H.R. 6839

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6839 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6839

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
for removing transportation barriers to accessing eligible vaccines for 
individuals from low-income communities, minority communities, or other 
communities in which transportation poses a barrier to health care 
access, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 18, 2025

Ms. Barragan (for herself, Mr. Carson, Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. 
Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Norton, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
Tonko, and Mr. Veasey) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
for removing transportation barriers to accessing eligible vaccines for 
individuals from low-income communities, minority communities, or other 
communities in which transportation poses a barrier to health care 
access, and for other purposes.

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 ``Vaccine Transportation Access Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR VACCINE ACCESS AND MOBILITY.

(a) General Authority.--
(1) Awards.--The Secretary shall award grants to qualified 
community organizations to assist in financing projects to 
remove transportation barriers to accessing eligible vaccines 
for individuals from low-income communities, minority 
communities, or other communities in which transportation poses 
a barrier to health care access.
(2) Transfer of duties.--The Secretary shall--
(A) enter into agreements with State health 
agencies for purposes of carrying out the duties 
assigned to the Secretary under this section; and
(B) transfer to such agencies for such purposes 
funds appropriated to carry out this section.
(b) Application.--A qualified community organization seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application 
that contains--
(1) a description of the project to be funded through the 
grant;
(2) an identification of all project partners and their 
specific role in the proposed project, including private for-
profit and nonprofit entities engaged in the coordination of 
transportation services for the project; and
(3) specific performance measures the qualified community 
organization will use to reduce cancellations or missed 
appointments.
(c) Period of Performance.--Each grant awarded under subsection (a) 
shall be for a period of performance of not less than 6 months.
(d) Use of Funds.--Each grant awarded under subsection (a)--
(1) shall be used to develop, expand, and enhance access to 
transportation to and from sites for receipt of an eligible 
vaccine by individuals from low-income communities, minority 
communities, or other communities in which transportation poses 
a barrier to health care access; and
(2) may be used to--
(A) provide prescheduled or on-demand 
transportation to and from a site for administration of 
an eligible vaccine; or
(B) provide first and last mile transportation 
services for appointments for administration of such a 
vaccine.
(e) Reporting.--
(1) Grant recipients.--As a condition on receipt of a grant 
under this section, a grantee shall agree to submit to the 
Secretary, not later than 6 months after the completion of the 
period of performance of the grant, a report containing such 
information as the Secretary determines necessary to evaluate 
performance under the grant.
(2) Annual report to congress.--Not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter during the term of the grant program under this 
section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a 
report containing a summary of the information received by the 
Secretary during the preceding year under paragraph (1).
(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Eligible vaccine.--The term ``eligible vaccine'' means 
any immunization that--
(A) had in effect a recommendation from the 
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect 
to the individual involved as of October 25, 2024, 
including such an immunization as updated or changed 
after that date under a supplement to a biologics 
license application approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration; or
(B) is recommended under evidenced-based, clinical 
care guidelines published by one or more United States 
professional medical societies.
(2) First and last mile.--The term ``first and last mile'' 
means, with respect to transportation services and an 
individual's trip to and from a vaccine appointment--
(A) transportation--
(i) between the individual's point of trip 
origin and a source of public transit; and
(ii) between a source of public transit and 
the individual's destination; or
(B) where no source of public transit is available, 
transportation between the individual's point of trip 
origin and the individual's destination.
(3) Qualified community organization.--The term ``qualified 
community organization'' means an organization that--
(A) is a nonprofit organization; and
(B) has experience in--
(i) managing Federal grants; and
(ii) providing services to low-income or 
minority communities or communities that 
disproportionately experience disparities in 
health status and health care access.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PERCENTAGE.

Section 1905(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
``Notwithstanding the first sentence of this subsection, the Federal 
medical assistance percentage shall be 100 per centum with respect to 
amounts expended for nonemergency transportation benefits provided to 
individuals eligible for medical assistance under this subchapter that 
are attributable to transportation costs incurred on or after the date 
of the enactment of this sentence related to providing eligible 
vaccines (as defined in section 2(f) of the Vaccine Transportation 
Access Act) to such individuals under the State plan.''.
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