Professional’s Access to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3732 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for career support for skilled internationally educated health professionals. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for career support for skilled inter- nationally educated health professionals. 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 ‘‘Professional’s Access 4 to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAREER SUPPORT FOR SKILLED, INTERNATION- 6 ALLY EDUCATED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. 7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 8 (1) According to the Association of Schools of 9 Public Health, projections indicate a nationwide 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3732 IH shortage of up to 250,000 public health workers 1 needed by 2020. 2 (2) Similar trends are projected for other health 3 professions indicating shortages across disciplines, 4 including within the fields of nursing (500,000 by 5 2025), dentistry (15,000 by 2025), pharmacy 6 (38,000 by 2030), mental and behavioral health, pri- 7 mary care (46,000 by 2025), and community and al- 8 lied health. 9 (3) A nationwide health workforce shortage will 10 result in serious health threats and more severe and 11 costly health care needs, due to, in part, a delayed 12 response to food-borne outbreaks, emerging infec- 13 tious diseases, natural disasters, fewer cancer 14 screenings, and delayed treatment. 15 (4) Vulnerable and underserved populations and 16 health professional shortage areas will be most se- 17 verely impacted by the health workforce shortage. 18 (5) According to the Migration Policy Institute, 19 over 2,000,000 college-educated immigrants in the 20 United States today are unemployed or under- 21 employed in low- or semi-skilled jobs that fail to 22 draw on their education and expertise. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3732 IH (6) Approximately 2 out of every 5 internation- 1 ally educated immigrants are unemployed or under- 2 employed. 3 (7) According to Drexel University Center for 4 Labor Markets and Policy, underemployment for 5 internationally educated immigrant women is 28 per- 6 cent higher than for their male counterparts. 7 (8) According to the Drexel University Center 8 for labor markets and policy, the mean annual earn- 9 ings of underemployed immigrants was $32,000, or 10 43 percent less than United States-born college 11 graduates employed in the college labor market. 12 (9) According to Upwardly Global and the Wel- 13 come Back Initiative, with proper guidance and sup- 14 port, underemployed skilled immigrants typically in- 15 crease their income by 215 percent to 900 percent. 16 (10) According to the Brookings Institution and 17 the Partnership for a New American Economy, im- 18 migrants working in the health workforce are, on av- 19 erage, better educated than United States-born 20 workers in the health workforce. 21 (b) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 22 (1) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE GRANTS.—The 23 Secretary of Health and Human Services acting 24 through the Bureau of Health Workforce within the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3732 IH Health Resources and Services Administration, the 1 National Institute on Minority Health and Health 2 Disparities, or the Office of Minority Health (in this 3 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may award 4 grants to eligible entities to carry out activities de- 5 scribed in subsection (c). 6 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 7 grant under this section, an entity shall— 8 (A) be a clinical, public health, or health 9 services organization, a community-based or 10 nonprofit entity, an academic institution, a 11 faith-based organization, a State, county, or 12 local government, an Area Health Education 13 Center, or another entity determined appro- 14 priate by the Secretary; and 15 (B) submit to the Secretary an application 16 at such time, in such manner, and containing 17 such information as the Secretary may require. 18 (c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A grant awarded 19 under this section shall be used— 20 (1) to provide services to assist unemployed and 21 underemployed skilled immigrants, residing in the 22 United States, who have legal, permanent work au- 23 thorization and who are internationally educated 24 health professionals, enter into the American health 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3732 IH workforce with employment matching their health 1 professional skills and education, and advance in em- 2 ployment to positions that better match their health 3 professional education and expertise; 4 (2) to provide training opportunities to reduce 5 barriers to entry and advancement in the health 6 workforce for skilled, internationally educated immi- 7 grants; 8 (3) to educate employers regarding the abilities 9 and capacities of internationally educated health 10 professionals; 11 (4) to assist in the evaluation of foreign creden- 12 tials; and 13 (5) to facilitate access to contextualized and ac- 14 celerated courses on English as a second language. 15 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘health professional’’ means an 17 individual trained for employment or intended em- 18 ployment in the field of public health, health man- 19 agement, dentistry, health administration, medicine, 20 nursing, pharmacy, psychology, social work, psychi- 21 atry, other mental and behavioral health, allied 22 health, community health or wellness work, including 23 fitness and nutrition, or other fields as determined 24 appropriate by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3732 IH (2) The term ‘‘underemployed’’ means being 1 employed at less skilled tasks than an employee’s 2 training or abilities would otherwise permit. 3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 6 2024 through 2028. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Jun 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB