COVID Community Care Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 783 Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 16, 2021 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, 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 That the following sums are hereby appropriated, out 3 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 4 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for 5 other purposes, namely: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 783 IS TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 1 HUMAN SERVICES 2 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 3 PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES EMERGENCY 4 FUND 5 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) 6 For an additional amount for ‘‘Public Health and So- 7 cial Services Emergency Fund’’, $8,000,000,000, to re- 8 main available until September 30, 2024, for the imple- 9 mentation of the comprehensive program to prevent, pre- 10 pare for, and respond to COVID–19 in medically under- 11 served communities, as authorized by section 101: Pro- 12 vided, That of such amounts, $60,000,000 shall be trans- 13 ferred to ‘‘General Departmental Management’’ and made 14 available to the ‘‘Office of Minority Health’’ for the imple- 15 mentation of such program: Provided further, That the 16 amounts made available (including amounts transferred) 17 under this heading shall be in addition to amounts other- 18 wise available for such purposes: Provided further, That 19 such amounts are designated by the Congress as being for 20 an emergency requirement pursuant to section 21 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 22 Deficit Control Act of 1985. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 783 IS INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE 1 INDIAN HEALTH SERVICES 2 For an additional amount for ‘‘Indian Health Serv- 3 ices’’, $400,000,000, to remain available until September 4 30, 2024, for the implementation of a comprehensive pro- 5 gram to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID–19 6 through programs and services administered by the Indian 7 Health Service, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, 8 Urban Indian organizations, and health service providers 9 to Tribes pursuant to a contract or compact under the 10 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 11 (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) or the Indian Health Care Im- 12 provement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), as authorized by 13 section 102 of this Act: Provided, That such amounts shall 14 be in addition to amounts otherwise available for such pur- 15 poses: Provided further, That such funds shall be allocated 16 at the discretion of the Director of the Indian Health Serv- 17 ice: Provided further, That the amount provided under this 18 heading in this Act shall be distributed through Indian 19 Health Service directly operated programs and to Tribes 20 and Tribal organizations under the Indian Self-Deter- 21 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 22 et seq.) and through contracts or grants with Urban In- 23 dian Organizations under title V of the Indian Health 24 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.): Provided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 783 IS further, That any amounts made available under this 1 heading and transferred to Tribes or Tribal organizations 2 shall be transferred on a one-time basis, and that these 3 non-recurring funds are not part of the amount required 4 by section 106 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 5 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5325), and that such 6 amounts may only be used for the purposes authorized by 7 section 102 of this Act, notwithstanding any other provi- 8 sion of law: Provided further, That such amount is des- 9 ignated by the Congress as being for an emergency re- 10 quirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Bal- 11 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 12 GENERAL PROVISIONS — THIS ACT 13 SEC. 101. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 14 Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Dep- 15 uty Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, the Director 16 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 17 the Administrator of the Administration for Community 18 Living, shall implement a comprehensive program to— 19 (1) prevent, prepare for, and respond to 20 COVID–19 in medically underserved communities; 21 and 22 (2) ensure that such program is designed to 23 complement the efforts of State, local, territorial, 24 and Tribal public health agencies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 783 IS (b) COMPONENTS.—The comprehensive program 1 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 2 (1) The provision of diagnostic tests for SARS– 3 CoV–2, including rapid response tests and testing 4 through the use of mobile health units. 5 (2) The provision of serological tests related to 6 SARS–CoV–2. 7 (3) Contact tracing to monitor the contacts of 8 individuals who are or were infected with SARS– 9 CoV–2. 10 (4) Equitable vaccine distribution and imple- 11 mentation. 12 (5) The provision of personal protective equip- 13 ment to essential workers. 14 (6) The facilitation of— 15 (A) voluntary isolation and quarantine of 16 individuals presumed or confirmed to be in- 17 fected with, or exposed to individuals presumed 18 or confirmed to be infected with, the virus that 19 causes COVID–19; and 20 (B) the provision of social services and 21 support for such individuals. 22 (7) A culturally competent and multilingual so- 23 cial marketing campaign carried out by trusted 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 783 IS members of the community involved to increase pub- 1 lic awareness of— 2 (A) health precautions to prevent exposure 3 to the virus that causes COVID–19; 4 (B) the benefits of monitoring and testing 5 for COVID–19; 6 (C) education about the safety and effec- 7 tiveness of vaccines for COVID–19; 8 (D) health care assistance programs and 9 entities that provide testing, tracing, and vac- 10 cination services related to SARS–CoV–2; 11 (E) public assistance and unemployment 12 programs for individuals affected by the spread 13 of COVID–19; 14 (F) the purpose and protections of per- 15 sonal and demographic information collected by 16 entities engaged in administering COVID–19 17 testing, treatment, follow-up, and vaccines; and 18 (G) other public awareness priorities. 19 (c) GRANTS TO PARTNERS.