To establish grant programs for health professional schools, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Sanders (for himself and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Health Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2025 addresses physician, nurse, and dentist shortages by making medical, dental, and nursing school tuition-free through new federal grant programs. Medical students must commit to practicing primary care for 10 years, dental students must practice in rural areas for 10 years, while nursing students have no service requirement.
Who Benefits and How
Medical, dental, and nursing students benefit most directly by receiving full tuition coverage (typically $50,000-$80,000+ per year). Medical and dental schools receive guaranteed tuition payments plus up to $2.8 billion (medical), $1.98 billion (nursing), and $615 million (dental) in institutional expansion grants. Teaching health centers receive increased per-resident payments starting at $170,000 in 2026. Rural communities benefit from increased access to dentists and physicians through service obligations and relocation grants. Primary care practices and patients gain from more physicians choosing primary care specialties.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers bear the largest burden through mandatory appropriations for student grants (unlimited funding for all eligible students) plus over $5.4 billion in authorized institutional grants and $4 billion for teaching health centers over 10 years. Medical students who choose specialty medicine instead of primary care must repay up to $50,000 of their grants as student loans. Dental graduates who practice in urban areas instead of rural communities face the same $50,000 repayment requirement.
Key Provisions
- Creates MED Grants covering full tuition for medical students who commit to 10 years of primary care practice
- Creates DENTAL Grants covering full tuition for dental students who commit to 10 years of rural practice
- Creates NURSE Grants covering full tuition for nursing students with no service obligation
- Provides $5.395 billion for medical, nursing, and dental school expansion grants requiring 20-50% enrollment increases
- Increases Medicare GME residency positions with priority for physician-shortage states and primary care programs
- Raises teaching health center payments to $170,000 per resident in 2026, increasing $10,000 annually
- Creates $50 million/year rural relocation grant program for physicians, nurses, and dentists
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
Creates grant programs to cover tuition for medical, dental, and nursing students, with service obligations for physicians (primary care) and dentists (rural areas), plus institutional grants to expand enrollment at health professional schools.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Address healthcare workforce shortages by eliminating financial barriers to medical, dental, and nursing education while directing new graduates to underserved areas (primary care, rural) through service obligations"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Medical school students (receive free tuition up to cost of attendance)
- Dental school students (receive free tuition up to cost of attendance)
- Nursing school students (receive free tuition with no service obligation)
- Medical schools (receive expansion grants up to .8B total)
- Nursing schools (receive expansion grants up to .98B total)
- Dental schools (receive expansion grants up to M total)
- Rural communities (more dentists)
- Primary care patients (more primary care physicians)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Federal taxpayers (funding mandatory appropriations for student grants plus .395B in authorized appropriations for institutional grants)
- MED Grant recipients who do not complete service (must repay up to ,000)
- DENTAL Grant recipients who do not complete service (must repay up to ,000)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Note: The Secretary refers to Secretary of Education for student grant programs (Sections 420S-420CC under Higher Education Act) but refers to Secretary of Health and Human Services for institutional expansion grants (Section 3 amendments to Public Health Service Act)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An institution of higher education that is a school of medicine or school of osteopathic medicine as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act
A student in attendance at an eligible institution pursuing a professional doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree
An institution of higher education that is a school of dentistry as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act
A student in attendance at an eligible institution pursuing a professional dental degree
Has the meaning given that term in section 861(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act
An accredited school of nursing as defined in section 801 of the Public Health Service Act at an institution of higher education
A student in attendance at an eligible institution
Practice primary care as a physician for at least 10 years after training within 15 years of completing degree
Practice general dental care in a rural area for at least 10 years after training within 15 years of completing degree
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