Takano's Bill to Improve Physician Workforce: NAVAPD Shows Support
NAVAPD has learned that there is a bill being proposed by Congressman Takano, in the 118th Congress’ 2nd Session, that aims to utilize commissioned medical officers of the United States Public Health Service to work in VA Medical Centers. The bill is cited as the “Supporting Medical Students and VA Workforce Act” [of 2024].
The Bill, as proposed in the draft legislation, would authorize a scholarship program enacted jointly by the Department of Veterans Affairs, The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense. This scholarship program would allow the VA to pay for the medical education of commissioned Public Health Officers to be trained at the Uniformed Services University. In exchange for the tuition being covered by the VA, the Public Health Officer would be obligated to complete a term of service to VA after their graduation and completion of a residency program.
The bill is only in draft form, and is up for debate at the December 17, 2024, House hearing of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. As a draft, many of the bill’s tenets are not yet fully defined. The bill allows the Secretaries of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs to come to agreement on which Public Health Officers would be eligible to receive this scholarship, how may Public Health Officers may receive the scholarship each year, and what the specific terms of obligated service to VA would entail. The bill only states that the term of obligated service is “not to exceed ten years in a medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs”.
The bill also provides a penalty should the Public Health Officer fail to complete the period of obligated service to VA. As the bill is written, that penalty would include reimbursement, by the Public Health Officer, of twice the total amount of tuition and fees paid arising out the Public Health Officer’s attendance at the Uniformed Services University and twice the salary and benefits paid arising from that officer’s detail at VA. The bill does allow for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to waive these penalties if it is determined the reimbursement is “inequitable” or “not in the public interest”.
NAVAPD has submitted a statement of support for this bill to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Our statement reads, “NAVAPD would support this bill because it will provide medical officers to the Department of Veterans Affairs for a period of service to VA who have had their costs of their medical education provided for by the Department. NAVAPD would like to see the term of obligated service more clearly defined so that the Public Health Service officer obligated to VA would know up front their payback obligation. NAVAPD would suggest this obligation be of sufficient length to bolster the Department’s long term physician staffing plans, while allowing the Public Health Officer to be sufficiently vested in VA so that they might consider retention at VA once their Public Health Service obligation is satisfied.”
NAVAPD will continue to fight to improve the physician and dentist workforce at VA. The hearing on December 17, 2024, will be streamed live and can be viewed by anyone interested in the hearing at www.congress.gov.