To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program under which loans shall be made to certain health care organizations to assist such organizations with anticipated revenue loss or higher operating costs as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6426 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program under which loans shall be made to certain health care organizations to assist such organizations with anticipated revenue loss or higher operating costs as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 31, 2020 Mr. ROSE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program under which loans shall be made to certain health care organizations to assist such organi- zations with anticipated revenue loss or higher operating costs as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, 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. HEALTH PROVIDER LOAN PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 4 date of enactment of this title, the Secretary shall estab- 5 lish a program under which loans shall be made to eligible 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6426.IH H6426 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6426 IH health care organizations to assist such organizations with 1 anticipated revenue loss or higher operating costs as a re- 2 sult of the COVID-19 emergency. 3 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall 4 establish standards and guidelines for application, loan 5 amount, repayment, and extension, and shall consider the 6 eligible health care organization’s financial condition, serv- 7 ice in an area heavily impacted by the COVID-19 emer- 8 gency, or other factors deemed appropriate. 9 (c) ELIGIBLE HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS.—To 10 be eligible for a loan under subsection (a), an entity 11 shall— 12 (1) be a health care provider or supplier that 13 receives assistance or otherwise participates in the 14 Medicare or Medicaid program under title XVIII or 15 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 and 16 1396 et seq.), including a hospital, critical access 17 hospital, skilled nursing facility, physician practice, 18 home health provider, community health center, am- 19 bulatory surgical care center, or hospice; and 20 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 21 such time, in such manner, and containing such in- 22 formation as the Secretary may require. 23 (d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6426.IH H6426 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6426 IH (1) INTEREST.—A loan under this section shall 1 have a rate of interest of not to exceed 2 percent. 2 Interest shall begin to accrue on the date that is 60 3 days after the date of origination. 4 (2) TERM.—The term of a loan under this sec- 5 tion shall be 1 year minus one day. A borrower shall 6 have the option to extend such term for a total of 7 not to exceed 19 years. Further extensions may be 8 granted if approval by the Secretary. 9 (3) SECURITY.—An eligible health care organi- 10 zation shall not be required to provide security for 11 a loan under this section. 12 (4) PAYMENTS.—Loan payments shall be made 13 on a biannual basis. 14 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) COVID-19 EMERGENCY.—The term 16 ‘‘COVID-19 emergency’’ means the national emer- 17 gency declared by the President under the National 18 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with re- 19 spect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). 20 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 22 (f) USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—Loan recipients may 23 use funds such recipients were awarded under the Public 24 Health and Social Services Emergency Fund or the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6426.IH H6426 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6426 IH Health Provider Assistance Fund established under sec- 1 tion 562 to repay loans awarded under this section, pro- 2 vided the funds from the Public Health and Social Serv- 3 ices Emergency Fund or the Health Provider Assistance 4 Fund were awarded based on foregone revenue. 5 (g) CLARIFICATION.—No individual, employer, or 6 other entity may be restricted from participating in or 7 benefitting from any exemption or benefit under this sec- 8 tion, based on any factor that is unrelated to its qualifica- 9 tions to perform the required services. 10 (h) APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be ap- 11 propriated, and there is appropriated, to carry out this 12 section, $80,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to remain 13 available until expended. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6426.IH H6426 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS