Att 1 - Authorizing Legislation

Attachment 1. Applicable Laws and Regulations

National Center for Health Statistics Legislative Mandate (41 USC 242K)

Sec. 306 [242k]

1. There is established in the Department of Health and Services the National Center for Health Statistics (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Center” which shall be under the direction of a Director who shall be appointed by the Secretary. The Secretary, acting through the Center, shall conduct and support statistical and epidemiological activities for the purpose of improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services in the United States.

2. In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary, acting through the Center---

   1. shall collect statistics on---

      1. the extent and nature of illness and disability of the population of the United States (or of any groupings of the people included in the population), including life expectancy, the incidence of various acute and chronic illnesses, and infant and maternal morbidity and mortality,

      2. the impact of illness and disability of the population on the economy on the economy of the United States and on other aspects of the well-being of its population (or of such groupings),

      3. environmental , social, and other health hazards,

      4. determinants of health

      5. health resources, including physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals by specialty and type of practice and the supply of services by hospitals, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other health institutions,

      6. utilization of health care, including utilization of (i) ambulatory health services by specialties, and (ii) services of hospitals, extended care facilities, home health agencies, and other institutions,

      7. health care costs and financing, including the trends in health care prices and cost, the sources of payments for health care services, and

      8. family formation, growth, and dissolution;

   2. shall undertake and support (by grant or contract) research, demonstrations, and evaluations respecting new or improved methods for obtaining new or improved methods for obtaining current data on the matters referred to in paragraph (1);

   3. may undertake and support (by grant or contract) epidemiological research, demonstrations, and evaluations on the matters referred to in paragraph (1); and

   4. may collect, furnish, tabulate, and analyze statistics, and prepare studies, on matters referred to in paragraph (1) upon request of public and nonprofit private entities under arrangements under which the entities will pay the cost of the service provided.

Amounts appropriated to the Secretary from payments made under arrangements made under paragraph (4) shall be available to the Secretary for obligation until expended.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) (ACA)

SEC. 4302. UNDERSTANDING HEALTH DISPARITIES: DATA COLLECTION

AND ANALYSIS.

(a) UNIFORM CATEGORIES AND COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS.—

The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended

by adding at the end the following:

‘‘TITLE XXXI—DATA COLLECTION,

ANALYSIS, AND QUALITY

‘‘SEC. 3101. DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND QUALITY.

‘‘(a) DATA COLLECTION.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that, by not

later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this title,

any federally conducted or supported health care or public

health program, activity or survey (including Current Population

Surveys and American Community Surveys conducted

H. R. 3590—461

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census)

collects and reports, to the extent practicable—

‘‘(A) data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language,

and disability status for applicants, recipients, or participants;

‘‘(B) data at the smallest geographic level such as

State, local, or institutional levels if such data can be

aggregated;

‘‘(C) sufficient data to generate statistically reliable

estimates by racial, ethnic, sex, primary language, and

disability status subgroups for applicants, recipients or

participants using, if needed, statistical oversamples of

these subpopulations; and

‘‘(D) any other demographic data as deemed appropriate

by the Secretary regarding health disparities.