II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 462 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to modify the loan repayment 

program for the substance use disorder treatment workforce to relieve 

workforce shortages. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

Ms. SMITH (for herself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to modify the loan 

repayment program for the substance use disorder treatment workforce to relieve workforce shortages. 

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 ‘‘Mental Health Profes5 sionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 

6 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE USE 

2 DISORDER TREATMENT WORKFORCE. 

3 Section 781 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 295h) is amended— 

5 (1) In subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, or the 

6 individuals each agree to complete a period of service 

7 in a mental health professional shortage area’’ be8 fore the period; 

9 (2) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

11 through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), re12 spectively; and 

13 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1), the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(2) Any loan used for obtaining a degree from 

16 an accredited institution of higher education for edu17 cation in mental health or a related field leading to 

18 a master’s degree, leading to a doctoral degree, or 

19 consisting of post-doctoral study.’’; 

20 (3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS OF SERVICE.—Any individual 

23 receiving payments under this program as required by an 

24 agreement under subsection (a) shall agree— 

25 ‘‘(1) to an annual commitment to full-time em26 ployment, with no more than 1 year passing between 


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1 any 2 years of covered employment, in substance use 

2 disorder treatment employment in the United States 

3 in— 

4 ‘‘(A) a Mental Health Professional Short5 age Area, as designated under section 332; or 

6 ‘‘(B) a county (or a municipality, if not 

7 contained within any county) where the mean 

8 drug overdose death rate per 100,000 people 

9 over the past 3 years for which official data is 

10 available from the State, is higher than the 

11 most recent available national average overdose 

12 death rate per 100,000 people, as reported by 

13 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(2) to up to 6 years of full-time employment, 

16 with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 

17 years of covered employment, as a behavioral or 

18 mental health professional in the United States in— 

19 ‘‘(A) a mental health professional shortage 

20 area of greatest need, as determined by the 

21 Secretary for the purposes of this section, as 

22 designated under section 332; or 

23 ‘‘(B) any facility, program, center, or clinic 

24 as determined appropriate by the Secretary for 

25 purposes of this section because of a shortage 


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1 of mental health professionals, including private 

2 physician practices and other medical facilities 

3 designated under section 332(a) as having such 

4 a shortage.’’; 

5 (4) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting ‘‘338B, 

6 338I, or 846 of this Act, section’’ after ‘‘under sec7 tion’’; 

8 (5) in subsection (h)(2), by inserting ‘‘and be9 havioral and mental health services employees’’ after 

10 ‘‘treatment employees’’; 

11 (6) in subsection (i)— 

12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

13 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re14 spectively; and 

15 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

16 so redesignated), the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘behavioral and mental health 

18 professional’ means health service psychologists, li19 censed clinical social workers, licensed professional 

20 counselors, marriage and family therapists, psy21 chiatric nurse specialists, and psychiatrists.’’; and 

22 (7) in subsection (j). by striking ‘‘$25,000,000 

23 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023’’ and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S462.IS S462

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1 serting ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 

2 through 2032’’. 

Æ 


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