Sponsors (2)
The bill improves outbreak detection and public‑health coordination in nursing homes—potentially reducing illness and deaths—at the cost of new data‑sharing and privacy risks, implementation burdens and costs for facilities, and fiscal tradeoffs that may leave smaller or rural homes behind.
Nursing home residents (seniors, people with chronic conditions) will get faster detection and response to infectious outbreaks through real‑time monitoring, reducing spread, infections, and potentially hospitalizations and deaths.
State and local public health authorities will receive timelier, standardized data to coordinate containment, allocate resources, and improve outbreak response across jurisdictions.
Skilled nursing facilities will be able to opt into staffed care management programs that provide on‑site support, which can improve resident care and reduce hospital transfers.
Nursing home residents' health data will be collected and shared with contractors and federal systems, increasing privacy and re‑identification risks for residents and families despite protective rules.
Nursing homes will face implementation and ongoing administrative costs and burdens to adopt and maintain the required technology, which could divert resources from direct care.
Smaller or rural nursing homes may be left behind if funding or technical support is insufficient, worsening disparities in care and surveillance coverage for rural communities and their residents.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a 5-year CDC program to expand NHSN for real-time infectious disease surveillance in nursing homes and directs CMMI to support NHSN technology adoption and care-management participation.
Official title: 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.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by Thomas Roland Tillis · Last progress May 12, 2026
Creates a 5-year CDC program to expand the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) so nursing homes nationwide can be monitored in near real time for infectious diseases and public-health events. The law authorizes contracting with qualified U.S.-based vendors (excluding EMR companies) to build technical and analytic infrastructure, requires privacy protections and limits on regulatory use of data, treats contract awardees as HIPAA covered entities, and funds the program for FY2027–FY2031. Also directs the Medicare Innovation Center (CMMI) to support NHSN adoption of technologies that enable immediate outbreak detection and reporting, coordinated responses with public health authorities, and optional staffed care management programs to improve resident outcomes. The CDC must begin the program within 180 days and report to Congress after five years on effectiveness and recommendations.