Bill > HR6468

This bill, the Rural Residency Planning and Development Act of 2025, amends the Public Health Service Act to establish new grant programs aimed at increasing the number of physicians practicing in rural areas. The core of the bill creates a Rural Residency Planning and Development Program, which allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities for up to three years to create new rural residency programs or expand existing ones with rural training sites. These programs must focus on training physicians for general primary care, high-need specialties like psychiatry, maternal health and obstetrics, or other areas deemed appropriate by the Secretary, with the goal of producing doctors who will practice in rural communities. Additionally, the bill establishes a Rural Residency Planning and Development Technical Assistance Program, which will award grants for up to four years to entities that provide support and guidance to those applying for or receiving grants from the main residency program. An "eligible entity" is broadly defined and can include various public and private non-profit or for-profit organizations, Indian Tribes, faith-based or community-based groups, rural hospitals, health centers, and graduate medical education consortiums. A "rural residency program" is defined as an accredited physician residency program where residents train in rural areas for over 50% of their residency and are primarily intended to practice in rural areas. The bill authorizes $12.7 million annually for these programs from fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6468/all-info