[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1659 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1659

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to award grants to nursing homes, assisted 
living facilities, and other long-term care facilities to improve their 
                    preparedness for power outages.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2019

Ms. Wilson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to award grants to nursing homes, assisted 
living facilities, and other long-term care facilities to improve their 
                    preparedness for power outages.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Preparedness for Power 
Outages Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE PREPAREDNESS OF NURSING HOMES, ASSISTED LIVING 
              FACILITIES, AND OTHER LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES FOR POWER 
              OUTAGES.

    The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 
319C-2 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247d-3b) the following new section:

``SEC. 319C-3. IMPROVING THE PREPAREDNESS OF NURSING HOMES, ASSISTED 
              LIVING FACILITIES, AND OTHER LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES 
              FOR POWER OUTAGES.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary may award grants to nursing homes, 
assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities to 
improve their preparedness for power outages, including during and 
after a natural disaster.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--The preparedness activities funded through a 
grant under this section may include--
            ``(1) the purchase of a backup power source, such as a 
        generator, and any related equipment; and
            ``(2) the creation of a regional resource directory on 
        disaster and post-disaster preparedness for power outages.
    ``(c) Preference.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give preference to nursing homes, assisted living 
facilities, and other long-term care facilities that--
            ``(1) are located in areas that--
                    ``(A) have a high proportion of--
                            ``(i) elderly residents; or
                            ``(ii) individuals who are enrolled in a 
                        State plan under title XIX of the Social 
                        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or under 
                        a waiver of such plan); and
                    ``(B) have a high risk of hurricanes or other 
                natural disasters; and
            ``(2) have not been cited for a substantive Federal, State, 
        or local violation.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary.''.
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