I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1599 

To ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Mr. JEFFERSON 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 ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals, 

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 ‘‘Expanding, Rebuild5 ing, and Improving Access to Qualified Health Care Pro6 fessionals in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Affected Areas 

7 Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Studies state the New Orleans area is now 

2 home to one million people, just under the pre3 Katrina population of 1.3 million. But the health 

4 care resources necessary to adequately serve that 

5 level of population have not returned: only half of 

6 the previous 4,000 hospital beds are available; there 

7 is no level I trauma center; there are 34 nursing 

8 homes, down from 63; and 19 clinics, down from 90. 

9 (2) According to recent statements in the ‘‘New 

10 England Journal of Medicine’’, the health care situa11 tion in New Orleans area remains unacceptably 

12 primitive. The absence of chronic care facilities con13 tributes to the lengthening of stay in acute care hos14 pitals whose costs exceed Centers for Medicare & 

15 Medicaid Services reimbursement, and these addi16 tional uncompensated expenses may soon force re17 cently reopened hospital beds to close again. Without 

18 rapid, coordinated, and effective help from govern19 ment agencies, it is feared that disproportionate 

20 human suffering and death will continue to plague 

21 greater New Orleans. 

22 (3) According to the Bureau of Health Profes23 sions, National Center for Health Workforce Anal24 ysis, the Louisiana health care system before Hurri25 cane Katrina and Rita was struggling with a shortVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 age of primary care areas in 55 parishes and short2 ages of physician assistants, nurse practitioners, 

3 nurse midwives, dentists, psychologists, and social 

4 workers. 

5 (4) Health profession students, starting a new 

6 academic year, were forced to evacuate the city. 

7 Many trainees from Tulane University were relo8 cated to Houston and Galveston in Texas. Less than 

9 a month later, on 24 September, another hurricane, 

10 Rita, hit land near the Louisiana-Texas border. 

11 Many of the 5,000 medical students and doctors in 

12 training in Texas were evacuated again. 

13 (5) Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou14 isiana had the highest cost of health care in the Na15 tion, but was rated the least healthiest State with 

16 the second highest infant mortality rate, the highest 

17 rate of premature deaths, and the third highest un18 insured rate. 

19 (6) After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou20 isiana lost vast amounts of medical services (preven21 tive, primary care, acute, emergency, critical care, 

22 surgical, subspecialty, maternity, gynecologic, family 

23 planning, sexually transmitted disease treatment, 

24 psychiatric/mental health, rehabilitation, administra25 tive, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory). 


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1 (7) After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lou2 isiana lost over 7,500 health care professionals, in3 cluding doctors, nurses, allied health care profes4 sionals, dentists, medial support providers, public 

5 health professionals, behavioral specialists, mental 

6 health workers, and physical therapists. 

7 (8) New Orleans’ only certified level I trauma 

8 unit is still closed as of October 2006, and the num9 ber of staffed hospital beds in the City of New Orle10 ans was about 60 percent less than before Hurricane 

11 Katrina. Prior to Katrina, 90 clinics were in oper12 ation, including 70 clinics run by the Medical Center 

13 of Louisiana at New Orleans, with the remainder 

14 being federally qualified health centers, mental 

15 health or addictive disorder clinics, or other specialty 

16 clinics. Post-hurricane, 19 clinics were open and 

17 generally operating at less than 50 percent of pre18 Katrina capacity. 

19 (9) More than three-fourths of the safety net 

20 clinics in New Orleans remain closed, and many of 

21 those that were open had limited capacity, according 

22 to data gathered by officials. 


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1 SEC. 3. HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA PUBLIC HEALTH 

2 WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN RE3 PAYMENT PROGRAM. 

4 Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘Subpart 3—Public Health Workforce Scholarship 

8 and Loan Repayment Program 

9 ‘‘SEC. 775. HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA PUBLIC 

10 HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP PRO11 GRAM. 

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Public Health Work14 force Scholarship Program (referred to in this section as 

15 the ‘Program’) to ensure an adequate supply of public 

16 health professionals to eliminate critical public health pre17 paredness workforce shortages in State and local public 

18 health agencies in areas directly affected by Hurricane 

19 Katrina or Rita. 

20 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

21 the Program, an individual shall— 

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

23 as a full-time student— 

24 ‘‘(A) in an accredited (as determined by 

25 the Secretary) educational institution in a State 


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1 directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) in a course of study or program, of4 fered by such institution and approved by the 

5 Secretary, leading to a health professions de6 gree (graduate, undergraduate, or associate) or 

7 certificate, which may include laboratory 

8 sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 

9 health communications, health education and 

10 behavioral sciences, psychology, physical ther11 apy, gerontology, sociology, health policy, social 

12 work, information sciences, or public adminis13 tration; 

14 ‘‘(2) be a citizen of the United States or an 

15 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 

16 the United States; 

17 ‘‘(3) submit an application to the Secretary to 

18 participate in the Program; and 

19 ‘‘(4) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

20 time of the submission of such application, a written 

21 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve, upon 

22 the completion of the course of study or program in23 volved, for the applicable period of obligated service 

24 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State or 

25 local public health agency, organization, or associaVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 tion in an area directly affected by Hurricane 

2 Katrina or Rita. 

3 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

5 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

6 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici7 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

8 with such forms— 

9 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li10 abilities of an individual whose application is 

11 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

12 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

13 explanation of the damages to which the United 

14 States is entitled to recover in the case of the 

15 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

16 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob17 ligation and such other information as may be 

18 necessary for the individual to understand the 

19 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro20 gram. 

21 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec22 retary shall distribute to health professions schools, 

23 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, His24 panic-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges and Uni25 versities, Asian-American- and Pacific Islander-servVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 ing institutions, secondary educational institutions, 

2 and other appropriate accredited academic institu3 tions and relevant Federal, State, local, and tribal 

4 public health agencies, materials providing informa5 tion on the Program and shall encourage such 

6 schools, institutions, and agencies to disseminate 

7 such materials to potentially eligible students. 

8 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY, AND TIMING.—The 

9 application form, contract form, and all other infor10 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

13 be understood by the average individual apply14 ing to participate in the Program; and 

15 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

16 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in17 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

18 and evaluate such forms and information. 

19 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—Individuals 

20 who are eligible under subsection (b) shall be pro21 vided special consideration if the individuals are 

22 from medically underserved communities, as defined 

23 in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 295p). 


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1 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract (referred to 

2 in this section) between the Secretary and an individual 

3 shall contain— 

4 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

5 that the Secretary will provide the individual with a 

6 scholarship for a period of years (not to exceed 5 

7 academic years) during which the individual shall 

8 pursue an approved course of study or program to 

9 prepare the individual to serve in the public health 

10 workforce; 

11 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

12 that the individual will— 

13 ‘‘(A) maintain full-time enrollment in the 

14 approved course of study or program described 

15 in subsection (b)(1) until the individual com16 pletes that course of study or program; 

17 ‘‘(B) while enrolled in the course of study 

18 or program, maintain an acceptable level of aca19 demic standing (as determined under regula20 tions of the Secretary by the educational insti21 tution offering such course of study or pro22 gram); and 

23 ‘‘(C) immediately upon graduation, serve 

24 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 

25 or local public health agency, organization, or 


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1 association in a position related to the course of 

2 study or program for which the contract was 

3 awarded for a period of time (referred to in this 

4 section as the ‘period of obligated service’) 

5 equal to the greater of— 

6 ‘‘(i) 1 year for each academic year for 

7 which the individual was provided a schol8 arship under the Program; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) 3 years; 

10 ‘‘(3) an agreement by both parties as to the na11 ture and extent of the scholarship assistance, which 

12 may include— 

13 ‘‘(A) payment of the tuition expenses of 

14 the individual; 

15 ‘‘(B) payment of all other reasonable edu16 cational expenses of the individual including 

17 fees, books, equipment, and laboratory ex18 penses; and 

19 ‘‘(C) payment of a stipend of not more 

20 than $2,400 per month for each month of the 

21 academic year involved (indexed to account for 

22 increases in the Consumer Price Index); and 

23 ‘‘(4) a provision that any financial obligation of 

24 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

25 into under this section and any obligation of the inVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 dividual which is conditioned thereon, is contingent 

2 upon funds being appropriated for scholarships 

3 under this section; 

4 ‘‘(5) a statement of the damages to which the 

5 United States is entitled for the individual’s breach 

6 of the contract; and 

7 ‘‘(6) such other statements of the rights and li8 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

9 inconsistent with the provisions of this section. 

10 ‘‘(e) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re11 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

12 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

13 medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, po14 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work under a 

15 scholarship under the Program, the date of the initiation 

16 of the period of obligated service may be postponed, upon 

17 the submission by the individual of a petition for such 

18 postponement and approval by the Secretary, to the date 

19 on which the individual completes an approved internship, 

20 residency, or other relevant public health preparedness ad21 vanced training program. 

22 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH INSTITUTIONS.—The 

24 Secretary may contract with an educational institu25 tion in which a participant in the Program is enVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 rolled, for the payment to the educational institution 

2 of the amounts of tuition and other reasonable edu3 cational expenses described in subsection (d)(3). 

4 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith5 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

6 have entered into written contracts with the Sec7 retary under this section, while undergoing academic 

8 training, shall not be counted against any employ9 ment ceiling affecting the Department or any other 

10 Federal agency. 

11 ‘‘(g) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

12 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub13 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

14 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of schol15 arship contracts under sections 338A. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 775–1. HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA PUBLIC 

17 HEALTH WORKFORCE RECOVERY LOAN RE18 PAYMENT PROGRAM. 

19 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Public Health Work21 force Loan Repayment Program (referred to in this sec22 tion as the ‘Program’) to ensure an adequate supply of 

23 public health professionals to eliminate critical public 

24 health preparedness workforce shortages in Federal, 

25 State, local, and public health agencies, organizations, and 


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1 associations in areas directly affected by Hurricane 

2 Katrina or Rita. 

3 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

4 the Program, an individual shall— 

5 ‘‘(1)(A) be accepted for enrollment, or be en6 rolled, as a full-time or part-time student in an ac7 credited academic educational institution in a State 

8 or territory in the final year of a course of study or 

9 program offered by that institution leading to a 

10 health professions degree or certificate, which may 

11 include a degree (graduate, undergraduate, or asso12 ciate) or certificate relating to laboratory sciences, 

13 epidemiology, environmental health, health commu14 nications, health education and behavioral sciences, 

15 information sciences, or public administration; or 

16 ‘‘(B) have graduated, within 10 years, from an 

17 accredited educational institution in a State or terri18 tory and received a health professions degree (grad19 uate, undergraduate, or associate) or certificate, 

20 which may include a degree (graduate, under21 graduate, or associate) or certificate related to lab22 oratory sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 

23 health communications, health education and behav24 ioral sciences, psychology, physical therapy, geronVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 tology, sociology, health policy, social work, informa2 tion sciences, or public administration; 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an individual described in 

4 paragraph (1)(A), have accepted employment with a 

5 Federal, State, local, or tribal public health agency, 

6 as recognized by the Secretary, to commence upon 

7 graduation; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual described in 

9 paragraph (1)(B), be employed by, or have accepted 

10 employment with, a Federal, State, or local public 

11 health agency, organization, or association, as recog12 nized by the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(3) be a citizen of the United States or an 

14 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 

15 the United States; 

16 ‘‘(4) submit an application to the Secretary to 

17 participate in the Program; and 

18 ‘‘(5) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

19 time of the submission of such application, a written 

20 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve for 

21 the applicable period of obligated service in the full22 time employment of a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

23 public health agency. 

24 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

2 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

3 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici4 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

5 with such forms— 

6 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li7 abilities of an individual whose application is 

8 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

9 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

10 explanation of the damages to which the United 

11 States is entitled to recover in the case of the 

12 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

13 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob14 ligation and such other information as may be 

15 necessary for the individual to understand the 

16 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro17 gram. 

18 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec19 retary shall distribute to health professions schools 

20 and other appropriate accredited academic institu21 tions, health professions schools, Historically Black 

22 Colleges and Universities, Hispanic serving Institu23 tions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Asian-Amer24 ican and Pacific Islander-serving institutions, sec25 ondary educational institutions, and relevant FedVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 eral, State, and local public health agencies, mate2 rials providing information on the Program and 

3 shall encourage such schools, institutions, and agen4 cies to disseminate such materials to potentially eli5 gible students. 

6 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY, AND TIMING.—The 

7 application form, contract form, and all other infor8 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

9 shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

11 be understood by the average individual apply12 ing to participate in the Program; and 

13 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

14 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in15 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

16 and evaluate such forms and information. 

17 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—Individuals 

18 who are eligible under subsection (b) shall be pro19 vided special consideration if the individuals are 

20 from medically underserved communities, as defined 

21 in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 295p). 

23 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract (referred to 

24 in this section) between the Secretary and an individual 

25 shall contain— 


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1 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

2 that the Secretary will repay on behalf of the indi3 vidual loans incurred by the individual in the pursuit 

4 of the relevant public health preparedness workforce 

5 educational degree or certificate in accordance with 

6 the terms of the contract; 

7 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

8 that the individual will serve, immediately upon 

9 graduation in the case of an individual described in 

10 subsection (b)(1)(A), or in the case of an individual 

11 described in subsection (b)(1)(B) will continue to 

12 serve, in the full-time employment of a Federal, 

13 State, or local public health agency, organization, or 

14 association in a position related to the course of 

15 study or program for which the contract was award16 ed for a period of time (referred to in this section 

17 as the ‘period of obligated service’) equal to the 

18 greater of— 

19 ‘‘(A) 4 years; or 

20 ‘‘(B) such longer period of time as deter21 mined appropriate by the Secretary and the in22 dividual; 

23 ‘‘(3) an agreement, as appropriate, on the part 

24 of the individual to relocate for the entire period of 

25 obligated service to a political jurisdiction designated 


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1 by the Secretary to be a Hurricane Katrina or Rita 

2 priority service area in exchange for an additional 

3 loan repayment incentive amount that does not ex4 ceed 30 percent of the individual’s eligible loan re5 payment award per academic year such that the 

6 total of the loan repayment and the incentive 

amount shall not exceed 1 7 ⁄2 of the eligible loan bal8 ance per year; 

9 ‘‘(4) in the case of an individual described in 

10 subsection (b)(1)(A) who is in the final year of study 

11 and who has accepted employment with a Federal, 

12 State, or local public health agency, organization, or 

13 association upon graduation, an agreement on the 

14 part of the individual to complete the education or 

15 training, maintain an acceptable level of academic 

16 standing (as determined by the education institution 

17 offering the course of study or training), and com18 plete the period of obligated service; 

19 ‘‘(5) a provision that any financial obligation of 

20 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

21 into under this section and any obligation of the in22 dividual that is conditioned thereon, is contingent on 

23 funds being appropriated for loan repayments under 

24 this section; 


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1 ‘‘(6) a statement of the damages to which the 

2 United States is entitled under this section for the 

3 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

4 ‘‘(7) such other statements of the rights and li5 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

6 inconsistent with this section. 

7 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan repayment provided 

9 for an individual under a written contract under the 

10 Program shall consist of payment, in accordance 

11 with paragraph (2), on behalf of the individual of 

12 the principal, interest, and related expenses on gov13 ernment and commercial loans received by the indi14 vidual regarding the undergraduate or graduate (or 

15 both) education of the individual, which loans were 

16 made for— 

17 ‘‘(A) tuition expenses; or 

18 ‘‘(B) any other reasonable educational ex19 penses, including fees, books, and laboratory ex20 penses, incurred by the individual. 

21 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS FOR YEARS SERVED.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each year of obli23 gated service that an individual contracts to 

24 serve under subsection (d) the Secretary may 

25 pay up to $35,000 on behalf of the individual 


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1 for loans described in paragraph (1). With re2 spect to participants under the Program whose 

3 total eligible loans are less than $125,000, the 

4 Secretary shall pay an amount that does not exceed 1 5 ⁄2 of the eligible loan balance for each 

6 year of obligated service of the individual. 

7 ‘‘(B) REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—Any ar8 rangement made by the Secretary for the mak9 ing of loan repayments in accordance with this 

10 subsection shall provide that any repayments 

11 for a year of obligated service shall be made no 

12 later than the end of the fiscal year in which 

13 the individual completes such year of service. 

14 ‘‘(3) TAX LIABILITY.—For the purpose of pro15 viding reimbursements for tax liability resulting 

16 from payments under paragraph (2) on behalf of an 

17 individual— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall, in addition to 

19 such payments, make payments to the indi20 vidual in an amount not to exceed 39 percent 

21 of the total amount of loan repayments made 

22 for the taxable year involved; and 

23 ‘‘(B) may make such additional payments 

24 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 

25 with respect to such purpose. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

2 may enter into an agreement with the holder of any 

3 loan for which payments are made under the Pro4 gram to establish a schedule for the making of such 

5 payments. 

6 ‘‘(f) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re7 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

8 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

9 medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, po10 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work, the date of 

11 the initiation of the period of obligated service may be 

12 postponed, upon the submission by the individual of a peti13 tion for such postponement and approval by the Secretary, 

14 to the date on which the individual completes an approved 

15 internship, residency, or other relevant public health pre16 paredness advanced training program. 

17 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) HIRING PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of law, Federal, State, local, and 

20 tribal public health agencies may give hiring priority 

21 to any individual who has qualified for and is willing 

22 to execute a contract to participate in the Program. 

23 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

25 have entered into written contracts with the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 retary under this section, who are serving as full2 time employees of a State or local public health 

3 agency, or who are in the last year of public health 

4 workforce academic preparation, shall not be count5 ed against any employment ceiling affecting the De6 partment or any other Federal agency. 

7 ‘‘(h) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

8 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub9 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

10 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of loan 

11 repayment contracts under section 338B. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 775–2. GRANTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS IN 

13 HURRICANE KATRINA AND RITA AFFECTED 

14 AREAS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of operating 

16 Hurricane Katrina and Rita State and local public health 

17 workforce loan repayment programs, the Secretary shall 

18 award a grant to any public health agency, organization, 

19 or association that receives public health preparedness co20 operative agreements, or other successor cooperative 

21 agreements, from the Department of Health and Human 

22 Services. 

23 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A State or local loan repay24 ment program operated with a grant under subsection (a) 

25 shall incorporate all provisions of the Hurricanes Katrina 


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1 and Rita Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Pro2 gram under section 775–1, including the ability to des3 ignate Hurricane Katrina and Rita priority service areas 

4 within the relevant political jurisdiction. 

5 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The head of the State or 

6 local office that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall 

7 be responsible for contracting and operating the loan re8 payment program under the grant. 

9 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion shall be construed to obligate or limit any State or 

11 local government entity from implementing independent or 

12 supplemental public health workforce development pro13 grams within their borders. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 775–3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—For the purpose of 

16 carrying out section 775, there is authorized to be appro17 priated $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums 

18 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 through 

19 2013. 

20 ‘‘(b) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of car22 rying out sections 775–1 and 775–2, there is author23 ized to be appropriated $225,000,000 for fiscal year 

24 2008, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

25 of fiscal years 2009 through 2013. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Not less than 80 percent 

2 of the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) in 

3 each fiscal year shall be made available to carry out 

4 section 775–2.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. CULTURAL COMPETENCE TRAINING FOR HEALTH 

6 CARE AND EMERGENCY RELIEF PROFES7 SIONALS. 

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

9 Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the 

10 Health Resources and Services Administration, the Dep11 uty Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, and the Di12 rector of the National Center on Minority Health and 

13 Health Disparities, shall award grants to eligible entities 

14 to test, implement, and evaluate models of cultural com15 petence training, including continuing education, for 

16 health care and emergency relief providers. 

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

18 under subsection (a), an entity shall— 

19 (1) be an academic medical center, a health 

20 center or clinic, a hospital, a health plan, a health 

21 system, or a health care professional guild (including 

22 a mental health care professional guild); 

23 (2) partner with a minority serving institution, 

24 minority professional association, or community25 based organization representing minority popuVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:10 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599

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1 lations, in addition to a research institution to carry 

2 out activities under this grant; and 

3 (3) prepare and submit to the Secretary an ap4 plication at such time, in such manner, and con5 taining such information as the Secretary may re6 quire. 

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

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

10 2008 through 2013. 

11 SEC. 5. HEALTH CAREERS OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM. 

12 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

13 diversify the health care workforce by increasing the num14 ber of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in the 

15 health and allied health professions by enhancing the aca16 demic skills of students from disadvantaged backgrounds 

17 and supporting them in successfully entering, competing 

18 in, and graduating from health professions training pro19 grams. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

21 740(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 293d(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘there is authorized to 

23 be appropriated $29,400,000’’ and all that follows through 

24 ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘there are authorized to be appro25 priated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums 


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1 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 through 

2 2013’’. 

3 SEC. 6. PROGRAM OF EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH PROFES4 SIONS EDUCATION FOR UNDERREP5 RESENTED MINORITIES. 

6 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

7 diversify the health care workforce by supporting pro8 grams of excellence in designated health professions 

9 schools that demonstrate a commitment to under rep10 resented minority populations with a focus on minority 

11 health issues, cultural and linguistic competence, and 

12 eliminating health disparities. 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—Section 

14 736(h)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 293(h)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 For the purpose of making grants under subsection 

18 (a), there are authorized to be appropriated 

19 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as 

20 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 

21 through 2013.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS; RECRUITMENT 

2 AND FELLOWSHIPS FOR INDIVIDUALS FROM 

3 DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 331(b) of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254d(b)) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure that the individuals 

8 with respect to whom activities under paragraphs (1) and 

9 (2) are carried out include individuals from disadvantaged 

10 backgrounds, including activities carried out to provide 

11 health professions students with information on the Schol12 arship and Loan Repayment Programs.’’. 

13 (b) ASSIGNMENT OF CORPS PERSONNEL.—Section 

14 333(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 254f(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) In assigning Corps personnel under this section, 

17 the Secretary shall give preference to applicants who re18 quest assignment to a Federally-qualified health center (as 

19 defined in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act) or 

20 to a provider organization that has a majority of patients 

21 who are minorities or individuals from low-income families 

22 (families with a family income that is less than 200 per23 cent of the poverty line, as defined by the Office of Man24 agement and Budget and revised annually in accordance 

25 with section 673(2) of the Community Services Block 

26 Grant Act).’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM OF CENTERS FOR DIS2 EASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

3 Section 317F(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 247b–7(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1994,’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting before the period the following: 

7 ‘‘$750,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as 

8 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 

9 through 2013’’. 

10 SEC. 9. MID-CAREER HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLARSHIP 

11 PROGRAM. 

12 Part B of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 742. MID-CAREER HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLAR15 SHIP PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

17 to eligible schools for awarding scholarships to eligible in18 dividuals to attend the school involved, for the purpose of 

19 enabling the individuals to make a career change from a 

20 non-health profession to a health profession. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXPENSES.—Amounts awarded as a scholarship 

22 under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) subject to paragraph (2), may be expended 

24 only for tuition expenses, other reasonable edu25 cational expenses, and reasonable living expenses in26 curred in the attendance of the school involved; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may be expended for stipends to eligible 

2 individuals for the enrolled period at eligible schools, 

3 except that such a stipend may not be provided to 

4 an individual for more than 4 years, and such a sti5 pend may not exceed $35,000 per year (notwith6 standing any other provision of law regarding the 

7 amount of stipends). 

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: — 

9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘eligible 

10 school’ means a school of medicine, osteopathic med11 icine, dentistry, nursing (as defined in section 801), 

12 pharmacy, podiatric medicine, optometry, veterinary 

13 medicine, public health, chiropractic, or allied health, 

14 a school offering a graduate program in mental and 

15 behavioral health practice, or an entity providing 

16 programs for the training of physician assistants. 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

18 individual’ means an individual who has obtained a 

19 secondary school diploma or its recognized equiva20 lent. 

21 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In providing scholarships to eligible 

22 individuals, eligible schools shall give priority to individ23 uals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and seek 

24 to work in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita. 


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

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

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

4 2008 through 2013.’’. 

5 SEC. 10. EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND RESCUE SERVICES 

6 FOR CHILDREN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1910(a) of the Public 

8 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300w–9(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘may make grants to States or 

10 accredited schools of medicine in States to support 

11 a program of demonstration projects for the expan12 sion and improvement of emergency medical services 

13 for children who need treatment for trauma or crit14 ical care’’ and inserting ‘‘may make grants to, or 

15 enter into contracts with, States, local government 

16 entities, Indian tribes, accredited schools of medi17 cine, and nonprofit children’s hospitals to improve 

18 emergency medical services for children who need 

19 treatment for trauma or critical care, including in20 jury prevention activities and data collection’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘3-year’’ and inserting ‘‘4-year’’; 

22 and 

23 (3) by striking ‘‘4th’’ and inserting ‘‘5th’’. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub2 section (d) of section 1910 of the Public Health Service 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 300w–9) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before such sums; and 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘$65,000,000 for the period of 

6 fiscal years 2008 through 2011’’ before the period at 

7 the end. 

8 SEC. 11. BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES FOR SOCIAL SERVICES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 2003 

10 and paragraphs (1) and (4) of section 2005(a) of the So11 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397b, 1397d(a)), the Sec12 retary of Health and Human Services shall make addi13 tional payments under title XX of the Social Security Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq.) to States directly affected by 

15 Hurricane Katrina or Rita for health services (including 

16 mental health services); for health professional recruit17 ment, training, and retention programs; and for repair, 

18 renovation, and construction of health facilities (including 

19 mental health facilities). 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

22 there is authorized to be appropriated $250,000,000 

23 for fiscal year 2008. 

24 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount appropriated 

25 pursuant to paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) 25 percent shall be for additional pay2 ments under this section to Mississippi; and 

3 (B) 75 percent shall be for additional pay4 ments under this section to Louisiana. 

Æ 


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