I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4970 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a grant 
program to encourage the development and expansion of approved med-
ical residency training programs in rural areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 6, 2021 
Mr. O’HALLERAN (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. WENSTRUP, and Mr. 
KIND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
establish a grant program to encourage the development 
and expansion of approved medical residency training 
programs in rural areas. 
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 ‘‘Rural Medical Resi-
dency Expansion Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOP-
MENT AND EXPANSION OF APPROVED MED-
ICAL RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAMS IN 
RURAL AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a program to be known as the 
Rural Medical Residency Expansion Grant Program (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) for purposes 
of awarding grants during the 10-year period beginning 
on such date to qualifying hospitals and entities (as de-
fined in subsection (d)) to facilitate the development or 
expansion of approved medical residency training pro-
grams (as defined for purposes of section 1886(h) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(h))). 
(b) APPLICATION.—The Secretary may award grants 
under the Program only to a qualifying hospital that sub-
mits to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as may be speci-
fied by the Secretary. Such award shall be in an amount 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to a 
qualifying hospital pursuant to a grant awarded under the 
Program may only be used by such hospital to— 
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(1) develop an approved medical residency 
training program; or 
(2) expand an existing such program. 
(d) QUALIFYING
HOSPITAL
AND
ENTITY
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘quali-
fying hospital and entity’’ means— 
(1) a hospital (as defined in section 1861 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x)); 
(2) a critical access hospital (as so defined); 
(3) a sole community hospital (as defined in 
section 1886(d)(5)(D)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395ww(d)(5)(D)(iii))); 
(4) a rural emergency hospital (as defined in 
section 1861(kkk)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(kkk)(2))); or 
(5) an entity eligible for the Rural Residency 
Planning and Development Program administered 
by the Health Resources & Services Administration 
of the Department of Health and Human Services. 
(e) REPORTING.— 
(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date specified in subsection (a), the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall submit 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
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Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen-
ate on how many qualifying hospitals and entities re-
ceived funding under the Program and how many 
new residents were trained as a result of the Pro-
gram. 
(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall submit to such 
Committees a report that identifies the practices of 
residents participating in the Program (including 
whether such residents are practicing in a rural 
area) 5 and 10 years after the report is submitted 
pursuant to paragraph (1). 
(f) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated $100,000,000 for the 10-year period beginning 
with the first calendar year in which the Program is estab-
lished for purposes of carrying out this section. 
Æ 
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