PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] · R–OR
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Oct 7, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.10616 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.10616 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-28 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Public Access to HHS Health Data Act of 2026 would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create an online collection of all its already-public data sets within one year of enactment. People and organizations could access, use, and reuse those data for free, including through automated processing and bulk access. The requirement concerns publicly available data sets.
This Act may be cited as the Public Access to HHS Health Data Act of 2026.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall create on the internet website opendata.hhs.gov (or any successor website) a repository of all publicly available data sets generated or maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services.
be made available for unrestricted access, use, and reuse (including automated processing and bulk access) at no cost
The HHS Secretary would have to create the collection at opendata.hhs.gov or a successor website within one year after enactment. It would cover all publicly available data sets that HHS generates or maintains.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall create on the internet website opendata.hhs.gov (or any successor website) a repository of all publicly available data sets generated or maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Each data set would have to be machine-readable under a referenced federal definition, published in a publicly accessible format, and accompanied by metadata—information describing the data set.
Each data set made available through the website described in subsection (a) shall— (1) be machine-readable (as defined in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code); (2) be published in a format accessible to the public;
(4) include associated metadata.
Each data set would have to be available without charge for unrestricted access, use, and reuse, expressly including automated processing and bulk access.
Each data set made available through the website described in subsection (a) shall—
(3) be made available for unrestricted access, use, and reuse (including automated processing and bulk access) at no cost;
The Secretary would have to ensure that people can search, sort, and download data sets for free. The website would also need standardized application programming interfaces—connections that let software retrieve data automatically—including bulk downloads and requests for selected data.
The Secretary shall ensure that the website described in subsection (a)— (1) allows individuals to search, sort, and download the data sets made available through such website at no cost; (2) is accessible through standardized application programming interfaces that permit automated, machine-to-machine retrieval of such data sets, including bulk download and query-based access mechanisms;
The Secretary would have to keep the website updated regularly and promptly, although the provision specifies no fixed update interval.
The Secretary shall ensure that the website described in subsection (a)—
(3) is updated on a regular and timely basis.
Within two years after enactment, and annually afterward, the Secretary would have to report to Congress on the number and types of available data sets and how frequently they are updated.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report including— (1) the number and types of data sets made available through the website described in subsection (a); (2) the frequency of updates to such data sets;
The report would also have to describe constraints limiting or delaying publication of additional data sets. These include privacy, confidentiality, security, data quality, compatibility between systems, management of data across agencies, and available resources, as well as legal, technical, operational, financial, or administrative constraints.
(3) any legal, technical, operational, financial, or administrative constraints limiting or delaying the publication of additional data sets on the website described in subsection (a), including any constraints relating to privacy, confidentiality, security, data quality, interoperability, interagency data governance, or resource availability.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 7, 2026, records introduction in the House on September 28, 2026, and referral that day to Energy and Commerce and additionally to Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for consideration of provisions within each committee's jurisdiction.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-07T19:51:01Z.
2026-09-28: Introduced in House
2026-09-28: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Workforce, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-28. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying earmark materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 7, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI