Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4933 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4933

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to modify the loan repayment 
 program for the substance use disorder treatment workforce to relieve 
                          workforce shortages.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2023

 Mrs. Napolitano (for herself, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Sewell, Mr. 
 Fitzpatrick, Mr. Trone, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Chu, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Raskin, 
   Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Pocan, and Ms. 
   Tokuda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to modify the loan repayment 
 program for the substance use disorder treatment workforce to relieve 
                          workforce shortages.

    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 ``Mental Health Professionals 
Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT 
              WORKFORCE.

    Section 781 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295h) is 
amended--
            (1) In subsection (a)(2), by inserting ``, or the 
        individuals each agree to complete a period of service in a 
        mental health professional shortage area'' before the period;
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as 
                paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1), the 
                following:
            ``(2) Any loan used for obtaining a degree from an 
        accredited institution of higher education for education in 
        mental health or a related field leading to a master's degree, 
        leading to a doctoral degree, or consisting of post-doctoral 
        study.'';
            (3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Requirements of Service.--Any individual receiving payments 
under this program as required by an agreement under subsection (a) 
shall agree--
            ``(1) to an annual commitment to full-time employment, with 
        no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years of covered 
        employment, in substance use disorder treatment employment in 
        the United States in--
                    ``(A) a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, 
                as designated under section 332; or
                    ``(B) a county (or a municipality, if not contained 
                within any county) where the mean drug overdose death 
                rate per 100,000 people over the past 3 years for which 
                official data is available from the State, is higher 
                than the most recent available national average 
                overdose death rate per 100,000 people, as reported by 
                the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; or
            ``(2) to up to 6 years of full-time employment, with no 
        more than 1 year passing between any 2 years of covered 
        employment, in behavioral and mental health employment in the 
        United States in--
                    ``(A) a mental health professional shortage area of 
                greatest need, as determined by the Secretary for the 
                purposes of this section, as designated under section 
                332; or
                    ``(B) any facility, program, center, or clinic as 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary for purposes of 
                this section because of a shortage of mental health 
                professionals, including private physician practices 
                and other medical facilities designated under section 
                332(a) as having such a shortage.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting ``338B, 338I, or 846 
        of this Act, section'' after ``under section'';
            (5) in subsection (h)(2), by inserting ``and behavioral and 
        mental health services employees'' after ``treatment 
        employees'';
            (6) in subsection (i)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated), the following:
            ``(1) The term `behavioral and mental health employment' 
        means full-time employment (including a fellowship) where the 
        primary intent and function of the position is the direct 
        treatment or recovery support of patients with or in recovery 
        from a behavioral health or mental health disorder, which may 
        include a physician (with a degree of doctor of medicine or 
        doctor of osteopathy), a psychiatric nurse, a social worker, a 
        marriage and family therapist, a mental health counselor, an 
        occupational therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a child 
        and adolescent psychiatrist, or a neurologist.''; and
            (7) in subsection (j), by striking ``$25,000,000 for each 
        of fiscal years 2019 through 2023'' and inserting 
        ``$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032''.
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