Rural Health Training Opportunities Act
The Rural Health Training Opportunities Act would reform the health-profession opportunity grants under section 2008 of the Social Security Act to better serve rural areas. It creates a strong preference in grant selection for projects that will serve rural communities and requires each grant program to include a transportation assistance plan for participants. The transportation component can involve subsidized transportation programs or direct payments for transport, and it defines transportation to include public transit or gasoline for a personal vehicle if public transit isn’t reasonably available. The bill also requires annual reports to Congress assessing both application activity and the effectiveness of the projects in addressing rural health workforce shortages. The amendments take effect October 1, 2025. In short, the bill aims to increase rural health workforce training opportunities while reducing transportation barriers for participants, and it adds ongoing oversight to track progress and outcomes.
Key Points
- 1Geographical diversity: The Secretary must give preference to grant applications that demonstrate serving a rural area, based on where participants reside, where the project is conducted, or where an employer partner is located.
- 2Transportation assistance plan: Any grant project must include a plan to provide transportation for participants, which can include referral/enrollment in subsidized programs or direct payments for transportation costs; transportation is defined to include public transit or gasoline for a personal vehicle if public transit isn’t reasonably accessible.
- 3Reporting requirement: Each Congress, the Secretary must report to the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee on (i) application activity and (ii) an assessment of the effectiveness of the rural demonstration projects in addressing health workforce shortages.
- 4Effective date: The amendments become effective October 1, 2025.
- 5Program scope: Applies to health profession opportunity grants under Section 2008 of the Social Security Act, redesignating certain subsections accordingly.