Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1961 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1961
5	5	To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health
6	6	and Human Services to establish and implement a department-wide after-
7	7	action program and a risk communication strategy, and for other pur-
8	8	poses.
9	9	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10	10	MARCH6, 2025
11	11	Mr. T
12	12	ORRESof New York introduced the following bill; which was referred
13	13	to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Sec-
16	16	retary of Health and Human Services to establish and
17	17	implement a department-wide after-action program and
18	18	a risk communication strategy, and for other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coordinated Agency 4
23	23	Response Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘CARE Act’’. 5
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26	26	•HR 1961 IH
27	27	SEC. 2. HHS AFTER-ACTION PROGRAM. 1
28	28	Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 2
29	29	(42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 3
30	30	the following: 4
31	31	‘‘SEC. 399V–8. DEPARTMENT-WIDE AFTER-ACTION PRO-5
32	32	GRAM. 6
33	33	‘‘(a) I
34	34	NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 7
35	35	maintain, and implement an after-action program to— 8
36	36	‘‘(1) identify and implement solutions for issues 9
37	37	found following any response by the Department of 10
38	38	Health and Human Services to a determination of a 11
39	39	public health emergency under section 319(a); and 12
40	40	‘‘(2) encourage collaboration among the agen-13
41	41	cies of the Department, including by integrating any 14
42	42	public health emergency after-action programs of 15
43	43	such agencies. 16
44	44	‘‘(b) D
45	45	EADLINE.—The Secretary shall establish and 17
46	46	begin implementation of the after-action program under 18
47	47	subsection (a) not later than 2 years after the date of en-19
48	48	actment of this section. 20
49	49	‘‘(c) C
50	50	OORDINATIONWITHSTAKEHOLDERS.—The 21
51	51	after-action program under subsection (a) shall include 22
52	52	input from, and coordinate with, relevant external stake-23
53	53	holders involved in each public health emergency response 24
54	54	of the Department of Health and Human Services, such 25
55	55	as— 26
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58	58	•HR 1961 IH
59	59	‘‘(1) other Federal agencies; 1
60	60	‘‘(2) other jurisdictions, including the health de-2
61	61	partments of States, Indian Tribes, and territories 3
62	62	of the United States and municipalities thereof; and 4
63	63	‘‘(3) nongovernmental partners. 5
64	64	‘‘(d) O
65	65	VERSIGHT BYINSPECTORGENERAL.—The In-6
66	66	spector General of the Department of Health and Human 7
67	67	Services shall, whenever the Inspector General determines 8
68	68	appropriate, based on assessed risks and emerging 9
69	69	needs— 10
70	70	‘‘(1) evaluate the efficacy of the after-action 11
71	71	program under subsection (a), including by evalu-12
72	72	ating the ability of the program to identify chal-13
73	73	lenges and propose solutions; and 14
74	74	‘‘(2) submit to Congress a report summarizing 15
75	75	the evaluation under paragraph (1). 16
76	76	‘‘(e) C
77	77	OMPREHENSIVE GUIDELINES FORAFTER-AC-17
78	78	TIONPROGRAMREPORTS.— 18
79	79	‘‘(1) I
80	80	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, as the 19
81	81	Secretary determines appropriate, incorporate in any 20
82	82	report of the after-action program under subsection 21
83	83	(a) the elements described in subparagraphs (A) 22
84	84	through (M) of paragraph (2). 23
85	85	‘‘(2) E
86	86	LEMENTS DESCRIBED .— 24
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89	89	•HR 1961 IH
90	90	‘‘(A) EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN , CON-1
91	91	TINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLAN , AND BUSINESS 2
92	92	CONTINUITY PLAN REVIEWS .—A description of 3
93	93	the process and outcomes of reviewing and up-4
94	94	dating emergency operations plans, continuity 5
95	95	of operations plans, and business continuity 6
96	96	plans both annually and after significant public 7
97	97	health emergencies. Such description may in-8
98	98	clude insights into the relevancy and efficiency 9
99	99	of such plans in practice. 10
100	100	‘‘(B) I
101	101	NFORMATION SHARING , SITUA-11
102	102	TIONAL AWARENESS .—A description of the es-12
103	103	tablishment and effectiveness of protocols for 13
104	104	efficient information sharing (consistent with 14
105	105	applicable disclosure laws) and situational 15
106	106	awareness among health care facilities and 16
107	107	partners, including the development and deploy-17
108	108	ment of an integrated joint information system. 18
109	109	‘‘(C) C
110	110	OORDINATION WITH NATIONAL , 19
111	111	STATE, AND LOCAL COALITIONS AND COMMU -20
112	112	NITY PARTNERS.—Descriptions of— 21
113	113	‘‘(i) strategies for coordination with 22
114	114	national, State, and local health care pa-23
115	115	tient and public health coalitions and com-24
116	116	munity partners, focusing on active en-25
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119	119	•HR 1961 IH
120	120	gagement and information sharing (con-1
121	121	sistent with applicable disclosure laws); 2
122	122	‘‘(ii) information technology solutions 3
123	123	used for coordination during public health 4
124	124	emergencies; and 5
125	125	‘‘(iii) how medical operations coordi-6
126	126	nation cells were implemented for effective 7
127	127	patient load balancing during surges to as-8
128	128	sure regional health care coordination. 9
129	129	‘‘(D) I
130	130	NCIDENT MANAGEMENT .—A descrip-10
131	131	tion of incident management structures, includ-11
