I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1436

To amend the Public Health Service Act, titles XVIII and XIX of the

Social Security Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect

to alleviating the nursing profession shortage, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Mrs. KELLY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms.

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GILMAN, Ms.

HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

LANGEVIN, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. RUSH,

Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. FROST, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. SOLIS, Mr.

BARRETT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KIND, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,

Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. DINGELL) 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 amend the Public Health Service Act, titles XVIII and

XIX of the Social Security Act, and the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986 with respect to alleviating the nursing

profession shortage, 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,
2

•HR 1436 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurse Reinvestment

3 Act’’.

4 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO

5 PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT

6 Subtitle A—Initiatives to Combat

7 Nursing Shortage and Strength8 en Nursing Workforce

9 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF INITIATIVES.

10 Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42

11 U.S.C. 296 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

12 following:

13 ‘‘PART H—INITIATIVES TO COMBAT NURSING

14 SHORTAGES

15 ‘‘SEC. 851. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and

17 issue public service announcements that shall advertise

18 and promote the nursing profession, highlight the advan19 tages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals

20 from diverse communities and backgrounds to enter the

21 nursing profession.

22 ‘‘(b) METHOD.—The public service announcements

23 described in subsection (a) shall be broadcast in appro24 priate languages through appropriate media outlets, in25 cluding television or radio, in a manner intended to reach

26 as wide and diverse an audience as possible.
3

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 852. STATE AND LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCE2 MENTS.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

4 grants to designated eligible entities to support State and

5 local advertising campaigns via appropriate media outlets

6 to promote the nursing profession, highlight the advan7 tages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals

8 from disadvantaged communities and backgrounds to

9 enter the nursing profession.

10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

11 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The

12 term ‘designated eligible entity’ means an eligible

13 entity that is a professional, national, or State nurs14 ing association, State health care provider associa15 tion, school of nursing, or other eligible entity that

16 provides similar services or serves a like function.

17 ‘‘(2) STATE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER ASSOCIA18 TION.—The term ‘State health care provider associa19 tion’ means a professional association of hospitals,

20 nursing homes, home health care agencies, hospices,

21 consortia of such associations, or other entities de22 termined by the Secretary to be appropriate for pur23 poses of this section.

24 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity

25 that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds

26 received through such grant to buy local television and
4

•HR 1436 IH

1 radio time, place advertisements in local newspapers, and

2 post information on billboards or on the Internet, in order

3 to—

4 ‘‘(1) advertise and promote the nursing profes5 sion;

6 ‘‘(2) promote nursing education programs;

7 ‘‘(3) inform the public of public assistance re8 garding such education programs;

9 ‘‘(4) highlight individuals in the community

10 that are presently practicing nursing in order to re11 cruit new nurses; and

12 ‘‘(5) provide any other information to recruit

13 individuals for the nursing profession.

14 ‘‘(d) METHOD.—The campaigns described in sub15 section (a) shall be broadcast in appropriate languages on

16 television or radio, or placed in newspapers as advertise17 ments, or posted on billboards or the Internet, in a man18 ner intended to reach as wide and diverse an audience as

19 possible.

20 ‘‘SEC. 853. NURSE RECRUITMENT GRANT PROGRAM.

21 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall

22 award grants to eligible entities to increase nursing edu23 cation opportunities.
5

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives

2 a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds received from

3 such grant to—

4 ‘‘(1) support outreach programs at elementary

5 and secondary schools that inform guidance coun6 selors and students of education opportunities re7 garding nursing;

8 ‘‘(2) carry out special projects to increase nurs9 ing education opportunities for individuals who are

10 from disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial

11 and ethnic minorities underrepresented among reg12 istered nurses) by providing student scholarships or

13 stipends, pre-entry preparation, and retention activi14 ties;

15 ‘‘(3) provide assistance to public and nonprofit

16 private educational institutions (including junior col17 leges and community colleges) to support remedial

18 education programs for nursing students who re19 quire assistance with math, science, English, and

20 medical terminology; and

21 ‘‘(4) meet the costs of child care and transpor22 tation for individuals who are taking part in a nurs23 ing education program at any level.
6

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 854. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING NURSING

2 PROFESSION.

3 ‘‘For purposes of this part, the term ‘nursing profes4 sion’ includes the position of certified nursing assistant.

5 ‘‘SEC. 855. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there is

7 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each of the

8 fiscal years 2002 through 2004.

9 ‘‘PART I—INITIATIVES TO STRENGTHEN THE

10 NURSING WORKFORCE

11 ‘‘SEC. 861. CAREER LADDER GRANT PROGRAM.

12 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall

13 award grants to eligible entities to assist individuals in ob14 taining education required to enter the nursing profession

15 and advance within such profession.

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives

17 a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds under such

18 grant to establish student scholarships or stipends for

19 nurse professionals, licensed practical nurses, certified

20 nurse assistants, and home health aids who enroll in entry

21 level nursing programs, advanced practice nursing degree

22 programs, RN/Master’s nursing degree programs, doctoral

23 nursing programs, public health nursing programs, nurse

24 educator programs, nurse administrator programs, long

25 term care nursing programs, and training programs fo26 cused on specific technology use or disease management.
7

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 862. GRANTS FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT.

2 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall

3 award grants to designated eligible entities to develop and

4 incorporate gerontology curriculum and competencies.

5 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes

6 of this section, the term ‘designated eligible entity’ means

7 an eligible entity that is a school of nursing.

8 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity

9 that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds

10 under such grant to develop stand alone courses in geri11 atric nursing to support concentrations, minors, and ma12 jors in the discipline, to hire faculty who are certified in

13 geriatric nursing, to train nursing faculty members in ger14 ontology, to provide continuing education in gerontology

15 for practicing nurses at diploma, associate degree, and

16 baccalaureate schools of nursing.

17 ‘‘SEC. 863. GRANTS FOR PARTNERSHIPS.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

19 grants to designated eligible entities to enable such enti20 ties to form partnerships to carry out the activities de21 scribed in subsection (d).

22 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec24 tion, the term ‘designated eligible entity’ means a

25 school of nursing and a health care facility, both of

26 which are eligible entities, that form a partnership
8

•HR 1436 IH

1 to carry out the activities described in subsection

2 (d).

3 ‘‘(2) HEALTH CARE FACILITY.—For purposes

4 of this section, the term ‘health care facility’ means

5 a hospital, nursing home, home health care agency,

6 hospice, federally qualified health center, rural

7 health clinic, or public health clinic.

8 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity

9 that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds

10 received through such grant to—

11 ‘‘(1) provide employees of the facility advanced

12 training and education at the school or facility;

13 ‘‘(2) establish or expand nursing practice ar14 rangements in noninstitutional settings to dem15 onstrate methods to improve access to health care in

16 medically underserved communities;

17 ‘‘(3) purchase distance learning technology to

18 extend general education and training programs to

19 rural areas, and to extend specialty education and

20 training programs to all areas; and

21 ‘‘(4) establish or expand mentoring and intern22 ship programs for training in specialty care areas.

23 ‘‘SEC. 864. GRANTS FOR HEALTH CAREER ACADEMIES.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

25 grants to designated eligible entities for the purpose of as-
9

•HR 1436 IH

1 sisting such entities in collaborating to carry out programs

2 that form education pipelines to facilitate the entry of stu3 dents of secondary educational institutions into careers in

4 the field of nursing.

5 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For pur6 poses of subsection (a), the term ‘designated eligible enti7 ties’ means eligible entities that are schools of nursing,

8 health care providers, or secondary educational institu9 tions.

10 ‘‘SEC. 865. FAST-TRACK NURSING FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

11 AND LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

13 program of entering into contracts with individuals de14 scribed in subsection (b) under which the individuals agree

15 to serve as members of the faculties of schools of nursing

16 in consideration of the Federal Government agreeing—

17 ‘‘(1) to provide scholarships for full-time at18 tendance at doctoral programs in the field of nurs19 ing; or

20 ‘‘(2) to pay, for each year of service as such a

21 faculty member, not more than $20,000 of the prin22 cipal and interest of the educational loans of such

23 individuals.

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The individuals re25 ferred to in subsection (a) are —
10

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(1) in the case of the scholarship program

2 under such subsection, individuals who are enrolled

3 or accepted for enrollment in a doctoral program in

4 the field of nursing; and

5 ‘‘(2) in the case of the loan repayment program

6 under such subsection—

7 ‘‘(A) individuals who have a doctoral de8 gree in the field of nursing; or

9 ‘‘(B) are enrolled in a doctoral program in

10 such field and are in the final academic year of

11 the program.

12 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FACULTY POSI13 TIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

15 into a contract under subsection (a) only if the indi16 vidual involved has entered into a contract with a

17 school of nursing to serve as a member of the fac18 ulty of the school for two years, or for such longer

19 period as may be specified in the contract.

20 ‘‘(2) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

22 enter into a contract under subsection (a)(2)

23 only if the contract referred to in paragraph (1)

24 of this subsection provides that—
11

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(i) the school of nursing involved

2 will, for each year for which the individual

3 involved serves as a member of the faculty

4 under the contract with the school, make

5 payments of the principal and interest due

6 on the educational loans of the individual

7 for such year in an amount equal to the

8 amount of such payments made by the

9 Secretary for the year;

10 ‘‘(ii) the payments made by the school

11 pursuant to clause (i) on behalf of the indi12 vidual will be in addition to the pay that

13 the individual would otherwise receive for

14 serving as a member of such faculty; and

15 ‘‘(iii) the school, in making a deter16 mination of the amount of compensation to

17 be provided by the school to the individual

18 for serving as a member of the faculty, will

19 make the determination without regard to

20 the amount of payments made (or to be

21 made) to the individual by the Federal

22 Government under subsection (a)(2).

23 ‘‘(B) WAIVER REGARDING SCHOOL CON24 TRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary may waive the re25 quirement established in subparagraph (A) if
12

•HR 1436 IH

1 the Secretary determines that the requirement

2 will impose an undue financial hardship on the

3 school of nursing involved.

4 ‘‘(d) USE OF SCHOLARSHIP.—A scholarship under

5 subsection (a)(1) may be expended only for tuition ex6 penses, other reasonable educational expenses, and reason7 able living expenses incurred in attending the doctoral pro8 gram involved.

9 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS.—

10 With respect to the National Health Service Corps

11 Schlolarship and Loan Repayment Programs established

12 in subpart III of part D of title III, the provisions of such

13 subpart shall, except as inconsistent with this section,

14 apply to the programs established in subsections (a)(1)

15 and (a)(2) of this section, respectively, in the same man16 ner and to the same extent as such provisions apply to

17 such Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repay18 ment Programs.

19 ‘‘SEC. 866. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there is

21 authorized to be appropriated $46,000,000 for each of the

22 fiscal years 2002 through 2004.’’.
13

•HR 1436 IH

1 Subtitle B—National Nursing Serv2 ice Corps Scholarship Program

3 SEC. 111. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

4 Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, as

5 amended by section 101 of this Act, is amended by adding

6 at the end the following::

7 ‘‘PART J—NATIONAL NURSING SERVICE CORPS

8 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

9 ‘‘SEC. 871. NATIONAL NURSING SERVICE CORPS SCHOLAR10 SHIP PROGRAM.

11 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall

12 establish a National Nurse Service Corps Scholarship pro13 gram (referred to in this section as the ‘program’) that

14 provides scholarships to individuals seeking nursing edu15 cation in exchange for service by such individuals in areas

16 with nursing shortages.

17 ‘‘(b) PREFERENCE.—In awarding scholarships under

18 this section, the Secretary shall give preference to appli19 cants with the greatest financial need, and applicants who

20 agree to serve in health facilities located in areas with

21 nursing shortages.

22 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to participate

23 in the program, an individual must—

24 ‘‘(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled,

25 in a school of nursing, to take courses leading to a
14

•HR 1436 IH

1 baccalaureate or associate degree in nursing (or an

2 equivalent degree), or a diploma in nursing;

3 ‘‘(2) submit an application to participate in the

4 program; and

5 ‘‘(3) enter into an agreement with the Sec6 retary, at the time of submittal of such application,

7 to—

8 ‘‘(A) accept payment of a scholarship and

9 remain enrolled in a nursing school;

10 ‘‘(B) maintain an acceptable level of aca11 demic standing; and

12 ‘‘(C) serve as a nurse for a period of not

13 less than 2 years in an Indian Health Service

14 health center, a Native Hawaiian health center,

15 tribal health center, urban Indian health center,

16 a public or nonprofit private hospital, a health

17 center under section 330, a rural health clinic,

18 a public or nonprofit private nursing home,

19 home health agency, or hospice facility (includ20 ing a home setting), or a public or nonprofit

21 private health facility determined by the Sec22 retary to have a critical shortage of nurses.

23 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The application forms for

25 the programs shall include—
15

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li2 abilities of an individual whose application is

3 approved by the Secretary; and

4 ‘‘(B) information respecting meeting a

5 service obligation and such other information as

6 may be necessary for the individual to under7 stand the program.

8 ‘‘(2) ACCESSIBILITY.—The application form

9 and all other information furnished by the Secretary

10 shall be written so that it may be understood by the

11 average individual applying to participate in the pro12 gram. The Secretary shall make such application

13 forms, and other information available to individuals

14 desiring to participate in the program, on a date

15 sufficiently early to ensure that such individuals

16 have adequate time to carefully review and evaluate

17 such forms and information.

18 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall dis19 tribute to nursing schools materials providing infor20 mation on the program and shall encourage the

21 schools to disseminate the materials to students of

22 the schools.

23 ‘‘(e) SCHOLARSHIP.—
16

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A scholarship provided to a

2 student for a school year under a written contract

3 under the program shall consist of—

4 ‘‘(A) payment to, or (in accordance with

5 paragraph (2)) on behalf of the student of—

6 ‘‘(i) the tuition of the student in such

7 school year; and

8 ‘‘(ii) all other reasonable educational

9 expenses, including fees, books, laboratory

10 expenses, and living expenses incurred by

11 the student in such school year; and

12 ‘‘(B) payment to the student of a stipend

13 of $400 per month for each 12 consecutive

14 months beginning with the first month of the

15 school year.

16 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT.—The Secretary may contract

17 with a nursing school, in which a participant in the

18 program is enrolled, for the payment to the nursing

19 school of the amounts of tuition and other reason20 able educational expenses described in paragraph

21 (1)(A).

22 ‘‘(f) BREACH OF AGREEMENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual

24 who enters into an agreement under this section to

25 provide service as a nurse in consideration for re-
17

•HR 1436 IH

1 ceiving a scholarship, such individual is liable to the

2 Federal Government for the amount of such scholar3 ship, and for interest on such scholarship at the

4 maximum legal prevailing rate, if the individual—

5 ‘‘(A) fails to maintain an acceptable level

6 of academic standing in the nursing program;

7 ‘‘(B) is dismissed from the nursing pro8 gram for disciplinary reasons;

9 ‘‘(C) voluntarily terminates the nursing

10 program; or

11 ‘‘(D) fails to provide services in accordance

12 with the program under this section for the pe13 riod of time applicable under the program.

14 ‘‘(2) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF LIABILITY.—

15 The Secretary shall provide for the waiver or sus16 pension of liability under this section if compliance

17 by the individual with the agreement is impossible,

18 or would involve extreme hardship to the individual,

19 or if enforcement of the agreement with respect to

20 the individual would be unconscionable.

21 ‘‘(3) DATE CERTAIN FOR RECOVERY.—Subject

22 to paragraph (2), any amount that the Federal Gov23 ernment is entitled to recover under paragraph (1)

24 shall be paid to the United States not later than the
18

•HR 1436 IH

1 expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date

2 the United States becomes so entitled.

3 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts recovered under

4 paragraph (1) with respect to a program under this

5 section shall be available for the purposes of such

6 program, and shall remain available for such pur7 poses until expended.

8 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

9 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER.—The term

10 ‘‘community health center’’ has the meaning given

11 such term in section 330(a).

12 ‘‘(2) RURAL HEALTH CLINIC.—The term ‘‘rural

13 health clinic’’ has the meaning given such term in

14 section 1861(aa)(2) of the Social Security Act.

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

16 purpose of payments under agreements entered into under

17 subsection (a), there is authorized to be appropriated

18 $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002 through

19 2004.’’.

20 SEC. 112. INTERNAL REVENUE CODE; EXCLUSION OF CER21 TAIN AMOUNTS RECEIVED UNDER THE NA22 TIONAL NURSING SERVICE CORPS SCHOLAR23 SHIP PROGRAM.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117(c) of the Internal

25 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to the exclusion from
19

•HR 1436 IH

1 gross income amounts received as a qualified scholarship)

2 is amended—

3 (1) by striking ‘‘Subsections (a)’’ and inserting

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), subsections (a)’’, and

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new

8 paragraph:

9 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not

10 apply to any amount received by an individual under

11 the National Nursing Service Corps Scholarship pro12 gram under part J of title VIII of the Public Health

13 Service Act.’’.

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

15 subsection (a) shall apply to amounts received in taxable

16 years beginning after December 31, 2001.
20

•HR 1436 IH

1 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO

2 SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

3 Subtitle A—Amendments to

4 Medicare Program

5 SEC. 201. EXPANSION OF NURSING TRAINING EDUCATION

6 PAYMENTS TO QUALIFIED NONHOSPITAL

7 PROVIDERS.

8 Section 1861(v)(1) of the Social Security Act (42

9 U.S.C. 1395x(v)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the

10 following new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(V)(i) For portions of cost reporting periods begin12 ning on or after October 1, 2001, the Secretary shall es13 tablish rules for making payments to qualified nonhospital

14 providers for the reasonable costs of providing nursing

15 training if such costs are incurred in the operation of a

16 training program that is operated by a hospital.

17 ‘‘(ii) The rules established under clause (i) shall—

18 ‘‘(I) be similar to rules for payments to hos19 pitals under this subsection for such reasonable

20 costs; and

21 ‘‘(II) specify the form and manner in which

22 such payments will be made and the portion of such

23 payments that will be made from each of the trust

24 funds under this title.
21

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) No payment shall be made to a qualified non2 hospital provider under this subparagraph for such rea3 sonable costs to the extent that such reasonable costs are

4 otherwise reimbursed under this title or under any other

5 Federal program.

6 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term

7 ‘qualified nonhospital provider’ means—

8 ‘‘(I) a Federally qualified health center (as de9 fined in section 1861(aa)(4));

10 ‘‘(II) a rural health clinic (as defined in section

11 1861(aa)(2));

12 ‘‘(III) a skilled nursing facility (as defined in

13 section 1819(a));

14 ‘‘(IV) a Medicare+Choice organization under

15 part C; and

16 ‘‘(V) any other provider (other than a hospital)

17 that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.’’.

18 SEC. 202. REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COSTS OF PROVIDING

19 NURSING TRAINING EDUCATION BY HOSPICE

20 AND HOME HEALTH PROVIDERS.

21 Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

22 1395 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing new section:
22

•HR 1436 IH

1 ‘‘REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COSTS OF PROVIDING NURS2 ING TRAINING EDUCATION BY HOSPICE AND HOME

3 HEALTH PROVIDERS

4 ‘‘SEC. 1897. (a) PAYMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab6 lish rules for making payments to qualified entities

7 for the reasonable costs of providing nursing train8 ing during fiscal years 2002 through 2006. Subject

9 to subsection (c), such payments shall be in addition

10 to payments otherwise made to such entities under

11 this title.

12 ‘‘(2) RULES.—The rules established under

13 paragraph (1) shall ensure that reimbursement is

14 made for the costs of training nurses to furnish

15 items and services which are specific to the qualified

16 entity.

17 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED ENTITY DEFINED.—For pur18 poses of this section, the term ‘qualified entity’

19 means—

20 ‘‘(A) a hospice program providing hospice

21 care; and

22 ‘‘(B) a home health agency (as defined in

23 section 1861(o)).

24 ‘‘(b) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The Secretary

25 shall ensure that a qualified entity does not use amounts
23

•HR 1436 IH

1 received under this section to reduce or eliminate staffing

2 problems that the entity may have.

3 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON DOUBLE PAYMENTS.—No pay4 ment shall be made to a qualified entity under this section

5 for the reasonable costs of providing nursing training to

6 the extent that such costs are otherwise reimbursed under

7 this title or under any other Federal program.

8 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—For purposes of making payments

9 under this section, there are appropriated, out of any

10 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such

11 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2002

12 through 2006.’’.

13 Subtitle B—Amendment to

14 Medicaid Program

15 SEC. 211. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN FEDERAL MATCHING

16 RATE FOR MEDICAID NURSE AIDE TRAINING

17 AND COMPETENCY EVALUATION PROGRAMS.

18 Section 1903(a)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42

19 U.S.C. 1396b(a)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘(or, for

20 calendar quarters beginning on or after July 1, 1988, and

21 before October 1, 1990, the lesser of 90 percent or the

22 Federal medical assistance percentage plus 25 percentage

23 points)’’ and inserting ‘‘(or, for calendar quarters begin-
24

•HR 1436 IH

1 ning on or after October 1, 2001, and before October 1,

2 2006, 90 percent)’’.

Æ