House of Representatives Passes PCHETA, Three Other Workforce Bills

On July 23, the House of Representatives passed four Energy and Commerce Committee bills to authorize critical health workforce programs:

• H.R. 1676, The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA), directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to train healthcare workers in palliative care. It would also create a national awareness campaign about the benefits of palliative care. ACCC strongly advocated for PCHETA during its 2018 ACCC Capitol Hill Day.
• H.R. 3728, the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency Readiness (EMPOWER) Act, reauthorizes workforce programs that support loan repayment and provider training experiences in primary care, dentistry, rural or underserved areas, and in community-based settings. It will also restructure the geriatric health professional grant program to reflect changes by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
• H.R. 959, the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act, reauthorizes nursing workforce development programs. It also extends advanced education nursing grants, defines nurse-managed health clinics, adds clinical nurse specialists to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education, and reauthorizes loan repayments, scholarships, and grants for education, practice, quality, and retention.
• H.R. 5385, the Dr. Benjy Frances Brooks Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act, reauthorizes the Children's Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program for five years.

Posted 7/24/2018