I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5917 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
for career support for skilled, internationally educated health profes-
sionals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2018 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to award grants for career support for skilled, inter-
nationally educated health professionals, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Professional’s Access 
to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) According to the Association of Schools of 
Public Health, projections indicate a nationwide 
shortage of up to 250,000 public health workers by 
2020. 
(2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, the registered nurse workforce is projected to 
have 1,088,400 job openings by 2024 due to growth 
and replacement needs. 
(3) Similar trends are projected for other health 
professions indicating shortages across disciplines, 
including within the fields of neurology physicians 
(about 1,000 by 2025), geriatric physicians (nearly 
27,000 by 2025), mental and behavioral health, pri-
mary care (up to 43,100 by 2030), and community 
and allied health. 
(4) A nationwide health workforce shortage will 
result in serious health threats and more severe and 
costly health care needs, due to, in part, a delayed 
response to food-borne outbreaks, emerging infec-
tious diseases, natural disasters, fewer cancer 
screenings, and delayed treatment. 
(5) Vulnerable and underserved populations and 
health professional shortage areas will be most se-
verely impacted by the health workforce shortage. 
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(6) According to the New American Economy, 
World Education Services (WES), and Migration 
Policy Institute (MPI), nearly 2,000,000 college-edu-
cated immigrants in the United States are unem-
ployed or underemployed in low-skilled or semiskilled 
jobs that fail to draw on their education and exper-
tise. 
(7) According to the New American Economy, 
WES, and MPI report using data from 2009 to 
2013, 27 percent of highly skilled and internation-
ally educated naturalized citizens, 33 percent of 
highly skilled and internationally educated legal per-
manent residents, and 10 percent of highly skilled 
and internationally educated temporary visa holders 
were unemployed or underemployed. 
(8) According to the New American Economy, 
WES, and MPI report using data from 2009 to 
2013, 15 percent of immigrants with undergraduate 
degrees in medical health sciences and services were 
either underemployed or unemployed. 
(9) According to the New American Economy, 
WES, and MPI, underemployment of immigrants— 
highly skilled immigrants who are working in lower 
skilled occupations—results in an estimated loss of 
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$10.2 billion in tax revenue at the Federal, State, 
and local levels. 
(10) According to Upwardly Global and the 
Welcome Back Initiative, with proper guidance and 
support, underemployed, skilled immigrants typically 
increase their income by 215 percent to 900 percent. 
(11) According to the Brookings Institution and 
the Partnership for a New American Economy, im-
migrants working in the health workforce are, on av-
erage, better educated than United States-born 
workers in the health workforce. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR CAREER SUPPORT FOR SKILLED, 
INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED HEALTH PRO-
FESSIONALS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services acting through the Bureau of Health 
Workforce of the Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration, the Director of the National Institute on Minority 
Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes 
of Health, or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 
Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 
award 5 grants to eligible entities for career support for 
skilled, internationally educated health professionals, as 
described in subsection (c). 
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(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an entity shall— 
(1) be a clinical, public health, or health serv-
ices organization, a community-based or nonprofit 
entity, an academic institution, a faith-based organi-
zation, a State, county, or local government, an Area 
Health Education Center, or another entity deter-
mined appropriate by the Secretary; and 
(2) submit to the Secretary an application at 
such time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may require. 
(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Subject to the re-
quirement in subsection (d), a grant awarded under this 
section shall be used— 
(1) to provide services to assist unemployed and 
underemployed skilled immigrants, residing in the 
United States, who have legal, permanent work au-
thorization and who are internationally educated 
health professionals— 
(A) to enter into the United States health 
workforce with employment matching their 
health professional skills and education; and 
(B) to advance in employment to positions 
that better match their health professional ex-
pertise and education; 
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(2) to provide training opportunities to reduce 
barriers to entry and advancement in the health 
workforce for skilled, internationally educated immi-
grants; 
(3) to educate employers regarding the abilities 
and capacities of internationally educated health 
professionals; 
(4) to assist in the evaluation of the foreign cre-
dentials of skilled, internationally educated health 
professionals; and 
(5) to facilitate access to contextualized and ac-
celerated courses on English as a second language 
for skilled, internationally educated health profes-
sionals. 
(d) SERVICE PERIOD.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of 
a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall 
agree to require each health professional or immi-
grant receiving assistance pursuant to the grant (as 
described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), or (5) of sub-
section (c)) to commit to provide health care services 
to a medically underserved community for a service 
period determined under paragraph (2). 
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(2) DURATION OF SERVICE PERIOD.—The du-
ration of service period under paragraph (1) for an 
individual— 
(A) shall not exceed 1 year; and 
(B) shall be determined by the eligible en-
tity receiving the grant under this section, in 
consultation with the Secretary. 
(3) REMEDIES FOR BREACH OF SERVICE COM-
MITMENT.—The Secretary shall determine the rem-
edies to be made applicable in agreements pursuant 
to paragraph (1) for the breach by an individual of 
the service commitment required by such paragraph. 
(e) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 
under this section shall be 3 years. 
(f) GRANTEE EVALUATION.—An eligible entity re-
ceiving a grant under this section shall use amounts pro-
vided through the grant— 
(1) to measure the impacts of activities funded 
through the grant over the 3-year grant period; and 
(2) to submit a reports to the Secretary on the 
results of such measurements. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$4,500,000 for the period of fiscal years 2019 through 
2021. 
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SEC. 4. GRANT FOR DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services acting through the Bureau of Health 
Workforce of the Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration, the Director of the National Institute on Minority 
Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes 
of Health, or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 
Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 
award 1 grant to an entity to establish, improve, or main-
tain a data collection system to analyze and track the out-
comes of programs in the United States (including those 
funded under section 3) for career support for skilled, 
internationally educated health professionals. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 
out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$250,000 for the period of fiscal years 2019 through 
2021. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘health professional’’ means an 
individual trained for employment in the field of 
public health, health management, dentistry, health 
administration, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psy-
chology, social work, psychiatry, other mental and 
behavioral health, allied health, community health or 
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wellness (including fitness and nutrition), or other 
fields as determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(2) The term ‘‘internationally educated’’ means 
having obtained an educational degree outside of the 
United States. 
(3) The term ‘‘medically underserved commu-
nity’’ has the meaning given to that term in section 
799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
295p). 
(4) The term ‘‘underemployed’’ means being 
employed at less skilled tasks than an employee’s 
training or abilities would otherwise permit. 
Æ 
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