II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1403 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to award grants to accredited public institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 2, 2023 Mr. MULLIN (for himself and Ms. ROSEN) 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 establish a grant program to award grants to accredited public institutions of higher education, 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 ‘‘Medical Student Edu- 4 cation Authorization Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1403 IS SEC. 2. EDUCATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT PRIMARY 1 HEALTH CARE FOR MEDICALLY UNDER- 2 SERVED COMMUNITIES. 3 Part B of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 293 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 5 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 742. EDUCATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT PRIMARY 7 HEALTH CARE FOR MEDICALLY UNDER- 8 SERVED COMMUNITIES. 9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 10 through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 11 Services Administration, shall establish a grant program 12 to award grants to accredited public institutions of higher 13 education to carry out the activities described in sub- 14 section (d) for the purposes of— 15 ‘‘(1) expanding and supporting education for 16 medical students who are preparing to become physi- 17 cians; and 18 ‘‘(2) preparing and encouraging each such stu- 19 dent trained by a grantee to serve in a Tribal, rural, 20 or medically underserved community as a primary 21 care physician after completing residency training. 22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible to receive 23 a grant under this section, an accredited public institution 24 of higher education shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1403 IS ‘‘(1) be located in a State that is in the top 1 quintile of States by a projected shortage of primary 2 care physicians, as determined by the Secretary; and 3 ‘‘(2) submit an application to the Secretary at 4 such time, in such manner, and containing such in- 5 formation as the Secretary may require, that in- 6 cludes— 7 ‘‘(A) a certification that such institution 8 will use amounts provided to the institution 9 through the grant to carry out the activities de- 10 scribed in subsection (d); and 11 ‘‘(B) a description of how such institution 12 will carry out such activities. 13 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 14 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to accredited public 15 institutions of higher education that meet the eligibility 16 requirements of subsection (b) and— 17 ‘‘(1) are located in a State with not fewer than 18 2 Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations (as such 19 terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-De- 20 termination and Education Assistance Act); and 21 ‘‘(2) have established, or demonstrate plans to 22 establish, a public-private partnership that supports 23 the purposes described in subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1403 IS ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 1 a grant under this section shall, as appropriate, use the 2 funds made available under such grant to carry out the 3 following activities: 4 ‘‘(1) Support or expand community-based and 5 experiential training for medical students who will 6 practice in or serve Tribal, rural, and medically un- 7 derserved communities. 8 ‘‘(2) Develop and operate programs to train 9 medical students in the provision of primary care 10 services, which may include developing training pro- 11 grams and activities that— 12 ‘‘(A) emphasize care for Tribal, rural, or 13 medically underserved communities; 14 ‘‘(B) are applicable to primary care prac- 15 tice with respect to individuals from Tribal, 16 rural, or medically underserved communities; 17 ‘‘(C) support the use of telehealth tech- 18 nologies and practices; 19 ‘‘(D) integrate mental health and sub- 20 stance use disorder care into primary care prac- 21 tice, including prevention and treatment of 22 opioid use disorders and other substance use 23 disorders; and 24 ‘‘(E) promote interdisciplinary training. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1403 IS ‘‘(3) Increase the capacity of faculty to develop 1 and operate programs described in paragraph (2). 2 ‘‘(4) Develop or expand strategic partnerships, 3 such as public-private partnerships, to improve 4 health outcomes for individuals from Tribal, rural, 5 and medically underserved communities, which part- 6 nerships may include— 7 ‘‘(A) federally recognized Tribes, Tribal 8 Colleges or Universities (as such term is defined 9 in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 10 1965), and Tribal organizations (as such term 11 is defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter- 12 mination and Education Assistance Act); 13 ‘‘(B) Federally-qualified health centers; 14 ‘‘(C) rural health clinics; 15 ‘‘(D) health facilities or programs operated 16 by or in accordance with a contract or grant 17 with the Indian Health Service; and 18 ‘‘(E) primary care clinics. 19 ‘‘(5) Develop a plan, as appropriate, for fol- 20 lowup with graduates, including with respect to spe- 21 cialties, as applicable. 22 ‘‘(6) Develop, implement, and evaluate methods 23 to improve recruitment and retention of medical stu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1403 IS dents from Tribal, rural, and medically underserved 1 communities. 2 ‘‘(7) Train and support instructors to serve 3 Tribal, rural, and medically underserved commu- 4 nities. 5 ‘‘(8) Prepare medical students for transition 6 into primary care residency training and future 7 practice. 8 ‘‘(9) Provide scholarships to medical students. 9 ‘‘(e) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant under this section 10 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 11 ‘‘(f) GRANT AMOUNT.—Each fiscal year, the amount 12 of a grant made to an eligible entity under this section 13 shall be not less than $1,000,000. 14 ‘‘(g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 15 shall, as appropriate, require that an eligible entity receiv- 16 ing a grant under this section provide non-Federal match- 17 ing funds, which may be in cash or in kind, in an amount 18 equal to or greater than 10 percent of the total amount 19 of Federal funds provided through the grant each fiscal 20 year. 21 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 22 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1403 IS $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 1 2025.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1403.IS S1403 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB