Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women's Health Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a series of programs to increase access to cancer screenings for women.
These programs include demonstration projects to
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2216 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2216
To provide women with increased access to preventive and life-saving
cancer screening.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2021
Mr. Gomez (for himself, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Brownley, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mrs.
Fletcher, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Higgins of New
York, Ms. Norton, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Lawson
of Florida, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. McCollum, Mr.
Nadler, Ms. Pressley, Miss Rice of New York, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Soto, Ms.
Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Welch, Ms. Sanchez, and Ms.
Wasserman Schultz) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide women with increased access to preventive and life-saving
cancer screening.
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 ``Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women's
Health Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to provide women with increased
access to preventive and life-saving cancer screening, including
clinical breast exams and cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, and
vulvar cancer screening, provided by leading women's health care
providers who--
(1) serve populations most at risk; and
(2) play an outsized role in the prevention and detection
of cancer in order to serve the goal of increasing access to
quality health screenings, care, and services, reducing health
care disparities and mortality rates among low-income women and
women of color, decreasing health care spending, and expanding
health literacy, access, and education about the benefits of
regular preventive cancer screening for women.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in
women under the age of 54, and the American Cancer Society
recommends that women in their 20s and 30s have a clinical
breast exam at least every 3 years.
(2) Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer
of the female reproductive system, but it accounts for only
about 3 percent of all cancers in women.
(3) The cancers that most frequently impact women include
breast, uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancer, and there were
341,171 new cases of these cancers in 2017.
(4) Rates of incidence and death for gynecologic cancers by
race and ethnicity show that, while for some cancers, like
ovarian cancer, the rates of incidence and death are similar
among all races, for other cancers, like cervical cancer, women
of color have disproportionate incidence and mortality rates.
While the incidence of uterine cancer is similar for White
women and Women of Color, rates of death for uterine cancer are
2 times higher for Black women than for White women.
(5) Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are
higher for women living in rural and underserved regions in the
United States. Women living in these areas face unique barriers
in accessing reproductive health care services to prevent and
treat cervical cancer, including a lack of practicing
gynecologists in rural areas and challenges around
transportation to preventive and follow-up appointments.
(6) Prevention and cancer screening are the best approaches
to protecting women from cancer and ensuring early detection
and life-saving treatment. Many deaths from breast and cervical
cancers could be avoided if cancer screening rates and
diagnostic care and services increased among women at risk.
Deaths from these cancers occur disproportionately among women
who are uninsured or underinsured.
(7) Due to enhanced screening, cervical cancer, which used
to be the leading cause of cancer death for women in the United
States, is now a much more preventable and treatable cancer. It
is also highly curable when found and treated early.
(8) Increased access to education, information, including
information on the human papillomavirus vaccine, and preventive
cancer screening increase women's ability to survive cancer.
(9) While more than 15 percent of cases of cervical cancer
are found in women over the age of 65, it becomes less likely
that women are tested for cervical cancer ever or within the
previous 5 years as their age increases.
(10) Women's health care providers that are primarily
engaged in family planning services, such as Planned Parenthood
health centers, provide necessary screening tests, education,
and information to women, especially women of color who face
the highest risks of breast cancer and other gynecologic
cancers.
(11) Access to preventive gynecological screening is also
critical for transgender men who have comparable rates of
susceptibility to cervical cancer as cisgender women, but often
have less access to preventive screenings.
(12) Discrimination and racism in health care continues to
contribute to disparate rates of gynecological cancer in non-
White women. Black, Indigenous, and other Women of Color die at
higher rates from cervical cancer than White women, even though
fewer women overall die from cervical cancer.
(13) Black women with endometrial cancer often receive
surgery less often than White women and are more likely to be
diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease, contributing to
disparities in mortality in Black women.
SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING ACCESS TO CANCER SCREENING FOR WOMEN.
(a) In General.--Part B of title III of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317P
the following:
``SEC. 317P-1. GRANTS FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to make grants and
to enter into contracts with public or nonprofit private entities to
expand preventive health services, as provided for in the Preventive
Services Guidelines of the Health Resources and Service Administration
that were in effect on October 30, 2017, with an emphasis on increasing
access to critical, life-saving cancer screening, Pap tests, human
papillomavirus vaccination, and diagnostic tests for women with cancer
symptoms, particularly Women of Color.
``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, $20,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2022 through 2024.''.
(b) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
programs related to breast and gynecologic cancers under title XIX of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and title X of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300 et seq.), and the National
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, such sums as may be
necessary for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023.
SEC. 5. EXPAND CANCER SCREENING PROVIDER TRAINING.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243
et seq.), as amended by section 4, is further amended by inserting
after section 317P-1 the following:
``SEC. 317P-2. WOMEN'S HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS DEMONSTRATION TRAINING
PROJECT.
``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary shall establish a
demonstration program (referred to in this section as the `program') to
award 3-year grants to eligible entities for the training of
physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health care providers
related to life-saving breast and gynecologic cancer screening for
women.
