# Plain Language Summary: Equal Health Care for All Act

This bill aims to address racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare by requiring hospitals and healthcare providers to track and report how their treatment outcomes differ across racial groups, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, disabilities, ages, and religions. Right now, many hospitals report their overall health outcomes, but they don't break down the data to show whether certain groups of patients are receiving lower-quality care than others. This bill would require that disaggregated data—meaning the numbers separated by demographic group—be collected and made publicly available (without revealing individual patient identities). This transparency is meant to expose patterns where some patients consistently receive worse care based on who they are.

The bill also creates new rules for hospitals that participate in Medicare. Starting in 2025, hospitals would be evaluated not just on their overall quality metrics, but also on whether they're providing equitable care across all patient populations. Hospitals that do well on equity measures could receive better payment rates, while those that don't would face financial consequences. Additionally, the bill makes it possible for the government to exclude healthcare providers from Medicare and Medicaid if they're found to have a pattern of providing inequitable care—though there's an exception that prevents excluding providers if doing so would make it harder for low-income or underserved communities to access care.

The bill also establishes a formal complaint process where patients who believe they've received discriminatory or inequitable care can file complaints with a new office called the Office for Civil Rights and Health Equity. This office would investigate complaints, attempt to resolve disputes through conciliation agreements, and report findings to state medical licensing boards. The goal is to give patients a concrete way to challenge discriminatory treatment and hold providers accountable. Overall, this legislation targets systemic healthcare disparities by creating data transparency, financial incentives for equity, and enforcement mechanisms to prevent discrimination.

Equal Health Care for All Act

Schiff, Adam B.

Equal Health Care for All Act This bill prohibits discrimination in health care based on race, religion, and other characteristics. It also revises reporting requirements, adds equity-related measures to certain Medicare programs, and makes other changes to reduce health disparities. To enforce the prohibition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must establish an administrative process to resolve complaints about inequitable health care. HHS must investigate these complaints and mediate agreements to resolve issues. In the event of noncompliance with a mediated agreement, an aggrieved individual may bring a civil action. Health care providers must also report data in formats that allow disaggregation by demographic factors. HHS must issue proposed regulations to carry out this requirement within 90 days. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) must include measures related to equitable health care in the Medicare value-based purchasing program for hospitals. This program provides incentive payments based on quality of care. The CMS may exclude providers that furnish inequitable health care from its programs. The bill also establishes (1) the Federal Health Equity Commission to monitor implementation of the bill, and (2) grants for hospitals to promote equitable health care.