[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4499 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4499
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to expand and enhance the National Healthcare
Safety Network to establish real-time infectious disease and public
health surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 12, 2026
Mr. Tillis (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to expand and enhance the National Healthcare
Safety Network to establish real-time infectious disease and public
health surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United
States, 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 ``Advanced Long-term care Early
Response Technology Act of 2026'' or the ``ALERT Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL NETWORK OF REAL-TIME INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND PUBLIC
HEALTH SURVEILLANCE IN NURSING HOMES.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by
inserting after section 319M (42 U.S.C. 247d-f) the following:
``SEC. 319N. ENHANCEMENT OF NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SAFETY NETWORK FOR
REAL-TIME SURVEILLANCE IN NURSING HOMES.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Advanced Long-term care Early Response Technology Act
of 2026, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the
`Secretary'), shall carry out a 5-year program to expand and enhance
the National Healthcare Safety Network (referred to in this section as
the `NHSN') to establish real-time infectious disease and public health
surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United States.
``(b) Contracting Authority.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into one or more
contracts with an eligible entity to develop, implement, and
operate the technological and analytic infrastructure necessary
to provide real-time surveillance and rapid notification
capabilities under the NHSN.
``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to enter into a contract
with the Secretary under paragraph (1), an entity--
``(A) shall be located in, or shall be a subsidiary
of an entity that is located in, the United States;
``(B) shall have, and shall maintain for the period
of the contract, HITRUST r2 certification (or a
successor certification);
``(C) shall not be an electronic medical records
company; and
``(D) shall demonstrate experience in establishing
and operating a public health surveillance network that
monitors infectious diseases or other public health
threats at the State or local level.
``(c) Required Capabilities.--Any contract entered into under
subsection (b) shall--
``(1) ensure that the infrastructure developed pursuant to
the contract is capable of--
``(A) providing real-time monitoring of emerging
infectious diseases and other public health threats
among nursing homes nationwide;
``(B) integrating with, and enhancing, the
reporting systems of the NHSN;
``(C) establishing a central hub of epidemiologists
and other public health professionals to support rapid
identification of outbreaks;
``(D) providing for immediate notification to
appropriate Federal, State, and local health
authorities; and
``(E) supporting the implementation of a staffed
care management program that skilled nursing facilities
may opt into;
``(2) ensure appropriate privacy protections for individual
patient data; and
``(3) prohibit the use of data collected or generated under
the contract for regulatory compliance or enforcement purposes
unless expressly authorized by law.
``(d) HIPAA and Data Protections.--The entity awarded a contract
under subsection (b)--
``(1) shall be treated as a covered entity (as defined in
section 160.103 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or
successor regulations)) for purposes of the privacy regulations
promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and
``(2) shall comply with all applicable Federal privacy and
security requirements.
``(e) Study and Report.--At the end of the period of the program
described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct, and submit to
Congress a report that describes the results of, a study on--
``(1) the effectiveness of the enhanced NHSN system in
monitoring infectious diseases and public health threats in
nursing homes;
``(2) the impact of the enhanced NHSN system on
hospitalization rates and patient outcomes; and
``(3) recommendations regarding continuation or expansion
of the program under this section.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.''.
SEC. 3. SUPPORTING OF REAL-TIME INFECTIONS DISEASE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
SURVEILLANCE NETWORK FOR NURSING HOMES.
Section 1115A(b)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1315a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following new
clause:
``(xxviii) Supporting the adoption by the
National Healthcare Safety Network of
technology to improve infectious disease
surveillance in nursing homes that--
``(I) has capabilities for
immediate detection and reporting of
infectious disease outbreaks;
``(II) facilitates coordinated
responses with local, State, and
Federal public health authorities; and
``(III) enables nursing homes to
participate in a staffed care
management program to improve resident
health outcomes.''.
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