PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2794-2802)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 12, 2004
Closing the Health Care Gap Act of 2004 - Requires specified agencies to: (1) standardize health care quality measures across all Federal government programs; (2) standardize public reporting requirements; and (3) support data collection and reporting efforts in Federal and State agencies.
Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to improve access to health care for health care disparity populations and to support efforts to increase the enrollment and participation of eligible children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Provides for refundable tax credits to offset the cost of health insurance.
Changes the name of the Office of Minority Health to the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities and changes the duties of the Office and its associated advisory committee to include health disparities as a problem to study and address.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Provides grants to support: (1) health professions education for racial or ethnic minorities or health disparity populations; and (2) curricula development for cultural competency training.
Requires the Director of the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities to: (1) develop and maintain an Internet clearinghouse to improve health care quality for individuals with specific cultural needs, limited English proficiency, or low functional health literacy; and (2) reduce or eliminate the duplication of efforts to translate materials.
Authorizes grants or assistance for and establishes programs and projects to address: (1) the analysis of the causes and sources of health care disparities and strategies to reduce disparities; (2) disease management; (3) the effective measurement of disparities; (4) the analysis and collection of health disparity data; and (5) the recruitment of minority scientists or research professionals to the health disparity field.
People & committees
Sen. Frist, William H. [R-TN] · R–TN
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2794-2802)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2794)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 18, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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