# Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024

There's a serious shortage of lab workers in the United States—the people who run blood tests, analyze samples, and perform the diagnostic work that helps doctors figure out what's wrong with patients. This bill is designed to help fix that problem by making it easier to recruit, train, and keep medical laboratory professionals in areas where they're needed most.

The bill does this in three main ways. First, it includes lab workers in the National Health Service Corps, which is a federal program that helps place healthcare professionals in underserved areas and offers them loan forgiveness and other benefits. This means lab technicians, phlebotomists, and other lab workers can now qualify for federal loan repayment programs if they agree to work in areas that need them—similar to how doctors and nurses already get these benefits. Second, the bill creates a new federal grant program that gives money to hospitals, schools, and training programs to develop and expand medical laboratory education programs. Schools that focus on training people from rural or disadvantaged backgrounds, or that teach innovative techniques, get priority for these grants. The program is set to receive $25 million in its first year. Third, the bill officially defines what counts as "medical laboratory personnel" in federal law, making sure lab workers are included in various healthcare workforce programs and initiatives.

The practical effect is that more people should be encouraged to enter lab careers through better education opportunities, and those who do will have better financial support if they work in areas that currently lack adequate lab services. This should help reduce wait times for test results and improve healthcare access in underserved communities, though the bill doesn't directly affect patients' out-of-pocket costs or insurance coverage.

Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024

Ross, Deborah K.

Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Relief Act of 2024This bill adds medical laboratory professionals to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and establishes a grant program to fund education programs for medical laboratory professionals. Specifically, it makes medical laboratory professionals eligible to participate in the NHSC, which provides scholarships and student loan repayment awards to health care providers who agree to work in areas with health care provider shortages. The bill also authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to, or enter into contracts with, certain hospitals, schools, and nonprofits to develop and operate accredited education programs that award degrees or certificates to medical laboratory professionals. &nbsp;