[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1868 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1868

   To authorize a 3-year demonstration program to recruit and train 
                 physicians to serve in rural settings.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 17, 2003

Mr. Craig (for himself, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Burns, 
and Mr. Baucus) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize a 3-year demonstration program to recruit and train 
                 physicians to serve in rural settings.

    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 ``Rural Health Training Incentive 
Act''.

SEC. 2. WWAMI DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

    (a) Grant Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') is 
        authorized to award a grant to the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, 
        Montana, and Idaho joint medical school (in this section 
        referred to as ``WWAMI'') to strengthen and expand programs to 
        encourage more health professionals to practice in rural areas.
            (2) Duration.--The Secretary shall award the grant 
        described in paragraph (1) for a period of 3 years.
    (b) Use of Funds.--The grant awarded pursuant to subsection (a) may 
be used for activities including--
            (1) developing new mechanisms for recruiting and mentoring 
        rural youth with respect to all health professions;
            (2) strengthening and stabilizing the system of training 
        for the family physicians needed in rural areas; and
            (3) expanding the network of rural training tracks 
        throughout WWAMI.
    (c) Evaluation and Report.--
            (1) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the end of 
        the grant period described in subsection (a)(2), WWAMI shall--
                    (A) evaluate the results of the programs assisted 
                under this section; and
                    (B) submit to the Secretary a report regarding such 
                evaluation.
            (2) Evaluation.--
                    (A) Contract.--The evaluation described in 
                paragraph (1) shall be carried out through a contract 
                with an entity having experience with assessing 
                workforce issues in the region of the WWAMI.
                    (B) Matters evaluated.--The evaluation shall--
                            (i) assess the effectiveness of the funds 
                        made available under this section in 
                        attracting, placing, and retaining physicians 
                        in rural communities;
                            (ii) include an assessment of baseline 
                        rural primary care provider availability, track 
                        participants in the programs assisted under 
                        this section, and quantify the outcome impact 
                        of the funds made available under this section;
                            (iii) address the multiyear grant period; 
                        and
                            (iv) use existing data bases, a tracking 
                        registry, focus groups, and periodic surveys to 
                        assess the effectiveness of the programs; and
                            (v) address whether the programs should be 
                        expanded under section 3.
            (3) Report recommendations.--The report described in 
        paragraph (1) shall include recommendations regarding--
                    (A) the effectiveness of the programs assisted 
                under this section; and
                    (B) project expansion under section 3.

SEC. 3. PROJECT EXPANSION.

    (a) In General.--After submission of the report required under 
section 2(c), the Secretary is authorized to award grants to eligible 
entities to expand the programs assisted under section 2, and to 
implement the recommendations made in such report, in other geographic 
areas.
    (b) Eligible Entity Defined.--As used in this section, the term 
``eligible entity'' means a partnership between--
            (1) a regional university or college; and
            (2) the medical school associated with such university or 
        college that has a rural area training track of at least 2 
        months.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out subsections (a) and (b) of section 2, $3,400,000 for fiscal year 
2005, $4,100,000 for fiscal year 2006 and $4,800,000 for fiscal year 
2007.
    (b) Report and Evaluation.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out subsection (c) of section 2, $100,000 for fiscal year 
2005, $100,000 for fiscal year 2006, and $300,000 for fiscal year 2007.
    (c) Project Expansion.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out section 3, such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007 
and each succeeding fiscal year.
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