Senate HELP Committee Releases Health Workforce Bills
Published July 26, 2023
By AACOM Government Relations
Advocacy Federal Policy GME Healthcare Workforce OME Advocate
- On Wednesday, July, 19, 2023, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released draft text for the Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act.
- The bill includes many provisions relevant to the OME community, including:
- Reauthorizing the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Program, increasing funding to $264 million in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and up to $519 million by FY28;
- Creating 10,000 new Medicare GME positions over five years with 25 percent reserved for primary care;
- Funding the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program through FY28;
- Establishing team-based primary care team education centers; and
- Awarding grants to entities, including osteopathic medical schools, to support palliative care training.
- This bill follows Senator Cassidy’s (R-LA) introduction of the Community Health Care Reauthorization Act on July 13. Senator Cassidy’s legislation mirrors the PATIENT Act, which the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed in May. The legislation raises THCGME funding to $175 million in FY24 up to $275 million in FY25 and provides two-year funding extensions for Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps.
- For more information on the bill, see the section-by-section summary and bill text. AACOM will provide a complete analysis following the upcoming markup.