PRICE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6662 To authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen- cy to become the sole owner and distributer of certain medical equipment in the event of a covered emergency, to establish a Joint Congressional Committee on Defense Production, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CISNEROS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. TED LIEU of Cali- fornia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. TRONE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to become the sole owner and distributer of certain medical equipment in the event of a covered emergency, to establish a Joint Congres- sional Committee on Defense Production, 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 20:32 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6662 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pandemic Response 2 and Interstate Cost Equity Act’’ or the ‘‘PRICE Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATOR AS OWNER AND DISTRIBUTER OF 4 CERTAIN MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a covered emer- 6 gency, the Administrator shall become the sole owner and 7 distributer of medical equipment obtained by the Federal 8 Government pursuant to this Act for which the prevailing 9 market price exceeds the fair market price by more than 10 15 percent and is required to address the covered emer- 11 gency. 12 (b) ASSESSMENT OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.—To 13 carry out subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services, in consultation with the Administrator 15 and other Federal agencies or departments as considered 16 necessary, shall conduct an assessment of available med- 17 ical equipment, including— 18 (1) identifying the medical equipment required 19 to address the covered emergency for which the pre- 20 vailing market price exceeds the fair market price by 21 more than 15 percent; 22 (2) assessing the amount of such medical equip- 23 ment available to respond to the covered emergency, 24 including the amount of such medical equipment 25 available in the Strategic National Stockpile; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6662 IH (3) determining the amount of such medical 1 equipment still needed to respond to the covered 2 emergency. 3 (c) CONTRACT TO PRODUCE MEDICAL EQUIP- 4 MENT.—Following the assessment under subsection (b), 5 the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of 6 Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Defense, 7 shall— 8 (1) create and execute an indefinite delivery-in- 9 definite quantity contract with all persons capable of 10 producing such medical equipment to— 11 (A) respond to the covered emergency; and 12 (B) following the covered emergency, re- 13 plenish the Strategic National Stockpile to a 14 level acceptable to respond to a future public 15 health emergency or other covered emergency; 16 (2) require that all contracts created and exe- 17 cuted under this section supersede any existing con- 18 tracts such persons have already created or exe- 19 cuted; and 20 (3) establish a price for such medical equipment 21 to be resold to the States or other persons. 22 (d) SALE OR DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN MEDICAL 23 EQUIPMENT.—The Administrator shall sell or otherwise 24 distribute medical equipment to the States or to persons 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6662 IH that request such medical equipment, giving consideration 1 to— 2 (1) requests for medical equipment under sub- 3 sections (e) and (f); 4 (2) the continuity of operations of the Federal 5 government; and 6 (3) consultation with public health officials, as 7 may be necessary. 8 (e) STATE REQUEST FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.— 9 To request an allocation of medical equipment, a State 10 shall submit to the Administrator a request for medical 11 equipment, including— 12 (1) the number of impacted individuals in each 13 State, disaggregated by condition and the severity of 14 such condition— 15 (A) on the date the request is submitted to 16 the Administrator; 17 (B) as projected at 14 days from the date 18 the request is submitted to the Administrator; 19 and 20 (C) as projected at 60 days from the date 21 the request is submitted to the Administrator; 22 (2) existing health system medical equipment; 23 (3) medical equipment possessed by the State; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6662 IH (4) an estimate of the quantity of medical 1 equipment required to diagnose and treat the condi- 2 tion for which the covered emergency is in effect; 3 and 4 (5) any additional information as determined 5 necessary by the Administrator. 6 (f) OTHER REQUESTS FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.— 7 The Administrator shall establish a process under which 8 a person may request medical equipment to respond to the 9 covered emergency. 10 (g) POST-EMERGENCY DISTRIBUTION OF MEDICAL 11 EQUIPMENT.—Upon the termination of the covered emer- 12 gency, the Administrator shall distribute any medical sup- 13 plies not sold or otherwise distributed to the States or any 14 person to the Strategic National Stockpile. 15 SEC. 3. REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS. 16 (a) BIWEEKLY REPORT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 14 days after 18 the date a covered emergency is in effect, and not 19 less than every 14 days thereafter until the date that 20 is 30 days after the date on which the covered emer- 21 gency is terminated, the Administrator shall submit 22 to the Congress a report on the activities carried out 23 under this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6662 IH (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 1 paragraph (1) shall include— 2 (A) information on the number of im- 3 pacted individuals, disaggregated by State, con- 4 dition, and severity of such condition— 5 (i) on the date the report is submitted 6 to the Congress; 7 (ii) as projected at 14 days from the 8 date the report is submitted to the Con- 9 gress; and 10 (iii) as projected at 60 days from the 11 date the report is submitted to the Con- 12 gress; 13 (B) the amount of medical equipment still 14 needed to diagnose and treat the condition for 15 which the covered emergency is in effect, 16 disaggregated by State; 17 (C) requests submitted by the States or by 18 persons under section 2; 19 (D) information on the contracts created 20 and executed under section 2; 21 (E) the amount of medical equipment re- 22 sold or distributed by the Federal Government, 23 including the allocation and projected allocation 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6662 IH of government and existing health system med- 1 ical equipment, disaggregated by State— 2 (i) on the date the report is submitted 3 to the Congress; 4 (ii) as projected at 14 days from the 5 date the report is submitted to the Con- 6 gress; and 7 (iii) as projected at 60 days from the 8 date the report is submitted to the Con- 9 gress; and 10 (F) other Federal contracts for medical 11 equipment entered into outside of section 2. 12 (b) FINAL REPORT.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 14 the termination of the covered emergency, the Ad- 15 ministrator shall submit to the Congress a report on 16 the activities carried out under this Act. 17 (2) CONTENT.—The report required under 18 paragraph (1) shall include— 19 (A) the content from the biweekly reports 20 submitted to the Congress under subsection (a); 21 (B) the current status of the Strategic Na- 22 tional Stockpile, including the inventory of med- 23 ical equipment and the projected quantity of 24 medical equipment required to mitigate a future 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6662 IH public health emergency or other covered emer- 1 gency; and 2 (C) an assessment of actions that Federal, 3 State, and local governments should take to 4 build resiliency to prevent, detect, treat, and 5 mitigate a public health emergency or other 6 covered emergency. 7 SEC. 4. FUNDING. 8 Amounts available in the Defense Production Act 9 Fund under section 304 of the Defense Production Act 10 of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534) may be made available for pur- 11 chases made under this section. 12 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COM- 13 MITTEE. 14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Joint 16 Committee on Defense Production (referred to in 17 this section as the ‘‘Committee’’), to be composed 18 of— 19 (A) five members of the Committee on Fi- 20 nancial Services of the House of Representa- 21 tives, with three members from the majority 22 party and two from the minority party, to be 23 appointed by the chairman of the Committee on 24 Financial Services; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6662 IH (B) five members of the Committee on 1 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 2 Senate, with three members from the majority 3 party and two from the minority party, to be 4 appointed by the chairman of the Committee on 5 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 6 (2) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The 7 Committee shall elect a chairman and a vice chair- 8 man from among its members, one of whom shall be 9 a member of the House of Representatives and the 10 other a member of the Senate. 11 (3) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the membership of 12 the Committee shall be filled in the same manner as 13 the original selection. 14 (b) POWERS.—The Committee, or any duly author- 15 ized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to hold such 16 hearings, to sit and act at such times and such places, 17 to require by subpoena (to be issued under the signature 18 of the chairman or vice chairman of the Committee) or 19 otherwise the attendance of such witnesses and the pro- 20 duction of such books, papers, and documents, to admin- 21 ister such oaths, to take such testimony, to procure such 22 printing and binding, and to make such expenditures as 23 it considers advisable. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6662 IH (c) DUTIES.—The Committee shall be responsible for 1 the continuous study of the programs authorized by this 2 Act, and to review the progress achieved in the execution 3 and administration of such programs. Upon request, the 4 Committee shall aid the standing committees of the Con- 5 gress having legislative jurisdiction over any part of the 6 programs authorized by this Act; and it shall make a re- 7 port to the House of Representatives and the Senate, from 8 time to time, concerning the results of its studies, together 9 with such recommendations as it may consider desirable. 10 (d) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND 11 DEPARTMENTS.—Any department, official, or agency ad- 12 ministering any of such programs shall, at the request of 13 the Committee, consult with the Committee, from time to 14 time, with respect to their activities under this Act. 15 (e) EXPENSES.—The expenses of the Committee, 16 which shall not exceed $750,000 in any fiscal year, shall 17 be paid one-half from the contingent fund of the House 18 of Representatives and one-half from the contingent fund 19 of the Senate upon vouchers signed by the chairman or 20 vice chairman. 21 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 22 In this Act: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:07 May 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6662 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 2 Emergency Management Agency. 3 (2) COVERED EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 4 emergency’’ means a national emergency in which 5 the President has declared a national emergency and 6 determined that— 7 (A) a disease or disorder presents an emer- 8 gency that affects the United States; or 9 (B) a public health emergency exists, in- 10 cluding a significant outbreak of an infectious 11 disease or a bioterrorist attack. 12 (3) EXISTING HEALTH SYSTEM MEDICAL 13 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘existing health system 14 medical equipment’’ means medical equipment 15 owned by a hospital. 16 (4) FAIR MARKET PRICE.—The term ‘‘fair mar- 17 ket price’’ means the average market price of med- 18 ical equipment from the preceding calendar year. 19 (5) HOSPITAL.—The term ‘‘hospital’’ has the 20 meaning given the term under section 1861(e) of the 21 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(e)). 22 (6) IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘im- 23 pacted individuals’’ means an individual— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6662.IH H6662 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6662 IH (A) diagnosed with a condition for which 1 the public health emergency has been issued; 2 (B) that is experiencing symptoms con- 3 sistent with the condition for which the covered 4 emergency has been issued and is seeking a 5 medical diagnosis; 6 (C) that has been identified as having been 7 exposed to a bioterrorist attack; or 8 (D) otherwise meets criteria determined by 9 the Administrator during the covered emer- 10 gency period. 11 (7) INDEFINITE DELIVERY-INDEFINITE QUAN- 12 TITY CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘indefinite delivery-in- 13 definite quantity contract’’ means a contract to pro- 14 vide for an indefinite quantity of materials or serv- 15 ices for a fixed time. 16 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 17 has the meaning [Text truncated for display. 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