Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act

To improve the public health workforce loan repayment program. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act 2. Public health workforce loan repayment program Section 776 of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 295f–1 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by striking supply of supply of, and encourage recruitment of, (B) by striking Federal, (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— (i) by striking accredited academic educational institution in a State or territory in the final year institution of higher education in the final semester (or equivalent) (ii) by striking or health professions degree or certificate degree, a health professions degree, or a degree in computer science, information science, information systems, information technology, or statistics (iii) by striking Federal, (iv) by adding or (B) in paragraph (1)(B)— (i) in clause (i)— (I) by striking accredited educational institution in a State or territory institution of higher education (II) by striking or health professions degree or certificate degree, a health professions degree, or a degree in computer science, information science, information systems, information technology, or statistics (ii) in clause (ii), by striking Federal, (C) in paragraph (4), by striking section 455(m), 428J, 428K, 428L, or 460 section 428K or 428L (3) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking or certificate (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) by striking Federal, (ii) by striking equal to the greater of— of at least 2 consecutive years; (4) in subsection (d)— (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: (1) In general A loan repayment provided for an individual under a written contract under the Program shall consist of payment, in accordance with paragraph (2), for the individual toward the outstanding principal and interest on education loans incurred by the individual in the pursuit of the relevant degree in accordance with the terms of the contract. ; (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) by striking For each year (A) In general For each year ; and (ii) by adding at the end the following: (B) Considerations The Secretary may take action in making awards to ensure that— (i) not less than 50 percent of contracts under subsection (c) are awarded to individuals, who at the time of entering into the contract, are not employed by a local, State, or tribal public health agency or a related training fellowship, as recognized by the Secretary; and (ii) the contracts provided under subsection (c) are equitably distributed among— (I) the geographical regions of the United States; and (II) local, State, and tribal public health departments. ; and (C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows: (3) Tax treatment of payments For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, a payment made under this section shall be treated in the same manner as an amount received under section 338B(g), as described in section 108(f)(4) of such Code. ; (5) in subsection (e)— (A) by striking receiving a degree or certificate from a health professions or other related school with a contract to serve under subsection (c) (B) by inserting or extended postponed (6) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); (7) by inserting after subsection (f) the following: (g) Definitions In this section: (1) Institution of higher education The term institution of higher education (2) Full-time The term full-time (A) with a single qualifying employer for not less than 30 hours per week; or (B) with 2 or more qualifying employers for a total of not less than 30 hours per week. (3) Education loan The term education loan (A) any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965; (B) any loan made under subpart II of part A of this title or part E of title VIII; (C) a private education loan, as defined in section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act; or (D) any other loan funded, insured, or guaranteed by any Federal agency that is not the Department of Education and that is issued directly to a student. ; and (8) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by striking $195,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025

Summary: Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2025, and otherwise modifies, the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program (a program that awards student loan repayment to individuals with qualifying degrees who commit to work full-time for a federal, state, tribal, or local public health agency for a period of obligated service). Among other changes, the bill eliminates the option for individuals to complete the service obligation in a federal public health agency and expands the scope of qualifying degrees to include those in statistics, computer science, and programs related to information technology. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services may take actions to equitably distribute awards among geographic regions and jurisdictional levels and to ensure that at least 50% of individuals who receive loan repayment awards are not employed in qualifying public health agencies at the time they enter the program.