Sponsors (2)
The bill increases pay and safety supports for frontline healthcare workers at nonprofit facilities during emergencies, improving retention and protection, but does so with open-ended federal spending, administrative burdens, and exclusions and caps that may leave many workers undercompensated.
Healthcare workers at eligible nonprofit hospitals, home health agencies, and similar facilities receive supplemental hazardous-duty pay (up to $13/hour, capped at $25,000/year), increasing take-home pay during declared emergencies and helping retain frontline staff.
Hospitals, home health agencies, and health systems can obtain grants to purchase PPE and provide alternative transportation, improving worker safety and reducing infection/exposure risk during disasters.
State, local, territorial, and Tribal emergency declarations can trigger program support, enabling faster, locally tailored responses to protect frontline staff during crises.
All taxpayers may face increased federal spending because the bill authorizes 'such sums as may be necessary' without an explicit funding cap.
The supplement cap ($13/hour, $25,000/year) may be insufficient to fully compensate high-risk workers or offset higher costs in expensive areas or during prolonged emergencies, leaving some frontline workers undercompensated.
The program limits grants to nonprofit providers, excluding for-profit employers and potentially leaving many frontline workers without access to supplements or funded protections.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates HHS emergency grants to health care facilities and home health agencies to provide hazard pay (up to $13/hr; max $25,000/worker/yr) and safety measures during declared emergencies.
Introduced April 21, 2026 by Edward John Markey · Last progress April 21, 2026
Creates a federal emergency grant program run by the Department of Health and Human Services to give hazard pay and safety support to essential health care workers during declared emergencies or disasters. Grants may go to public or private nonprofit health care facilities and home health agencies to pay additional hazardous duty compensation (up to $13 extra per hour, capped at $25,000 per worker per year) for workers who must be onsite and cannot work remotely, and to buy safety measures like personal protective equipment or alternative transit. The program applies when federal, state, local, or tribal authorities declare an emergency or disaster; it defines eligible workers and allowable uses and authorizes whatever funding is needed to carry out the program.