I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9849 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to address the shortage of medical 

laboratory personnel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Ms. ROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to address the 

shortage of medical laboratory personnel, 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 ‘‘Medical Laboratory 

5 Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCLUDING MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL 

7 AND SERVICES IN NATIONAL HEALTH SERV8 ICE CORPS PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 331(a) of the Public 

10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254d(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3)(D), by striking ‘‘or mental 

2 health’’ and inserting ‘‘mental health, or medical 

3 laboratory services’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(F) The term ‘medical laboratory personnel’— 

6 ‘‘(i) means individuals— 

7 ‘‘(I) seeking or receiving training in 

8 an accredited medical laboratory science 

9 program; or 

10 ‘‘(II) employed in a position in which 

11 the individual examines materials derived 

12 from the human body for the purpose of 

13 providing information for the diagnosis, 

14 prevention, or treatment of a disease or 

15 impairment of human beings; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) includes phlebotomists, medical lab17 oratory assistants, histotechnologists, laboratory 

18 scientists, laboratory technicians, and genetic 

19 counselors.’’. 

20 (b) MEDICAL LABORATORY HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

21 TARGET AREAS.—Section 332 of the Public Health Serv22 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

24 ‘‘(l) MEDICAL LABORATORY HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

25 TARGET AREAS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

2 out a program of— 

3 ‘‘(A) identifying medical laboratory health 

4 professional target areas; and 

5 ‘‘(B) assigning members of the Corps who 

6 are medical laboratory personnel to such areas. 

7 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The provisions 

8 of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (6) of sub9 section (k) shall apply to the identification of med10 ical laboratory health professional target areas and 

11 the assignment of medical laboratory personnel 

12 under this subsection except that— 

13 ‘‘(A) references to maternity care health 

14 professional target areas shall be treated as ref15 erences to medical laboratory health profes16 sional target areas; and 

17 ‘‘(B) references to maternity care health 

18 professionals and maternity care shall be treat19 ed as references to medical laboratory personnel 

20 and medical laboratory services, respectively.’’. 

21 (c) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.—Section 338B of 

22 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘medical 

25 laboratory personnel,’’ after ‘‘dentists,’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘an individual must—’’ 

3 and all that follows through ‘‘or physician as4 sistant;’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘an indi5 vidual must— 

6 ‘‘(1)(A)(i) have a degree in medicine, osteo7 pathic medicine, dentistry, or another health profes8 sion, or an appropriate degree from a graduate pro9 gram of behavioral and mental health; 

10 ‘‘(ii) be certified as a nurse midwife, nurse 

11 practitioner, or physician assistant; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) have a degree in medical laboratory 

13 science;’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting 

15 ‘‘medical laboratory science,’’ after ‘‘mental 

16 health,’’; and 

17 (C) in paragraph (1)(C)(ii), by inserting 

18 ‘‘medical laboratory science,’’ after ‘‘dentistry,’’. 

19 SEC. 3. MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL EDUCATION 

20 PROGRAM. 

21 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert22 ing after section 778 (42 U.S.C. 295f–3) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 779. MEDICAL LABORATORY PERSONNEL EDUCATION 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

4 to, or enter into contracts with, eligible entities that the 

5 Secretary has determined are capable of carrying out such 

6 grant or contract— 

7 ‘‘(1) to plan, develop, operate, or participate in 

8 an accredited medical laboratory professional edu9 cation program that awards an associate’s, bach10 elor’s, or graduate degree or certificate; and 

11 ‘‘(2) to recruit, train, and develop faculty for 

12 such program. 

13 ‘‘(b) PRIORITIES IN MAKING AWARDS.—In awarding 

14 grants and contracts under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

15 shall give priority to eligible entities that— 

16 ‘‘(1) utilize innovative approaches to clinical 

17 teaching; 

18 ‘‘(2) are committed to training individuals from 

19 rural, underrepresented, or disadvantaged back20 grounds; 

21 ‘‘(3) teach collaboration among health profes22 sionals; or 

23 ‘‘(4) provide training in cultural competency 

24 and health literacy. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DURATION OF AWARDS.—A grant or contract 

2 awarded under this subsection shall be for a period of 3 

3 years. 

4 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

5 the term ‘eligible entity’ means an accredited nonprofit 

6 hospital, school of allied health, or nonprofit entity that 

7 sponsors accredited internship programs required for pro8 fessional certification. 

9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for the first full fiscal year 

12 beginning after the date of enactment of this Act; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for subse15 quent fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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