Health Professions Education Amendments

Health Professions Education Amendments - Revises title VII of the Public Health Service Act. Extends through fiscal year 1979 the present authority to guarantee loans for the construction of teaching facilities for the training of physicians, dentists, veternarians, optometrists, podiatrists, and professional public health personnel. Repeals the title VII authority to make grants for the construction of such facilities. Authorizes States, under title XVI of such Act, to use Federal formula allotments, loans, loan guarantees, and interest subsidies for modernization necessary to increase the primary care health manpower training capacity of hospitals and outpatient facilities affiliated with a medical, osteopathic, or dental school.

Eliminates capitation for schools of pharmacy. Phases out capitation for schools of medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry. Provides that the latter class of schools may agree to undertake efforts designed to address geographic and specialty maldistribution, thus making them eligible to receive National Priotity Incentive grants in the amount of $1,500 per student in place of capitation phase-out grants.

Stipulates that all schools receiving either National Priority Incentive Grants or capitation phase-out grants must maintain enrollment at the academic year 1975-76 level and maintain the level of non-Federal funds spent. Allows the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to waive this requirement in ususual circumstances. Authorizes appropriations of $126,500,000 for fiscal year 1976; $123,400,000 for fiscal year 1977; $120,000,000 for fiscal year 1978; and $118,200,000 for fiscal year 1979 for the National Priority Incentive Grants and capitation phase-out grants.

Revises and consolidates the existing authorities for dispensing grants for special projects into a special projects section. Authorizes grants to support the following projects: (1) establishment and expansion of family medicine training programs; (2) establishment and expansion of training programs in general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general medicine, general dentistry, and pedodontics; (3) establishment of relationships between schools of optometry, podiatry, and pharmacy, and other health training and service entities; improvement of aspects of curricula and training in those schools; and placement of graduates of those schools and veterinary schools in underserved areas; (4) provision of graduate training in important public health related fields, (5) improvement of allied health professions training; (6) provision for training of primary care physician extenders and expanded function dental auxiliaries, (7) undertaking of training activities designed to address geographic maldistribution of health professionals; (8) provision of financial and other assistance to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enable them to enter health professions careers; (9) provision for financial and other assistance to United States graduates of foreign medical schools to assist them to complete their medical or osteopathic education in the United States, and provision of intensive instruction to foreign medical graduates working in the United States; (10) provision of financial aid to those schools of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, pharmacy, podiatry, or public health which are in serious financial straits or are having serious accreditation problems, with amounts limited to 75 percent of any financial distress grant provided in the preceding fiscal year; (11) the utilization of innovative training methods in medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry likely to reduce the costs of medical, osteopathic, and dental training, and for assisting new schools of medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry to primarily utilize such methods; and (12) evaluating changes in admissions criteria, providing certain specialized kinds of training, providing interdisciplinary training, and demonstrating curriculum innovations.

Phases out the present start-up authority. Permits the Secretary to utilize contracts as well as grants, except in cases of financial distress. Authorizes specified amounts to be appropriated for fiscal years 1976-1979.

Replaces the present Public Health and National Health Service Corps with the Health Service Scholarship Program (HSSP), which is charged with providing scholarships to medical, osteopathic, and dental students in exchange for service in the Public Health Service, other Federal health service, or in a health manpower shortage area. Makes eligible students who agree to accept scholarships if offered, when they apply for admission to a health professions school. Permits students to satisfy their committment by accepting a Defense Department scholarship.

States that scholarships would be awarded for periods of two to four years in an annual amount of $3,600, plus tuition and other reasonable education expenses. Requires, upon completion of training, the scholarship recipient to perform one year of service for each year of assistance. Gives the individual, within limitations, the choice of: (1) serving as a commissioned officer or a civilian member of the Public Health Service or other Federal Health service; or (2) practicing his profession in a health manpower shortage area as a private practitioner.

Grants the Secretary the final authority to choose the location and mode of service of participants, making such assignments on the basis of priorities extant at the time such participants became available for service. Requires all such individuals to engage full-time in patient care activities. Protects persons serving in health manpower shortage areas against income so low as to compromise the effectiveness of their practice by means of a minimum income provision.

Requires a scholarship recipient who fails to perform his service responsibilities to repay twice the amount of the scholarship assistance tendered multiplied by the proportion of service not performed, plus interest. Authorizes specified appropriations for HSSP for fiscal years 1976-1979.

Limits Federal capital contributions to health profession schools' loan funds. Provides that the money invested by the Federal government in schools' loan funds will remain available for re-loan by the schools as it is repaid by student borrowers, but future loans to students will be required to carry seven percent, rather than three percent, interest.

Terminates the authority under which the Secretary repays any educational loans of individuals who go into practice in shortage areas, except in the cases of students receiving loans prior to the enactment of these provisions. Phases out residual Federal responsibilities under the health professions education fund.

Establishes, within the Public Health Service, the National Advisory Council on Health Professions Education, to be composed of health services experts, students, health specialty body representatives, planners, third party payers, and consumers. Charges the Council with analyzing the distribution among specialties of physicians and medical students and evaluating alternative approaches to insuring an appropriate balance. Directs the Council to offer recommendations to the Secretary.