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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9812 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9812
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to
States to establish, increase the availability of, and improve access
to, qualified health care programs to increase and strengthen the
health care workforce in such States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 25, 2024
Mr. Comer (for himself and Mr. McGarvey) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to
States to establish, increase the availability of, and improve access
to, qualified health care programs to increase and strengthen the
health care workforce in such States.
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 ``Health Care Workforce Investment
Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress to address the Nation's shortage of a
broad spectrum of health care professionals, including direct support
professionals, nurses, mental health professionals, nurse aides, and
emergency medical services professionals by incentivizing collaboration
between health care programs, health care industry partners, and States
to grow and strengthen the education and training pipeline of health
care professionals within the Nation to better serve patients and
families by:
(1) Improving the ability of a broad variety of health care
programs to meet the workforce demands and capacity of the
States, including the workforce demands of historically
underserved areas.
(2) Raising awareness of an interest in a broad variety of
health care occupations and reducing the barriers of access to
the health care programs necessary to pursue these occupations,
including financial barriers.
(3) Improving pathways between high school career and
technical programs and other health care programs.
(4) Developing strategies for health care organizations and
educational and training programs to support career growth and
development for their employees and for students.
SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall award grants to
States to establish and implement a State Health Care Workforce
Improvement Plan (in this section referred to as the ``Workforce
Plan'') to increase and strengthen the health care workforce in such
States.
(b) Workforce Plans.--
(1) In general.--A State seeking a grant under this section
shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner
as specified by the Secretary, a Workforce Plan containing the
following information:
(A) A description of the State Health Care
Workforce Council (in accordance with subsection
(c)(1)(A)) designated by such State to administer such
Workforce Plan.
(B) The means by which such Council will
incentivize and establish public-private partnerships
with program partners (as defined in subsection (e)(3))
to provide education and training that will--
(i) raise awareness of, and interest in,
careers in health care;
(ii) improve pathways between high school
career, technical programs, and other qualified
health care programs (as defined in subsection
(c)(2)(A)(i));
(iii) increase the availability of, and
improve access to, such qualified health care
programs;
(iv) reduce barriers to accessing such
qualified health care programs, including
financial barriers to enrolling in such
programs; and
(v) assist employers in the health care
industry in supporting career growth and
development for employees.
(C) The method by which such qualified health care
programs will be evaluated, including--
(i) the benchmarks and improvement
activities used to identify and reduce
disparities in access to, and the utilization
of, such programs; and
(ii) adequate safeguards to ensure that
such programs are invested in the continuing
excellence of such programs, including the
education, recruitment, and training of health
care program faculty and staff, and the
maintenance and acquisition of medical
equipment utilized by such program.
(D) The State's plan (if any) to implement an
income tax credit (or other tax credit) for program
partners.
(2) Publication of approved workforce plans.--The Secretary
shall make publicly available on an internet website of the
Department of Health and Human Services each approved Workforce
Plan.
(c) Administration of Workforce Plans.--
(1) Administration and funding.--
(A) State health care workforce council.--Each
State shall establish (or appoint as existing body to
serve as) a State Health Care Workforce Council (in
this section referred to as the ``Council'') to
administer the Workforce Plan. Such Council shall--
(i) establish and maintain the State Health
Care Workforce Investment Fund (as described in
subparagraph (B));
(ii) provide for education and training
opportunities through qualified health care
programs (as described in paragraph (2)(A));
(iii) evaluate such programs and provide
incentives to successful programs; and
(iv) provide scholarships to eligible
individuals to reduce financial barriers to
accessing such programs (in accordance with the
requirements under paragraph (2)(B)).
(B) Health care workforce investment fund.--Each
Council shall establish a State Health Care Workforce
Investment Fund (in this section referred to as the
``Fund'') for the purpose of funding the activities
described in the Workforce Plan, including--
(i) providing funding for new or
established qualified health care programs;
(ii) establishing and supporting
scholarships for eligible individuals seeking
to enroll in such qualified health care
programs to reduce financial barriers for such
individuals;
(iii) providing incentives to reward
successful qualified health care programs (in
accordance with paragraph (2)(A)(iii));
(iv) supporting related administrative
research, consulting, planning, and analysis of
the health care workforce needs within such
State; and
(v) encouraging investment in the Fund from
private, financial, and philanthropic
organizations to implement the work described
in the Workforce Plan.
(2) Workforce plan components.--
(A) Qualified health care program.--
(i) Qualified health care program
defined.--In this section, the term ``qualified
health care program'' means an educational or
training program, including a high school
health care vocational program, that is
required to obtain or maintain employment or a
professional credential or license for a career
in a hospital or other health care setting.
(ii) Criteria.--In order to receive funding
from a Council, a qualified health care program
must--
(I) target the specific needs of
historically underserved areas (as
defined in subsection (e)(2));
(II) demonstrate how such program
will benefit the workforce demands and
capacity in underserved areas; and
(III) assist eligible individuals
in meeting some or all of the
requirements for a certificate,
training, or license in health care
issued by a State.
(iii) Incentives for successful programs.--
A Council may award additional financial
incentives to eligible individuals for programs
that demonstrate an increase or other
improvement in--
(I) the number of such individuals
completing such program;
(II) the passage rate, particularly
the first-time passage rate, on any
State, health care, credential,
examination by graduates of such
program;
(III) the ability of such qualified
health care programs to meet the
workforce demands of the communities
such programs serve; and
(IV) any other objective factors as
determined by such Council.
(B) Scholarships.--
(i) In general.--The Council, in accordance
with clause (ii), may award scholarships to
eligible individuals for purposes of enrolling
in a qualified health care program.
(ii) Conditions for award.--In awarding
scholarships under the Workforce Plan, the
Council shall--
(I) award not more than two 1-year
scholarships to an eligible individual;
and
(II) require that such eligible
individual--
(aa) submit written proof
of enrollment in a qualified
health care program to the
Council prior to receipt of
such scholarship funds;
(bb) upon completion of
such program, work as a
trained, licensed, or certified
health care provider (in
accordance with State law) in
the State in which such program
was conducted, for a period of
not less than 1 year for each
academic year for which a
scholarship was provided; and
(cc) sign a promissory note
agreeing to repay the amount of
the scholarship awarded upon
failure to complete the
requirement under item (bb).
(d) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) Council report.--Not later than December 31, 2024, and
annually thereafter, each Council shall submit to the Secretary
a report on the activities undertaken in accordance with the
Workforce Plan, including--
(A) a detailed accounting of all monies raised and
expended by the Fund, including the sources and
recipients of such monies;
(B) the amount of funds spent to conduct each
activity under such Workforce Plan;
(C) data and descriptive information related to the
scholarships awarded pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(B),
including--
(i) the criteria used to award such
scholarships;
(ii) the number of scholarships awarded and
the amount of each such scholarship; and
(iii) the State and county of residence (or
equivalent) of each scholarship recipient;
(D) data and descriptive information with respect
to each qualified health care program receiving funds
under this section, including--
(i) which such programs have received
incentives pursuant to subsection
(c)(2)(A)(iii);
(ii) the overall graduation, workforce
participation, and retention rates for each
such program; and
(iii) the graduation, workforce
participation, and retention rates for eligible
individuals enrolled in each such program,
disaggregated by those eligible individuals who
received a scholarship pursuant to subsection
(c)(2)(B) and those who did not;
(E) the number of eligible individuals practicing
or employed in the health care field in a respective
State, including the training, licensure, or credential
of such individual; and
(F) any other data demonstrating the need for
professionals with such training, licensures, or
credentials in such State.
(2) Report to congress.--Not later than June 1, 2025, and
annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
report, including--
(A) the information submitted by each Council under
paragraph (1); and
(B) any other information as determined by the
Secretary, including information ensuring compliance
with this section and accountability with respect to
any Federal funds disbursed under a Workforce Plan.
(e) Other Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Eligible individual.--The term ``eligible individual''
means an individual enrolling in a qualified health care
program to pursue or advance a career in health care.
(2) Historically underserved county or region.--The term
``historically underserved county or region'' means a county or
a region of a State in which, for the 5 years immediately
preceding such State's application under subsection (b)--
(A) objective data with the respect to the health
care workforce in such State demonstrates the needs and
demands of a State's health care workforce that exceed
the average for such State during such years; and
(B) unemployment among health care providers as
calculated by the Department of Labor of a State
demonstrating a countywide or regional rate of
unemployment which exceeds statewide unemployment in
such State.
(3) Program partner.--The term ``program partner'' means an
individual or an entity that gifts, grants, or donates monies
to a State's Fund, and that is--
(A) a health care provider (as defined in
accordance with State law);
(B) a licensed health care facility operating in
such State; or
(C) a business, corporation, or health care
association doing business in, and incorporated under,
the laws of such State.
(f) Funding.--
(1) In general.--Amounts in the Medicare Improvement Fund
established under section 1898 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395iii(a)) shall be available, as provided in advance
in appropriation Acts, to carry out this section.
(2) State limitation.--A State with an approved Workforce
Plan under this section shall be eligible to receive an amount
not to exceed 50 percent of the amount of the State
appropriated match to the State Fund established under this
section.
(3) Overall limitation.--In no case shall the aggregate
amount made available under paragraph (1) exceed 25 percent of
the amount of the combined annual appropriations of the Nurse
Corps Scholarship Program and the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment
Program authorized pursuant to section 846 of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297n).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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