[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4799 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4799

   To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a 
   strategic plan to retrain displaced workers to become health care 
professionals serving areas with a shortage of such professionals, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2010

  Mr. Space 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 develop a 
   strategic plan to retrain displaced workers to become health care 
professionals serving areas with a shortage of such professionals, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Retraining a New Health Care 
Workforce Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. STRATEGIC PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 9 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with other 
relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall develop and submit to 
the Congress a strategic plan to retrain displaced workers to become 
health care professionals serving areas with a shortage of the type 
professionals involved.
    (b) Plan.--The strategic plan under subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) an overview of national shortages in health care 
        professions;
            (2) an assessment of how existing Federal health care 
        workforce programs may be used for the purpose of retraining 
        displaced workers to become health care professionals serving 
        areas with a shortage of the type professionals involved; and
            (3) recommendations for legislative and administrative 
        changes for making such programs more effective in achieving 
        such purpose.

SEC. 3. ASSISTING DISPLACED WORKERS TO BECOME STATE-LICENSED OR 
              CERTIFIED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS.

    (a) Program.--The Secretary shall establish a program consisting of 
awarding grants to States to assist displaced workers to become State-
licensed or certified health care professionals serving areas with a 
shortage of the type professionals involved.
    (b) Use of Funds.--Amounts received as a grant under this section 
may be used only to assist displaced workers to become State-licensed 
or certified health care professionals described in subsection (a). 
Such assistance--
            (1) shall include training; and
            (2) may include--
                    (A) reimbursement for costs associated with--
                            (i) training; or
                            (ii) applying for licensure or 
                        certification; or
                    (B) expediting the licensing or certification 
                process.
    (c) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, a 
State shall demonstrate to the Secretary's satisfaction that the State 
has--
            (1) an unemployment rate that is greater than the national 
        average;
            (2) a significant quantity of displaced workers; and
            (3) a shortage of each type of health care professional to 
        be trained through the grant.
    (d) Relation to Strategic Plan.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary--
            (1) shall take into consideration the strategic plan 
        developed under section 2; and
            (2) may not award any grant under this section before such 
        plan has been submitted to the Congress.
    (e) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual 
report on the program under this section.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
            (2) The term ``State'' has the meaning given to such term 
        in section 2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201).
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