COVID-19 Data Accuracy Act
This bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to initiate an inquiry within seven days and report on the impact of certain changes to hospital reporting requirements for COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) on data quality, transparency, and access. The White House's Coronavirus Task Force revised the process for hospitals to report COVID-19 data on July 13, 2020; previously, hospitals reported data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instead of to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
To facilitate the inquiry, HHS must provide the GAO with direct access to relevant information systems. The GAO must present its findings within 45 days, and HHS must then respond to the findings and rectify any issues identified within 7 days.
HHS must also, in coordination with the CDC, develop a process within 30 days to correct inaccuracies in the COVID-19 data.
In addition, the GAO must issue reports that address, for example, the impact of the changes to reporting requirements on federal and nonfederal entities, such as hospitals, states, and other jurisdictions, and information about how the decision to change those requirements was made.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8811 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8811
To initiate an inquiry and report on COVID-19 data quality, sharing,
transparency, access, and analysis and develop a process to correct
inaccurate information reported with respect to the COVID-19 public
health emergency, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 24, 2020
Ms. Finkenauer (for herself, Mr. Loebsack, and Mrs. Axne) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To initiate an inquiry and report on COVID-19 data quality, sharing,
transparency, access, and analysis and develop a process to correct
inaccurate information reported with respect to the COVID-19 public
health emergency, 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 ``COVID-19 Data Accuracy Act''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTING DATA QUALITY, SHARING, TRANSPARENCY, ACCESS, AND
ANALYSIS.
(a) Inquiry and Submission.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 7 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall
initiate an inquiry into any changes or interruptions in data
quality, sharing, transparency, access, and analysis or access
to relevant analytics resulting from the changes to COVID-19
hospital data reporting requirements initiated by the White
House Coronavirus Task Force and the Department of Health and
Human Services on July 13, 2020.
(2) Submission of findings.--Not later than 45 days after
initiation of an inquiry under paragraph (1), the Comptroller
General shall submit findings with respect to such inquiry to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate, and the Department of Health and Human
Services, in oral briefings, which shall address--
(A) any changes or interruptions described in
paragraph (1), including whether such changes
increased, decreased, expedited, or delayed the data
quality, sharing, transparency, access, and analysis or
access to relevant analytics, with respect to--
(i) the public;
(ii) State, local, Tribal, and territorial
health departments;
(iii) hospitals; and
(iv) Federal agency officials, including
officials in the Department of Health and Human
Services and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; and
(B) any impact to, or interruptions in, delivery of
supplies, including personal protective equipment,
ventilators, and COVID-19 therapeutics, to States or
other entities resulting from any changes or
interruptions described in paragraph (1).
(b) Access to Reporting System.--The Secretary shall, not later
than 7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, provide the
Comptroller General with access to the information technology systems
maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services to enable the
Comptroller General to independently access, view, download, and
retrieve data from such systems for the purpose of carrying out this
section.
(c) Addressing Issues.--Not later than 7 days after the Comptroller
General submits the findings to Congress pursuant to subsection (a)(2),
the Secretary shall--
(1) correct any decreases or delays identified by the
Comptroller General in the findings;
(2) address issues with respect to data quality, sharing,
transparency, access, and analysis and access to relevant
analytics; and
(3) ensure that such data quality, sharing, transparency,
access, and analysis and access to relevant analytics are equal
to or better than they were as of July 12, 2020.
(d) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a
report on the impact of changes or interruptions to COVID-19 hospital
data reporting requirements described in subsection (a). In preparing
such report, the Comptroller General shall collect information from
relevant stakeholders, as appropriate. Such report shall--
(1) detail any such changes or interruptions to data
quality, sharing, transparency, access, and analysis, or access
to relevant analytics, for the entities described in subsection
(a)(2)(A), including whether such changes or interruptions
increased, decreased, expedited, or delayed such data or access
to relevant analytics;
(2) describe challenges faced by hospitals, States,
localities, Indian Tribes (as defined in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25
U.S.C. 5304)), Urban Indian organizations (as defined in
section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C.
