DESIGNATION OF HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREAS.

SEC. 302. DESIGNATION OF HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREAS. (a) In General.—Section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after the first sentence the following: “All Federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics, as denned in section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)), that meet the requirements of section 334 shall be automatically designated as having such a shortage. Not earlier than 6 years after such date of enactment, and every 6 years 116 STAT. 1644thereafter, each such center or clinic shall demonstrate that the center or clinic meets the applicable requirements of the Federal regulations, issued after the date of enactment of this Act, that revise the definition of a health professional shortage area for purposes of this section.”; and (B) in paragraph (3), by striking “340(r)) may be a population group” and inserting “330(h)(4)) seasonal agricultural workers (as defined in section 330(g)(3)) and migratory agricultural workers (as so defined)), and residents of public housing (as defined in section 3(b)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(1))) may be population groups”; (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking “with special consideration to the indicators of” and all that follows through “services.” and inserting a period; and (3) in subsection (c)(2)(B), by striking “XVIII or XIX” and inserting “XVIII, XIX, or XXI”. (b) Regulations.— (1) Report.— (A) In general.—The Secretary shall submit the report described in subparagraph (B) if the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, issues— (i) a regulation that revises the definition of a health professional shortage area for purposes of section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e); or (ii) a regulation that revises the standards concerning priority of such an area under section 333A of that Act (42 U.S.C. 254f-1). (B) Report.—On issuing a regulation described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report that describes the regulation. (2) Effective date.—Each regulation described in paragraph (1)(A) shall take effect 180 days after the committees described in paragraph (1)(B) receive a report referred to in paragraph (1)(B) describing the regulation. (c) Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with organizations representing individuals in the dental field and organizations representing publicly funded health care providers, shall develop and implement a plan for increasing the participation of dentists and dental hygienists in the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program under section 338A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l) and the Loan Repayment Program under section 338B of such Act (42 U.S.C. 254l-1). (d) Site Designation Process.— (1) Improvement of designation process.—The Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, in consultation with the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors, dental societies, and other interested parties, shall revise the criteria on which the designations of dental 116 STAT. 1645health professional shortage areas are based so that such criteria provide a more accurate reflection of oral health care need, particularly in rural areas. (2) Public health service act.—Section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(i) Dissemination.—The Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration shall disseminate information concerning the designation criteria described in subsection (b) to— “(1) the Governor of each State; “(2) the representative of any area, population group, or facility selected by any such Governor to receive such information; “(3) the representative of any area, population group, or facility that requests such information; and “(4) the representative of any area, population group, or facility determined by the Administrator to be likely to meet the criteria described in subsection (b).”. (e) GAO Study.—Not later than February 1, 2005, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Congress a report on the appropriateness of the criteria, including but not limited to infant mortality rates, access to health services taking into account the distance to primary health services, the rate of poverty and ability to pay for health services, and low birth rates, established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the designation of health professional shortage areas and whether the deeming of federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics as such areas is appropriate and necessary.