Physician Assistant Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1686 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide loan repayment incentives for physician assistants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 12, 2019 Ms. BASS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide loan repayment incentives 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 Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 6 FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS. 7 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 8 ing after section 749A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 293l–1) 9 the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1686.IH H1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1686 IH ‘‘SEC. 749A–1. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNI- 1 TIES. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 3 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 4 Administration, shall award grants to physician assistant 5 education programs to establish or expand clinical edu- 6 cation and training for physician assistants at underserved 7 sites including Federally qualified health centers, critical 8 access hospitals, and rural health clinics. 9 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION FOR RURAL SITES.—Of the 10 amount made available to carry out this section for a fiscal 11 year, the Secretary shall allocate 50 percent of such 12 amount for clinical education and training at underserved 13 sites that are located in rural areas. 14 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 15 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to physician assist- 16 ant education programs proposing to establish or expand 17 clinical rotations for physician assistants in pediatrics, 18 women’s health, or behavioral health. 19 ‘‘(d) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 20 shall— 21 ‘‘(1) not later than March 1, 2022, submit an 22 interim report to the Congress on the implementa- 23 tion of this section; and 24 ‘‘(2) not later than March 1, 2025, submit a 25 final report to the Congress on such implementation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1686.IH H1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1686 IH ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 1 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 2 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 3 2024.’’. 4 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PRIMARY CARE TRAINING 5 AND ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS. 6 Section 747(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 7 U.S.C. 293k(c)) is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘2014’’ 9 the following: ‘‘and each of fiscal years 2020 10 through 2024’’; and 11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Fifteen’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘At least 15’’. 13 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT 14 EDUCATION. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 16 Human Services shall provide grants to eligible entities to 17 fund eligible researchers to increase research on physician 18 assistant education. 19 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a grant 20 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli- 21 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 22 information as the Secretary may require. 23 (c) CONDITION OF RECEIPT.—As a condition of re- 24 ceipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1686.IH H1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1686 IH year award not fewer than eight eligible researchers funds 1 to support physician assistant education research. 2 (d) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—An entity receiving a 3 grant under this section shall provide to the Secretary 4 with respect to each year that such entity receives funds 5 under this section a report on the activities conducted 6 using such funds, including— 7 (1) the number of researchers supported during 8 such year by such entity using such funds; 9 (2) a list of the researchers counted under 10 paragraph (1), organized by researcher, including— 11 (A) the institution such researcher is affili- 12 ated with; and 13 (B) the research topic of such researcher; 14 (3) citations to published clinical and scientific 15 research by researchers described in paragraph (1) 16 that is attributable to support under this section; 17 (4) an evaluation of the benefits of grants 18 under this section; and 19 (5) any other information the Secretary may re- 20 quest. 21 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 23 ty’’ means an organization that— 24 (A) is a non-profit organization; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1686.IH H1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1686 IH (B) has demonstrated expertise in physi- 1 cian assistant education and faculty develop- 2 ment. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE RESEARCHER.—The term ‘‘eligi- 4 ble researcher’’ means, with respect to an eligible en- 5 tity, a researcher that— 6 (A) has demonstrated expertise in physi- 7 cian assistant education and faculty develop- 8 ment; and 9 (B) at such time and in such manner as 10 such entity may require, provides such entity 11 with a research proposal on improving physician 12 assistant education and faculty development. 13 (3) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT EDUCATION.—The 14 term ‘‘physician assistant education’’ means select- 15 ing, educating, and graduating students in accred- 16 ited graduate physician assistant educational pro- 17 grams. 18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 20 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 22 necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 23 2020 through 2024. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Mar 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1686.IH H1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS