S. 4499

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4499 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4499

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to expand and enhance the National Healthcare 
Safety Network to establish real-time infectious disease and public 
health surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United 
States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 12, 2026

Mr. Tillis (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to expand and enhance the National Healthcare 
Safety Network to establish real-time infectious disease and public 
health surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United 
States, 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 ``Advanced Long-term care Early 
Response Technology Act of 2026'' or the ``ALERT Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL NETWORK OF REAL-TIME INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND PUBLIC 
HEALTH SURVEILLANCE IN NURSING HOMES.

Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by 
inserting after section 319M (42 U.S.C. 247d-f) the following:

``SEC. 319N. ENHANCEMENT OF NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SAFETY NETWORK FOR 
REAL-TIME SURVEILLANCE IN NURSING HOMES.

``(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of the Advanced Long-term care Early Response Technology Act 
of 2026, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the 
`Secretary'), shall carry out a 5-year program to expand and enhance 
the National Healthcare Safety Network (referred to in this section as 
the `NHSN') to establish real-time infectious disease and public health 
surveillance capabilities across nursing homes in the United States.
``(b) Contracting Authority.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into one or more 
contracts with an eligible entity to develop, implement, and 
operate the technological and analytic infrastructure necessary 
to provide real-time surveillance and rapid notification 
capabilities under the NHSN.
``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to enter into a contract 
with the Secretary under paragraph (1), an entity--
``(A) shall be located in, or shall be a subsidiary 
of an entity that is located in, the United States;
``(B) shall have, and shall maintain for the period 
of the contract, HITRUST r2 certification (or a 
successor certification);
``(C) shall not be an electronic medical records 
company; and
``(D) shall demonstrate experience in establishing 
and operating a public health surveillance network that 
monitors infectious diseases or other public health 
threats at the State or local level.
``(c) Required Capabilities.--Any contract entered into under 
subsection (b) shall--
``(1) ensure that the infrastructure developed pursuant to 
the contract is capable of--
``(A) providing real-time monitoring of emerging 
infectious diseases and other public health threats 
among nursing homes nationwide;
``(B) integrating with, and enhancing, the 
reporting systems of the NHSN;
``(C) establishing a central hub of epidemiologists 
and other public health professionals to support rapid 
identification of outbreaks;
``(D) providing for immediate notification to 
appropriate Federal, State, and local health 
authorities; and
``(E) supporting the implementation of a staffed 
care management program that skilled nursing facilities 
may opt into;
``(2) ensure appropriate privacy protections for individual 
patient data; and
``(3) prohibit the use of data collected or generated under 
the contract for regulatory compliance or enforcement purposes 
unless expressly authorized by law.
``(d) HIPAA and Data Protections.--The entity awarded a contract 
under subsection (b)--
``(1) shall be treated as a covered entity (as defined in 
section 160.103 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
successor regulations)) for purposes of the privacy regulations 
promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and
``(2) shall comply with all applicable Federal privacy and 
security requirements.
``(e) Study and Report.--At the end of the period of the program 
described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct, and submit to 
Congress a report that describes the results of, a study on--
``(1) the effectiveness of the enhanced NHSN system in 
monitoring infectious diseases and public health threats in 
nursing homes;
``(2) the impact of the enhanced NHSN system on 
hospitalization rates and patient outcomes; and
``(3) recommendations regarding continuation or expansion 
of the program under this section.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.''.

SEC. 3. SUPPORTING OF REAL-TIME INFECTIONS DISEASE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 
SURVEILLANCE NETWORK FOR NURSING HOMES.

Section 1115A(b)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1315a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause:
``(xxviii) Supporting the adoption by the 
National Healthcare Safety Network of 
technology to improve infectious disease 
surveillance in nursing homes that--
``(I) has capabilities for 
immediate detection and reporting of 
infectious disease outbreaks;
``(II) facilitates coordinated 
responses with local, State, and 
Federal public health authorities; and
``(III) enables nursing homes to 
participate in a staffed care 
management program to improve resident 
health outcomes.''.
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