Healthcare Workforce

Current understanding

To be populated as evidence accumulates.

Evidence log

• 2025-05-05 — Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025: S1599 (Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to the Senate HELP Committee and would expand midwifery education programs to grow the maternal health workforce, adding a midwifery-pipeline strand alongside the nursing, rural obstetrics, and reproductive health training items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-03-04 — Community TEAMS Act of 2026: S3989 (Community TEAMS Act of 2026, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to the Senate HELP Committee, adding another community-based healthcare team/workforce strand alongside the Developing the Community Health Workforce Act and other community health worker pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-04-21 — Hazard Pay for Health Care Heroes Act: S4357 (Hazard Pay for Health Care Heroes Act, introduced) was referred to the Senate HELP Committee and would authorize hazard pay for health care workers, adding a compensation/hazard-pay strand to the healthcare workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-04-16 — Restoring Rights of Medical Residents Act: S4336 (Restoring Rights of Medical Residents Act, 119th Congress, introduced) was read twice and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and would restore certain legal rights of medical residents, adding a resident-physician labor-rights strand to the physician training and GME items tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-28 — Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026: S1874 (Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026, introduced) would reauthorize federal nursing workforce development programs under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, extending the core statutory nursing pipeline authorities alongside the Train More Nurses Act, National Nursing Workforce Center Act, and Nursing is a Professional Degree Act items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-28 — Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act: Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act (introduced) would authorize HRSA grants for obstetric emergency training, workforce, and equipment at rural/shortage-area hospitals, AIM capacity training for facilities without dedicated OB units, and a rural urgent-maternal-care telehealth pilot, adding a rural obstetric workforce/readiness strand alongside the other HRSA-funded clinical pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-22 — C.A.R.E. for Mental Health Professionals Act: HR9866 (C.A.R.E. for Mental Health Professionals Act, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to support mental health professionals, adding another behavioral-health workforce strand alongside the Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce Now Act and Minority Fellowship Program reauthorization items tracked here. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-22 — Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce Now Act: HR9867 (Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce Now Act, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to expand the behavioral health workforce, adding a behavioral-health pipeline strand alongside the Minority Fellowship Program reauthorization and community health worker items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-21 — Action for Dental Health Act: Action for Dental Health Act (introduced) would reauthorize through FY2030 HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce grants to states to build dental workforce capacity and expand oral health access in dental HPSAs, extending the dental-workforce pipeline strand alongside the S5099 reauthorization already tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-04-28 — Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act: HR8541 (Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to multiple House committees to support the long-term care workforce, adding another long-term/direct-care workforce strand alongside the home care wage and direct-care pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-02-24 — New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act: HR1518 (New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act, introduced) would fund NIDDK regional centers of excellence, HRSA-linked postgraduate fellowships, and expanded primary-care training on rare kidney disease, adding a nephrology-focused federal capacity-building strand alongside the physician and specialized-clinician pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3) (novelty: 3)
• 2026-04-29 — Optimizing the VA Workforce for Veterans Act of 2026: S4400 (Optimizing the VA Workforce for Veterans Act of 2026, introduced) had hearings held in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, adding another VA workforce optimization strand alongside the VA clinical workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-09-04 — FAIR Act of 2025: FAIR Act of 2025 (introduced) would require Medicare GME-funded hospitals to report DO vs MD residency applicant and acceptance data to CMS with public posting or face a 2% GME payment reduction, adding a physician-training transparency/accountability strand to the physician pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-07-23 — A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a grant program for addressing dental workforce needs.: S5099 (introduced) would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a federal grant program addressing dental workforce needs, adding a dental-workforce pipeline strand alongside the nursing, community health worker, and direct-care items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-23 — To require the development of a comprehensive rural hospital cybersecurity workforce development strategy, and for other purposes.: HR9908 (introduced) would require development of a comprehensive rural hospital cybersecurity workforce development strategy, adding a rural-hospital cybersecurity staffing strand alongside the clinical and direct-care pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-26 — Minority Fellowship Program Reauthorization Act of 2026: HR9044 (Minority Fellowship Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, introduced) was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reauthorize the federal Minority Fellowship Program, adding a behavioral-health minority workforce pipeline strand alongside the community health worker and nursing pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-14 — Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025: Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025 (introduced) would mandate hospital minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by unit, adjust Medicare payments to offset compliance costs, protect nurses who refuse unsafe assignments, and expand loan-repayment, scholarship, and retention programs — adding a federal staffing-ratio and retention strand to the nursing pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-08-26 — Train More Nurses Act: HR5052 (Train More Nurses Act, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to the House Committees on Energy and Commerce and Education and Workforce to expand nurse training capacity, adding another nursing-pipeline strand alongside the Nursing is a Professional Degree Act and the National Nursing Workforce Center Act tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-03-12 — Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act: HR7917 (Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act, 119th Congress, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, adding a home-care worker wage-floor strand to the direct-care workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-05-29 — VA Employee Fairness Act of 2025: HR3261 (VA Employee Fairness Act of 2025, introduced) was referred to the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, adding a VA workforce labor-rules strand relevant to the VA clinical workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-01-04 — Supporting America’s Children and Families Act: Supporting America’s Children and Families Act (P.L. 118-258, enacted) reauthorizes core ACF child-welfare programs through FY2029 and modernizes caseworker practice (authorizing virtual caseworker visits, kinship-navigator evaluation grants, and revised regional partnership SUD grants), touching the child-welfare/social-service workforce adjacent to the direct-care and community health worker pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 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.: HR9747 (introduced) would authorize the HHS Secretary to award grants for career support of a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce, adding a House-side companion to the S5012 IMG career-support strand alongside foreign medical accreditation and careworker visa items tracked here. (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.: S5012 (introduced) would authorize the HHS Secretary to award grants for career support of a skilled, internationally educated health care workforce, adding an IMG/internationally-trained career-support strand alongside the foreign medical accreditation and careworker visa items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-29 — Veterans Health Administration Personnel Transparency and Accountability Act: HR9533 (Veterans Health Administration Personnel Transparency and Accountability Act, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, adding a VHA personnel transparency/accountability strand to the VA clinical workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-02-03 — To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish qualifications for the appointment of a person as a marriage and family therapist, qualified to provide clinical supervision, in the Veterans Health Administration.: 2025 — HR658 (introduced) would amend title 38 to set statutory qualifications for marriage and family therapists appointed in the Veterans Health Administration to provide clinical supervision, requiring an appropriate master’s degree, state licensure or certification, and either state authorization to provide clinical supervision or status as an AAMFT-approved supervisor, adding an MFT credentialing strand to the VA clinical workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-11 — Take Care of America’s Veterans Act: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (introduced) would codify Veterans Community Care Program eligibility and expand caregiver and mental health programs, shifting clinical demand toward VA and community-care providers relevant to the healthcare workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-24 — Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2026: HR9420 (Reproductive Health Care Training Act of 2026, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce with a Senate companion (S.4878), adding a reproductive-health clinical training strand to the healthcare workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-09 — Less Bureaucracy, Better Foreign Medical Accreditation Act: HR9605 (Less Bureaucracy, Better Foreign Medical Accreditation Act, introduced) would reduce bureaucratic barriers in the accreditation of foreign medical schools and graduates, adding an international-credentialing strand to the physician pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-09 — Careworker Visa Act of 2026: HR9234 (Careworker Visa Act of 2026, introduced) was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and would create a dedicated employment-based visa pathway for careworkers, adding an immigration-based staffing strand to the direct-care and healthcare workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-14 — Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act of 2026: HR8839 (Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act of 2026, introduced) would establish comprehensive federal policy on cancer survivorship care, coverage, and support services, implying downstream demand for survivorship-focused clinical roles (oncology nursing, navigators, rehab specialists) adjacent to the healthcare workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-07 — Nursing is a Professional Degree Act: HR8691 (Nursing is a Professional Degree Act, introduced) would formally designate nursing as a professional degree and was referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, adding a credentialing/classification strand to the nursing pipeline items tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-04-01 — Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act: HR2531 (Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, introduced) would impose a new OSHA workplace-violence prevention standard on health care and social service employers with Medicare conditions-of-participation linkage, adding a clinician/direct-care safety strand to the healthcare workforce protections tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-11-12 — Lactation Spaces for Veteran Moms Act: S778 (Lactation Spaces for Veteran Moms Act, introduced) would require VA medical centers to provide hygienic, non-bathroom lactation spaces for veteran mothers, extending an existing PUMP Act–style facility standard into the VA care setting adjacent to the VA clinical workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-10-09 — Right to Override Act: S2997 (Right to Override Act, introduced) would require healthcare employers to allow clinicians to override AI clinical decision support systems and prohibit retaliation against those who do so (HHS/DOL enforcement), adding an AI-governance/clinician-autonomy strand to the healthcare workforce protections tracked here. (novelty: 4)
• 2026-06-23 — To amend title 38, United States Code, to eliminate the cap on the number of waivers to certain pay limitations that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may issue for critical health care personnel of the Department of Veterans Affairs.: HR9406 (introduced) would eliminate the cap on the number of pay limitation waivers the VA Secretary may grant to critical health care personnel, adding a VA-specific clinical recruitment/retention compensation lever alongside the pipeline strands tracked here. (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 residency slots focused on psychiatry and primary care, and HRSA relocation grants — adding a physician-pipeline strand (with psychiatry/primary care emphasis) alongside the nursing, community health worker, and direct-care pipelines already tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2022-09-14 — National Nursing Workforce Center Act of 2022: 2022 — National Nursing Workforce Center Act of 2022 (introduced) would authorize a pilot program funding state-based nursing workforce centers and expand HRSA authority to establish a dedicated nursing workforce research center, adding a nursing-specific pipeline strand alongside the community health worker and direct-care workforce items tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-02-10 — Health Care Provider Shortage Minimization Act of 2025: HR1160 (Health Care Provider Shortage Minimization Act of 2025, introduced) would statutorily classify qualified locum tenens physicians and advanced care practitioners as independent contractors for federal tax purposes, adding a contingent-clinician staffing strand to the healthcare workforce pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-05-12 — Restoring Flexibility To Support Head Start Program Access: ACF proposed rule ‘Restoring Flexibility To Support Head Start Program Access’ would rescind 2024 Head Start Performance Standards on wages/benefits (est. $2B+ savings), affecting a federally-funded early childhood workforce pipeline adjacent to the specialized-educator and direct-care pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-06-18 — Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 (introduced) would authorize a national resource center to support direct care workforce growth, adding an aging-services/direct-care strand alongside the community health worker and specialized-educator pipelines tracked here. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-08 — Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act: 2026-06-03 — Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act (HR9195, introduced) would expand federal special education identification, evaluation, and service requirements for deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deafblind students and establish an Anne Sullivan Macy Center within the Department of Education, implying increased demand for and federal support of specialized-educator workforce pipelines. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-04-30 — Developing the Community Health Workforce Act of 2026: HR8629, the Developing the Community Health Workforce Act of 2026, was referred to the House Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees, adding a community health worker pipeline strand distinct from the existing specialized-educator workforce items tracked on this page. (novelty: 2) (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-03 — Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act: Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act (introduced) would fund federal teacher training grants for educators serving deaf, blind, and deafblind students, adding a specialized-educator workforce pipeline component alongside IDEA expansion and a new federal center on visual disability education. (novelty: 3)

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