—To carry out the compo- 20 nents of the comprehensive program under subsection (b), 21 the Secretary shall— 22 (1) provide grants to— 23 (A) faith-based, community, and nonprofit 24 organizations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 783 IS (B) eligible institutions of higher education 1 described in section 371(a) of the Higher Edu- 2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)) that 3 have partnerships with one or more faith-based, 4 community, or nonprofit organizations; and 5 (2) ensure that grantees represent or dem- 6 onstrate an intent to subcontract with entities hav- 7 ing relationships with medically underserved commu- 8 nities. 9 (d) HIRING OF PERSONNEL.—The individuals hired 10 and trained to perform services pursuant to the com- 11 prehensive program under subsection (a) shall have— 12 (1) experience working in medically underserved 13 communities; and 14 (2) relationships with individuals who reside in 15 medically underserved communities. 16 (e) PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The 17 Secretary shall ensure that the individually identifiable in- 18 formation collected to perform contact tracing pursuant 19 to the comprehensive program under subsection (a) is se- 20 cure from unauthorized access and disclosure. 21 (f) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF COLLECTION, USE AND 22 DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.—Individuals, 23 Federal agencies, and entities carrying out actions under 24 or administering the program under this section shall col- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 783 IS lect only the information strictly necessary to carry out 1 the program, and shall not— 2 (1) use or disclose the information generated 3 pursuant to the program for any purpose other than 4 carrying out the program; 5 (2) publish or sell individually identifiable infor- 6 mation generated pursuant to the program nor 7 transmit such data for purposes other than carrying 8 out the program, including sharing personally identi- 9 fiable information with any local, State, or Federal 10 law enforcement agency; or 11 (3) permit anyone other than the officers and 12 employees of the entities charged with administering 13 the program, who are subject to the limitations of 14 this section, to access or examine such individually 15 identifiable information. 16 (g) STRATEGY.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 19 shall develop and publish a comprehensive strategy 20 with respect to the comprehensive program under 21 subsection (a) for the purpose of addressing health 22 and health disparities, taking into consideration the 23 following: 24 (A) Race and ethnicity. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 783 IS (B) Sex (including sexual orientation and 1 gender identity). 2 (C) Age. 3 (D) Limited English proficiency. 4 (E) Socioeconomic status. 5 (F) Disability. 6 (G) Census tract. 7 (H) Occupation. 8 (I) Other demographic data. 9 (2) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strat- 10 egy under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 11 with health officials who represent the following: 12 (A) State and territorial governments. 13 (B) Local governments. 14 (C) Tribal governments. 15 SEC. 102. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 16 Health and Human Services, acting through the Director 17 of the Indian Health Service, shall implement a com- 18 prehensive program to prevent and respond to COVID– 19 19 through programs and services administered by— 20 (1) the Indian Health Service; and 21 (2) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Urban 22 Indian organizations, and health service providers to 23 Tribes pursuant to a contract or compact under— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 783 IS (A) the Indian Self-Determination and 1 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et 2 seq.); or 3 (B) the Indian Health Care Improvement 4 Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 5 (b) COMPONENTS.—The comprehensive program 6 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 7 (1) The provision of diagnostic tests for the 8 virus that causes COVID–19, including rapid re- 9 sponse tests and testing through the use of mobile 10 health units. 11 (2) The provision of serological tests related to 12 SARS–CoV–2. 13 (3) Contact tracing to identify and monitor the 14 contacts of individuals who are or were infected with 15 the virus that causes COVID–19, including hiring 16 and training culturally and linguistically competent 17 contact tracers. 18 (4) Equitable vaccine distribution and imple- 19 mentation. 20 (5) The provision of personal protective equip- 21 ment to essential workers, including— 22 (A) community health representatives em- 23 ployed under section 516 of the Indian Health 24 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1616f); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 783 IS (B) community health aides employed 1 under section 119 of the Indian Health Care 2 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1616l). 3 (6) The facilitation of— 4 (A) voluntary isolation and quarantine of 5 individuals presumed or confirmed to be in- 6 fected with, or exposed to individuals presumed 7 or confirmed to be infected with, the virus that 8 causes COVID–19; and 9 (B) the provision of social services and 10 support for such individuals. 11 (7) A culturally competent and linguistically ap- 12 propriate social marketing campaign carried out by 13 trusted members of the community involved to in- 14 crease public awareness of— 15 (A) health precautions to prevent exposure 16 to, and the spread of, the virus that causes 17 COVID–19; 18 (B) the benefits of monitoring and testing 19 for such virus; 20 (C) education about the safety and effec- 21 tiveness of vaccines for COVID–19; 22 (D) health care assistance programs and 23 entities that provide testing, tracing, and vac- 24 cination services related to SARS–CoV–2; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S783.IS S783 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 783 IS (E) public assistance and unemployment 1 programs for individuals affected by the spread 2 of COVID–19; 3 (F) the purpose and protections of per- 4 sonal and demographic information collected by 5 entities engaged in administering COVID–19 6 testing, treatment, follow-up, and vaccines; and 7 (G) other public awareness priorities. 8 (8) Awarding grants or cooperative agreements 9 to epidemiology centers established under section 10 214 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 11 U.S.C. 1621m). 12 (c) CONSULTATION.—Before implementing the pro- 13 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 14 (1) consult with Indian Tribes and Tribal orga- 15 nizations; and 16 (2) confer with Urban Indian organizations. 17 SEC. 103. In this Act: 18 (1) The term ‘‘essential worker’’ means— 19 (A) a health sector employee; 20 (B) an emergency response worker; 21 (C) a sanitation worker; 22 (D) a worker at a business which a [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]