Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act

Bill Number

H.R. 6052

Origin Chamber

House

Congress

119th Congress, Session 1

Policy Area

Health

Status

Introduced

Latest Action

2025-11-17: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Last Updated

2026-02-24T09:05:29Z

AI-Generated Summary

Purpose

The Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act aims to strengthen federal efforts to address asthma as a public health issue by enhancing education, surveillance, and management strategies. It seeks to reduce the prevalence, severity, and disparities of asthma, particularly among vulnerable populations, while improving data collection and interagency coordination to lower healthcare costs and improve quality of life.

Key Provisions

• Public Education and Information Program: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must collaborate with state and local health departments to provide asthma education, focusing on preventing uncontrolled episodes and strategies for managing symptoms and triggers (e.g., air pollution, allergens).
• State Strategic Plans: Within one year of enactment, the CDC must work with state and local health departments to create plans for asthma control, emphasizing responses to reduce burdens on disproportionately affected groups.
• Data Compilation and Surveillance: The CDC must:
• Conduct ongoing monitoring of asthma prevalence, severity, intervention effectiveness, and management quality, using sources like electronic health records.
• Annually publish national data on childhood and adult asthma, including mortality rates, hospital admissions, and emergency visits, broken down by state, age, sex, race, ethnicity, and other factors.
• Modernize surveillance systems for real-time data sharing among healthcare, schools, and public health entities, ensuring privacy by avoiding individually identifiable information and using consistent methods for comparability.
• Collaboration with Nonprofits: The CDC may partner with national, state, and local nonprofit organizations to deliver asthma information and education.
• Reports to Congress: Starting three years after enactment and every two years thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) must submit reports assessing federal and partner activities on asthma prevention, management, and surveillance. These reports include progress toward national health goals (e.g., Healthy People 2030), recommendations for improvements, barriers to response, ways to expand partnerships, and steps to reduce morbidity, mortality, costs, and disparities. Recommendations involve coordination with agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Education, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense.
• Funding Authorization: Allocates $70 million for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to support these activities.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

This bill fully replaces Section 317I of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-10), which previously authorized limited CDC asthma surveillance and partnerships. The new version expands the scope by adding mandatory state strategic planning, detailed annual data publication with demographic breakdowns, system modernization for real-time data, required congressional reporting with interagency input, and specific funding authorization. It shifts from basic surveillance to a more proactive, comprehensive public health framework emphasizing equity and cost reduction.

Potential Impacts

• On Government Agencies: Enhances CDC's role in asthma leadership, requiring collaboration across HHS, EPA, HUD, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Defense; increases state and local health departments' capacity through funding and planning support; may strain resources in underfunded states but promises efficiency gains (e.g., $71 return per $1 invested in asthma programs).
• On Citizens: Improves access to education and management tools, potentially reducing asthma attacks, emergency visits (over 1.1 million annually), hospitalizations (about 131,000 yearly), missed school/work days (over 18 million combined), and deaths (over 3,600 in 2023), especially benefiting children, low-income individuals, Black Americans, Native populations, Puerto Ricans, and multiracial groups who face higher rates and mortality.
• On International Relations: No direct impacts, as the bill focuses on domestic public health.

Main Stakeholders Affected

• Individuals with Asthma: Over 27.8 million Americans, including 4.8 million children, particularly those in low-income, minority, or underserved communities facing higher prevalence and barriers to care.
• Healthcare Providers and Facilities: Hospitals and emergency departments handling asthma-related visits; benefits from better data and guidelines adherence to reduce workload.
• State and Local Health Departments: Gain resources for surveillance and planning, though 21 states currently lack CDC asthma funding.
• Nonprofits, Patient Advocacy Groups, and Medical Societies: Involved in education, partnerships, and reporting; expanded opportunities for collaboration.
• Federal Agencies: CDC and HHS lead implementation; EPA, HUD, and others contribute to recommendations on environmental and housing factors.
• Broader Society: Taxpayers and employers, via reduced $81.9 billion annual asthma costs (including $3 billion in indirect losses).

Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications

• Legal: Mandates data privacy protections under federal standards, ensuring no individually identifiable information is shared, aligning with laws like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which safeguards health data). Authorizes appropriations without mandating spending, giving Congress flexibility in budgeting.
• Constitutional: Supports the federal government's role in public health under the Commerce Clause (regulating interstate health burdens like disease costs) and General Welfare Clause; promotes equity without infringing on state autonomy through collaborative planning.
• Political: Highlights health disparities, potentially advancing bipartisan efforts on chronic disease (introduced by a diverse group of representatives); emphasizes return on investment to appeal to fiscal conservatives, while focusing on underserved populations may influence equity-focused policies. No major controversies, but implementation could face challenges in coordinating multiple agencies or in states with limited resources.

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.

Sponsor

Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]

Cosponsors (4)

Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1], Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9], Rep. Valadao, David G. [R-CA-22], Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2]

Recent Actions

• 2025-11-17: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
• 2025-11-17: Introduced in House
• 2025-11-17: Introduced in House

Bill Versions

• Elijah E. Cummings Family Asthma Act — issued 2025-11-17 — PDF (12 pages)