[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 619 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 619

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation 
   of physical therapists in the National Health Service Corps Loan 
               Repayment Program, and for other purposes.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2017

Mr. Tester (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the participation 
   of physical therapists in the National Health Service Corps Loan 
               Repayment Program, 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 ``Physical Therapist Workforce and 
Patient Access Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS; PARTICIPATION OF PHYSICAL 
              THERAPISTS IN LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Mission of Corps; Definition of Primary Health Services.--
Section 331(a)(3)(D) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
254d(a)(3)(D)) is amended by striking ``or mental health,'' and 
inserting ``mental health, or physical therapy,''.
    (b) Loan Repayment Program.--Section 338B of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``and physician 
        assistants;'' and inserting ``physician assistants, and 
        physical therapists;''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting before the 
                semicolon the following: ``, or have a doctoral or 
                master's degree in physical therapy'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``physical 
                therapy,'' after ``mental health,''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by inserting 
                ``physical therapy,'' after ``dentistry,''.
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