To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to evaluate the Federal Government's collection and sharing of public health data to respond to public health emergencies.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3742 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to evaluate the Federal Government’s collection and sharing of public health data to respond to public health emergencies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 26, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to evaluate the Federal Government’s collection and sharing of public health data to respond to public health emer- gencies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. STUDY ON FEDERAL PUBLIC HEALTH DATA 3 COLLECTION AND SHARING. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 5 United States shall evaluate the Federal Government’s 6 collection and sharing of public health data to respond to 7 public health emergencies involving infectious disease out- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3742.IH H3742 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3742 IH breaks or biological threats, such as the COVID–19 pan- 1 demic, and provide as appropriate recommendations to ad- 2 dress the collection and sharing of public health data. 3 (b) TOPICS.—The evaluation under subsection (a) 4 shall include a review of what is known about— 5 (1) the authorities, policies, and operational 6 tools used by the Secretary of Health and Human 7 Services to collect public health data from, and share 8 public health data with, other Federal agencies, 9 State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments, and 10 other partners, including— 11 (A) how those authorities, policies, and 12 tools were used during the COVID–19 public 13 health emergency; 14 (B) how Federal funds were expended for 15 the purpose of public health data collection and 16 sharing during the COVID–19 public health 17 emergency; 18 (C) any challenges posed by redundant 19 data reporting requirements placed on State, 20 local, territorial, and Tribal governments and 21 other partners during the COVID–19 public 22 health emergency, including whether these re- 23 quirements conflicted with the needs of State, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3742.IH H3742 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3742 IH local, territorial, or Tribal communities or other 1 partners; and 2 (D) any publicly available resources to 3 track how public health data is being collected, 4 shared, and used with other Federal agencies, 5 State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments, 6 and other partners; 7 (2) any limitations on the authorities, policies, 8 and tools used during declared public health emer- 9 gencies, including throughout the COVID–19 public 10 health emergency, that affect the Federal Govern- 11 ment’s ability to respond to declared public health 12 emergencies; 13 (3) any redundancy or overutilization in the au- 14 thorities, policies, and tools used during declared 15 public health emergencies, including throughout the 16 COVID–19 public health emergency, including 17 whether any redundant data reporting requirements 18 conflicted with the needs of State, local, territorial, 19 or Tribal communities or other partners; and 20 (4) the Federal Government’s data collection, 21 sharing, and epidemiological modeling during the 22 COVID–19 public health emergency compared with 23 the data collection, sharing, and epidemiological 24 modeling of nonprofit and private sector stake- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3742.IH H3742 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3742 IH holders, including how the Secretary developed tools, 1 or used already existing tools, to collect, share, 2 model, and disseminate public health data in com- 3 parison to the development of tools and use of exist- 4 ing tools for such purposes by the nonprofit and pri- 5 vate sectors. 6 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 7 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp- 8 troller General of the United States shall submit a report 9 to the Congress on the results of the evaluation under sub- 10 section (a). 11 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘other 12 partners’’ includes— 13 (1) hospitals and physician practices; 14 (2) health systems and health plans; 15 (3) manufacturers and distributors; and 16 (4) clinical laboratories. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3742.IH H3742 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB