[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5146 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5146
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants
to schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine at historically Black
colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions for
the purpose of increasing enrollment of medical students.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2024
Mr. Sanders (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants
to schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine at historically Black
colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions for
the purpose of increasing enrollment of medical students.
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 ``Medical Graduate Investment Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS.
Subpart 3 of part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 295f et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 779. EXPANDING THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall award grants to eligible
entities for the purpose of increasing enrollment of medical students
by at least 5 percent each year as compared to the prior year. Grants
awarded under this section shall be used for tuition and student fees
(excluding living expenses), faculty recruitment and retention (with
not more than 20 percent of the cost of salaries covered by such
grants), costs associated with equipment (including acquisition of
equipment), and costs associated with clinical training of medical
students and preparing and encouraging such students to serve as
primary care physicians in medically underserved areas, including rural
areas, frontier areas, and jurisdictions of Indian Tribes and Tribal
organizations, after completing residency training.
``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive an award under
this section, an entity shall--
``(1) be--
``(A) an accredited school of medicine or an
accredited school of osteopathic medicine at a
minority-serving institution of higher education
(defined as an institution described in any of
paragraphs (1) through (7) of section 371(a) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965) or a minority-serving
institution of higher education (as so defined) with
plans to establish an accredited school of medicine or
an accredited school of osteopathic medicine, if such
institution provides documentation of such plans, as
the Secretary may require;
``(B) an accredited school of medicine or an
accredited school of osteopathic medicine that, at the
time of the application, has an agreement with a
historically Black college or university (as defined in
paragraph (1) of section 371(a) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965) to enroll, in the school of medicine or
school of osteopathic medicine, students who have
completed their undergraduate education at such
minority-serving institution of higher education,
provided that such school of medicine or school of
osteopathic medicine intends to use the award under
this section to increase enrollment of such students in
accordance with the threshold described in subsection
(a); or
``(C) an accredited school of medicine or an
accredited school of osteopathic medicine that--
``(i) at the time of the application, has
an agreement with an Indian Tribe (as defined
in section 4 of the Indian Self Determination
and Education Assistance Act) to provide
medical education for American Indian, Alaska
Native, and Native Hawaiian students; or
``(ii) an accredited school of medicine or
an accredited school of osteopathic medicine
that trains in Tribal communities or otherwise
has a history of graduating a high number of
physicians who, after completion of residency,
practice in Tribal communities in rural or
frontier areas; and
``(2) submit to the Secretary an application at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require, including information on how the entity
will sustain increased enrollment of medical students following
the expirations of grant funds provided under this section.
``(c) Grant Amounts.--
``(1) Minimum award; disbursements.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) determine the amount of each award under this
section, provided that each eligible entity receiving
such an award shall receive a minimum amount of
$1,000,000 per year of the 5-year grant period; and
``(B) disburse the grant amount to each eligible
entity receiving such an award in 5 annual increments.
``(2) Distribution among types of eligible entities.--In
awarding amounts to eligible entities under this section, the
Secretary shall disburse grant funding evenly among the
following 9 categories (subject to the receipt of applications
from eligible entities in each of the categories described in
subparagraph (A)):
``(A) Eligible entities in each category of
minority serving institution of higher education
described in paragraphs (1) through (7) of section
371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
``(B) Eligible entities described in subsection
(b)(1)(B).
``(C) Eligible entities described in subsection
(b)(1)(C).
``(3) Evaluation.--The Secretary may reserve not more than
half of one percent of amounts made available under subsection
(f) to evaluate the results of the program under this section
during and after the grant period, including the number of new
medical students enrolled, such students' progression to
participate in an accredited internship or medical residency
program, and rates of passing the United States Medical
Licensing Examination or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical
Licensing Examination.
``(d) Matching Requirement.--The Secretary shall require each
eligible entity receiving an award under this section to provide non-
Federal matching funds for each year of the grant period, which may be
in cash or in-kind, in an amount equal to 25 percent of the total
amount of funds awarded under this section for the applicable year. An
eligible entity may apply to the Secretary for a waiver of not more
than 80 percent of the matching fund amount required for each year the
entity receives an award under this section.
``(e) Reporting.--
``(1) Eligible entity reporting.--
``(A) In general.--Each eligible entity receiving a
grant under this section shall submit a report to the
Secretary, annually for the duration of the grant
period, on activities conducted under such grant,
including information on the number of new students
enrolled, faculty supported, how funds under such grant
were used, plans for continuation of the activities in
the next budget period, and other information, as the
Secretary may require.
``(B) Contents.--Each report under subparagraph (A)
shall include--
``(i) an overview of activities conducted
under such grant;
``(ii) associated costs of equipment
purchased;
``(iii) the number of new students enrolled
in the applicable school of medicine or school
of osteopathic medicine per year (including the
number of students from racial and ethnic
groups underrepresented among medical students
and health professions, students who were
Federal Pell Grant recipients, and first-
generation college students);
``(iv) plans for continuation of the
activities in the next fiscal year; and
``(v) any other information the Secretary
may require.
``(2) Reports to congress.--Not later than 2 years after
the first grants are awarded under this section, the Secretary
shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce
of the House of Representatives a report that includes--
``(A) an assessment of the effectiveness of the
activities associated with grants made under this
section;
``(B) a summary of outcomes and best practices and
recommendations on the recruitment and retention of
medical students;
``(C) annual enrollment of students at each school
of medicine or school of osteopathic medicine supported
by the program; and
``(D) summaries, including justification, of the
allocations of grant funds made by the Secretary.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2026 through 2030, to remain available until expended.
``(g) Non-Duplication of Efforts.--The Secretary shall ensure that
activities carried out under this section do not unnecessarily
duplicate efforts of any other Federal program.''.
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