H.R. 6468

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6468 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6468

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize rural residency 
planning and development grant programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 4, 2025

Mrs. Miller of West Virginia (for herself, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Smith of 
Nebraska, and Mr. Carter of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize rural residency 
planning and development grant programs, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Residency Planning and 
Development Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. RURAL RESIDENCY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 330A-2 (42 U.S.C. 254c-1b) the 
following:

``SEC. 330A-3. RURAL RESIDENCY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND 
RURAL RESIDENCY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

``(a) Rural Residency Planning and Development Program.--
``(1) Grants.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may award grants 
to eligible entities to establish new rural residency 
programs (including adding new rural training sites to 
existing rural track programs).
``(B) Funding.--Grants awarded under this 
subsection may be fully funded at the time of the 
award.
``(C) Term.--The term of a grant under this 
subsection shall be 3 years and may be extended at the 
discretion of the Secretary.
``(2) Applications.--
``(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 
prepare and submit to the Secretary an application at 
such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require, including a 
description of the pathway of the rural residency 
program as described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Pathway.--A pathway of a rural residency 
program supported under this subsection shall be for--
``(i) general primary care and high-need 
specialty care, including family medicine, 
internal medicine, preventive medicine, 
psychiatry, or general surgery;
``(ii) maternal health and obstetrics, 
which may be obstetrics and gynecology or 
family medicine with enhanced obstetrical 
training; or
``(iii) any other pathway as determined 
appropriate by the Secretary.
``(b) Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance 
Program.--
``(1) Grants.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may award grants 
to eligible entities to provide technical assistance to 
awardees of and potential applicants of the program 
described in subsection (b).
``(B) Funding.--Grants awarded under this 
subsection may be fully funded at the time of the 
award.
``(C) Term.--The term of a grant under this 
subsection shall be 4 years and may be extended at the 
discretion of the Secretary.
``(2) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this subsection, an eligible entity shall prepare and 
submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'--
``(A) means--
``(i) a domestic public or private 
nonprofit or for-profit entity; or
``(ii) an Indian Tribe or Tribal 
organization; and
``(B) may include faith-based or community-based 
organizations, rural hospitals, rural community-based 
ambulatory patient care centers (including rural health 
clinics), health centers operated by an Indian Tribe, 
Tribal organization, or urban Indian organization, 
graduate medical education consortiums (including 
institutions of higher education, such as schools of 
allopathic medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, 
or historically Black colleges or universities), or 
other organizations as determined appropriate by the 
Secretary.
``(2) Rural residency program.--The term `rural residency 
program' means a physician residency program, including a rural 
track program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for 
Graduate Medical Education (or a similar body) that--
``(A) trains residents in rural areas (as defined 
by the Secretary) for more than 50 percent of the total 
time of their residency; and
``(B) primarily focuses on producing physicians who 
will practice in rural areas, as defined by the 
Secretary.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out this section $12,700,000 for each of fiscal years 
2026 through 2030.
``(2) Availability.--Any amounts appropriated under 
paragraph (1) shall remain available to the Secretary until 
expended.''.
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