132	132	ing the maintenance of the incident command 12
133	133	system and the establishment of an incident ac-13
134	134	tion planning process. 14
135	135	‘‘(E) C
136	136	OMMUNICATIONS, INFORMATION 15
137	137	SHARING.—A description of strategies for the 16
138	138	development and maintenance of a dynamic 17
139	139	communications framework for real-time infor-18
140	140	mation sharing (consistent with applicable dis-19
141	141	closure laws) and situational awareness. 20
142	142	‘‘(F) S
143	143	TAFF, SPACE, AND RESIDENT MAN -21
144	144	AGEMENT.—A description of strategies for com-22
145	145	prehensive staff management plans, scalable 23
146	146	space management strategies, and policies 24
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149	149	•HR 1961 IH
150	150	adopted to maintain patient and resident well- 1
151	151	being. 2
152	152	‘‘(G) L
153	153	OGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MAN -3
154	154	AGEMENT.—A description of strategies for de-4
155	155	veloping comprehensive logistics and supply 5
156	156	chain management strategies to ensure a steady 6
157	157	and sufficient supply of personal protective 7
158	158	equipment, medical equipment, pharma-8
159	159	ceuticals, and other items. 9
160	160	‘‘(H) R
161	161	ESOURCE MANAGEMENT .—A de-10
162	162	scription of strategies for implementing crisis 11
163	163	standards of care protocols to optimize the allo-12
164	164	cation and use of medical and non-medical as-13
165	165	sets during emergencies, including guidelines 14
166	166	for the conservation, reuse, or repurposing of 15
167	167	supplies. 16
168	168	‘‘(I) I
169	169	NFECTION PREVENTION .—A descrip-17
170	170	tion of strategies for enhancing infection pre-18
171	171	vention measures, including staff training, envi-19
172	172	ronmental cleaning, and patient screening, to 20
173	173	mitigate the spread of infectious diseases within 21
174	174	health care facilities. 22
175	175	‘‘(J) T
176	176	REATMENT, TRANSPORT, AND DIS-23
177	177	CHARGE PROTOCOLS .—A description of how 24
178	178	treatment, transport, and discharge protocols 25
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181	181	•HR 1961 IH
182	182	were standardized to ensure consistency and ef-1
183	183	ficiency in patient care and movement, includ-2
184	184	ing the incorporation of telehealth and remote 3
185	185	monitoring solutions where feasible, explaining 4
186	186	the technologies used and the outcomes of the 5
187	187	interventions. 6
188	188	‘‘(K) C
189	189	ASE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS .— 7
190	190	Descriptions of— 8
191	191	‘‘(i) how case management protocols 9
192	192	were refined to address both clinical and 10
193	193	non-clinical needs of patients and resi-11
194	194	dents; and 12
195	195	‘‘(ii) the measures taken to ensure co-13
196	196	ordinated care and support throughout the 14
197	197	treatment and recovery phases, detailing 15
198	198	the challenges faced and the strategies em-16
199	199	ployed to overcome such challenges. 17
200	200	‘‘(L) M
201	201	EDICAL COUNTERMEASURES .—De-18
202	202	scriptions of— 19
203	203	‘‘(i) the strategy employed to accel-20
204	204	erate the development, distribution, and 21
205	205	administration of medical counter-22
206	206	measures, such as vaccines, therapeutics, 23
207	207	diagnostic tests, and treatments; and 24
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210	210	•HR 1961 IH
211	211	‘‘(ii) the challenges encountered in 1
212	212	making such medical countermeasures 2
213	213	available for use during the public health 3
214	214	emergency and how such challenges were 4
215	215	addressed. 5
216	216	‘‘(M) R
217	217	ECOVERY.—A description of any 6
218	218	implemented recovery strategies focusing on ad-7
219	219	ministrative, financial, policy, and equity con-8
220	220	siderations. 9
221	221	‘‘(f) A
222	222	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 10
223	223	is authorized to be appropriated, to remain available until 11
224	224	expended— 12
225	225	‘‘(1) $3,500,000 to carry out subsections (a), 13
226	226	(b), (c), and (e), including the first 4 reports of the 14
227	227	after-action program; and 15
228	228	‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary to carry 16
229	229	out subsection (d).’’. 17
230	230	SEC. 3. RISK COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. 18
231	231	Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 19
232	232	(42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.), as amended by section 2, is fur-20
233	233	ther amended by adding at the end the following: 21
234	234	‘‘SEC. 399V–9. RISK COMMUNICATION STRATEGY. 22
235	235	‘‘(a) I
236	236	NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 23
237	237	maintain, and implement a comprehensive strategy to en-24
238	238	sure that communications about infectious diseases and 25
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241	241	•HR 1961 IH
242	242	other public health risks by agencies and offices of the 1
243	243	Department of Health and Human Services, including the 2
244	244	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are clear, ac-3
245	245	curate, and prioritize the populations most at risk. 4
246	246	‘‘(b) C
247	247	OMPONENTS.—The strategy under subsection 5
248	248	(a) shall be designed to— 6
249	249	‘‘(1) clearly identify at-risk populations during 7
250	250	public health emergencies; and 8
251	251	‘‘(2) ensure that communications are targeted, 9
252	252	understandable, and accessible. 10
253	253	‘‘(c) I
254	254	NITIALSTRATEGY.—The Secretary shall estab-11
255	255	lish and begin implementation of the initial strategy under 12
256	256	subsection (a) not later than 1 year after the date of en-13
257	257	actment of this section.’’. 14
258	258	Æ
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