[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6302 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6302

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to respond to the shortage of 
          allied health professionals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2020

Mr. Cicilline introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to respond to the shortage of 
          allied health professionals, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Allied Health Personnel Shortage Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. RESPONSE TO SHORTAGE OF ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.

    (a) Scholarships and Loan Repayments.--The Public Health Service 
Act is amended by inserting after section 755 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
294e) the following:

``SEC. 755A. SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR ALLIED HEALTH 
              PROFESSIONALS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program of 
entering into agreements with individuals under which--
            ``(1) the Secretary agrees--
                    ``(A) to award a scholarship to the individual to 
                pursue a degree in a science relating to health care at 
                a school of allied health; or
                    ``(B) to pay the principal, interest, and related 
                expenses on government and commercial loans received by 
                the individual to pursue such a degree at a school of 
                allied health; and
            ``(2) the individual agrees to complete a period of 
        obligated service as an allied health professional in--
                    ``(A) a health professional shortage area 
                designated under section 332; or
                    ``(B) an area designated by the Secretary for 
                purpose of this section as having a shortage of allied 
                health professionals.
    ``(b) Applicable Provisions.--The Secretary shall model--
            ``(1) the scholarship program under subsection (a) on the 
        provisions applicable to the National Health Service Corps 
        Scholarship Program under subpart III of part D of title III; 
        and
            ``(2) the loan repayment program under subsection (a) on 
        the provisions applicable to the National Health Service Corps 
        Loan Repayment Program under such subpart.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2021 through 2025.''.
    (b) Response to Shortage of Qualifying Allied Health 
Professionals.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, in collaboration with the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs, shall--
                    (A) identify categories of qualifying allied health 
                professionals which are in shortage; and
                    (B) annually publish a list of such categories in 
                the Federal Register.
            (2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) The term ``allied health professional'' has the 
                meaning given to the term ``allied health 
                professionals'' in section 799B(5) of the Public Health 
                Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(5)).
                    (B) The term ``qualifying allied health 
                professional'' means an allied health professional who 
                is authorized to provide health care services under the 
                Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social 
                Security Act and under the Medicaid programs under 
                title XIX of such Act.
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