PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 4, 2021
Health Standards To Advance Transparency, Integrity, Science, Technology Infrastructure, and Confidential Statistics Act of 2021 or the Health STATISTICS Act of 2021
This bill requires efforts to standardize reporting of public health data, including for COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) data. It also expands access to federal databases for health research.
Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must develop uniform standards for health departments and other entities that report public health data. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may award grants to entities for adopting the uniform standards and otherwise improving their reporting capabilities.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Furthermore, the CDC must, in consultation with the National Institutes of Health, establish specific standards within 30 days for reporting COVID-19 data. HHS must also disseminate this data subject to privacy and other requirements.
Additionally, the Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance on federal health data collection that covers, for example, ensuring data quality and increasing access to health data for research.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) must carry out a demonstration program to expand an existing program that links different federal data sets for statistical public health research, including research on food insecurity, housing instability, and other social determinants of health. In particular, the program must link to the National Death Index, a database of death records maintained by the NCHS.
Finally, the bill requires the CDC to award grants to research entities and public health departments to increase their capacity for conducting statistical public health research.
People & committees
Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52] · D–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jan 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.831 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.831 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.
Examine H.R.831 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.831 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.