A House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee recently passed two bills sponsored by Congressman Markwayne Mullin.
They were his H.R. 3320, the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act and H.R. 5487, the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act, passed by voice vote and will be reported to the full committee for consideration.
The Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act would provide funding to colleges and universities to make physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology programs more accessible to underrepresented communities, including rural areas and places with high prevalence of racial and ethnic minorities.
“The need for an increase in underrepresented professionals in the health care workforce is more important than ever,” Mullin said. “This legislation would improve access to allied health services for minorities, people from disadvantaged communities, and those who live in rural areas. Increasing the number of providers who can offer culturally competent care will help improve health outcomes and result in higher quality care for patients. I thank my colleagues for their support on this legislation.”
The Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act seeks to improve research and data collection on stillbirths by providing grants to states for surveillance and data collection relating to stillbirth and stillbirth risk factors.
“The United States is ranked 25th for number of stillbirths among high-income countries. In 2019, over 21,500 babies were stillborn in our country. This is unacceptable,” Mullin said. “It is crucial medical professionals have the information they need to mitigate the risk of stillbirth here in the U.S. This bill will promote research and educational guidelines for state departments and the National Institute of Health (NIH) to improve maternal care. I am grateful for my colleagues for recognizing the importance of this bill.”
Full video of Mullin’s remarks during the markup can be found here.