Title VII provides support to both institutions and individuals. It supports institutions to expand the capacity to build and sustain the health workforce through training programs, mainly through grant awards and contractual agreements. For example, institutions may receive Title VII grants to implement residency programs at medical and dental schools; recruitment and retention initiatives in community-based educational settings; and health workforce data collection activities within state health departments. Many Title VII programs and activities were reauthorized in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; P.L. 111-148 , as amended). Health policy experts expect this mandate combined with additional changes will increase health insurance coverage to be accompanied by a likely increased demand for health services and health care providers. Title VII represents one among several federal efforts to support the development of the health workforce. References to "the Secretary" mean the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) unless otherwise specified. Appendix A summarizes two ACA provisions that are Title VII-related. Individuals who are employed or studying in the health professions may be eligible for Title VII support, either directly or indirectly. Detailed Description of Title VII Programs and Activities

Title VII authorizes a broad range of programs and activities to develop and sustain the education and training pipeline for the health care workforce. Subpart 1: Health Professions Workforce Information and Analysis (§§761-763)

This subpart establishes a center to encourage states, health professions organizations, and other public and private groups to collect and analyze health workforce data; and establishes an advisory council to make recommendations to the Secretary and Congress on graduate medical education. In addition, ACA created Section 5103, which was enacted as Section 761, Health Professions Workforce Information and Analysis, within the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and is described in the body of this report. Among the specific topics to be reviewed are: the current health care workforce supply and demand, and projections for the next 10 and 25 years; the current health care workforce education and training capacity, and projected demands for such education and training over the next 10 and 25 years; education loan and grant programs authorized in Titles VII and VIII of the PHSA and whether they should be authorized under the Higher Education Act; the implications of new and existing federal policies on the health care workforce; the health care workforce needs of special populations; and recommendations for creating or revising loan repayment and scholarship programs to require low-income minority medical students to serve in their home communities, if designated as a medically underserved community.
Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) supports health professions education and training through grants to and contractual agreements with institutions, and direct assistance to individuals. Institutions may receive Title VII support for such activities as residency programs at medical and dental schools, recruitment and retention initiatives in community-based educational settings, and health workforce data collection and analysis within state health departments. Individuals typically receive direct assistance through scholarships, loans, loan repayments, or fellowships. Title VII authorizes several advisory groups to make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on various health workforce programs and Title VII functions. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), oversees programs authorized in Title VII.
The health care workforce—the backbone of the health care delivery system—includes physicians, nurses, dentists, therapists, and others who deliver health services to individuals in physicians' offices, health centers, clinics, and other community-based health care settings. In 2010, Congress reauthorized Title VII health workforce programs and activities in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148, as amended). The ACA also added several new authorities that aim to build and sustain the health care workforce alongside other provisions for health reform, including health insurance expansion.
The 113th Congress has held hearings and introduced legislation to address the adequacy of the health care workforce. Health policy experts anticipate that ACA provisions for health insurance expansion could lead to an increased demand for health service utilization, and they expect that this increased demand for services could prompt increased demand for health providers, including physicians and nurses. Other factors causing concern about the adequacy of the health workforce include uneven provider distribution, attrition and retirement, and demands of the aging population. Legislative interest or action may focus on the impact of Title VII programs on education and training in the health professions.
This report describes and summarizes Title VII programs. It describes federal support for institutions and individuals in efforts to expand and sustain the pipeline for health professions education and training. Appendix A summarizes ACA initiatives for health workforce provisions related to Title VII.