EQUIP Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3659 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screen- ing initiatives by health care and social service providers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. CHU, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GRI- JALVA, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Ms. SALINAS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adop- tion of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by health care and social service providers. 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 ‘‘Enhancing Questions 4 to Understand Intentions for Pregnancy Act of 2023’’ or 5 the ‘‘EQUIP Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3659 IH SEC. 2. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIATIVE 1 DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 2 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 3 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 399V–8. PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA- 6 TIVE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, 8 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 9 and Prevention, shall establish a demonstration program 10 to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention 11 screening initiatives by health care and social service pro- 12 viders. 13 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out the 14 demonstration program through awarding grants to eligi- 15 ble entities to implement pregnancy intention screening 16 initiatives, collect data, and evaluate such initiatives. 17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity under 19 this section is an entity described in paragraph (2) 20 that provides non-directive, comprehensive, medically 21 accurate information. 22 ‘‘(2) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 23 paragraph (1), an entity described in this para- 24 graph— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3659 IH ‘‘(A) is a community-based organization, 1 voluntary health organization, public health de- 2 partment, community health center, or other in- 3 terested public or private primary, behavioral, 4 or other health care or social service provider or 5 organization; and 6 ‘‘(B) does not include any crisis pregnancy 7 center or other anti-abortion organization that 8 presents itself as a comprehensive reproductive 9 health care provider but has the intent of dis- 10 couraging pregnant people from accessing abor- 11 tion care. 12 ‘‘(d) PREGNANCY INTENTION SCREENING INITIA- 13 TIVE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘pregnancy 14 intention screening initiative’ means any initiative by an 15 eligible entity to routinely screen people with respect to 16 their pregnancy and reproductive health desires and goals 17 to either prevent unintended pregnancies or improve the 18 likelihood of healthy pregnancies, in order to better pro- 19 vide health care that meets the contraceptive or pre-preg- 20 nancy needs and goals of such people. 21 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 23 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 24 Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3659 IH and after consultation as described in paragraph (2), 1 conduct an evaluation of the demonstration pro- 2 gram, with respect to pregnancy intention screening 3 initiatives, conducted under this section. Such an 4 evaluation shall include: 5 ‘‘(A) Assessment of the implementation of 6 pregnancy intention screening protocols among 7 a diverse group of patients and providers, in- 8 cluding collecting data on the experiences and 9 outcomes for diverse patient populations in a 10 variety of clinical and social service settings. 11 ‘‘(B) Analysis of outcome measures that 12 will facilitate effective and widespread adoption 13 of such protocols by health care providers for 14 inquiring about and responding to pregnancy 15 and reproductive health goals of people with 16 both contraceptive and pre-pregnancy care. 17 ‘‘(C) Consideration of health disparities 18 among the populations served. 19 ‘‘(D) Assessment of the equitable and vol- 20 untary implementation of such initiatives to 21 Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and 22 other medically underserved communities. 23 ‘‘(E) Assessment of the training, capacity, 24 and ongoing technical assistance needed for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3659 IH providers to effectively implement such preg- 1 nancy intention screening protocols. 2 ‘‘(F) Assessment of whether referral sys- 3 tems for selected protocols follow evidence-based 4 standards that ensure access to comprehensive 5 culturally competent and gender affirming 6 health services and appropriate follow-up care. 7 ‘‘(G) Measuring through rigorous methods 8 the effect of such initiatives on key health out- 9 comes. 10 ‘‘(2) COST STUDY.—The Secretary, acting 11 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 12 Control and Prevention, shall, by grant or contract, 13 conduct a study assessing the time and cost for pro- 14 viders to administer pregnancy intention screening 15 tools and provide related counseling in a diverse 16 array of settings. 17 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH INDEPENDENT EX- 18 PERTS.—In conducting any evaluation under para- 19 graphs (1) and (2), the Director of the Centers for 20 Disease Control and Prevention shall consult with 21 physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice 22 registered nurses, registered nurses, nurse midwives, 23 behavioral health providers, other health care pro- 24 viders who specialize in reproductive and sexual 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3659 IH health, human services providers, and other experts 1 in public health, clinical practice, program evalua- 2 tion, and research. 3 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than one year after 4 the last day of the demonstration program under 5 this section, the Director of the Centers for Disease 6 Control and Prevention shall submit to Congress a 7 report on the results of the evaluation and study 8 conducted under paragraphs (1) and (2) and shall 9 make the report publicly available. 10 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 11 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 12 To carry out this section, there is authorized to be 13 appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 14 2024 through 2026. 15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent 16 of funds appropriated to carry out this section pur- 17 suant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year may be used 18 for purposes of the evaluation under subsection 19 (e).’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3659.IH H3659 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS