SOS Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6872 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide funding for State strike teams for resident and employee safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2020 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CROW, and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide funding for State strike teams for resident and employee safety in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities. 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 ‘‘Sending Outside Sup- 4 port Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SOS Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:07 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6872.IH H6872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6872 IH SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR STATE STRIKE TEAMS FOR RESI- 1 DENT AND EMPLOYEE SAFETY IN SKILLED 2 NURSING FACILITIES AND NURSING FACILI- 3 TIES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made available 5 under subsection (c), the Secretary of Health and Human 6 Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 7 shall allocate such amounts among the States, in a man- 8 ner that takes into account the percentage of skilled nurs- 9 ing facilities and nursing facilities in each State that have 10 residents or employees who have been diagnosed with 11 COVID–19, for purposes of establishing and implementing 12 strike teams in accordance with subsection (b). 13 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives funds 14 under this section shall use such funds to establish and 15 implement a strike team that will be deployed to a skilled 16 nursing facility or nursing facility in the State with diag- 17 nosed or suspected cases of COVID–19 among residents 18 or staff for the purposes of assisting with clinical care, 19 infection control, or staffing. 20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur- 21 poses of carrying out this section, there is authorized to 22 be appropriated $500,000,000. 23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 (1) NURSING FACILITY.—The term ‘‘nursing 25 facility’’ has the meaning given such term in section 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:07 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6872.IH H6872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6872 IH 1919(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1 1396r(a)). 2 (2) SKILLED NURSING FACILITY.—The term 3 ‘‘skilled nursing facility’’ has the meaning given such 4 term in section 1819(a) of the Social Security Act 5 (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(a)). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:07 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6872.IH H6872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS