I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1686 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide loan repayment incentives 

for physician assistants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

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

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide loan 

repayment incentives for physician assistants, 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 ‘‘Physician Assistant 

5 Education Public Health Initiatives Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 

7 FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS. 

8 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert9 ing after section 749A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 293l–1) 

10 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 749A–1. EXPANDING CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNI2 TIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

4 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

5 Administration, shall award grants to physician assistant 

6 education programs to establish or expand clinical edu7 cation and training for physician assistants at underserved 

8 sites including Federally qualified health centers, critical 

9 access hospitals, and rural health clinics. 

10 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION FOR RURAL SITES.—Of the 

11 amount made available to carry out this section for a fiscal 

12 year, the Secretary shall allocate 50 percent of such 

13 amount for clinical education and training at underserved 

14 sites that are located in rural areas. 

15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec16 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to physician assist17 ant education programs proposing to establish or expand 

18 clinical rotations for physician assistants in pediatrics, 

19 women’s health, or behavioral health. 

20 ‘‘(d) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) not later than March 1, 2022, submit an 

23 interim report to the Congress on the implementa24 tion of this section; and 

25 ‘‘(2) not later than March 1, 2025, submit a 

26 final report to the Congress on such implementation. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

2 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro3 priated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

4 2024.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PRIMARY CARE TRAINING 

6 AND ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS. 

7 Section 747(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 293k(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘2014’’ 

10 the following: ‘‘and each of fiscal years 2020 

11 through 2024’’; and 

12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Fifteen’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘At least 15’’. 

14 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT 

15 EDUCATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services shall provide grants to eligible entities to 

18 fund eligible researchers to increase research on physician 

19 assistant education. 

20 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a grant 

21 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli22 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

23 information as the Secretary may require. 

24 (c) CONDITION OF RECEIPT.—As a condition of re25 ceipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall each 


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1 year award not fewer than eight eligible researchers funds 

2 to support physician assistant education research. 

3 (d) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—An entity receiving a 

4 grant under this section shall provide to the Secretary 

5 with respect to each year that such entity receives funds 

6 under this section a report on the activities conducted 

7 using such funds, including— 

8 (1) the number of researchers supported during 

9 such year by such entity using such funds; 

10 (2) a list of the researchers counted under 

11 paragraph (1), organized by researcher, including— 

12 (A) the institution such researcher is affili13 ated with; and 

14 (B) the research topic of such researcher; 

15 (3) citations to published clinical and scientific 

16 research by researchers described in paragraph (1) 

17 that is attributable to support under this section; 

18 (4) an evaluation of the benefits of grants 

19 under this section; and 

20 (5) any other information the Secretary may re21 quest. 

22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means an organization that— 

25 (A) is a non-profit organization; and 


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1 (B) has demonstrated expertise in physi2 cian assistant education and faculty develop3 ment. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE RESEARCHER.—The term ‘‘eligi5 ble researcher’’ means, with respect to an eligible en6 tity, a researcher that— 

7 (A) has demonstrated expertise in physi8 cian assistant education and faculty develop9 ment; and 

10 (B) at such time and in such manner as 

11 such entity may require, provides such entity 

12 with a research proposal on improving physician 

13 assistant education and faculty development. 

14 (3) PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT EDUCATION.—The 

15 term ‘‘physician assistant education’’ means select16 ing, educating, and graduating students in accred17 ited graduate physician assistant educational pro18 grams. 

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

23 necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 

24 2020 through 2024. 

Æ 


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