Investment in Tomorrow’s Pediatric Health Care Workforce Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2443 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for investment in tomorrow’s pediatric health care workforce. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for investment in tomorrow’s pediatric health care workforce. 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 ‘‘Investment in Tomor- 4 row’s Pediatric Health Care Workforce Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INVESTMENT IN TOMORROW’S PEDIATRIC HEALTH 6 CARE WORKFORCE. 7 Section 775 of the Public Health Service Act (42 8 U.S.C. 295f) is amended to read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2443 IS ‘‘SEC. 775. INVESTMENT IN TOMORROW’S PEDIATRIC 1 HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 3 and carry out a program of entering into pediatric spe- 4 cialty loan repayment agreements with qualified health 5 professionals under which— 6 ‘‘(1) the qualified health professional agrees to 7 a period of not less than 2 years of obligated service 8 during which the professional will— 9 ‘‘(A) participate in an accredited pediatric 10 medical subspecialty, pediatric surgical spe- 11 cialty, child and adolescent psychiatry sub- 12 specialty, or child and adolescent mental and 13 behavioral health residency or fellowship; or 14 ‘‘(B) be employed full-time in providing pe- 15 diatric medical subspecialty care, pediatric sur- 16 gical specialty care, child and adolescent psychi- 17 atry subspecialty care, or child and adolescent 18 mental and behavioral health care, including 19 substance use disorder prevention and treat- 20 ment services, in an area with— 21 ‘‘(i) a shortage of health care profes- 22 sionals practicing in the pediatric medical 23 subspecialty, the pediatric surgical spe- 24 cialty, the child and adolescent psychiatry 25 subspecialty, or child and adolescent men- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2443 IS tal and behavioral health, as applicable; 1 and 2 ‘‘(ii) a sufficient pediatric population, 3 as determined by the Secretary, to support 4 the addition of a practitioner in the pedi- 5 atric medical subspecialty, the pediatric 6 surgical specialty, the child and adolescent 7 psychiatry subspecialty, or child and ado- 8 lescent mental and behavioral health, as 9 applicable; and 10 ‘‘(2) the Secretary agrees to make payments on 11 the principal and interest of undergraduate, grad- 12 uate, or graduate medical education loans of the 13 qualified health professional of not more than 14 $35,000 a year for each year of agreed upon service 15 under paragraph (1) for a period of not more than 16 3 years. 17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) PEDIATRIC MEDICAL SPECIALISTS AND PE- 19 DIATRIC SURGICAL SPECIALISTS.—For purposes of 20 loan repayment agreements under this section with 21 respect to pediatric medical subspecialty and pedi- 22 atric surgical specialty practitioners, the term ‘quali- 23 fied health professional’ means a licensed physician 24 who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2443 IS ‘‘(A) is entering or receiving training in an 1 accredited pediatric medical subspecialty or pe- 2 diatric surgical subspecialty residency or fellow- 3 ship; or 4 ‘‘(B) has completed (but not prior to the 5 end of the calendar year in which the Invest- 6 ment in Tomorrow’s Pediatric Health Care 7 Workforce Act is enacted) the training de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (A). 9 ‘‘(2) CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY 10 AND MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH.—For pur- 11 poses of loan repayment agreements under this sec- 12 tion with respect to child and adolescent mental and 13 behavioral health care, the term ‘qualified health 14 professional’ means a health care professional who— 15 ‘‘(A) has received specialized training or 16 clinical experience in child and adolescent men- 17 tal health in psychiatry, psychology, school psy- 18 chology, or psychiatric nursing; 19 ‘‘(B) has a license or certification in a 20 State to practice allopathic medicine, osteo- 21 pathic medicine, psychology, school psychology, 22 or psychiatric nursing; or 23 ‘‘(C) is a mental health service professional 24 who has completed (but not before the end of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2443 IS the calendar year in which the Investment in 1 Tomorrow’s Pediatric Health Care Workforce 2 Act is enacted) specialized training or clinical 3 experience in child and adolescent mental health 4 described in subparagraph (A). 5 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 6 MENTS.—The Secretary may not enter into a loan 7 repayment agreement under this section with a 8 qualified health professional unless— 9 ‘‘(A) the professional agrees to work in, or 10 for a provider serving, an area or community 11 with a shortage of eligible qualified health pro- 12 fessionals (as defined in paragraphs (1) and 13 (2)); 14 ‘‘(B) the professional is a United States 15 citizen, a permanent legal United States resi- 16 dent, or lawfully present in the United States; 17 and 18 ‘‘(C) if the professional is enrolled in a 19 graduate program, the program is accredited, 20 and the professional has an acceptable level of 21 academic standing (as determined by the Sec- 22 retary). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2443 IS ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In entering into loan repayment 1 agreements under this section, the Secretary shall give pri- 2 ority to applicants who— 3 ‘‘(1) have familiarity with evidence-based meth- 4 ods and cultural and linguistic competence in health 5 care services; and 6 ‘‘(2) demonstrate financial need. 7 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 8 are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 9 2020 through 2024— 10 ‘‘(1) $30,000,000 to carry out this section with 11 respect to loan repayment agreements with qualified 12 health professionals described in subsection (b)(1); 13 and 14 ‘‘(2) $20,000,000 to carry out this section with 15 respect to loan repayment agreements with respect 16 to qualified health professionals described in sub- 17 section (b)(2).’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Sep 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS