S. 2997 would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize grant programs that support education and training for health care workers. In 2020, $286 million was appropriated for those programs, which are administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
The bill would authorize the appropriation of $268 million annually over the 2021-2025 period. Of that amount:
$88 million would be for Training for Diversity programs,
$139 million would be for primary care, oral health, area health education centers, workforce assessment, and public health and preventive medicine programs, and
$41 million would be for grants to programs that enhance the geriatric workforce.
Based on historical spending for those activities, CBO estimates that, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, implementing those provisions would cost $1.1 billion over the 2020-2025 period.
