NEWS: Sanders, Merkley Introduce Legislation to Make Medical, Dental and Nursing Schools Tuition Free and Expand the Health Care Workforce

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today introduced the Health Care Workforce Expansion Act, comprehensive legislation to address the massive shortage of doctors, dentists and nurses in America.

“Despite spending twice as much per person on health care as almost any major country on Earth, we have a massive shortage of doctors, dentists and nurses,”Sanders said. “The health care workforce shortage is especially acute in rural areas. That is unacceptable. In the richest country in the history of the world, we can no longer tolerate a broken health care system where tens of millions of Americans cannot find a doctor, a dentist or a nurse, while many others are forced to wait months to be seen.”

Over the next 12 years, the United States will face a shortage of more than 187,000 doctors, including tens of thousands of primary care doctors. By 2037, our country will also need over 200,000 more nurses. Many communities already face severe shortages of dentists. These shortages are most acute in rural areas, where patients often travel hours just to be seen — if they can be seen at all.

“The health care workforce crisis is made worse by the crushing student debt that burdens health care professionals. I have talked to doctors and dentists who have graduated with $400,000 or $500,000 in student debt. I have talked to nurses who have graduated with $200,000 in debt. Many of them would love to practice in rural areas, but they cannot afford to do so because they are drowning in student debt. We have got to change that reality,” Sanders said.

The Health Care Workforce Expansion Act would address these crises by:

• Making nonprofit medical school tuition free for students who commit to practicing primary care for at least 10 years;
• Making nonprofit nursing school tuition free for any student who wants to become a nurse;
• Making nonprofit dental school tuition free for students who commit to becoming general dentists in rural communities;
• Investing over $5 billion in medical, nursing and dental schools to increase enrollment, recruit and retain faculty, modernize clinical and classroom spaces and more;
• Adding more than 50,000 new slots for the Medicare Graduate Medical Education program, dedicating 30% to primary care and 15% to psychiatry residencies;
• Expanding the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, adding 15,000 new community-based primary care residency positions; and
• Providing $20,000 relocation grants to doctors, dentists and nurses who agree to practice in rural communities.

“This bill is about investing in the future of health care in America,” Sanders said.“It is about making sure that no matter where you live — whether it’s a big city or a small town — you can see a doctor, get dental care and have access to a nurse when you need one.”

The legislation is endorsed by a broad coalition of health care and labor organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine; American Academy of Family Physicians; American Association of Teaching Health Centers; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); American Institute of Dental Public Health; American Medical Student Association; American Nurses Association; AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services; Association of Clinicians for the Underserved; Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare and the National Rural Health Association.

Read the bill text here.

Read a summary of the bill here.