National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5295 To consolidate activities of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality into the National Institutes of Health as the National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 4, 2019 Mr. MEADOWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To consolidate activities of the Agency for Healthcare Re- search and Quality into the National Institutes of Health as the National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality, 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 ‘‘National Institute for 4 Research on Safety and Quality Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5295 IH SEC. 2. CONSOLIDATING ACTIVITIES OF AGENCY FOR 1 HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY INTO 2 NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON 3 SAFETY AND QUALITY. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTE.— 5 (1) INCLUSION WITHIN NIH.—Section 401(b) of 6 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)) is 7 amended— 8 (A) by redesignating paragraph (25) as 9 paragraph (26); and 10 (B) by inserting after paragraph (24) the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(25) National Institute for Research on Safety 13 and Quality.’’. 14 (2) INCREASE OF CAP ON NUMBER OF INSTI- 15 TUTES.—Section 401(d)(1) of the Public Health 16 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(d)(1)) is amended by 17 striking ‘‘27’’ and inserting ‘‘28’’. 18 (3) ESTABLISHMENT.—Part C of title IV of the 19 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) 20 is amended by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘Subpart 21—National Institute for Research on 22 Safety and Quality 23 ‘‘SEC. 464aa–1. PURPOSE OF INSTITUTE. 24 ‘‘The general purpose of the National Institute for 25 Research on Safety and Quality (hereafter in this subpart 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5295 IH referred to as the ‘Institute’) is to enhance the quality, 1 appropriateness, and effectiveness of health services, and 2 access to such services, through the establishment of a 3 broad base of scientific research and through the pro- 4 motion of improvements in clinical and health system 5 practices, including the prevention of diseases and other 6 health conditions. 7 ‘‘SEC. 464aa–2. PROMOTING HEALTH CARE QUALITY IM- 8 PROVEMENT. 9 ‘‘The Director of the Institute shall promote health 10 care quality improvement by conducting and supporting— 11 ‘‘(1) research that develops and presents sci- 12 entific evidence regarding all aspects of health care, 13 including— 14 ‘‘(A) the development and assessment of 15 methods for enhancing patient participation in 16 their own care and for facilitating shared pa- 17 tient-physician decision making; 18 ‘‘(B) the outcomes, effectiveness, and cost- 19 effectiveness of health care practices, including 20 preventive measures and long-term care; 21 ‘‘(C) existing and innovative technologies; 22 ‘‘(D) the costs and utilization of, and ac- 23 cess to health care; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5295 IH ‘‘(E) the ways in which health care services 1 are organized, delivered, and financed and the 2 interaction and impact of these factors on the 3 quality of patient care; 4 ‘‘(F) methods for measuring quality and 5 strategies for improving quality; and 6 ‘‘(G) ways in which patients, consumers, 7 purchasers, and practitioners acquire new infor- 8 mation about best practices and health benefits, 9 the determinants and impact of their use of this 10 information; 11 ‘‘(2) the synthesis and dissemination of avail- 12 able scientific evidence for use by patients, con- 13 sumers, practitioners, providers, purchasers, policy 14 makers, and educators; and 15 ‘‘(3) initiatives to advance private and public ef- 16 forts to improve health care quality. 17 ‘‘SEC. 464aa–3. REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO RURAL 18 AND INNER-CITY AREAS AND PRIORITY POP- 19 ULATIONS. 20 ‘‘(a) RESEARCH, EVALUATIONS, AND DEMONSTRA- 21 TION PROJECTS.—In carrying out this subpart, the Direc- 22 tor of the Institute shall conduct and support research and 23 evaluations, and support demonstration projects, with re- 24 spect to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Dec 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5295 IH ‘‘(1) the delivery of health care in inner-city 1 areas, and in rural areas (including frontier areas); 2 and 3 ‘‘(2) health care for priority populations, which 4 shall include— 5 ‘‘(A) low-income groups; 6 ‘‘(B) minority groups; 7 ‘‘(C) women; 8 ‘‘(D) children; 9 ‘‘(E) the elderly; and 10 ‘‘(F) individuals with special health care 11 needs, including individuals with disabilities and 12 individuals who need chronic care or end-of-life 13 health care. 14 ‘‘(b) PROCESS TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE RE- 15 SEARCH.—The Director of the Institute shall establish a 16 process to ensure that the requirements of subsection (a) 17 are reflected in the overall portfolio of research conducted 18 and supported by the Director of National Institutes of 19 Health.’’. 20 (b) TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later October 1, 2020, 22 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 23 begin to transfer to the National Institute for Re- 24 search on Safety and Quality the authorities (includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5295 IH ing all budget authorities, available appropriations, 1 and personnel), duties, obligations, and related legal 2 and administrative functions prescribed by law or 3 otherwise granted to the Agency for Healthcare Re- 4 search and Quality under title IX of the Public 5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.). The 6 Secretary shall complete such transfer not later than 7 October 1, 2021. 8 (2) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Effective on Octo- 9 ber 1, 2021, title IX of the Public Health Service 10 Act (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.) is repealed. 11 (3) REFERENCES.—Any reference to the Agen- 12 cy for Healthcare Research and Quality in any law, 13 rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or 14 other official paper in force on the date of enactment 15 of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to 16 the National Institute for Research on Safety and 17 Quality. 18 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of 19 the amount authorized to be appropriated under 20 subparagraph (F) of section 402A(a)(1) of the Pub- 21 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282(a)(1)) for fis- 22 cal year 2020, the Secretary may use $256,000,000 23 to carry out this subsection. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5295 IH (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2019. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5295.IH H5295 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS