IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2781 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 29, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to 
reauthorize certain programs relating to the health pro-
fessions workforce, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educating Medical 
Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and 
Readiness for Health Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘EMPOWER 
for Health Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS 
WORKFORCE PROGRAMS. 
(a) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.—Subsection (i) of 
section 736 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
293) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro-
priated $24,897,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 
2024.’’. 
(b) HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING FOR DIVER-
SITY.—Section 740 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 293d) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$51,000,000 
for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 
2014’’ and inserting ‘‘$51,419,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$5,000,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$1,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
through 2024’’; and 
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(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$60,000,000 
for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may be nec-
essary for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 
2014’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024’’. 
(c) PRIMARY
CARE
TRAINING
AND
ENHANCE-
MENT.—Section 747(c)(1) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 293k(c)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘$125,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and such sums as 
may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 
2014’’ and inserting ‘‘$51,371,000 for each of fiscal years 
2020 through 2024’’. 
(d) TRAINING IN GENERAL, PEDIATRIC, AND PUBLIC 
HEALTH
DENTISTRY.—Section 748(f) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 293k–2(f)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘$30,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums 
as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 through 
2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$42,707,000 for each of fiscal years 
2020 through 2024’’. 
(e) AREA HEALTH EDUCATION CENTERS.—Section 
751(j)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
294a(j)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘$125,000,000 for 
each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014’’ and inserting 
‘‘$42,075,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 
2024’’. 
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(f) NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE WORK-
FORCE ANALYSIS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 761(e)(1)(A) of the 
Public 
Health 
Service 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
294n(e)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$7,500,000 
for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014’’ and in-
serting ‘‘$5,947,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
through 2024’’. 
(2) 
TECHNICAL
CORRECTION.—Section 
761(e)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 294n(e)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘sub-
section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 
(g) PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE.—Section 770(a) 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295e(a)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘$43,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, 
and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 
years 2012 through 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$17,850,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024’’. 
SEC. 3. EDUCATION AND TRAINING RELATING TO GERI-
ATRICS. 
Section 753 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 294c) is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘SEC. 753. EDUCATION AND TRAINING RELATING TO GERI-
ATRICS. 
‘‘(a) GERIATRICS WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT PRO-
GRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 
grants or contracts under this subsection to entities 
described in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) of section 
799B, section 801(2), or section 865(d), or other 
health professions schools or programs approved by 
the Secretary, for the establishment or operation of 
geriatrics workforce enhancement programs that 
meet the requirements of paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A geriatrics workforce 
enhancement program meets the requirements of 
this paragraph if such program supports the devel-
opment of a health care workforce that maximizes 
patient and family engagement and improves health 
outcomes for older adults by integrating geriatrics 
with primary care and other appropriate specialties. 
Special emphasis should be placed on providing the 
primary care workforce with the knowledge and 
skills to care for older adults and collaborating with 
community partners to address gaps in health care 
for older adults through individual, system, commu-
nity, and population level changes. Areas of pro-
grammatic focus may include the following: 
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‘‘(A) Transforming clinical training envi-
ronments to integrated geriatrics and primary 
care delivery systems to ensure trainees are well 
prepared to practice in and lead in such sys-
tems. 
‘‘(B) Developing providers from multiple 
disciplines and specialties to work interprofes-
sionally to assess and address the needs and 
preferences of older adults and their families 
and caregivers at the individual, community, 
and population levels with cultural and lin-
guistic competency. 
‘‘(C) Creating and delivering community- 
based programs that will provide older adults 
and their families and caregivers with the 
knowledge and skills to improve health out-
comes and the quality of care for such adults. 
‘‘(D) Providing Alzheimer’s disease and re-
lated dementias (ADRD) education to the fami-
lies and caregivers of older adults, direct care 
workers, health professions students, faculty, 
and providers. 
‘‘(3) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award 
grants and contracts under paragraph (1) for a pe-
riod not to exceed five years. 
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‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant or contract under paragraph (1), an entity de-
scribed in such paragraph shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require, including the specific measures the ap-
plicant will use to demonstrate that the project is 
improving the quality of care provided to older 
adults in the applicant’s region, which may in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) improvements in access to care pro-
vided by a health professional with training in 
geriatrics or gerontology; 
‘‘(B) improvements in family caregiver ca-
pacity to care for older adults; 
‘‘(C) patient outcome data demonstrating 
an improvement in older adult health status or 
care quality; and 
‘‘(D) reports on how the applicant will im-
plement specific innovations with the target au-
dience to improve older adults’ health status or 
the quality of care. 
‘‘(5) 
EQUITABLE
GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBU-
TION.—The Secretary may award grants and con-
tracts under paragraph (1) in a manner which will 
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equitably distribute such grants among the various 
regions of the United States. 
‘‘(6) QUALIFICATIONS.—In awarding grants 
and contracts under paragraph (2), the Secretary 
shall consider programs that— 
‘‘(A) have the goal of improving and pro-
viding comprehensive coordinated care of older 
adults, including medical, dental, and psycho-
social needs; 
‘‘(B) demonstrate coordination with other 
programmatic efforts funded under this pro-
gram or other public or private entities; 
‘‘(C) support the training and retraining of 
faculty, preceptors, primary care providers, and 
providers in other specialties to increase their 
knowledge of geriatrics and gerontology; 
‘‘(D) provide clinical experiences across 
care settings, including ambulatory care, hos-
pitals, post-acute care, nursing homes, federally 
qualified health centers, and home and commu-
nity-based services; 
‘‘(E) emphasize education and engagement 
of family caregivers on disease self-manage-
ment, medication management, and stress re-
duction strategies; 
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‘‘(F) provide training to the health care 
workforce on disease self-management, motiva-
tional interviewing, medication management, 
and stress reduction strategies; 
‘‘(G) provide training to the health care 
workforce on social determinants of health in 
order to better address the geriatric health care 
needs of diverse populations with cultural and 
linguistic competency; 
‘‘(H) integrate geriatrics competencies and 
interprofessional 
collaborative 
practice 
into 
health care education and training curricula for 
residents, fellows, and students; 
‘‘(I) substantially benefit rural or under-
served populations of older adults or conduct 
outreach to communities that have a shortage 
of geriatric workforce professionals; 
‘‘(J) integrate behavioral health com-
petencies into primary care practice, especially 
with respect to elder abuse, pain management, 
and advance care planning; or 
‘‘(K) offer short-term intensive courses 
that— 
‘‘(i) focus on geriatrics, gerontology, 
chronic care management, and long-term 
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care that provide supplemental training for 
faculty members in medical schools and 
other health professions schools or grad-
uate programs in psychology, pharmacy, 
nursing, social work, dentistry, public 
health, allied health, or other health dis-
ciplines, as approved by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(ii) are open to current faculty, and 
appropriately credentialed volunteer faculty 
and practitioners, to upgrade their knowl-
edge and clinical skills for the care of older 
adults and adults with functional and cog-
nitive limitations and to enhance their 
interdisciplinary teaching skills. 
‘‘(7) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under 
paragraph (1), particularly with respect to awarding, 
in fiscal year 2020, any amount appropriated for 
such fiscal year for purposes of carrying out this 
subsection that is in excess of the amount appro-
priated for the most previous fiscal year for which 
appropriations were made for such purposes, the 
Secretary may give priority to entities that oper-
ate— 
‘‘(A) in communities that have a shortage 
of geriatric workforce professionals; and 
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‘‘(B) in States in which no entity has pre-
viously received an award under such paragraph 
(including as in effect before the date of enact-
ment of the Educating Medical Professionals 
and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Read-
iness for Health Act of 2019). 
‘‘(8) AWARD AMOUNTS.—Awards under para-
graph (1) shall be in an amount determined by the 
Secretary. Entities that submit applications under 
this subsection that describe a plan for providing 
geriatric education and training for home health 
workers and family caregivers are eligible to receive 
$100,000 per year more than entities that do not in-
clude a description of such a plan. 
‘‘(9) REPORTING.—Each entity awarded a 
grant under paragraph (1) shall submit an annual 
report to the Secretary on financial and pro-
grammatic performance under such grant, which 
may include factors such as the number of trainees, 
the number of professions and disciplines, the num-
ber of partnerships with health care delivery sites, 
the number of faculty and practicing professionals 
who participated in continuing education programs, 
and such other factors as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(b) GERIATRIC ACADEMIC CAREER AWARDS.— 
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‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a program to award grants, to 
be known as Geriatric Academic Career Awards, to 
eligible entities applying on behalf of eligible individ-
uals to promote the career development of such indi-
viduals as academic geriatricians or other academic 
geriatrics health professionals. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the term ‘eligible entity’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) an accredited school of allopathic 
medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, 
social work, psychology, dentistry, phar-
macy, or allied health; or 
‘‘(ii) another type of accredited health 
professions school or graduate program 
deemed by the Secretary to be eligible 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the term ‘eligible indi-
vidual’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(I) has a junior, nontenured, 
faculty appointment at an accredited 
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