Sponsors (22)
The bill provides targeted emergency pay and safety funding to support frontline healthcare workers and facilities during declared emergencies, but pay caps, provider eligibility limits, added fiscal costs, and broad administrative discretion risk leaving some workers or facilities without adequate support and creating uneven implementation.
Frontline healthcare workers get temporary hazardous-duty pay—up to $13/hour and up to $25,000 per year—during declared emergencies, increasing take-home pay and income stability.
Hospitals, home health agencies, and healthcare workers can use grant funds to buy PPE, alternative transit, and other safety measures, improving worker safety and infection control.
Federal grant support for facilities and home health agencies helps maintain staffing and continuity of care during emergencies, reducing service disruptions for patients.
The $13/hour and $25,000 annual caps may be inadequate for workers in very high-risk or year-round emergency conditions, leaving some front-line staff undercompensated.
Limiting grants to nonprofit and public providers excludes for-profit providers, potentially leaving workers and facilities in the private sector without access to the benefits.
Federal spending 'as necessary' to fund pay and grants increases fiscal costs for taxpayers and may raise concerns about budgetary tradeoffs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes HHS grants to health care facilities and home health agencies to provide up to $13/hr hazard pay (annual cap $25,000) and safety measures during public-health emergencies.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for emergency grants to safeguard essential health care workers, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 23, 2026 by Summer Lee · Last progress April 23, 2026
Authorizes HHS to make emergency grants to nonprofit and public health care facilities and home health agencies during declared public-health emergencies or disasters. Grant funds may be used primarily to pay eligible essential health care workers hazard pay of up to $13 per hour (on top of wages) with a $25,000 annual cap per worker, and may also be used for safety measures like PPE, alternate transportation, and other protections; the bill authorizes whatever sums are necessary to carry out the program.