To improve training requirements for health profession opportunity grant programs and exclude assistance provided by those programs from income tax, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Panetta introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Health CARE Training Act improves federal health profession opportunity grant programs, which help low-income individuals train for healthcare careers. It requires that training programs provide enough hours to actually qualify participants for state certifications, and it makes the financial assistance these programs provide tax-free.
Who Benefits and How
Individuals training for healthcare careers benefit significantly. They will receive training that actually meets state certification requirements rather than potentially inadequate programs. Additionally, any cash stipends or emergency assistance they receive through these programs will be completely excluded from their taxable income, putting more money in their pockets.
Healthcare employers and the healthcare industry benefit indirectly through a better-trained workforce pipeline of certified healthcare professionals.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Health profession opportunity grant programs must now ensure their training meets state certification hour requirements or Secretary-determined standards, which may require expanding some training offerings.
The federal government loses some tax revenue by exempting program stipends and assistance from income tax, though this is offset by the goal of expanding the healthcare workforce.
Key Provisions
- Requires training programs to provide the minimum number of hours needed for state certification of the skill being taught
- If a state has no certification requirement, the Secretary of HHS determines the required training hours
- Excludes all cash stipends and emergency assistance from these programs from federal income tax
- Eliminates the requirement for grant-making entities to file tax information returns for these payments
- Both provisions take effect October 1, 2025
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
This bill aims to enhance training requirements for health profession opportunity grant programs, ensuring participants receive adequate training hours based on state certification standards or the Secretary's determination. It also exempts assistance provided by these programs from federal income tax considerations.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The Health Career Advancement and Remuneration Exclusion for Training Act or the Health CARE Training Act.
Amends Section 2008(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act to exclude amounts paid as cash stipends or emergency assistance under health professions workforce demonstration projects from federal income tax considerations.
Amends Section 2008(a)(2) of the Social Security Act to mandate a minimum number of training hours for eligible individuals participating in demonstration projects funded by health profession opportunity grants. The training hours are based on state certification requirements or, if unavailable, as determined by the Secretary.
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