Healthcare Workforce

Current understanding

To be populated as evidence accumulates.

Evidence log

• 2026-06-11 — To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require public institutions of higher education that receive grants under the Medical Student Education program to include training for medical students relating to menopause in the curriculums of such institutions, and for other purposes.: 2026 — Introduced bill would require public medical schools receiving HRSA Medical Student Education (MSE) program grants to incorporate menopause training into their curricula, adding a narrow curriculum-conditioning lever tied to an existing federal medical school grant. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-05 — Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025: 2025 — Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025 (S1599, 119th Congress) introduced and referred to Senate HELP, proposing expanded federal support for midwifery education programs as a maternal-health workforce pipeline lever without establishing a new mechanism. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-04-23 — Workforce Data Enhancement Act: 2026 — Workforce Data Enhancement Act (S4382, 119th Congress) read twice and referred to the Senate HELP Committee; only title and referral captured, with no substantive text yet on whether/how it would enhance healthcare-specific workforce data collection. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-11 — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2027: 2026 — HR9260 (FY2027 Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations) introduced, carrying annual funding levels for HRSA Title VII/VIII health professions and nursing workforce programs that shape the federal healthcare workforce pipeline. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-28 — Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026: 2026 — Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026 (S1874, introduced) would reauthorize federal nursing workforce development programs under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, continuing existing nurse education, practice, retention, and loan repayment authorities as an incremental pipeline lever without creating new mechanisms. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-02-24 — New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act: 2025 — New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act (HR1518, introduced) would fund NIDDK regional centers of excellence, HRSA-linked postgraduate fellowships, and expanded primary-care training on rare kidney disease, plus HHS studies on diagnosis, treatment, and progression to dialysis/transplant—adding a specialty-specific capacity-building lever across the physician training pipeline. (novelty: 3) (novelty: 3)
• 2025-09-04 — FAIR Act of 2025: 2025 — FAIR Act of 2025 (introduced) would require Medicare GME-funded hospitals to report osteopathic versus allopathic residency applicant and acceptance data to CMS with public posting, backed by a 2% GME payment reduction for noncompliance, adding a transparency-and-penalty lever targeting DO vs MD access in the physician training pipeline. (novelty: 3) (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-23 — A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a grant program for addressing dental workforce needs.: 2026 — S.5099 (introduced) would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize an existing federal grant program addressing dental workforce needs, continuing a targeted dental-pipeline lever without creating a new mechanism. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-26 — Minority Fellowship Program Reauthorization Act of 2026: 2026 — Minority Fellowship Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 (HR9044, introduced) would reauthorize the federal Minority Fellowship Program supporting graduate training for underrepresented behavioral health professionals, continuing an existing pipeline lever without creating a new pathway. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-14 — Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025: 2025 — Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025 (introduced) would mandate hospital minimum nurse-to-patient ratios with Medicare payment offsets and anti-retaliation protections, and expand nurse loan-repayment, scholarship, and retention programs as workforce pipeline and retention levers. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-08-26 — Train More Nurses Act: 2025 — Train More Nurses Act (HR5052, 119th Congress) introduced and referred to House Energy and Commerce and Education and Workforce, proposing to expand nurse training capacity as an incremental workforce-pipeline lever without establishing a new mechanism or pathway. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-16 — To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for career support for a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce.: 2026 — HR9747 (introduced) would authorize the HHS Secretary to award grants for career support of internationally educated health care workers, serving as a House-side companion to S.5012 and adding an incremental workforce-integration lever without establishing a new licensure or immigration pathway. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-16 — A bill to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for career support for a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce.: 2026 — S.5012 (introduced) would authorize the HHS Secretary to award grants for career support of a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce, adding a Senate-side pipeline lever aimed at integrating internationally trained clinicians without creating a new licensure pathway. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-24 — Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2026: Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2026 (HR9420, with Senate companion S.4878) introduced and referred to House Energy and Commerce, proposing federal support for reproductive health care clinical training as a workforce-pipeline lever in a politically contested specialty area. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-09 — Less Bureaucracy, Better Foreign Medical Accreditation Act: Less Bureaucracy, Better Foreign Medical Accreditation Act (HR9605, introduced) proposes to streamline accreditation processes for foreign medical schools and graduates, positioned as a supply-side lever to expand the physician pipeline via international medical graduates. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-03-11 — REDI Act: 2026 — REDI Act (HR2028) introduced, offering student loan payment deferment during medical and dental residencies as a financial-relief lever for the physician and dentist training pipeline. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-14 — Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act of 2026: 2026 — Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act of 2026 (HR8839, introduced) proposes comprehensive federal policy on cancer survivorship care, coverage, and support services; touches this page only tangentially insofar as expanded survivorship care may create demand-side pressure on oncology and primary care workforce pipelines. (novelty: 3) (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-07 — Nursing is a Professional Degree Act: Nursing is a Professional Degree Act (HR8691, introduced) would designate nursing as a professional degree, a credentialing change with potential downstream effects on federal aid treatment for nursing students and pipeline capacity. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-17 — CHIPS Training in America Act of 2026: cross-connection with chips-training-in-america-act-2026: Both address federal sector-specific workforce training pipelines, though for different industries (semiconductors vs. healthcare). (novelty: 2)
• 2025-09-30 — Health Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2025: Health Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2025 (introduced) proposes tuition grants with service obligations, expanded Medicare GME slots targeted to psychiatry and primary care, and HRSA relocation grants aimed at rural shortage areas. (novelty: 2)

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