I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 445
To establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an
Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual Health.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY20, 2023
Ms. W
ILLIAMSof Georgia (for herself, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. GARCIAof Texas, Ms.
E
SCOBAR, and Ms. LEEof California) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To establish within the Department of Health and Human
Services an Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual Health.
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 ‘‘HHS Reproductive and 4
Sexual Health Ombuds Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. OMBUDS FOR REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL 6
HEALTH. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 8
(1) P
OSITION ESTABLISHED .—There shall be 9
within the Department of Health and Human Serv-10
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 445 IH
ices (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Depart-1
ment’’) an Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual 2
Health (in this section referred to as the 3
‘‘Ombuds’’). 4
(2) Q
UALIFICATIONS.—To be eligible to be ap-5
pointed as the Ombuds, an individual shall, prior to 6
such appointment, have expertise in sexual and re-7
productive health and demonstrated commitment to 8
the provision of specified health care services, includ-9
ing abortion and the care of LGBTQ+ individuals, 10
individuals belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, 11
individuals with disabilities, and individuals of low 12
socio-economic status. 13
(3) R
EPORTING DIRECTLY TO SECRETARY .— 14
The Ombuds shall report directly to the Secretary of 15
Health and Human Services (in this section referred 16
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’). 17
(b) O
RGANIZATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.—The Sec-18
retary shall take appropriate action to ensure the inde-19
pendence of the Ombuds’s office from other officers or em-20
ployees of the Department engaged in reproductive and 21
sexual health activities. 22
(c) S
TAFFING.—The Secretary shall take appropriate 23
action to ensure that the Ombuds’s office is sufficiently 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 445 IH
staffed and resourced to carry out its duties effectively and 1
efficiently. 2
(d) F
UNCTIONS.—The functions of the Ombuds shall 3
be as follows: 4
(1) To educate the public on specified health 5
care services, including by making evidence-based, 6
medically accurate educational materials available to 7
the public. 8
(2) To analyze data collected by the Depart-9
ment of Health and Human Services about con-10
sumer access to specified health care services. 11
(3) In coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 12
the Secretary of the Treasury, and State insurance 13
commissioners (or their designees within the applica-14
ble agency), to— 15
(A) gather information about benefits for 16
specified health care services under health plans 17
and programs specified under subsection (j)(1); 18
and 19
(B) provide an analysis of any gaps in 20
such coverage. 21
(4) To disseminate information about how indi-22
viduals can connect with— 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 445 IH
(A) health care providers receiving Federal 1
funds under title X of the Public Health Service 2
Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.); 3
(B) abortion funds; and 4
(C) other clinics that provide specified 5
health care services. 6
(5) To provide the public with evidence-based 7
and medically accurate information related to medi-8
cation abortions conducted outside formal medical 9
settings. 10
(6) To collect information regarding, and to ad-11
dress, reproductive and sexual health misinformation 12
being disseminated to the public. 13
(7) To coordinate with the Federal Trade Com-14
mission to collect information about, and address 15
consumer protection and data privacy concerns on, 16
the provision of any services relating to reproductive 17
and sexual health. 18
(8) In coordination with entities receiving 19
grants under section 1311(i) of the Patient Protec-20
tion and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(i)) 21
and other entities assisting individuals eligible to en-22
roll in qualified health plans (as defined in section 23
1301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18021(a))) through 24
an Exchange established pursuant to title I of such 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 445 IH
Act, to promote awareness of the availability of such 1
plans and the benefits under such plans for specified 2
health care services. 3
(e) R
EQUEST FORINVESTIGATIONS.—The Ombuds 4
may request the Inspector General of the Department to 5
conduct inspections, investigations, and audits related to 6
any of the functions under subsection (d). 7
(f) P
ROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Ombuds 8
shall comply with all applicable Federal privacy laws (and 9
the regulations issued thereunder) in the collection, anal-10
ysis, or release of any information or data, including in 11
any reports issued under subsection (i). 12
(g) C
OORDINATION WITHDEPARTMENT COMPO-13
NENTS.—Not later than 60 days after a request from the 14
Ombuds to the Secretary for records of the Department 15
necessary to execute the functions of the Ombuds under 16
subsection (d), the Secretary shall establish procedures to 17
provide the Ombuds access to all such records. 18
(h) P
UBLICOUTREACH.—The Secretary shall take 19
all appropriate actions to advise and engage with the pub-20
lic regarding the existence, authorities, and duties of the 21
Ombuds and the Ombuds’s office. 22
(i) A
NNUALREPORTING.—Not later than June 30, 23
2023, and each June 30 thereafter, the Ombuds shall sub-24
mit to the Congress a report that— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 445 IH
(1) evaluates the efforts of the Ombuds (or the 1
Secretary, as applicable) with respect to each of the 2
functions specified in subsection (d); and 3
(2) contains such other information as the Sec-4
retary determines is appropriate. 5
(j) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 6
(1) The term ‘‘health plans and programs’’ re-7
fers to any of the following: 8
(A) Each Federal health care program (as 9
defined in section 1128B of the Social Security 10
Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b) but including the 11
program established under chapter 89 of title 5, 12
United States Code). 13
(B) Health insurance coverage offered in 14
the large group market (as such terms are de-15
fined in section 2791 of the Public Health Serv-16
ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91)). 17
(C) Health insurance coverage offered in 18
the small group market (as so defined). 19
(D) Health insurance coverage offered in 20
the individual market (as so defined). 21
(E) Self-insured group health plans. 22
(2) The term ‘‘reproductive and sexual health 23
misinformation’’ includes any information relating to 24
reproductive and sexual health that is not evidence- 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 445 IH
based or medically accurate, including inaccuracy in 1
the provision of any related services. 2
(3) The term ‘‘specified health care services’’ 3
means evidence-based, medically accurate medical, 4
surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to 5
reproductive and sexual health, including services re-6
lating to pregnancy and the termination of a preg-7
nancy. 8
(k) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 9
shall be construed as authorizing the Ombuds to collect, 10
or as requiring other Federal, State, local, or private enti-11
ties to provide to the Ombuds, individually identifiable in-12
formation about individual patients, including protected 13
health information (as defined in section 160.103 of title 14
45, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-15
tions)) or individually identifiable health information (as 16
defined in such section (or successor regulations)). 17
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB