Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2023

Subjects: Health, Drug, alcohol, tobacco use, Government lending and loan guarantees, Health personnel, Higher education, Medical education, Mental health, Student aid and college costs

Summary:  <p><b>Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill reauthorizes through FY2032 and expands the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program. Through this program, the Health Resources and Services Administration provides loan repayment assistance to individuals who agree to work for a period of time in the field of substance use disorder treatment.</p> <p>In particular, the bill expands eligibility to include individuals who agree to work in mental health professional shortage areas for a period of time.</p> <p>The bill also allows the use of the loan repayment assistance to repay any loan incurred to obtain a post-graduate degree in a mental health or related field. (Current law limits the loans eligible for repayment to loans for education and training for substance use disorder treatment employment and specified nursing and federal education loans.)</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 462 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mental Health Professionals 
Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TREATMENT 
              WORKFORCE.

    Section 781 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295h) is 
amended--
            (1) In subsection (a)(2), by inserting ``, or the 
        individuals each agree to complete a period of service in a 
        mental health professional shortage area'' before the period;
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as 
                paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (1), the 
                following:
            ``(2) Any loan used for obtaining a degree from an 
        accredited institution of higher education for education in 
        mental health or a related field leading to a master's degree, 
        leading to a doctoral degree, or consisting of post-doctoral 
        study.'';
            (3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Requirements of Service.--Any individual receiving payments 
under this program as required by an agreement under subsection (a) 
shall agree--
            ``(1) to an annual commitment to full-time employment, with 
        no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years of covered 
        employment, in substance use disorder treatment employment in 
        the United States in--
                    ``(A) a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, 
                as designated under section 332; or
                    ``(B) a county (or a municipality, if not contained 
                within any county) where the mean drug overdose death 
                rate per 100,000 people over the past 3 years for which 
                official data is available from the State, is higher 
                than the most recent available national average 
                overdose death rate per 100,000 people, as reported by 
                the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; or
            ``(2) to up to 6 years of full-time employment, with no 
        more than 1 year passing between any 2 years of covered 
        employment, as a behavioral or mental health professional in 
        the United States in--
                    ``(A) a mental health professional shortage area of 
                greatest need, as determined by the Secretary for the 
                purposes of this section, as designated under section 
                332; or
                    ``(B) any facility, program, center, or clinic as 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary for purposes of 
                this section because of a shortage of mental health 
                professionals, including private physician practices 
                and other medical facilities designated under section 
                332(a) as having such a shortage.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)(2), by inserting ``338B, 338I, or 846 
        of this Act, section'' after ``under section'';
            (5) in subsection (h)(2), by inserting ``and behavioral and 
        mental health services employees'' after ``treatment 
        employees'';
            (6) in subsection (i)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated), the following:
            ``(1) The term `behavioral and mental health professional' 
        means health service psychologists, licensed clinical social 
        workers, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family 
        therapists, psychiatric nurse specialists, and 
        psychiatrists.''; and
            (7) in subsection (j). by striking ``$25,000,000 for each 
        of fiscal years 2019 through 2023'' and inserting ``$50,000,000 
        for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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