Index for HR3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

Mr. Dingell (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Waxman, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Stark, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Andrews) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

(a) Establishment.—Title XVII (42 U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignating sections 1709 and 1710 as sections 1710 and 1711, respectively; and

(2) by inserting after section 1708 the following:

“(a) In general.—There is established within the Department an Assistant Secretary for Health Information (in this section referred to as the ‘Assistant Secretary’), to be appointed by the Secretary.

“(b) Responsibilities.—The Assistant Secretary shall—

“(1) ensure the collection, collation, reporting, and publishing of information (including full and complete statistics) on key health indicators regarding the Nation’s health and the performance of the Nation’s health care;

“(2) facilitate and coordinate the collection, collation, reporting, and publishing of information regarding the Nation’s health and the performance of the Nation’s health care (other than information described in paragraph (1));

“(3)(A) develop standards for the collection of data regarding the Nation’s health and the performance of the Nation’s health care; and

“(B) in carrying out subparagraph (A)—

“(i) ensure appropriate specificity and standardization for data collection at the national, regional, State, and local levels;

“(ii) include standards, as appropriate, for the collection of accurate data on health disparities;

“(iii) ensure, with respect to data on race and ethnicity, consistency with the 1997 Office of Management and Budget Standards for Maintaining, Collecting and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (or any successor standards); and

“(iv) in consultation with the Director of the Office of Minority Health, and the Director of the Office of Civil Rights of the Department, develop standards for the collection of data on health and health care with respect to primary language;

“(4) provide support to Federal departments and agencies whose programs have a significant impact upon health (as determined by the Secretary) for the collection and collation of information described in paragraphs (1) and (2);

“(5) ensure the sharing of information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) among the agencies of the Department;

“(6) facilitate the sharing of information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) by Federal departments and agencies whose programs have a significant impact upon health (as determined by the Secretary);

“(7) identify gaps in information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) and the appropriate agency or entity to address such gaps;

“(8) facilitate and coordinate identification and monitoring of health disparities by the agencies of the Department to inform program and policy efforts to reduce such disparities, including facilitating and funding analyses conducted in cooperation with the Social Security Administration, the Bureau of the Census, and other appropriate agencies and entities;

“(9) consistent with privacy, proprietary, and other appropriate safeguards, facilitate public accessibility of datasets (such as de-identified Medicare datasets or publicly available data on key health indicators) by means of the Internet; and

“(10) award grants or contracts for the collection and collation of information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) (including through statewide surveys that provide standardized information).

“(c) Key health indicators.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection (b)(1), the Assistant Secretary shall—

“(A) identify, and reassess at least once every 3 years, key health indicators described in such subsection;

“(B) publish statistics on such key health indicators for the public—

“(i) not less than annually; and

“(ii) on a supplemental basis whenever warranted by—

“(I) the rate of change for a key health indicator; or

“(II) the need to inform policy regarding the Nation’s health and the performance of the Nation’s health care; and

“(C) ensure consistency with the national strategy developed by the Secretary under section 3121 and consideration of the indicators specified in the reports under sections 308, 903(a)(6), and 913(b)(2).

“(2) RELEASE OF KEY HEALTH INDICATORS.—The regulations, rules, processes, and procedures of the Office of Management and Budget governing the review, release, and dissemination of key health indicators shall be the same as the regulations, rules, processes, and procedures of the Office of Management and Budget governing the review, release, and dissemination of Principal Federal Economic Indicators (or equivalent statistical data) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“(d) Coordination.—In carrying out this section, the Assistant Secretary shall coordinate with—

“(1) public and private entities that collect and disseminate information on health and health care, including foundations; and

“(2) the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to ensure optimal use of health information technology.

“(e) Request for information from departments and agencies.—Consistent with applicable law, the Assistant Secretary may secure directly from any Federal department or agency information necessary to enable the Assistant Secretary to carry out this section.

“(f) Report.—

“(1) SUBMISSION.—The Assistant Secretary shall submit to the Secretary and the Congress an annual report containing—

“(A) a description of national, regional, or State changes in health or health care, as reflected by the key health indicators identified under subsection (c)(1);

“(B) a description of gaps in the collection, collation, reporting, and publishing of information regarding the Nation’s health and the performance of the Nation’s health care;

“(C) recommendations for addressing such gaps and identification of the appropriate agency within the Department or other entity to address such gaps;

“(D) a description of analyses of health disparities, including the results of completed analyses, the status of ongoing longitudinal studies, and proposed or planned research; and

“(E) a plan for actions to be taken by the Assistant Secretary to address gaps described in subparagraph (B).

“(2) CONSIDERATION.—In preparing a report under paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary shall take into consideration the findings and conclusions in the reports under sections 308, 903(a)(6), and 913(b)(2).

“(g) Proprietary and privacy protections.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect applicable proprietary or privacy protections.

“(h) Consultation.—In carrying out this section, the Assistant Secretary shall consult with—

“(1) the heads of appropriate health agencies and offices in the Department, including the Office of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, the Office of Minority Health, and the Office on Women’s Health; and

“(2) as appropriate, the heads of other Federal departments and agencies whose programs have a significant impact upon health (as determined by the Secretary).

“(i) Definition.—In this section:

“(1) The terms ‘agency’ and ‘agencies’ include an epidemiology center established under section 214 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

“(2) The term ‘Department’ means the Department of Health and Human Services.

“(3) The term ‘health disparities’ has the meaning given to such term in section 3171.”.

(b) Other coordination responsibilities.—Title III (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 304(c) (42 U.S.C. 242b(c)), by inserting “, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Health Information,” after “The Secretary” each place it appears; and

(2) in section 306(j) (42 U.S.C. 242k(j)), by inserting “, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Health Information,” after “of this section, the Secretary”.