(a) Creation of Trust Fund

There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the “Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund” (hereafter in this section referred to as the “PCORTF”), consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section and section 9602(b).

(b) Transfers to Fund

(1) Appropriation

There are hereby appropriated to the Trust Fund the following:

(A) For fiscal year 2010, $10,000,000.

(B) For fiscal year 2011, $50,000,000.

(C) For fiscal year 2012, $150,000,000.

(D) For fiscal year 2013—

(i) an amount equivalent to the net revenues received in the Treasury from the fees imposed under subchapter B of chapter 34 (relating to fees on health insurance and self-insured plans) for such fiscal year; and

(ii) $150,000,000.


(E) For each of fiscal years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019—

(i) an amount equivalent to the net revenues received in the Treasury from the fees imposed under subchapter B of chapter 34 (relating to fees on health insurance and self-insured plans) for such fiscal year; and

(ii) $150,000,000.


(F) For each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029—

(i) an amount equivalent to the net revenues received in the Treasury from the fees imposed under subchapter B of chapter 34 (relating to fees on health insurance and self-insured plans) for such fiscal year; and

(ii) the applicable amount (as defined in paragraph (4)) for the fiscal year.


The amounts appropriated under subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D)(ii), (E)(ii), and (F)(ii) shall be transferred from the general fund of the Treasury, from funds not otherwise appropriated.

(2) Trust Fund transfers

In addition to the amounts appropriated under paragraph (1), there shall be credited to the PCORTF the amounts transferred under section 1183 of the Social Security Act.

(3) Limitation on transfers to PCORTF

No amount may be appropriated or transferred to the PCORTF on and after the date of any expenditure from the PCORTF which is not an expenditure permitted under this section. The determination of whether an expenditure is so permitted shall be made without regard to—

(A) any provision of law which is not contained or referenced in this chapter or in a revenue Act, and

(B) whether such provision of law is a subsequently enacted provision or directly or indirectly seeks to waive the application of this paragraph.

(4) Applicable amount defined

In paragraph (1)(F)(ii), the term “applicable amount” means—

(A) for fiscal year 2020, $275,500,000;

(B) for fiscal year 2021, $285,000,000;

(C) for fiscal year 2022, $293,500,000;

(D) for fiscal year 2023, $311,500,000;

(E) for fiscal year 2024, $320,000,000;

(F) for fiscal year 2025, $338,000,000;

(G) for fiscal year 2026, $355,500,000;

(H) for fiscal year 2027, $363,500,000;

(I) for fiscal year 2028, $381,000,000; and

(J) for fiscal year 2029, $399,000,000.

(c) Trustee

Terms Used In 26 USC 9511

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • fiscal year: means an accounting period of 12 months ending on the last day of any month other than December. See 26 USC 7701
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate. See 26 USC 7701
  • Secretary of the Treasury: means the Secretary of the Treasury, personally, and shall not include any delegate of his. See 26 USC 7701
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • United States: when used in a geographical sense includes only the States and the District of Columbia. See 26 USC 7701

The Secretary of the Treasury shall be a trustee of the PCORTF.

(d) Expenditures from Fund

(1) Amounts available to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Subject to paragraph (2), amounts in the PCORTF are available, without further appropriation, to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute established under section 1181(b) of the Social Security Act for carrying out part D of title XI of the Social Security Act (as in effect on the date of enactment of such Act).

(2) Transfer of funds

(A) In general

The trustee of the PCORTF shall provide for the transfer from the PCORTF of 20 percent of the amounts appropriated or credited to the PCORTF for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2029 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out section 937 of the Public Health Service Act.

(B) Availability

Amounts transferred under subparagraph (A) shall remain available until expended.

(C) Requirements

Of the amounts transferred under subparagraph (A) with respect to a fiscal year, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall distribute—

(i) 80 percent to the Office of Communication and Knowledge Transfer of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (or any other relevant office designated by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) to carry out the activities described in section 937 of the Public Health Service Act; and

(ii) 20 percent to the Secretary to carry out the activities described in such section 937.

(e) Net revenues

For purposes of this section, the term “net revenues” means the amount estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury based on the excess of—

(1) the fees received in the Treasury under subchapter B of chapter 34, over

(2) the decrease in the tax imposed by chapter 1 resulting from the fees imposed by such subchapter.

(f) Termination

No amounts shall be available for expenditure from the PCORTF after September 30, 2029, and any amounts in such Trust Fund after such date shall be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury.