I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9581 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the Substance Use 

Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce Scholarship Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Ms. SALINAS (for herself, Mr. MOLINARO, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, and Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the 

Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Behavioral and 

Mental Health Workforce Scholarship Program, 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 ‘‘STAR Plus Scholar5 ship Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT AND BE2 HAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH WORK3 FORCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part F of title VII of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295h) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 782. SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT AND 

8 BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH WORK9 FORCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

11 through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 

12 Services Administration, (in this section referred to as the 

13 ‘Secretary’) shall establish the Substance Use Disorder 

14 Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Workforce 

15 Scholarship Program (in this section referred to as the 

16 ‘Scholarship Program’) to award scholarships to assure an 

17 adequate supply of individuals in covered employment. 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION; WRITTEN CON19 TRACT.—To be eligible to participate in the Scholarship 

20 Program, an individual must— 

21 ‘‘(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, 

22 as a full-time student— 

23 ‘‘(A) in an accredited (as determined by 

24 the Secretary) educational institution in a 

25 State; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in a course of study or program, of2 fered by such institution and approved by the 

3 Secretary, leading to covered employment; 

4 ‘‘(2) submit an application to participate in the 

5 Scholarship Program; and 

6 ‘‘(3) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

7 time of submittal of such application, a written con8 tract (described in subsection (f)) to accept payment 

9 of a scholarship and to serve (in accordance with 

10 this section) for the applicable period of obligated 

11 service in a mental health professional shortage 

12 area. 

13 ‘‘(c) REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF INFORMATION

14 AND FORMS BY PROSPECTIVE APPLICANT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION AND CON16 TRACT FORMS.—In disseminating application forms 

17 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici18 pate in the Scholarship Program, the Secretary shall 

19 include with such forms— 

20 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li21 abilities of an individual whose application is 

22 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

23 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

24 explanation of the damages to which the United 

25 States is entitled under subsection (j) in the 


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1 case of the individual’s breach of the contract; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) such other information as may be 

4 necessary for the individual to understand the 

5 individual’s prospective participation in the 

6 Scholarship Program, including a statement of 

7 all factors considered in approving applications 

8 for participation in the Scholarship Program 

9 and in approving specific positions and employ10 ers that are eligible for the Scholarship Pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(2) CLARITY; AVAILABILITY.—The application 

13 form, contract form, and all other information fur14 nished by the Secretary under this section shall be 

15 written in a manner calculated to be understood by 

16 the average individual applying to participate in the 

17 Scholarship Program. The Secretary shall make 

18 such application forms, contract forms, and other in19 formation available to individuals desiring to partici20 pate in the Scholarship Program on a date suffi21 ciently early to ensure that such individuals have 

22 adequate time to carefully review and evaluate such 

23 forms and information. 

24 ‘‘(3) EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATIONAL

2 MATERIALS.—The Secretary shall distribute to 

3 health professions schools materials providing 

4 information on the Scholarship Program and 

5 shall encourage the schools to disseminate the 

6 materials to the students of the schools. 

7 ‘‘(B) END OF OBLIGATED SERVICE.— 

8 ‘‘(i) ENCOURAGEMENT TO CONTINUE

9 SERVICE.—In the case of any health pro10 fessional whose period of obligated service 

11 under the Scholarship Program is nearing 

12 completion, the Secretary shall encourage 

13 the individual to remain in a mental health 

14 professional shortage area and to continue 

15 in covered employment. 

16 ‘‘(ii) ASSISTANCE IN TRANSITION.— 

17 During the period in which a health pro18 fessional is planning and making the tran19 sition from obligated service under the 

20 Scholarship Program, the Secretary may 

21 provide assistance to the professional re22 garding such transition if the professional 

23 is remaining in a mental health profes24 sional shortage area and is continuing in 

25 covered employment. 


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1 ‘‘(d) FACTORS CONSIDERED IN PROVIDING CON2 TRACTS; PRIORITIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) FACTORS CONSIDERED IN PROVIDING CON4 TRACTS.—In providing contracts under the Scholar5 ship Program— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall consider the ex7 tent of the demonstrated interest of the appli8 cants for the contracts in providing substance 

9 use disorder treatment and behavioral and men10 tal health services; and 

11 ‘‘(B) may consider such other factors re12 garding the applicants as the Secretary deter13 mines to be relevant to selecting qualified indi14 viduals to participate in such Program. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIES.—In providing contracts under 

16 the Scholarship Program, the Secretary shall give 

17 priority— 

18 ‘‘(A) to any application for such a contract 

19 submitted by an individual who has characteris20 tics that increase the probability that the indi21 vidual will continue to serve in a mental health 

22 professional shortage area after the period of 

23 obligated service pursuant to subsection (f) is 

24 completed; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to any application for such a contract 

2 submitted by an individual who is from a group 

3 or population that is underrepresented in the 

4 substance use disorder treatment and behav5 ioral and mental health workforce. 

6 ‘‘(e) COMMENCEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN SCHOL7 ARSHIP PROGRAM; NOTICE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) COMMENCEMENT OF PARTICIPATION.—An 

9 individual becomes a participant in the Scholarship 

10 Program only upon the Secretary’s approval of the 

11 individual’s application submitted under subsection 

12 (b)(2) and the Secretary’s acceptance of the contract 

13 submitted by the individual under subsection (b)(3). 

14 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall provide 

15 written notice to an individual promptly upon the 

16 Secretary’s approving, under paragraph (1), of the 

17 individual’s participation in the Scholarship Pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘(f) WRITTEN CONTRACT; CONTENTS.—The written 

20 contract (referred to in this section) between the Secretary 

21 and an individual shall contain— 

22 ‘‘(1) an agreement that— 

23 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), the Sec24 retary agrees to provide the individual with a 

25 scholarship (described in subsection (g)) for a 


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1 period of one or more school years during which 

2 the individual is pursuing a course of study de3 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(B); and 

4 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), the indi5 vidual agrees— 

6 ‘‘(i) to accept provision of such a 

7 scholarship to the individual; 

8 ‘‘(ii) to maintain enrollment in a 

9 course of study described in subsection 

10 (b)(1)(B) until the individual completes the 

11 course of study; 

12 ‘‘(iii) while enrolled in such course of 

13 study, to maintain an acceptable level of 

14 academic standing (as determined under 

15 regulations of the Secretary by the edu16 cational institution offering such course of 

17 study); and 

18 ‘‘(iv) to serve for a time period (in 

19 this section referred to as the ‘period of 

20 obligated service’) equal to one year for 

21 each school year for which the individual 

22 was provided a scholarship under the 

23 Scholarship Program, in covered employ24 ment in a mental health professional short25 age area (designated under section 332); 


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1 ‘‘(2) a provision that any financial obligation of 

2 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

3 into under this section and any obligation of the in4 dividual which is conditioned thereon, is contingent 

5 upon funds being appropriated for scholarships 

6 under this section; 

7 ‘‘(3) a statement of the damages to which the 

8 United States is entitled, under subsection (j), for 

9 the individual’s breach of the contract; and 

10 ‘‘(4) such other statements of the rights and li11 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

12 inconsistent with the provisions of this section. 

13 ‘‘(g) SCHOLARSHIP PROVISIONS; CONTRACT WITH

14 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION; INCREASE IN MONTHLY STI15 PEND.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SCHOLARSHIP PROVISIONS.—A scholarship 

17 provided to a student for a school year under a writ18 ten contract under the Scholarship Program shall 

19 consist of payment to, or (in accordance with para20 graph (2)) on behalf of, the student of the amount 

21 (except as provided in section 711) of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the tuition of the student in such 

23 school year; and 

24 ‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex25 penses, including fees, books, and laboratory exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9581.IH H9581

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1 penses, incurred by the student in such school 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT WITH EDUCATIONAL INSTITU4 TION.—The Secretary may contract with an edu5 cational institution, in which a participant in the 

6 Scholarship Program is enrolled, for the payment to 

7 the educational institution of the amounts of tuition 

8 and other reasonable educational expenses described 

9 in paragraph (1). Payment to such an educational 

10 institution may be made without regard to section 

11 3324 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(h) EMPLOYMENT CEILING OF DEPARTMENT UN13 AFFECTED.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

14 individuals who have entered into written contracts with 

15 the Secretary under this section, while undergoing aca16 demic training, shall not be counted against any employ17 ment ceiling affecting the Department. 

18 ‘‘(i) OBLIGATED SERVICE.—Any individual receiving 

19 payments under the Scholarship Program as required by 

20 an agreement under this section shall agree to an annual 

21 commitment to work full-time in covered employment, 

22 with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years 

23 of covered employment, in the United States in— 

24 ‘‘(1) a mental health professional shortage area, 

25 as designated under section 332; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a county (or a municipality, if not con2 tained within any county) where the mean drug 

3 overdose death rate per 100,000 people over the past 

4 3 years for which official data is available from the 

5 State, is higher than the most recent available na6 tional average overdose death rate per 100,000 peo7 ple, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control 

8 and Prevention; or 

9 ‘‘(3) any facility, program, center, or clinic as 

10 determined appropriate by the Secretary for pur11 poses of this section because of a shortage of mental 

12 health professionals, including private practices and 

13 other medical facilities designated under section 

14 332(a) as having such a shortage. 

15 ‘‘(j) BREACH.— 

16 ‘‘(1) LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FORMULA.—The 

17 Secretary may establish a liquidated damages for18 mula to be used in the event of a breach of an 

19 agreement entered into under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The failure by an individual 

21 to complete the full period of service obligated pur22 suant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not 

23 constitute a breach of the agreement, so long as the 

24 individual completed in good faith the years of servVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9581.IH H9581

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1 ice for which payments were made to the individual 

2 under this section. 

3 ‘‘(k) FUND REGARDING USE OF AMOUNTS RECOV4 ERED FOR CONTRACT BREACH TO REPLACE SERVICES

5 LOST AS RESULT OF BREACH.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is es7 tablished in the Treasury of the United States a 

8 fund to be known as the Substance Use Disorder 

9 Treatment and Behavioral and Mental Health Work10 force Scholarship Program Replacement Fund (in 

11 this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’). The Fund 

12 shall consist of such amounts as may be appro13 priated under paragraph (2) to the Fund. Amounts 

14 appropriated for the Fund shall remain available 

15 until expended. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO

17 FUND.—For each fiscal year, there is authorized to 

18 be appropriated to the Fund an amount equal to the 

19 sum of— 

20 ‘‘(A) the amount collected during the pre21 ceding fiscal year by the Federal Government 

22 pursuant to the liability of individuals under 

23 subsection (j) for the breach of contracts en24 tered into under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the aggregate of the amount of inter2 est accruing during the preceding fiscal year on 

3 obligations held in the Fund pursuant to para4 graph (4) and the amount of proceeds from the 

5 sale or redemption of such obligations during 

6 such fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUND.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN HEALTH FA9 CILITIES.—Amounts in the Fund and available 

10 pursuant to appropriations Acts may, subject to 

11 subparagraph (B), be expended by the Sec12 retary to make payments to any entity that has 

13 a need for a health professional to provide sub14 stance use disorder treatment and behavioral 

15 and mental health services as a result of the 

16 breach by an individual of a contract entered 

17 into under this section. 

18 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE OF PAYMENTS.—An entity 

19 receiving payments pursuant to subparagraph 

20 (A) may expend the payments to recruit and 

21 employ a health professional to provide sub22 stance use disorder treatment and behavioral 

23 and mental health services to patients of the 

24 entity, or to enter into a contract with such a 


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1 professional to provide the services to the pa2 tients. 

3 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

5 Treasury shall invest such amounts of the Fund 

6 as such Secretary determines are not required 

7 to meet current withdrawals from the Fund. 

8 Such investments may be made only in interest9 bearing obligations of the United States. For 

10 such purpose, such obligations may be acquired 

11 on original issue at the issue price, or by pur12 chase of outstanding obligations at the market 

13 price. 

14 ‘‘(B) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obliga15 tion acquired by the Fund may be sold by the 

16 Secretary of the Treasury at the market price. 

17 ‘‘(l) COVERED EMPLOYMENT DEFINED.—In this sec18 tion, the term ‘covered employment’ means— 

19 ‘‘(1) full-time employment (including a fellow20 ship) where the primary intent and function of the 

21 position is the direct treatment or recovery support 

22 of patients with or in recovery from a substance use, 

23 behavioral health, or mental health disorder; and 

24 ‘‘(2) may include employment as a physician 

25 (with a degree of doctor of medicine or doctor of osVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Sep 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9581.IH H9581

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1 teopathy), a psychiatric nurse, a social worker, a 

2 marriage and family therapist, a mental health coun3 selor, an addiction counselor, an occupational thera4 pist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a child and ado5 lescent psychiatrist, or a neurologist. 

6 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.’’. 

9 (b) EXCLUSION OF SCHOLARSHIP FROM GROSS IN10 COME OF THE RECIPIENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(c)(2) of the In12 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

13 ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (B), by striking the 

14 period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting 

15 ‘‘, or’’, and by adding at the end the following new 

16 subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(D) section 782 of the Public Health 

18 Service Act.’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

20 by this section shall apply to taxable years ending 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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