[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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