Increasing Rural Health Access During the COVID–19 Public Health Emergency Act of 2020
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Increasing Rural Health Access During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Act of 2020
This bill establishes, as part of certain grants for telehealth networks and resource centers, a pilot project to increase the use of remote patient monitoring technology in rural areas during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. Specifically, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) must award grants to eligible entities in rural areas to coordinate care for individuals with chronic conditions and conduct other activities using remote patient monitoring technology.
Eligible entities must meet requirements for participating in telehealth networks and must use appropriate technologies. Grant funds may be used, for example, to develop or acquire computer hardware and other equipment. In awarding these grants, HRSA shall give priority to entities that are capable of establishing programs quickly and that use technologies that provide continuous, real-time coaching services.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 11, 2020. 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 June 11, 2020: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced it on June 11, 2020, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 June 11, 2020, 2282 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2282 days ago, on June 11, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers