June 12, 2025
Mr. Lawler (for himself and Mr. Espaillat) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants for expanding, modernizing, or streamlining emergency department operations.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Streamline Emergency Care Act
.
Sec. 2. Grants for emergency department operations
(a) Awards
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the Secretary
), acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall carry out a program of awarding grants to eligible entities for expanding, modernizing, or streamlining emergency department operations.
(b) Eligible entities
In this section, the term eligible entity means a health care provider that—
(1)
is a nonprofit organization; and
(2)
at the time of applying for a grant under this section, is already operating an emergency department.
(c) Amount
The amount of a grant under subsection (a) shall not exceed $500,000.
(d) Use of funds
A grant received under this section may be used for any of the following:
(1)
The hiring and retention of individuals to work in the emergency department.
(2)
Optimizing and modernizing the capacity of an emergency department, and improving patient flow out of the emergency department, by—
(A)
repurposing or renovating hospital spaces;
(B)
implementing new processes; or
(C)
purchasing equipment.
(3)
Triage and other training to increase the capacity of existing personnel to assist in improving emergency department patient care and flow.
(e) Report
Not later than the end of the third fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report on the effectiveness and impacts of the grant program under this section.
(f) Authorization of appropriations
To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.