Sponsors (16)
The bill invests federal resources to grow and sustain allied health workforce training—improving access and creating career pathways for underserved communities—while creating new federal spending and program rules that may exclude small programs and cannot be used for construction or to replace existing funding.
Residents of rural and underserved communities gain improved access to allied, medical, behavioral, and oral health services because locally trained personnel will be developed and placed in their communities.
Students and trainees from underserved or disadvantaged backgrounds receive funding and employer/school partnerships that expand pathways into allied health careers and increase economic and career opportunities.
Health centers, rural clinics, and vocational programs can obtain grants (up to $2.5M) to build scalable training models and partnerships with schools and employers, strengthening local workforce development capacity.
Taxpayers may face increased federal spending because the program is authorized at 'such sums as necessary' with funds available until expended for FY2026–FY2028.
Grant funds may not be used to supplant existing workforce funding, so organizations cannot replace current support with these grants and may face constrained overall funding flexibility.
Smaller or short-term programs may be unable to meet the three-year minimum operation and reporting requirements, limiting their eligibility for grants and constraining pilot or rapid-response training efforts.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a grant program to fund community-driven allied health education and training to boost allied health professionals in underserved and rural areas.
Introduced February 4, 2025 by Andrew R. Garbarino · Last progress February 4, 2025
Creates a new Health Care Workforce Innovation Program to fund community-driven education and training models that increase the number of allied health professionals serving underserved and rural areas. Grants and contracts will go to eligible health centers, rural clinics, state associations, and accredited nonprofit vocational allied-health programs to support apprenticeships, internships, training equipment, career ladders, partnerships with secondary/postsecondary institutions, and limited renovations, with individual awards capped at $2.5 million and program models required to run at least three years. Authorizes "such sums as necessary" for fiscal years 2026–2028 (available until expended). Applicants must show how programs address geographic workforce shortages, benefit trainees and communities, avoid supplanting existing funds, and are scalable; the Secretary will prioritize projects that recruit from underserved/disadvantaged backgrounds, improve access to medical/behavioral/oral health, or demonstrate replicability and cost-effectiveness. Recipients must provide periodic reports to the Secretary.