``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the program is to enable each grant
recipient to--
``(1) provide to licensed physicians, nurse practitioners,
and other health care providers, through clinical training,
education, and practice, the most up-to-date clinical
guidelines, research, and recommendations adopted by the United
States Preventive Services Task Force in the area of preventive
cancer screening for breast and gynecologic cancers;
``(2) establish a model of training for physicians, nurse
practitioners, and other health care providers that specializes
in women's health care, with a specific focus on breast and
gynecologic cancer screening, that may be replicated
nationwide;
``(3) train physicians, nurse practitioners, and other
health care providers to serve rural and underserved
communities, low-income communities, and communities of color
in breast and gynecologic cancer screening; and
``(4) provide implicit bias, cultural competency, and
patient-centered communication training covering the ways in
which structural racism and discrimination manifest within the
medical field and perpetuate racial disparities in gynecologic
cancer incidence and death rates and how to communicate with
patients through a knowledgeable and culturally empathetic
lens.
``(c) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an entity shall be--
``(1) an entity that receives funding under section 1001;
``(2) an essential community provider, as defined in
section 156.235 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or
any successor regulations), that is primarily engaged in family
planning;
``(3) an entity that furnishes items or services to
individuals who are eligible for medical assistance under title
XIX of the Social Security Act; or
``(4) an entity that, at the time of application, provides
cancer screening services under the National Breast and
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.''.
SEC. 6. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS ON INCREASED CANCER SCREENING FOR
WOMEN.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct a
study (and periodically update such study) on increased access to
women's preventive life-saving cancer screening across the United
States, and, not later than January 1, 2025, and every 5 years
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress on such
study.
(b) Contents.--The study and reports under subsection (a) shall
include--
(1) a 50-State analysis of breast and gynecologic cancer
rates among women, including by geographic area, income,
employment status, race, ethnicity, and status of insurance
coverage;
(2) a 50-State analysis of cancer screening provided by
women's health care providers, including clinical breast exams,
other screening for breast cancer, and screening for cervical
cancer, ovarian cancer, and other gynecologic cancers;
(3) an analysis of the awareness and availability of
breast, cervical, ovarian, and other gynecological cancer
screening options for women with disproportionate rates of
gynecological cancers, including African-American women,
Hispanic and Latina women, women living in rural and
underserved areas, and other disproportionately impacted
groups, according to the 50-State analyses described in
paragraphs (1) and (2);
(4) an analysis of how structural racism impacts access to
cancer screening services, its correlation to the development
of breast, cervical, ovarian, and other gynecological cancers,
and how it exacerbates health care disparities for African-
American, Hispanic and Latina women, and other Women of Color;
(5) in consultation with the Comptroller General of the
United States, estimated Federal savings achieved through early
detection of breast and gynecologic cancer;
(6) an analysis of how access to health care providers
trained under the program described in section 317P-2 of the
Public Health Service Act, as added by section 5, in comparison
to other health care providers, increased early detection of
cancer and quality of cancer care for women who are less likely
to receive care, including African-American women, Hispanic and
Latina women, older women, uninsured and underinsured women,
and women living in rural and underserved areas;
(7) recommendations by the Secretary with respect to the
need for continued increased access to women's health care
providers, such as the entities described in section 317P-2(c)
of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 4, who
provide preventive care, including life-saving cancer
screening; and
(8) recommendations for increasing screening rates for
women who are less likely to be screened or treated for breast,
cervical, ovarian, and other gynecological cancers, including
African-American women, Hispanic and Latina women, older women,
uninsured and underinsured women, and women living in rural and
underserved areas.
SEC. 7. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ON CO-TESTING FOR HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS
AND CERVICAL CANCER.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243
et seq.), as amended by section 5, is further amended by inserting
after section 317P-2 the following:
``SEC. 317P-3. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ON CO-TESTING FOR HUMAN
PAPILLOMAVIRUS AND CERVICAL CANCER.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator
of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a
2-year demonstration project on increasing the co-testing of human
papillomavirus and cervical cancer screenings to develop models for
increasing the rates of co-testing among women with disproportionate
rates of cervical cancer, including African-American and Hispanic and
Latina women.
``(b) Use of Funds.--Entities receiving funds under this section
shall use such funds to--
``(1) increase access to co-testing of human papillomavirus
and cervical cancer among patients with disproportionate rates
of cervical cancer, including African-American and Hispanic and
Latina women;
``(2) support culturally- and linguistically-appropriate
delivery models to such patients, including through the
provision of interpretation services; or
``(3) provide other services to improve health outcomes
with respect to such patients.
``(c) Prioritization.--Priority for funding available under this
section shall be given to entities serving low-income, uninsured, and
medically underserved populations or populations with historically low
rates of such co-testing, such as older women.
``(d) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an entity shall be an entity described in section 317P-
2(c).''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line