I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8151 
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to awards to support 
community health workers and community health. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2022 
Mr. RUIZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to 
awards to support community health workers and com-
munity health. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building a Sustainable 
Workforce for Healthy Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AWARDS TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY HEALTH WORK-
ERS AND COMMUNITY HEALTH. 
Section 399V of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 280g–11) is amended— 
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(1) by amending the section heading to read as 
follows: ‘‘AWARDS
TO
SUPPORT
COMMUNITY 
HEALTH WORKERS AND COMMUNITY HEALTH’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention and in coordination with the Administrator of the 
Health Resources and Services Administration, shall 
award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to el-
igible entities to promote healthy behaviors and outcomes 
for populations in medically underserved communities 
through the use of community health workers, including 
by addressing ongoing and longer-term community health 
needs, and by building the capacity of the community 
health worker workforce. Such grants, contracts, and co-
operative agreements shall be awarded in alignment and 
coordination with existing funding arrangements sup-
porting community health workers.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘Grants awarded’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Subject to any requirements for 
the scope of licensure, registration, or cer-
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tification of a community health worker 
under applicable State law, grants, con-
tracts, and cooperative agreements award-
ed’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘support community 
health workers’’; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(3) 
through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re-
spectively; 
(C) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) recruit, hire, and train community health 
workers that reflect the needs of the community; 
‘‘(2) support community health workers in pro-
viding education and outreach, in a community set-
ting, regarding— 
‘‘(A) health conditions prevalent in— 
‘‘(i) medically underserved commu-
nities (as defined in section 799B), par-
ticularly racial and ethnic minority popu-
lations; and 
‘‘(ii) other such populations or geo-
graphic areas that may require additional 
support during public health emergencies, 
which may include counties identified by 
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the Secretary using applicable measures 
developed by the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention or other Federal agen-
cies; and 
‘‘(B) addressing social determinants of 
health and eliminating health disparities, in-
cluding by— 
‘‘(i) promoting awareness of services 
and resources to increase access to health 
care, child services, technology, housing 
services, educational services, nutrition 
services, employment services, and other 
services; and 
‘‘(ii) assisting in conducting individual 
and community needs assessments; 
‘‘(3) educate community members, including re-
garding effective strategies to promote healthy be-
haviors;’’; 
(D) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘to educate’’ and inserting ‘‘edu-
cate’’; 
(E) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated— 
(i) by striking ‘‘to identify’’ and in-
serting ‘‘identify’’; 
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established relationships with community health 
workers in the communities expected to be 
served by the program; or’’ and 
(E) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) develop a plan for providing services to the 
extent practicable, in the language and cultural con-
text most appropriate to individuals expected to be 
served by the program.’’; 
(6) in subsection (e)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘community health worker 
programs’’ and inserting ‘‘eligible entities’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘and one-stop delivery sys-
tems under section 121(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 
health professions schools, minority-serving in-
stitutions (as described in section 371 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965), area health 
education centers under section 751 of this Act, 
and one-stop delivery systems under section 
121’’; 
(7) by striking subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), and 
(j) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 
provide to eligible entities that receive awards under sub-
section (a) technical assistance with respect to planning, 
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development, and operation of community health worker 
programs authorized or supported under this section. 
‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION
OF BEST PRACTICES.—Not 
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the 
Building a Sustainable Workforce for Healthy Commu-
nities Act, the Secretary shall, based on activities carried 
out under this section and in collaboration with relevant 
stakeholders, identify and disseminate evidence-based or 
evidence-informed practices regarding recruitment and re-
tention of community health workers to address ongoing 
public health and community health needs, and to prepare 
for, and respond to, future public health emergencies. 
‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 4 years 
after the date of enactment of the Building a Sustainable 
Workforce for Healthy Communities Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
a report concerning the effectiveness of the program under 
this section in addressing ongoing public health and com-
munity health needs. Such report shall include rec-
ommendations regarding any improvements to such pro-
gram, including recommendations for how to improve re-
cruitment, training, and retention of the community 
health workforce. 
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‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—For 
purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized 
to be appropriated $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2023 through 2027.’’; 
(8) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub-
section (j); and 
(9) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— 
(A) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), and 
(4); 
(B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (1); 
(C) in paragraph (1), as so redesignated— 
(i) by striking ‘‘entity (including a 
State or public subdivision of a State’’ and 
inserting ‘‘entity, including a State or po-
litical subdivision of a State, an Indian 
Tribe or Tribal organization, an urban In-
dian organization, a community-based or-
ganization’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘as defined in section 
1861(aa) of the Social Security Act))’’ and 
inserting 
‘‘(as 
described 
in 
section 
1861(aa)(4)(B) of the Social Security 
Act)’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 
The terms ‘Indian Tribe’ and ‘Tribal organization’ 
have the meanings given the terms ‘Indian tribe’ and 
‘tribal organization’, respectively, in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act. 
‘‘(3) URBAN INDIAN ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘urban Indian organization’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 
Improvement Act.’’. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 
Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
a report on the program authorized under section 399V 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–11) (as 
amended by section 2, including a review of the outcomes 
and effectiveness of the program and coordination with ap-
plicable programs of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration to ensure there is no unnecessary duplica-
tion of efforts among such programs. 
Æ 
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