H.R. 728 would amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize and amend several grant programs that support the education and training of nurses. In 2019, $221 million was appropriated for those programs. The legislation would authorize the following amounts for each year between 2020 and 2024:
$78 million for advanced education nursing grants,
$18 million for workforce diversity grants,
$44 million for nurse education, practice, and quality grants, and
$91 million for loan repayment and scholarship programs.
Based on historical spending for similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $970 million over the 2020-2024 period, assuming appropriation of authorized amounts. The remaining amounts would be spent after 2024.
The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 550 (health).
