In the House, Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) has introduced H.R. 3398, the Pathways to Health Careers Act, to encourage people with low incomes to enter the healthcare field and provide them with opportunities for professional advancement. And in the Senate, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) have introduced S. 2080, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act.
The House legislation would give grants to entities using a career pathways approach to training people for health professions. Curricula are to include basic work skills, career coaching, and connection to potential employers. Successful grant applicants would have a plan for providing supportive services like child care and transportation to participants in their projects and for coordinating with state and local workforce innovation and apprenticeship programs. Nursing homes are among the types of organizations that would be eligible to apply for grants according to this bill. The legislation must be approved by the Ways and Means Committee before it can be considered on the House floor.
The Senate bill would establish palliative care and hospice education centers to provide special training to physicians, nurses, pharmacists, chaplains, and social workers on this kind of care. Training also would be available to medical school faculty. The education centers would have responsibility for curriculum development. The legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for consideration. A similar measure, H.R. 647, was introduced by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) in the House and is pending in the Energy and Commerce Committee.
LeadingAge supports these initiatives to develop and promote care providers at all levels in our field.