Mobile Cancer Screening Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4417 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4417

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of
  Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the
    Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants,
 contracts, or cooperative agreements for supporting new mobile cancer
    screening units to expand patient access to essential screening
 services in rural and underserved communities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2025

    Mr. Ruiz (for himself, Mr. Evans of Colorado, and Ms. Wasserman
   Schultz) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of
  Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the
    Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants,
 contracts, or cooperative agreements for supporting new mobile cancer
    screening units to expand patient access to essential screening
 services in rural and underserved communities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mobile Cancer Screening Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Each year, 2,000,000 people in the United States are
        diagnosed with cancer.
            (2) Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths
        in the United States, with 127,070 deaths in 2023 alone.
        Despite its prevalence, only 4.5 percent of eligible
        individuals were screened for lung cancer in 2022.
            (3) Mobile cancer screening units have proven effective in
        increasing access to essential screenings, including for breast
        cancer and more recently lung cancer.
            (4) Nationally, only 26.6 percent of lung cancer cases are
        diagnosed at an early stage when the 5-year survival rate is 63
        percent.

SEC. 3. MOBILE CANCER SCREENING GRANTS.

    Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
254b et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

             ``Subpart XIII--Mobile Cancer Screening Units

``SEC. 340J. GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator
of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall award
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities for
the purpose of supporting new mobile cancer screening units to expand
patient access to essential screening services in rural and underserved
areas.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--Entities eligible for an award under
subsection (a) include--
            ``(1) a nonprofit hospital;
            ``(2) a Federally qualified health center;
            ``(3) an academic health center;
            ``(4) a health system; and
            ``(5) a consortium or other collaboration of two or more
        entities listed in any of paragraphs (1) through (4).
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--For the purpose described in subsection (a),
funds awarded under this section may be used for--
            ``(1) purchasing a commercial vehicle to operate a mobile
        cancer screening unit;
            ``(2) acquiring imaging technology;
            ``(3) purchasing digital tools needed to operate a mobile
        cancer screening unit; and
            ``(4) covering other costs determined by the Secretary to
        be essential startup or operational costs.
    ``(d) Funding Limit.--The amount of an award under subsection (a)
may not exceed $2,000,000.
    ``(e) Prioritization.--In making awards under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall prioritize--
            ``(1) applicants with the highest potential impact on
        patient mortality and screening gaps for high-risk individuals;
            ``(2) applicants serving underserved populations,
        including--
                    ``(A) rural areas; and
                    ``(B) areas served by the Indian Health Service;
                and
            ``(3) applicants able to provide comprehensive follow-up
        care for abnormal findings within 90 minutes of the unit by
        ground transportation.
    ``(f) Matching Funds.--As a condition on receipt of an award under
this section, an eligible entity shall agree that, with respect to
costs to be incurred by the entity in carrying out activities for which
the award is made, the entity will contribute from non-Federal sources,
in cash or in kind, an amount equal to not less than one dollar for
every three dollars provided through the award.
    ``(g) Report to Congress.--
            ``(1) Submission.--Not later than 4 years after the date of
        enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit a report
        to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
        Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
        and Pensions of the Senate.
            ``(2) Contents.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
        include--
                    ``(A) the total number of patients screened using
                mobile cancer screening units funded through awards
                under this section, with data on such total number of
                patients de-identified and disaggregated by race,
                ethnicity, age, sex, geographic region, disability
                status, and other relevant factors;
                    ``(B) the impact of awards under subsection (a) on
                increasing screening rates, early cancer detection, and
                improved patient outcomes;
                    ``(C) recommendations for improving the program
                under this section; and
                    ``(D) such other information and recommendations as
                the Secretary determines to be relevant.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2027 through 2031.''.
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