Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced the Expanding Medical Education Act, legislation to address the lack of representation of students of color, rural students, and underserved students in the physician pipeline. The bill would encourage the recruitment, enrollment, and retention of students from underrepresented backgrounds by providing grants through the Health Resources and Services Administration for colleges and universities to establish or expand certain medical schools in vulnerable communities or at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), which encompasses American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). The legislation also supports Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).

This legislation is designed to combat the United States’ severe health care workforce shortage, which has worsened in recent years. In 2022, the American Medical Association projected there will be a national shortage of up to 48,000 primary care physicians and 77,100 non-primary care physicians by 2034. In California, there are more than 600 health professional shortage areas with over 11 million Californians facing barriers to care.

California has 176 MSIs, including 160 HSIs, 86 AANAPISIs, and one HBGI, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

“Expanding opportunities for students of color in medical fields is an essential public health priority,” said Senator Padilla. “By creating more pathways at minority-serving institutions for diverse groups to enter the health care workforce, the Expanding Medical Education Act would help improve access to culturally competent health care providers and address critical workforce shortages.”

“Communities of color and Virginians in rural and underserved areas have long faced serious challenges in accessing health care and finding providers that look like them or offer services nearby,” said Senator Kaine. “Research indicates physicians are more likely to practice in the areas they’re from—so supporting medical schools at HBCUs, MSIs, and in underserved areas is a commonsense way to help improve care in those communities. This legislation would help do that and improve recruitment and retention of talented individuals from historically underrepresented backgrounds, creating a health care workforce that more accurately reflects the communities they serve.”  

The Expanding Medical Education Act would prioritize grants to institutions of higher education that:

• Propose to use the funds to establish a medical school or branch campus in an area in which no other such school is based and is a medically-underserved community or health professional shortage area.
• Are minority-serving institutions or are HBCUs, HBGIs, or TCUs.

Entities receiving grants would be required to report to Congress how they use the funding. Eligible uses for the grants include:

• Planning and constructing a new medical school in an area where no other school is based or has a branch campus;
• Conducting activities to meet the accreditation criteria for a medical school;
• Hiring diverse faculty and other staff;
• Recruiting, enrolling, and retaining students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, students from rural and underserved areas, low-income students, and first-generation college students;
• Supporting educational programs; and
• Modernizing and expanding infrastructure.

Senator Padilla has long been a leader in the fight to make health care more equitable in the United States. Earlier this year, Padilla, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced a Senate Resolution to declare racism a public health crisis. Last year, Padilla, Booker, and Hirono introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act (HEAA), legislation that would address health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities as well as women, the LGBTQ+ community, rural populations, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities across the United States. Padilla and Booker also announced the Equal Health Care for All Act, bicameral legislation that would make equal access to medical care a protected civil right to help address the racial inequities and structural failures in America’s health care system. As a co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, Padilla has introduced a trio of bills to address the unique mental health needs of military children, Latinos, and farm workers.

A one-pager on the bill available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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