I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9812 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 

to States to establish, increase the availability of, and improve access 

to, qualified health care programs to increase and strengthen the health 

care workforce in such States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. COMER (for himself and Mr. MCGARVEY) 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 direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

award grants to States to establish, increase the availability of, and improve access to, qualified health care 

programs to increase and strengthen the health care 

workforce in such States. 

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 ‘‘Health Care Workforce 

5 Investment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress to address the Nation’s 

3 shortage of a broad spectrum of health care professionals, 

4 including direct support professionals, nurses, mental 

5 health professionals, nurse aides, and emergency medical 

6 services professionals by incentivizing collaboration be7 tween health care programs, health care industry partners, 

8 and States to grow and strengthen the education and 

9 training pipeline of health care professionals within the 

10 Nation to better serve patients and families by: 

11 (1) Improving the ability of a broad variety of 

12 health care programs to meet the workforce de13 mands and capacity of the States, including the 

14 workforce demands of historically underserved areas. 

15 (2) Raising awareness of an interest in a broad 

16 variety of health care occupations and reducing the 

17 barriers of access to the health care programs nec18 essary to pursue these occupations, including finan19 cial barriers. 

20 (3) Improving pathways between high school ca21 reer and technical programs and other health care 

22 programs. 

23 (4) Developing strategies for health care organi24 zations and educational and training programs to 

25 support career growth and development for their em26 ployees and for students. 


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1 SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE IMPROVEMENT PLANS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

4 and Human Services (in this section referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall award grants to States to establish and 

6 implement a State Health Care Workforce Improvement 

7 Plan (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Workforce Plan’’) 

8 to increase and strengthen the health care workforce in 

9 such States. 

10 (b) WORKFORCE PLANS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State seeking a grant 

12 under this section shall submit to the Secretary, at 

13 such time and in such manner as specified by the 

14 Secretary, a Workforce Plan containing the following 

15 information: 

16 (A) A description of the State Health Care 

17 Workforce Council (in accordance with sub18 section (c)(1)(A)) designated by such State to 

19 administer such Workforce Plan. 

20 (B) The means by which such Council will 

21 incentivize and establish public-private partner22 ships with program partners (as defined in sub23 section (e)(3)) to provide education and train24 ing that will— 

25 (i) raise awareness of, and interest in, 

26 careers in health care; 


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1 (ii) improve pathways between high 

2 school career, technical programs, and 

3 other qualified health care programs (as 

4 defined in subsection (c)(2)(A)(i)); 

5 (iii) increase the availability of, and 

6 improve access to, such qualified health 

7 care programs; 

8 (iv) reduce barriers to accessing such 

9 qualified health care programs, including 

10 financial barriers to enrolling in such pro11 grams; and 

12 (v) assist employers in the health care 

13 industry in supporting career growth and 

14 development for employees. 

15 (C) The method by which such qualified 

16 health care programs will be evaluated, includ17 ing— 

18 (i) the benchmarks and improvement 

19 activities used to identify and reduce dis20 parities in access to, and the utilization of, 

21 such programs; and 

22 (ii) adequate safeguards to ensure 

23 that such programs are invested in the 

24 continuing excellence of such programs, in25 cluding the education, recruitment, and 


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1 training of health care program faculty 

2 and staff, and the maintenance and acqui3 sition of medical equipment utilized by 

4 such program. 

5 (D) The State’s plan (if any) to implement 

6 an income tax credit (or other tax credit) for 

7 program partners. 

8 (2) PUBLICATION OF APPROVED WORKFORCE

9 PLANS.—The Secretary shall make publicly available 

10 on an internet website of the Department of Health 

11 and Human Services each approved Workforce Plan. 

12 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF WORKFORCE PLANS.— 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING.— 

14 (A) STATE HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE

15 COUNCIL.—Each State shall establish (or ap16 point as existing body to serve as) a State 

17 Health Care Workforce Council (in this section 

18 referred to as the ‘‘Council’’) to administer the 

19 Workforce Plan. Such Council shall— 

20 (i) establish and maintain the State 

21 Health Care Workforce Investment Fund 

22 (as described in subparagraph (B)); 

23 (ii) provide for education and training 

24 opportunities through qualified health care 


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1 programs (as described in paragraph 

2 (2)(A)); 

3 (iii) evaluate such programs and pro4 vide incentives to successful programs; and 

5 (iv) provide scholarships to eligible in6 dividuals to reduce financial barriers to ac7 cessing such programs (in accordance with 

8 the requirements under paragraph (2)(B)). 

9 (B) HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE INVEST10 MENT FUND.—Each Council shall establish a 

11 State Health Care Workforce Investment Fund 

12 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) for 

13 the purpose of funding the activities described 

14 in the Workforce Plan, including— 

15 (i) providing funding for new or estab16 lished qualified health care programs; 

17 (ii) establishing and supporting schol18 arships for eligible individuals seeking to 

19 enroll in such qualified health care pro20 grams to reduce financial barriers for such 

21 individuals; 

22 (iii) providing incentives to reward 

23 successful qualified health care programs 

24 (in accordance with paragraph (2)(A)(iii)); 


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1 (iv) supporting related administrative 

2 research, consulting, planning, and anal3 ysis of the health care workforce needs 

4 within such State; and 

5 (v) encouraging investment in the 

6 Fund from private, financial, and philan7 thropic organizations to implement the 

8 work described in the Workforce Plan. 

9 (2) WORKFORCE PLAN COMPONENTS.— 

10 (A) QUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PRO11 GRAM.— 

12 (i) QUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PRO13 GRAM DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘‘qualified health care program’’ means an 

15 educational or training program, including 

16 a high school health care vocational pro17 gram, that is required to obtain or main18 tain employment or a professional creden19 tial or license for a career in a hospital or 

20 other health care setting. 

21 (ii) CRITERIA.—In order to receive 

22 funding from a Council, a qualified health 

23 care program must— 


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1 (I) target the specific needs of 

2 historically underserved areas (as de3 fined in subsection (e)(2)); 

4 (II) demonstrate how such pro5 gram will benefit the workforce de6 mands and capacity in underserved 

7 areas; and 

8 (III) assist eligible individuals in 

9 meeting some or all of the require10 ments for a certificate, training, or li11 cense in health care issued by a State. 

12 (iii) INCENTIVES FOR SUCCESSFUL

13 PROGRAMS.—A Council may award addi14 tional financial incentives to eligible indi15 viduals for programs that demonstrate an 

16 increase or other improvement in— 

17 (I) the number of such individ18 uals completing such program; 

19 (II) the passage rate, particularly 

20 the first-time passage rate, on any 

21 State, health care, credential, exam22 ination by graduates of such program; 

23 (III) the ability of such qualified 

24 health care programs to meet the 


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1 workforce demands of the commu2 nities such programs serve; and 

3 (IV) any other objective factors 

4 as determined by such Council. 

5 (B) SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Council, in ac7 cordance with clause (ii), may award schol8 arships to eligible individuals for purposes 

9 of enrolling in a qualified health care pro10 gram. 

11 (ii) CONDITIONS FOR AWARD.—In 

12 awarding scholarships under the Workforce 

13 Plan, the Council shall— 

14 (I) award not more than two 1- 

15 year scholarships to an eligible indi16 vidual; and 

17 (II) require that such eligible in18 dividual— 

19 (aa) submit written proof of 

20 enrollment in a qualified health 

21 care program to the Council prior 

22 to receipt of such scholarship 

23 funds; 

24 (bb) upon completion of 

25 such program, work as a trained, 


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1 licensed, or certified health care 

2 provider (in accordance with 

3 State law) in the State in which 

4 such program was conducted, for 

5 a period of not less than 1 year 

6 for each academic year for which 

7 a scholarship was provided; and 

8 (cc) sign a promissory note 

9 agreeing to repay the amount of 

10 the scholarship awarded upon 

11 failure to complete the require12 ment under item (bb). 

13 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) COUNCIL REPORT.—Not later than Decem15 ber 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, each Council 

16 shall submit to the Secretary a report on the activi17 ties undertaken in accordance with the Workforce 

18 Plan, including— 

19 (A) a detailed accounting of all monies 

20 raised and expended by the Fund, including the 

21 sources and recipients of such monies; 

22 (B) the amount of funds spent to conduct 

23 each activity under such Workforce Plan; 


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1 (C) data and descriptive information re2 lated to the scholarships awarded pursuant to 

3 subsection (c)(2)(B), including— 

4 (i) the criteria used to award such 

5 scholarships; 

6 (ii) the number of scholarships award7 ed and the amount of each such scholar8 ship; and 

9 (iii) the State and county of residence 

10 (or equivalent) of each scholarship recipi11 ent; 

12 (D) data and descriptive information with 

13 respect to each qualified health care program 

14 receiving funds under this section, including— 

15 (i) which such programs have received 

16 incentives pursuant to subsection 

17 (c)(2)(A)(iii); 

18 (ii) the overall graduation, workforce 

19 participation, and retention rates for each 

20 such program; and 

21 (iii) the graduation, workforce partici22 pation, and retention rates for eligible indi23 viduals enrolled in each such program, 

24 disaggregated by those eligible individuals 

25 who received a scholarship pursuant to 


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1 subsection (c)(2)(B) and those who did 

2 not; 

3 (E) the number of eligible individuals prac4 ticing or employed in the health care field in a 

5 respective State, including the training, licen6 sure, or credential of such individual; and 

7 (F) any other data demonstrating the need 

8 for professionals with such training, licensures, 

9 or credentials in such State. 

10 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

11 June 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

12 shall submit to Congress a report, including— 

13 (A) the information submitted by each 

14 Council under paragraph (1); and 

15 (B) any other information as determined 

16 by the Secretary, including information ensur17 ing compliance with this section and account18 ability with respect to any Federal funds dis19 bursed under a Workforce Plan. 

20 (e) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

21 (1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

22 individual’’ means an individual enrolling in a quali23 fied health care program to pursue or advance a ca24 reer in health care. 


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1 (2) HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COUNTY OR

2 REGION.—The term ‘‘historically underserved county 

3 or region’’ means a county or a region of a State in 

4 which, for the 5 years immediately preceding such 

5 State’s application under subsection (b)— 

6 (A) objective data with the respect to the 

7 health care workforce in such State dem8 onstrates the needs and demands of a State’s 

9 health care workforce that exceed the average 

10 for such State during such years; and 

11 (B) unemployment among health care pro12 viders as calculated by the Department of 

13 Labor of a State demonstrating a countywide or 

14 regional rate of unemployment which exceeds 

15 statewide unemployment in such State. 

16 (3) PROGRAM PARTNER.—The term ‘‘program 

17 partner’’ means an individual or an entity that gifts, 

18 grants, or donates monies to a State’s Fund, and 

19 that is— 

20 (A) a health care provider (as defined in 

21 accordance with State law); 

22 (B) a licensed health care facility operating 

23 in such State; or 


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1 (C) a business, corporation, or health care 

2 association doing business in, and incorporated 

3 under, the laws of such State. 

4 (f) FUNDING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Medicare 

6 Improvement Fund established under section 1898 

7 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395iii(a)) 

8 shall be available, as provided in advance in appro9 priation Acts, to carry out this section. 

10 (2) STATE LIMITATION.—A State with an ap11 proved Workforce Plan under this section shall be el12 igible to receive an amount not to exceed 50 percent 

13 of the amount of the State appropriated match to 

14 the State Fund established under this section. 

15 (3) OVERALL LIMITATION.—In no case shall the 

16 aggregate amount made available under paragraph 

17 (1) exceed 25 percent of the amount of the combined 

18 annual appropriations of the Nurse Corps Scholar19 ship Program and the Nurse Corps Loan Repay20 ment Program authorized pursuant to section 846 of 

21 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297n). 

Æ 


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