1603)), territories, Federal agencies, and the public resulting
from such changes or interruptions;
(3) describe the extent to which such changes or
interruptions may allow for manipulation of such data in a
manner that results in the entities described in paragraph (2)
receiving information that is different from information
provided to the Department of Health and Human Services;
(4) assess the extent to which such changes or
interruptions increased or decreased the number of hospitals
reporting data and the completeness and quality of data
reported by hospitals;
(5) determine whether any States deployed the National
Guard to assist in hospital data reporting (as suggested in
communications from the White House Coronavirus Task Force and
the Department of Health and Human Services on July 13, 2020)
and whether any such deployment had a measurable effect on the
speed, content, or quality of such reporting;
(6) describe the decision-making process within the
Department of Health and Human Services that led to the changes
initiated on July 13, 2020, including--
(A) the role of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in such process;
(B) any analysis conducted by the Department of
Health and Human Services or the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention that assessed the quality and
completeness of different data streams (including the
National Healthcare Safety Network, TeleTracking, and
data reported by States to the Protect System of the
Department of Health and Human Services), prior to July
13, 2020;
(C) any external input into the decision-making
process, including from other Federal agencies, States,
localities, Indian Tribes (as defined in section 4 of
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)), Urban Indian organizations (as
defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care
Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)), territories, or
hospitals;
(D) the public health justification for the
changes; and
(E) any other justification for such changes; and
(7) assess the process used to address--
(A) decreases or delays identified under subsection
(c)(1); and
(B) issues described in subsection (c)(2).
(e) Interim Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate
an interim report on the initial findings with respect to information
required to be in the report under subsection (d).
SEC. 3. CORRECTING INACCURACIES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
reporting entities, develop a process to correct inaccurate information
collected, reported, or distributed with respect to the COVID-19 public
health emergency declared pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
(b) Requirements.--The process under subsection (a) shall--
(1) identify and correct inaccurate information in a timely
manner;
(2) consider data made available by--
(A) the Department of Health and Human Services and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
(B) reporting entities (including data provided to
the Secretary in accordance with the State plans
referred to in subsection (e));
(3) permit the public to report on inaccurate information
described in subsection (a); and
(4) include technical assistance, as necessary, for
reporting entities.
(c) Public Notification.--The Secretary shall, in a manner that
protects personally identifiable information from disclosure and
complies with applicable Federal law on privacy--
(1) in a timely manner, notify the public of--
(A) inaccurate information identified pursuant to
the process developed under subsection (a); and
(B) the steps used to correct the inaccurate
information; and
(2) after notifying the public under paragraph (1), in a
reasonable period of time, make a public certification that
such inaccurate information has been corrected.
(d) Guidance.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance to reporting
entities with respect to identifying and correcting inaccurate
information described in subsection (a) in the data collected,
reported, or distributed by such agencies. Such guidance shall include
a method--
(1) to notify the Secretary when such inaccurate
information is identified; and
(2) to collaborate with the Secretary to correct and notify
the public of such inaccurate information in accordance with
subsection (c).
(e) State Plans.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall require each State that
submitted to the Secretary a COVID-19 testing plan under the heading
``Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund'' in title I of
division B of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care
Enhancement Act (Public Law 116-139) to update the plan to include a
process for correcting inaccurate information described in subsection
(a) based on the guidance issued under subsection (d).
(f) Reports.--
(1) Preliminary reports.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment this Act, and every 30 days thereafter,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a
preliminary report on--
(A) the inaccurate information that is corrected
the most through the process developed under subsection
(a); and
(B) best practices for identifying, correcting, and
notifying the public of such inaccurate information.
(2) Final report.--Not later than 3 months after the end of
the public health emergency described in subsection (a), the
Secretary shall submit to the committees referred to in
paragraph (1) a final report on--
(A) the inaccurate information described in
paragraph (1)(A); and
(B) the effectiveness of the process developed
under subsection (a) to address such inaccurate
information.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General''
means the Comptroller General of the United States.
(2) Reporting entities.--The term ``reporting entities''
means State, territorial, and local health departments,
hospitals, and any other entity that either directly or
indirectly reports information to the Secretary with respect to
the COVID-19 public health emergency declared pursuant to
section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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