A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for grants to public and private nonprofit hospitals in imminent danger of closure for their provision of certain health care services.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title XIX: "Grants for Maintenance of Essential Health Services Provided by Hospitals in Imminent Danger of Closing." Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants to public or private nonprofit hospitals serving predominantly health manpower shortage areas or medically underserved areas for their provision of certain essential health services, during a one-year period, to individuals, including undocumented aliens, who are not eligible for medical assistance under Medicaid nor covered by insurance and who are unable to pay for such service. Includes among the eligibility criteria for receipt of such grants that: (1) at least 60 percent of the hospital's outpatient and emergency room visits during the three-year period preceding such hospital's application have been by such individuals; (2) the hospital will be unable, without such a grant, to continue operations for more than six months from the date of application; and (3) the hospital enters into an agreement with the Secretary to carry out specified activities, including the elimination of excessive inpatient services.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 10, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 10, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
FREDERICK RICHMOND (D-NY) introduced it on April 10, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 10, 1979, 17320 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17320 days ago, on April 10, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers