[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 83 (Wednesday, June 12, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S4409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Blunt):
  S. 1152. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to help build 
a stronger health care workforce; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by Senator Blunt 
in the introduction of the Building a Health Care Workforce for the 
Future Act.
  According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 2020, 
there will be a shortage of 91,000 physicians. Approximately half of 
the shortage, 45,000, will be in primary care.
  Individuals and families living in underserved areas, urban and 
rural, will continue to be those most disadvantaged by this shortage. 
According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 10,000 baby boomers will 
become eligible for Medicare every day through 2030. The most recent 
estimates from the Congressional Budget Office predict that 27 million 
individuals will gain access to health insurance by 2017 as a result of 
the Affordable Care Act. With an aging population and increasing number 
of individuals with health insurance, the gap between patients and 
providers is expected to widen. The Affordable Care Act took steps to 
address this shortage, but we can do more.
  The Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act would 
authorize programs that would grow the overall number of health care 
providers, as well as encourage providers to pursue careers in 
geographic and practice areas of highest need.
  Building on the success of the National Health Service Corp, NHSC, 
Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs, and State Loan Repayment 
Program, this legislation would establish a state scholarship program. 
Like the NHSC State Loan Repayment Program, States would be able to 
receive a dollar-for-dollar match to support individuals that commit to 
practicing in the State in which the scholarship was issued after 
completing their education and training. At least 50 percent of the 
funding would be required to support individuals committed to pursuing 
careers in primary care. The States would have the flexibility to use 
the remaining 50 percent to support scholarships to educate students in 
other documented health care professional shortages in the state that 
are approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  The Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act would also 
authorize grants to medical schools to develop primary care mentors on 
faculty and in the community. According to the Association of American 
Medical Colleges, graduating medical students consistently state that 
role models are one of the most important factors affecting the career 
path they choose. Building a network of primary care mentors in the 
classroom and in a variety of practice settings will help guide more 
medical students into careers in primary care.
  The legislation would couple these mentorship grants with an 
initiative to improve the education and training offered by medical 
schools in competencies most critical to primary care, including 
patient-centered medical homes, primary and behavioral health 
integration, and team-based care.
  It would also direct the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study and 
make recommendations about ways to limit the administrative burden on 
providers in documenting cognitive services delivered to patients. 
Primary care providers treat patients in need of these services almost 
exclusively, and as such, spend a significant percentage of their day 
documenting. That is not the case for providers who perform procedures, 
like surgeries. This IOM study would help uncover ways to simplify 
documentation requirements, particularly for delivering cognitive 
services, in order to eliminate one of the potential factors that may 
discourage medical students from pursuing careers in primary care.
  I am pleased that providers across the spectrum of care recognize 
that this bipartisan legislation is part of the solution to addressing 
the looming health care workforce shortage and have lent their support, 
including: the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, the American Association 
of College of Osteopathic Medicine, the American College of Physicians, 
the American Osteopathic Association, the Association of Academic 
Health Centers, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the 
Society of General Internal Medicine.
  I look forward to working with these and other stakeholders as well 
as Senator Blunt and our colleagues to pass the Building a Health Care 
Workforce for the Future Act in order to help ensure patients have 
access to the health care they need.

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