[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 726 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 726
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants
to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and
related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units
and, as necessary, at individuals' residences, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 2, 2021
Mr. Rush (for himself, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Butterfield, Mr.
Carson, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Danny K.
Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Ms. DeGette, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Deutch, Mr.
Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Evans, Mr. Garcia of Illinois,
Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Khanna, Mr.
Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Lynch, Ms. McCollum,
Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Morelle, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr.
Payne, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Sires, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, and Ms.
Wasserman Schultz) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants
to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and
related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units
and, as necessary, at individuals' residences, and for other purposes.
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 ``COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And
Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act''.
SEC. 2. COVID-19 TESTING AND CONTACT TRACING USING MOBILE HEALTH UNITS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting
through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
may award grants to eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for
COVID-19, to trace and monitor the contacts of infected individuals,
and to support the quarantine of such contacts, through--
(1) mobile health units; and
(2) as necessary, testing individuals and providing
individuals with services related to testing and quarantine at
their residences.
(b) Permissible Uses of Funds.--A grant recipient under this
section may use the grant funds, in support of the activities described
in subsection (a)--
(1) to hire, train, compensate, and pay the expenses of
individuals; and
(2) to purchase personal protective equipment and other
supplies.
(c) Priority.--In selecting grant recipients under this section,
the Secretary shall give priority to--
(1) applicants proposing to conduct activities funded under
this section in hot spots and medically underserved
communities; and
(2) applicants that agree, in hiring individuals to carry
out activities funded under this section, to hire residents of
the area or community where the activities will primarily
occur, with higher priority among applicants described in this
paragraph given based on the percentage of individuals to be
hired from such area or community.
(d) Distribution.--In selecting grant recipients under this
section, the Secretary shall ensure that grants are distributed across
urban and rural areas.
(e) Federal Privacy Requirements.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to supersede any Federal privacy or confidentiality
requirement, including the regulations promulgated under section 264(c)
of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-191; 110 Stat. 2033) and section 543 of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd-2).
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a federally qualified health center (as defined
in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395x(aa)));
(B) a school-based health clinic;
(C) a disproportionate share hospital (as defined
under the applicable State plan under title XIX of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) pursuant
to section 1923(a)(1)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-
4));
(D) an academic medical center;
(E) a nonprofit organization (including any such
faith-based organization);
(F) an institution of higher education (as defined
in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001));
(G) a high school (as defined in section 8101 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801)); or
(H) any other type of entity that is determined by
the Secretary to be an eligible entity for purposes of
this section.
(2) The term ``emergency period'' has the meaning given to
that term in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)(1)(B)).
(3) The term ``hot spot'' means a geographic area where the
rate of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 exceeds
the national average.
(4) The term ``medically underserved community'' has the
meaning given to that term in section 799B of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p).
(5) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated--
(1) $100,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
(2) such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal year
2022 and any subsequent fiscal year during which the emergency
period continues.
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