H.R. 5199 · 116th Congress
ECHO Act of 2019
- Stage
- In committee
- Sponsor
- Ben Luján
- Introduced
- 2019-11-20
- Latest action
- 2019-11-21 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Summary
Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes Act of 2019 or the ECHO 2019 Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a grant program that supports specified health care services in rural or medically underserved areas. Specifically, HHS must award grants to health care entities serving rural areas, health-professional shortage areas, medically underserved populations, or Native Americans for (1) specified videoconferencing technology that connects health professionals with specialists (e.g., chronic-disease, mental-health, and substance-use disorder specialists), (2) retaining health care providers, and (3) increasing access to health care services.