| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 445 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an |
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| 6 | 6 | | Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual Health. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY20, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. W |
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| 10 | 10 | | ILLIAMSof Georgia (for herself, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. GARCIAof Texas, Ms. |
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| 11 | 11 | | E |
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| 12 | 12 | | SCOBAR, and Ms. LEEof California) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 13 | 13 | | was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To establish within the Department of Health and Human |
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| 16 | 16 | | Services an Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual Health. |
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| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘HHS Reproductive and 4 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Sexual Health Ombuds Act of 2023’’. 5 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. OMBUDS FOR REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | HEALTH. 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (a) I |
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| 25 | 25 | | NGENERAL.— 8 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (1) P |
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| 27 | 27 | | OSITION ESTABLISHED .—There shall be 9 |
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| 28 | 28 | | within the Department of Health and Human Serv-10 |
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| 30 | 30 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 32 | 32 | | ices (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Depart-1 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ment’’) an Ombuds for Reproductive and Sexual 2 |
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| 34 | 34 | | Health (in this section referred to as the 3 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘Ombuds’’). 4 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (2) Q |
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| 37 | 37 | | UALIFICATIONS.—To be eligible to be ap-5 |
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| 38 | 38 | | pointed as the Ombuds, an individual shall, prior to 6 |
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| 39 | 39 | | such appointment, have expertise in sexual and re-7 |
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| 40 | 40 | | productive health and demonstrated commitment to 8 |
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| 41 | 41 | | the provision of specified health care services, includ-9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | ing abortion and the care of LGBTQ+ individuals, 10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | individuals belonging to a racial or ethnic minority, 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | individuals with disabilities, and individuals of low 12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | socio-economic status. 13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (3) R |
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| 47 | 47 | | EPORTING DIRECTLY TO SECRETARY .— 14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | The Ombuds shall report directly to the Secretary of 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | Health and Human Services (in this section referred 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | to as the ‘‘Secretary’’). 17 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (b) O |
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| 52 | 52 | | RGANIZATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.—The Sec-18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | retary shall take appropriate action to ensure the inde-19 |
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| 54 | 54 | | pendence of the Ombuds’s office from other officers or em-20 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ployees of the Department engaged in reproductive and 21 |
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| 56 | 56 | | sexual health activities. 22 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (c) S |
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| 58 | 58 | | TAFFING.—The Secretary shall take appropriate 23 |
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| 59 | 59 | | action to ensure that the Ombuds’s office is sufficiently 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H445.IH H445 |
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| 62 | 62 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 63 | 63 | | staffed and resourced to carry out its duties effectively and 1 |
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| 64 | 64 | | efficiently. 2 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (d) F |
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| 66 | 66 | | UNCTIONS.—The functions of the Ombuds shall 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | be as follows: 4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (1) To educate the public on specified health 5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | care services, including by making evidence-based, 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | medically accurate educational materials available to 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | the public. 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (2) To analyze data collected by the Depart-9 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ment of Health and Human Services about con-10 |
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| 74 | 74 | | sumer access to specified health care services. 11 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (3) In coordination with the Secretary of Labor, 12 |
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| 76 | 76 | | the Secretary of the Treasury, and State insurance 13 |
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| 77 | 77 | | commissioners (or their designees within the applica-14 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ble agency), to— 15 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (A) gather information about benefits for 16 |
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| 80 | 80 | | specified health care services under health plans 17 |
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| 81 | 81 | | and programs specified under subsection (j)(1); 18 |
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| 82 | 82 | | and 19 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (B) provide an analysis of any gaps in 20 |
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| 84 | 84 | | such coverage. 21 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (4) To disseminate information about how indi-22 |
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| 86 | 86 | | viduals can connect with— 23 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 90 | 90 | | (A) health care providers receiving Federal 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | funds under title X of the Public Health Service 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.); 3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (B) abortion funds; and 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (C) other clinics that provide specified 5 |
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| 95 | 95 | | health care services. 6 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (5) To provide the public with evidence-based 7 |
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| 97 | 97 | | and medically accurate information related to medi-8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | cation abortions conducted outside formal medical 9 |
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| 99 | 99 | | settings. 10 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (6) To collect information regarding, and to ad-11 |
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| 101 | 101 | | dress, reproductive and sexual health misinformation 12 |
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| 102 | 102 | | being disseminated to the public. 13 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (7) To coordinate with the Federal Trade Com-14 |
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| 104 | 104 | | mission to collect information about, and address 15 |
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| 105 | 105 | | consumer protection and data privacy concerns on, 16 |
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| 106 | 106 | | the provision of any services relating to reproductive 17 |
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| 107 | 107 | | and sexual health. 18 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (8) In coordination with entities receiving 19 |
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| 109 | 109 | | grants under section 1311(i) of the Patient Protec-20 |
