I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5654 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to institutions 

of higher education for the establishment of schools of medicine (or 

branch campuses) in underserved areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2020 

Mr. COSTA (for himself, Mr. COX of California, and Mr. HARDER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants 

to institutions of higher education for the establishment 

of schools of medicine (or branch campuses) in underserved areas, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Medical 

5 Education Act of 2020’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR NEW SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE IN UN2 DERSERVED AREAS. 

3 Subpart II of part C of title VII of the Public Health 

4 Service Act is amended by inserting after section 749B 

5 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 293m) the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 749C. NEW SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE IN UNDERSERVED 

7 AREAS. 

8 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the 

9 Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad10 ministration, may award grants to institutions of higher 

11 education (including multiple institutions of higher edu12 cation applying jointly) for the establishment of a school 

13 of medicine, or a branch campus of a school of medicine, 

14 in an area that— 

15 ‘‘(1) is a combined statistical area with a popu16 lation of over 1,000,000, as of the July 1, 2018, ac17 cording to the estimate of population by the Bureau 

18 of the Census; and 

19 ‘‘(2) has no school of medicine based in the 

20 area. 

21 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 

22 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to institutions 

23 of higher education that— 

24 ‘‘(1) propose to use the grant to establish a 

25 school of medicine, or a branch campus of a school 

26 of medicine, in a combined statistical area with 

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1 fewer than 200 actively practicing physicians per 

2 100,000 residents according to the medical board (or 

3 boards) of the State (or States) involved; and 

4 ‘‘(2) have a curriculum that emphasizes care for 

5 diverse and underserved populations. 

6 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—The activities for which a 

7 grant under this section may be used include— 

8 ‘‘(1) planning and constructing a new school of 

9 medicine or branch campus described in subsection 

10 (a); 

11 ‘‘(2) accreditation and planning activities for 

12 such new school of medicine or branch campus; 

13 ‘‘(3) hiring faculty and other staff to serve at 

14 such new school of medicine or branch campus; 

15 ‘‘(4) recruitment and enrollment of students at 

16 such new school of medicine or branch campus; 

17 ‘‘(5) supporting educational programs at such 

18 new school of medicine or branch campus; and 

19 ‘‘(6) other efforts that the Secretary may deter20 mine further the development and expansion of a 

21 new school of medicine or branch campus. 

22 ‘‘(d) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

23 under this section shall not exceed $10,000,000 for any 

24 fiscal year. 

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1 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may 

2 not award a grant to an applicant under this section un3 less such applicant agrees that, with respect to costs to 

4 be incurred by the applicant in carrying out activities for 

5 which the grant was awarded, the applicant will contribute 

6 (directly or through donations from public or private enti7 ties) non-Federal contributions in cash or in-kind, in an 

8 amount equal to not less than $1 for each $1 of Federal 

9 funds provided through the grant. 

10 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘branch campus’ means a geo12 graphically separate site at least 100 miles from the 

13 main campus of a school of medicine where at least 

14 one student completes at least 60 percent of the stu15 dent’s training leading to a degree of doctor of medi16 cine. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

18 has the meaning given to such term in section 

19 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

20 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

21 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro22 priated $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

23 2025, to remain available until expended.’’. 

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