Federal grants expand health care inside schools for low-income students
H.R. 9513 — Community Schools and Health Equity Act · Filed by Chuy García (D-IL) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program through the Department of Education to fund school-based health services in community schools, prioritizing schools serving low-income students, English learners, and areas with health professional shortages. Schools can use grants to hire nurses and mental health professionals, provide wraparound services like nutrition and housing support, and build partnerships with health centers and universities.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward federal grant program designed to expand health services in schools serving disadvantaged populations. It is a direct public-health intervention with no hidden commercial or narrow-interest provisions.
What the text implies
- Successful implementation may create sustained demand for school-based health infrastructure, potentially requiring ongoing federal appropriations beyond initial grant cycles.
- Coordination between education and health systems may expose data-sharing challenges; the bill preserves FERPA and HIPAA but does not specify how student health data will be managed across agencies.
- Schools in wealthy districts may lack incentive to apply (priority given to high-poverty areas), potentially widening the equity gap if implementation is uneven.
- Wraparound services (housing support, legal services) may create expectations for schools to address root causes of poverty, expanding the school's social role beyond traditional education.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens—particularly low-income families, students in medically underserved areas, and English learners—gain direct access to preventive health care, mental health services, and social support within schools, reducing barriers to care and addressing documented health inequities. The program is funded through federal grants with no apparent cost-shifting to families or local taxpayers.
Who stands to gain
- Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)
- Community-based organizations
- Public health agencies
- Institutions of higher education (health career pathway partnerships)
Named in the bill
Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Local Education Agencies (LEAs), Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Social Security Act Section 1861
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jun 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 29, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 2, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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