S 1701119th CongressIntroduced

STORM Act

Introduced: May 8, 2025

HealthcareLabor & Employment

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The STORM Act would create a framework under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to mobilize private health care workforce platforms during declared emergencies. It defines what a health care workforce platform is, allows the President to certify platforms and enter into multi-year voluntary agreements to use them for surge staffing during emergencies, and enables coordination with states to temporarily waive out-of-state licensure requirements for independent contractor health care workers deployed through these platforms. The bill also sets up procedures, reporting, and liability protections for workers and platforms, and it directs the President to issue regulations to implement these provisions. The overall aim is to speed up and streamline the deployment of licensed health professionals from private platforms to areas affected by emergencies, while addressing licensure, accountability, and legal risk.

Key Points

1Define and enable use of health care workforce platforms: private tech platforms that partner with credentialed independent contractor health care workers, can surge capacity during emergencies, and are self-sustaining outside emergencies.
2Public-private partnership with the President: the President may certify platforms and enter into voluntary, multi-year (at least 1 year) agreements to use those platforms for the duration of declared emergencies.
3Facilitation of licensure waivers: the President can coordinate with states to waive out-of-state licensure for platform workers responding to an emergency, with model procedures including qualifications, background checks, and expedited deployment; platform vetting can be relied upon; coordination with states to implement waivers.
4Reporting: annual (and first-year) reporting to Congress on licensure waivers, deployment duration, and challenges related to waivers.
5Liability protections: broad protections for independent contractor workers and platforms for injuries or damages arising from authorized activities, with exceptions for willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith; certain FTCA-related provisions would treat government-directed contractors as federal employees for claims arising within the scope of contracted activities during emergencies; regulatory groundwork to define applicability.
6Regulatory authority: the President would issue regulations necessary to implement these provisions, including how FTCA applicability is determined for platform workers and their organizations.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Independent contractor health care workers and the health care workforce platforms they work with.- States and localities handling licensure waivers during emergencies.- Federal emergency response framework and the President’s emergency coordination capabilities.Secondary group/area affected- Patients and communities affected by emergencies, who may receive faster access to licensed care through platform-sourced staff.- Health care facilities and organizations that would employ platform workers on a surge basis.- State licensure boards and regulatory bodies, which would engage in waiver processes and expedited licensing activities.Additional impacts- Legal and liability environment: broader FTCA-type coverage for government-directed actions, along with defined exceptions for misconduct; potential chilling effects or risk shifts for platforms and workers.- Operational considerations: need for credential verification, background checks, and interoperability of state licensing processes; privacy and data handling implications for platforms.- Policy consistency and oversight: potential cross-state variability in licensure standards and emergency response practices; requirement for ongoing Congressional reporting and federal regulatory development.Health care workforce platform: a private tech platform that coordinates licensed health care professionals who work on a contract basis (not as employees) and can rapidly scale staffing during emergencies.Independent contractor health care worker: a licensed health care professional who works on a contractual basis, is credentialed by a platform, and responds to emergencies.Licensure waiver: temporary permission for out-of-state health care workers to practice in another state during an emergency, bypassing some standard state licensing requirements.FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act): a law that typically waives sovereign immunity for certain claims against the United States in tort cases; the bill proposes specific implications for private entities acting under federal direction during emergencies.501(b): a reference in the Stafford Act to emergency declarations that grant the President authority to direct emergency response activities.

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