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| 110 | 110 | | tion and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031(i)) 21 |
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| 111 | 111 | | and other entities assisting individuals eligible to en-22 |
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| 112 | 112 | | roll in qualified health plans (as defined in section 23 |
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| 113 | 113 | | 1301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18021(a))) through 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | an Exchange established pursuant to title I of such 25 |
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| 117 | 117 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 118 | 118 | | Act, to promote awareness of the availability of such 1 |
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| 119 | 119 | | plans and the benefits under such plans for specified 2 |
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| 120 | 120 | | health care services. 3 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (e) R |
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| 122 | 122 | | EQUEST FORINVESTIGATIONS.—The Ombuds 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | may request the Inspector General of the Department to 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | conduct inspections, investigations, and audits related to 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | any of the functions under subsection (d). 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (f) P |
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| 127 | 127 | | ROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Ombuds 8 |
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| 128 | 128 | | shall comply with all applicable Federal privacy laws (and 9 |
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| 129 | 129 | | the regulations issued thereunder) in the collection, anal-10 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ysis, or release of any information or data, including in 11 |
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| 131 | 131 | | any reports issued under subsection (i). 12 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (g) C |
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| 133 | 133 | | OORDINATION WITHDEPARTMENT COMPO-13 |
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| 134 | 134 | | NENTS.—Not later than 60 days after a request from the 14 |
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| 135 | 135 | | Ombuds to the Secretary for records of the Department 15 |
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| 136 | 136 | | necessary to execute the functions of the Ombuds under 16 |
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| 137 | 137 | | subsection (d), the Secretary shall establish procedures to 17 |
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| 138 | 138 | | provide the Ombuds access to all such records. 18 |
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| 139 | 139 | | (h) P |
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| 140 | 140 | | UBLICOUTREACH.—The Secretary shall take 19 |
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| 141 | 141 | | all appropriate actions to advise and engage with the pub-20 |
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| 142 | 142 | | lic regarding the existence, authorities, and duties of the 21 |
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| 143 | 143 | | Ombuds and the Ombuds’s office. 22 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (i) A |
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| 145 | 145 | | NNUALREPORTING.—Not later than June 30, 23 |
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| 146 | 146 | | 2023, and each June 30 thereafter, the Ombuds shall sub-24 |
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| 147 | 147 | | mit to the Congress a report that— 25 |
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| 150 | 150 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 151 | 151 | | (1) evaluates the efforts of the Ombuds (or the 1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | Secretary, as applicable) with respect to each of the 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | functions specified in subsection (d); and 3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (2) contains such other information as the Sec-4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | retary determines is appropriate. 5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (j) D |
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| 157 | 157 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (1) The term ‘‘health plans and programs’’ re-7 |
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| 159 | 159 | | fers to any of the following: 8 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (A) Each Federal health care program (as 9 |
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| 161 | 161 | | defined in section 1128B of the Social Security 10 |
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| 162 | 162 | | Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b) but including the 11 |
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| 163 | 163 | | program established under chapter 89 of title 5, 12 |
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| 164 | 164 | | United States Code). 13 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (B) Health insurance coverage offered in 14 |
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| 166 | 166 | | the large group market (as such terms are de-15 |
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| 167 | 167 | | fined in section 2791 of the Public Health Serv-16 |
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| 168 | 168 | | ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91)). 17 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (C) Health insurance coverage offered in 18 |
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| 170 | 170 | | the small group market (as so defined). 19 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (D) Health insurance coverage offered in 20 |
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| 172 | 172 | | the individual market (as so defined). 21 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (E) Self-insured group health plans. 22 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (2) The term ‘‘reproductive and sexual health 23 |
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| 175 | 175 | | misinformation’’ includes any information relating to 24 |
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| 176 | 176 | | reproductive and sexual health that is not evidence- 25 |
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| 178 | 178 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 179 | 179 | | •HR 445 IH |
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| 180 | 180 | | based or medically accurate, including inaccuracy in 1 |
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| 181 | 181 | | the provision of any related services. 2 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (3) The term ‘‘specified health care services’’ 3 |
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| 183 | 183 | | means evidence-based, medically accurate medical, 4 |
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| 184 | 184 | | surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to 5 |
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| 185 | 185 | | reproductive and sexual health, including services re-6 |
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| 186 | 186 | | lating to pregnancy and the termination of a preg-7 |
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| 187 | 187 | | nancy. 8 |
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| 188 | 188 | | (k) R |
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| 189 | 189 | | ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 9 |
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| 190 | 190 | | shall be construed as authorizing the Ombuds to collect, 10 |
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| 191 | 191 | | or as requiring other Federal, State, local, or private enti-11 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ties to provide to the Ombuds, individually identifiable in-12 |
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| 193 | 193 | | formation about individual patients, including protected 13 |
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| 194 | 194 | | health information (as defined in section 160.103 of title 14 |
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| 195 | 195 | | 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-15 |
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| 196 | 196 | | tions)) or individually identifiable health information (as 16 |
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| 197 | 197 | | defined in such section (or successor regulations)). 17 |
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| 198 | 198 | | Æ |
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