Tribal Healthcare Careers Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Tribal Healthcare Careers Act amends Social Security Act section 2008 to give Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Tribal Colleges and Universities a dedicated path into Health Profession Opportunity Grants. Section 2 reserves 15 percent of annual section 2008 funding for grants to those tribal eligible entities. Section 3 then requires HHS to award at least ten grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or Tribal Colleges and Universities to the extent enough qualified applications are submitted. The practical effect is to move tribal health-care career pathway projects from general competition into a protected funding lane with a minimum award target.
Who Benefits and How
Indian tribes benefit from a 15 percent funding reserve for health-care career pathway grants. Tribal Colleges benefit from explicit eligibility and a minimum-award guarantee when qualified applications are submitted. Tribal health workforce trainees benefit if reserved grants expand training for health professions in tribal communities. Tribal health clinics benefit indirectly from more workers trained through tribal career pathway projects.
Who Bears the Burden and How
ACF grant staff must administer a tribal funding reserve and track minimum awards. Non-tribal health workforce applicants face less available funding from the portion reserved for tribal eligible entities. Tribal grant applicants must still satisfy application requirements to receive awards. Federal taxpayers fund any additional grants made under the reserved tribal lane.
Key Provisions
- Reserves 15 percent of annual section 2008 funds for Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
- Requires at least ten awards to tribal eligible entities when enough qualified applications exist.
- Protects tribal health workforce projects from relying entirely on general competition.
- Amends both the funding set-aside and grant-award guarantee language in section 2008.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Reserves 15 percent of Health Profession Opportunity Grant funding for Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Tribal Colleges and Universities, and guarantees at least 10 awards to those eligible entities when enough qualified applications are submitted.
Key Policy Areas
Health Workforce, Tribal Affairs, Education
Primary Purpose
Reserves 15 percent of Health Profession Opportunity Grant funding for Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Tribal Colleges and Universities, and guarantees at least 10 awards to those eligible entities when enough qualified applications are submitted.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Indian tribes
- Tribal Colleges
- Tribal health workforce trainees
- Tribal health clinics
Identified Costs
- ACF grant staff
- Non-tribal health workforce applicants
- Tribal grant applicants
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Gomez introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
ACF grant staff, Indian tribes
Positive-direction: Indian tribes
Negative-direction: ACF grant staff
Non-tribal health workforce applicants, Tribal health workforce trainees
Positive-direction: Tribal health workforce trainees
Negative-direction: Non-tribal health workforce applicants
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology