike teams, technical assistance, and infection control for resident and worker safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities, 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 Nursing 4 Home Protection Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 333 IS SEC. 2. STATE STRIKE TEAMS FOR RESIDENT AND WORKER 1 SAFETY. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social 3 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by add- 4 ing at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1150C. STATE STRIKE TEAMS FOR RESIDENT AND 6 WORKER SAFETY. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 8 under subsection (c), the Secretary shall allocate funds 9 among the States for purposes of establishing and imple- 10 menting strike teams in accordance with subsection (b). 11 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives funds 12 under this section shall use such funds to establish and 13 implement a strike team that will be deployed to a skilled 14 nursing facility (as defined in section 1819(a)) or nursing 15 facility (as defined in section 1919(a)) in the State with 16 diagnosed or suspected cases of COVID–19 among resi- 17 dents or staff for the purposes of assisting with COVID– 18 19 vaccinations, clinical care, infection control, or staffing. 19 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—There are hereby appropriated to 20 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Program 21 Management Account, out of any money in the Treasury 22 not otherwise appropriated, $750,000,000 for the fiscal 23 year ending September 30, 2021, to remain available 24 through September 30, 2022, for purposes of carrying out 25 this section.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 333 IS (b) EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided by 2 this section are designated as an emergency require- 3 ment pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay- 4 As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)). 5 (2) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, 6 this section is designated as an emergency require- 7 ment pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 8 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on 9 the budget for fiscal year 2018. 10 SEC. 3. PROVIDING FOR INFECTION CONTROL SUPPORT TO 11 SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES THROUGH 12 CONTRACTS WITH QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 13 ORGANIZATIONS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1862(g) of the Social Se- 15 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(g)) is amended— 16 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following new 19 paragraph: 20 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that at least 21 1 contract with a quality improvement organization 22 described in paragraph (1) entered into on or after 23 the date of the enactment of this paragraph and be- 24 fore the end of the emergency period described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 333 IS section 1135(g)(1)(B) (or in effect as of such date) 1 includes the requirement that such organization pro- 2 vide to skilled nursing facilities with cases of 3 COVID–19 (or facilities attempting to prevent out- 4 breaks of COVID–19) infection control support de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (B) during such period. 6 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the in- 7 fection control support described in this subpara- 8 graph is, with respect to skilled nursing facilities de- 9 scribed in such subparagraph, the development and 10 dissemination to such facilities of protocols relating 11 to the prevention or mitigation of COVID–19 at 12 such facilities and the provision of training materials 13 to such facilities relating to such prevention or miti- 14 gation.’’. 15 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Health and Human 16 Services shall provide for the transfer from the Federal 17 Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (as de- 18 scribed in section 1841 of the Social Security Act (42 19 U.S.C. 1395t)) and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust 20 Fund (as described in section 1817 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 21 1395i)), in such proportions as determined appropriate by 22 the Secretary, to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 23 Services Program Management Account, of $210,000,000, 24 to remain available until expended, for purposes of enter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 333 IS ing into contracts with quality improvement organizations 1 under part B of title XI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320c 2 et seq.). Of the amount transferred pursuant to the pre- 3 vious sentence, not less than $110,000,000 shall be used 4 for purposes of entering into such a contract that includes 5 the requirement described in section 1862(g)(2)(A) of 6 such Act (as added by subsection (a)). 7 SEC. 4. REQUIRING LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES TO RE- 8 PORT CERTAIN INFORMATION RELATING TO 9 COVID–19 CASES AND DEATHS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 11 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 12 retary’’) shall, as soon as practicable, require that the in- 13 formation described in paragraph (1) of section 483.80(g) 14 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, or a successor 15 regulation, be reported by a facility (as defined for pur- 16 poses of such section). 17 (b) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Secretary 18 shall post the following information with respect to skilled 19 nursing facilities (as defined in section 1819(a) of the So- 20 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(a))) and nursing fa- 21 cilities (as defined in section 1919(a) of such Act (42 22 U.S.C. 1396r(a))) on the Nursing Home Compare website 23 (as described in section 1819(i) of the Social Security Act 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 333 IS (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(i))), or a successor website, aggre- 1 gated by State: 2 (1) The age, race/ethnicity, and preferred lan- 3 guage of the residents of such skilled nursing facili- 4 ties and nursing facilities with suspected or con- 5 firmed COVID–19 infections, including residents 6 previously treated for COVID–19. 7 (2) The age, race/ethnicity, and preferred lan- 8 guage relating to total deaths and COVID–19 9 deaths among residents of such skilled nursing facili- 10 ties and nursing facilities. 11 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any information reported 12 under this section that is made available to the public shall 13 be made so available in a manner that protects the identity 14 of residents of skilled nursing facilities and nursing facili- 15 ties. 16 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may imple- 17 ment the provisions of this section by program instruction 18 or otherwise. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Mar 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S333.IS S333 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS