H.R.728 - Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019
It is hard to find a major nursing organization that does not fully support Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 728). H.R.728 is a bill to “address all aspects of nursing workforce demand, including education, practice, recruitment, and retention” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2020). Title VIII has been in force since 1944 and has had a major impact on the funding of the nursing workforce. H.R.728 is specifically meant to authorize and expand funding of these initiatives for the next five years (through 2024). The bill recognizes all four APRN roles, clinical nurse leaders, and nurse-managed health clinics.
H.R. 728 was introduced in the House of Representatives on January 23, 2019, by Representative David Joyce (Ohio). On October 28 2019 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 728 (American Hospital Association, 2019). The next day the bill was “received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions” (United States Congress, 2019).
Since the bill is currently in committee in the Senate, and Covid-19 has delayed most normal Senate business, there is no expected end date for this legislation. However, when passed into law, “SpendingTracker.org estimates H.R. 728 will add $969 million in new spending through 2024” (GovTrack.us, 2020). As written the bill will likely be amended. The primary expected outcome will be to improve the availability of nurse education at all levels and improve staffing in underserved rural areas.