Grow Our Own Directive: Physician Assistant Employment and Education Act of 2016
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 549.
Grow Our Own Directive: Physician Assistant Employment and Education Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a five-year Grow Our Own Directive or G.O.O.D. pilot program to provide educational assistance to certain former members of the Armed Forces for education and training as VA physician assistants.
The VA shall provide eligible individuals with program information about application requirements and partner entities.
An individual is eligible to participate in the pilot program who:
has medical or military health experience;
has received a certificate, associate degree, baccalaureate degree, master's degree, or postbaccalaureate training in a science relating to health care;
has participated in the delivery of health care services or related medical services, including military training regarding identification, treatment, and prevention of diseases and disorders; and
does not have a degree of doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry.
The VA shall select at least 250 pilot program participants and give priority to persons who:
participated in the Intermediate Care Technician Pilot Program between January 2011 and February 2015, and
agree to be employed as a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) physician assistant in a community designated as a medically underserved population located in a state with a per capita veterans population of more than 9%.
The VA shall:
provide educational assistance to pilot program participants for the costs of obtaining a master's degree in physician assistant studies or a similar master's degree,
use VA educational assistance programs to provide such assistance, and
provide at least 35 scholarships to pilot program participants each year.
The VA shall enter into an agreement with each pilot program participant to serve a period of obligated service as a VHA physician assistant. An individual who breaches such agreement shall be liable to the United States for a prorated portion of the amount paid to such individual under the program.
The VA shall ensure that a physician assistant mentor is available at each VHA facility that employs a pilot program participant.
The summary continues for 7 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on September 6, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 6, 2016: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 549.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Ann Kuster (D-NH) introduced it on November 5, 2015, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 7 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 5, 2015, 3962 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3656 days ago, on September 6, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers