Physician Assistant Higher Education Modernization Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2274 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve education opportunities for physician assistants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 29, 2021 Ms. BASS (for herself and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve education opportunities for physician assistants, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Physician Assistant 4 Higher Education Modernization Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2274 IH SEC. 2. REINSTATEMENT OF AUTHORITY TO MAKE FED- 1 ERAL DIRECT SUBSIDIZED STAFFORD LOANS 2 TO PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS AND OTHER 3 GRADUATE HEALTH PROFESSIONS STU- 4 DENTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(a)(3) of the Higher 6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)(3)) is amend- 7 ed by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the fol- 8 lowing new subparagraph: 9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 10 shall not apply to— 11 ‘‘(i) an individual enrolled in course 12 work specified in paragraph (3)(B) or 13 (4)(B) of 484(b); or 14 ‘‘(ii) a graduate student in a— 15 ‘‘(I) physician assistant education 16 program (as defined in section 799B 17 of the Public Health Service Act (42 18 U.S.C. 295p)); or 19 ‘‘(II) any other health professions 20 program, as determined by the Sec- 21 retary.’’. 22 (b) INAPPLICABILITY OF TITLE IV NEGOTIATED 23 RULEMAKING AND MASTER CALENDAR EXCEPTION.— 24 Sections 482(c) and 492 of the Higher Education Act of 25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c), 1098a) shall not apply to the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2274 IH amendments made by this section, or to any regulations 1 promulgated under those amendments. 2 SEC. 3. MAKING PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS ELIGIBLE FOR IN- 3 CENTIVES WHEN SERVING AS PRIMARY CARE 4 PROVIDERS OR FACULTY MEMBERS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 428K of the Higher Edu- 6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(19) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS.—The individual 10 is a physician assistant employed full-time— 11 ‘‘(A) as a physician assistant in a clinical 12 setting providing primary care services; or 13 ‘‘(B) as a member of the physician assist- 14 ant faculty at a physician assistant education 15 program (as defined in section 799B of the 16 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)).’’; 17 (2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(11) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT.—The term ‘phy- 20 sician assistant’ means an individual who— 21 ‘‘(A) graduated from a physician assistant 22 education program (as defined in section 799B 23 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 24 295p)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2274 IH ‘‘(B) is certified as a physician assistant by 1 the National Commission on the Certification of 2 Physician Assistants or any successor organiza- 3 tion; and 4 ‘‘(C) either— 5 ‘‘(i) holds a valid and unrestricted li- 6 cense to practice medicine as a physician 7 assistant in the State in which the physi- 8 cian assistant practices in a clinical set- 9 ting; or 10 ‘‘(ii) is qualified for licensure in the 11 State where the individual is employed as 12 a full-time physician assistant faculty 13 member of a physician assistant education 14 program (as defined in section 799B of the 15 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 16 295p)).’’; and 17 (3) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 18 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2022’’. 19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply with respect to employment occur- 21 ring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2274 IH SEC. 4. GRANT ELIGIBILITY FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT 1 PROGRAMS AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COL- 2 LEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND PREDOMI- 3 NANTLY BLACK INSTITUTIONS. 4 (a) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVER- 5 SITIES.—Section 723 of the Higher Education Act of 6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1136a) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘physician 8 assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; 9 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘physi- 10 cian assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; and 11 (3) in subsection (d)— 12 (A) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘physi- 13 cian assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; 14 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ 15 at the end; 16 (C) by redesignating paragraph (12) as 17 paragraph (13); and 18 (D) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(12) in the case of a grant for a physician as- 21 sistant education program (as defined in section 22 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 295p))— 24 ‘‘(A) creating or improving facilities for 25 internet or other distance education tech- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2274 IH nologies, including purchase or rental of tele- 1 communications technology equipment or serv- 2 ices; and 3 ‘‘(B) collaborating with other institutions 4 of higher education to expand postbaccalaureate 5 degree offerings; and’’. 6 (b) PREDOMINANTLY BLACK INSTITUTIONS.—Sec- 7 tion 724 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 1136b) is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘physician 10 assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; 11 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by inserting ‘‘physi- 12 cian assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; and 13 (3) in subsection (d)— 14 (A) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘physi- 15 cian assistant studies,’’ after ‘‘allied health,’’; 16 (B) by redesignating paragraph (12) as 17 paragraph (13); and 18 (C) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(12) in the case of a grant for a physician as- 21 sistant education program (as defined in section 22 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 295p))— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2274 IH ‘‘(A) creating or improving facilities for 1 internet or other distance education tech- 2 nologies, including purchase or rental of tele- 3 communications technology equipment or serv- 4 ices; and 5 ‘‘(B) collaborating with other institutions 6 of higher education to expand postbaccalaureate 7 degree offerings; and’’. 8 (c) EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 9 TIONS.—Subsections (a) and (b) of section 725 of the 10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1136c) are each 11 amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘fis- 12 cal year 2022’’. 13 SEC. 5. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT POSTBACCALAUREATE OP- 14 PORTUNITIES FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 514 of the Higher Edu- 16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1102c) is amended by add- 17 ing at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT EDU- 19 CATION PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall give preference 20 to an application by an eligible institution for a grant 21 under this part that demonstrates that the grant funds 22 awarded under this part will be used to support physician 23 assistant education programs (as defined in section 799B 24 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2274 IH (b) EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 1 TIONS.—Section 528(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act 2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1103g(a)(2)) is amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘$100,000,000 for fiscal year 4 2009 and’’; and 5 (2) by inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2022 and’’ after 6 ‘‘such sums as may be necessary for’’. 7 SEC. 6. SUPPORTING STUDENT MATRICULATION AND PHY- 8 SICIAN ASSISTANT EDUCATION PROGRAMS 9 AT RURAL SERVING INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH- 10 ER EDUCATION. 11 Section 861 of part Q of title VIII of the Higher Edu- 12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161q) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (f)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘three of the following 15 four’’ and inserting ‘‘four of the following five’’; 16 and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(5) To improve health workforce distribution 19 in rural areas by supporting health professions stu- 20 dent matriculation or the development of new health 21 professions programs, including physician assistant 22 education programs (as defined in section 799B of 23 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)).’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2274 IH (2) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2022’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS