Title: Strengthening our Pediatric Workforce Act of 2019
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Strengthening our Pediatric Workforce Act of 2019  This bill authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide grants to children's hospitals with graduate residency programs that are located in health-professional shortage areas. Such grants are used to develop initiatives addressing pediatric health disparities, including access to care, poverty, opioid overuse, food insecurity, and child abuse.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1656 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1656

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to support 
 initiatives focused on addressing pediatric public health disparities 
      in children's hospitals graduate medical education programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2019

 Mr. Smucker introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to support 
 initiatives focused on addressing pediatric public health disparities 
      in children's hospitals graduate medical education programs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening our Pediatric 
Workforce Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Our Nation is facing a critical physician shortage.
            (2) The predicted supply of pediatric medical specialists 
        is not expected to meet demand over the next ten years, which 
        may make it more difficult to provide children with complex or 
        special health conditions the care they need.
            (3) Research reflects that poverty can have a negative 
        impact on the long-term care outcomes of children. Poverty 
        conditions can contribute to poor nutrition, chronic illness, 
        obesity and delayed development. Ensuring pediatric physicians 
        incorporate anti-poverty initiatives into their medical 
        training can help improve the health of children living in 
        poverty.
            (4) The purpose of this Act is to provide additional 
        assistance to the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical 
        Education (CHGME) program for the purpose of incorporating 
        initiatives to address pediatric health disparities.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCORPORATE PEDIATRIC ANTI-POVERTY INITIATIVES 
              INTO RESIDENT TRAINING.

    Section 340E of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256e) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Grant Program To Incorporate Pediatric Anti-Poverty 
Initiatives Into Resident Training.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
        Administration, may, for a year (beginning with 2020), make 
        grants to children's hospitals described in paragraph (2) with 
        approved graduate medical residency training programs that are 
        otherwise receiving funding under this section for such year, 
        for the startup costs associated with developing and 
        incorporating initiatives that address pediatric health 
        disparities, including access to care, poverty, opioid overuse, 
        food insecurity, and child abuse.
            ``(2) Children's hospitals described.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, a children's hospital described in this paragraph 
        is, with respect to a year, a children's hospital that is--
                    ``(A) located in an area designated as a health 
                professional shortage area under section 332;
                    ``(B) receiving payments pursuant to subsection (h) 
                for such year; and
                    ``(C) not receiving a bonus payment under 
                subsection (h)(6)(B) for such year.
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection, not more than 
        $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2027.''.
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