S. 4416

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4416 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4416

To establish procedures for the detailing of Public Health Service 
officers for purposes of advancing care in underserved communities.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 28, 2026

Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Cortez 
Masto) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish procedures for the detailing of Public Health Service 
officers for purposes of advancing care in underserved communities.

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 ``Public Health Services for Advancing 
Care and Creating Efficient Support Systems in Underserved Communities 
Act'' or the ``PHS ACCESS Act''.

SEC. 2. DETAIL OF PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Section 214 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 215) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
(e) and (f), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) The Secretary may detail Public Health Service Commissioned 
Corps officers to Urban Indian organizations, as defined in section 4 
of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, to cooperate in or conduct 
work related to the functions of the Department of Health and Human 
Services.''; and
(3) in subsection (e), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``subsections (b) and (c)'' and 
inserting ``subsection (b) or (c)''; and
(B) by striking ``subsections (b) or (c)'' and 
inserting ``subsection (b) or (c)''.
(b) Appointment of Personnel.--Section 207(d) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 209(d)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``shall,'' and inserting 
``may, at the discretion of the Secretary, after consideration 
of the criteria described in paragraph (5),''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(5)(A) The Secretary shall develop objective, transparent 
criteria for purposes of determining whether to grant a person 
appointed under subsection (a) constructive credit for length of 
service as described in paragraph (1). Such criteria shall--
``(i) give preference to appointees who--
``(I) serve in a rural or remote (as determined by 
the Secretary in accordance with objective and 
transparent criteria established by the Secretary) 
agency for which the Service is statutorily required to 
provide services;
``(II) are specialists in an area with a 
demonstrated workforce shortage;
``(III) serve in an area with significant access to 
care challenges; or
``(IV) serve with an Indian tribe, tribal 
organization, or Urban Indian organization (as such 
terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian Health 
Care Improvement Act); and
``(ii) consider established Federal designation systems and 
workforce assessments.
``(B) The Secretary shall review and update the criteria 
established under subparagraph (A) periodically to reflect current 
workforce needs.''.
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