II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4088 

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

for career support for a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 9, 2024 

Mr. KAINE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to award grants for career support for a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce. 

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 ‘‘Welcome Back to the 

5 Health Care Workforce Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR SKILLED INTERNATIONALLY EDU7 CATED HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 3 of part E of title VII 

9 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295f et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 779. SUPPORT FOR SKILLED INTERNATIONALLY EDU2 CATED HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE. 

3 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of the Welcome Back to the 

6 Health Care Workforce Act, the Secretary shall 

7 award grants to eligible entities to provide career 

8 support for internationally educated health care pro9 fessionals to integrate into, and expand, the health 

10 care workforce. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—Before awarding any 

12 grants under this section, the Secretary shall consult 

13 with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 

14 Education. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

17 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec18 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

19 and containing such information as the Secretary 

20 may require. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

22 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 ‘‘(A) a description of each project de24 scribed in subsection (d) that the eligible entity 

25 proposes to develop or continue under the 

26 grant; 


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1 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating that the 

2 eligible entity has the capacity to fully carry out 

3 and administer such projects; 

4 ‘‘(C) a plan for the proposed projects that 

5 includes, at a minimum— 

6 ‘‘(i) demographic information regard7 ing the population to be served by the 

8 grant and how the current health care 

9 workforce, as of the date of application, is 

10 not meeting the health needs of the com11 munity to be served, including information 

12 on the health care workforce shortages in 

13 the area to be served by the grant; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the eligible 

15 entity will make use of grant funds to sup16 port the identification and advancement of 

17 internationally educated health care profes18 sionals in the geographic area to be served 

19 by the grant; 

20 ‘‘(D) a description of the eligible entity’s 

21 experience in working with internationally edu22 cated health care professionals; 

23 ‘‘(E) a description of the partnership the 

24 eligible entity has formed with various entities, 


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1 including institutions of higher education and 

2 health care employers; and 

3 ‘‘(F) any additional information deter4 mined relevant by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec6 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

7 whose projects support the recruitment and retention of— 

8 ‘‘(1) internationally educated health care pro9 fessionals in professions in communities experiencing 

10 gaps between their existing health care workforce, as 

11 of the date of the application for the grant, and the 

12 needs of the community; or 

13 ‘‘(2) internationally educated health care pro14 fessionals in rural communities. 

15 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SUPPORTED PROJECTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs 

18 (2) and (3), an eligible entity receiving a grant 

19 under this section shall use grant funds to 

20 carry out— 

21 ‘‘(i) 1 or more system-level improve22 ment projects described in subparagraph 

23 (B); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more individual-level im2 provement projects described in subpara3 graph (C). 

4 ‘‘(B) SYSTEM-LEVEL IMPROVEMENTS.—A 

5 project described in this subparagraph expands 

6 culturally and linguistically competent supports 

7 for internationally educated health care profes8 sionals, which may include— 

9 ‘‘(i) establishing a network of partners 

10 that offer prerequisite educational opportu11 nities and continuing education opportuni12 ties; 

13 ‘‘(ii) developing peer support and 

14 mentoring opportunities; 

15 ‘‘(iii) educating employers regarding 

16 the abilities and capacities of internation17 ally educated health care professionals; 

18 ‘‘(iv) developing career ladder oppor19 tunities for internationally educated health 

20 care professionals, such as— 

21 ‘‘(I) developing a system to pro22 vide ongoing supportive services once 

23 employment is obtained; 

24 ‘‘(II) funding leadership develop25 ment, continuing education, preVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Apr 14, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4088.IS S4088

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1 paratory classes, examinations, and li2 censing and certification costs, in 

3 order to support health care workforce 

4 advancement; or 

5 ‘‘(III) education and support on 

6 how to serve as an educator in a clin7 ical or academic setting; or 

8 ‘‘(v) creating and carrying out 

9 projects for the purposes of increasing the 

10 retention of internationally educated health 

11 care professionals in the health care work12 force. 

13 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL IMPROVE14 MENTS.—A project described in this subpara15 graph tailors individual support for internation16 ally educated health care professionals, which 

17 may include— 

18 ‘‘(i) support for the licensing process; 

19 ‘‘(ii) funding and facilitating access to 

20 accelerated and contextualized courses on 

21 English as a second language and board or 

22 licensure examination preparation; 

23 ‘‘(iii) culturally competent individual24 ized career counseling and coaching; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) individualized guidance and sup2 port for the credentialing evaluation proc3 ess; 

4 ‘‘(v) providing individualized work5 readiness supports and clinical experience 

6 and training for internationally educated 

7 health care professionals who need such 

8 supports, experience, or training; 

9 ‘‘(vi) educating internationally edu10 cated health care professionals employed 

11 by the eligible entity on their rights as em12 ployees; 

13 ‘‘(vii) providing individualized sup14 portive services to internationally educated 

15 health care professionals in order to sup16 port their employment, retention, or career 

17 advancement, which may include support 

18 for living expenses, health care, or trans19 portation; or 

20 ‘‘(viii) assisting internationally edu21 cated health care professionals in obtaining 

22 overseas academic or training records. 

23 ‘‘(2) USE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Each 

24 eligible entity receiving a grant under this section 

25 may use not more than 10 percent of the grant 


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1 funds for costs associated with the administration of 

2 the projects under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE DI4 RECT SUPPORT.—Each eligible entity receiving a 

5 grant under this section shall use not less than 20 

6 percent of the grant funds to carry out projects de7 scribed in paragraph (1)(B). 

8 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible en9 tity receiving a grant under this section shall use such 

10 grant only to supplement, and not supplant, the amount 

11 of funds that otherwise would be available to address the 

12 recruitment, training and education, retention, and ad13 vancement of internationally educated health care profes14 sionals in the health care workforce of the State or region 

15 served by the eligible entity. 

16 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS AND REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS BY GRANT

18 RECIPIENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity re20 ceiving a grant under this section shall annually 

21 provide a report on the grant to the Secretary, 

22 at such time and containing such data and in23 formation as requested by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

25 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the number of internationally 

2 educated health care professionals who 

3 participated in the projects supported 

4 under the grant; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) for each project carried out 

6 under the grant, in the aggregate and 

7 disaggregated by the demographic cat8 egories as required by the Secretary— 

9 ‘‘(I) the number of internation10 ally educated health care professionals 

11 who accessed services, benefits, or 

12 supports through the project; 

13 ‘‘(II) the number of internation14 ally educated health care professionals 

15 who through the project attained em16 ployment in the health care workforce, 

17 in the aggregate and disaggregated by 

18 occupation and industry; 

19 ‘‘(III) the number of internation20 ally educated health care professionals 

21 who participated in the project and 

22 withdrew, unsuccessfully attempted to 

23 obtain board certification, or were ter24 minated from the project without 

25 completing training or attaining emVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Apr 14, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4088.IS S4088

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1 ployment in the health care workforce; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(IV) data on the country of edu4 cation of the participating internation5 ally educated health care profes6 sionals. 

7 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS BY SEC8 RETARY.—Not later than 2 years after the date of 

9 enactment of the Welcome Back to the Health Care 

10 Workforce Act, and each year thereafter until all 

11 projects supported under this section are completed, 

12 the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 

13 a report on the progress of each project supported 

14 under a grant under this section. 

15 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en17 tity’ means a consortium of 2 or more of the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) A hospital, health system, or other 

20 entity that provides health care. 

21 ‘‘(B) A community-based or other non22 profit entity with experience in clinical health or 

23 public health services. 

24 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 

25 ‘‘(D) An area health education center. 


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1 ‘‘(E) A State government, local govern2 ment, or Indian Tribe. 

3 ‘‘(F) A Federally qualified health center. 

4 ‘‘(G) Any other type of entity determined 

5 appropriate by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(2) EMPLOY; EMPLOYER.—The terms ‘employ’ 

7 and ‘employer’ have the meanings given the terms in 

8 section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. 

9 ‘‘(3) HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE.—The term 

10 ‘health care workforce’ means the workforce com11 prised of health care providers with direct patient 

12 care and support responsibilities and public health 

13 workers. 

14 ‘‘(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

15 means the recognized governing body of any Indian 

16 or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, 

17 community band, or component reservation individ18 ually identified (including parenthetically) in the list 

19 published most recently as of the date of enactment 

20 of the Welcome Back to the Health Care Workforce 

21 Act, pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recog22 nized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 

23 5131). 

24 ‘‘(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

25 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

2 Education Act of 1965. 

3 ‘‘(6) INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED HEALTH

4 CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term ‘internationally 

5 educated health care professional’ means an indi6 vidual who— 

7 ‘‘(A) completed the education requirements 

8 for a health care workforce profession in an9 other country; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is— 

11 ‘‘(i) lawfully admitted for permanent 

12 residence; 

13 ‘‘(ii) admitted as a refugee under sec14 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nation15 ality Act; 

16 ‘‘(iii) granted asylum under section 

17 208 of such Act; or 

18 ‘‘(iv) an alien otherwise authorized to 

19 be employed in the United States. 

20 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

23 2025 through 2029.’’. 

Æ 


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