,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #dceb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #f1      
#bjbb,mr4 ,cramer introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,health1 
,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions  ,a   
,,bill  ,to require a study on the      
effects of travel nurse agencies on the 
health industry during the ,,covid-#ai  
pandemic4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,travel ,nursing    
,agency ,transparency ,study ,act4  #b4 
,,gao study on travel nurse agencies    
,the ,comptroller ,general of the       
,united ,states shall-- 7#a7 conduct a  
study on the effects of travel nurse    
agencies on the health care industry    
during the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1 which  
shall include consideration of-- 7,a7   
the business practices and payment      
practices of such agencies1 including   
any potential price gouging and taking  
of excessive profits2  7,b7 the         
difference between how much such        

agencies charged health care            
institutions and how much they paid     
their contracted nurses2  7,c7 the      
extent to which such agencies could     
provide more transparency regarding the 
payments received from health care      
institutions1 and the payments made by  
the agencies to the nurses who are      
contracted by such agencies2  7,d7 the  
specific ways in which rural areas of   
the ,united ,states were affected by the
 rise of travel nursing across the      
country1 and subsequent workforce       
shortage disparities2  7,e7 how ,states 
that imposed caps to travel nurse pay   
were affected by the market reaction to 
such caps2  7,f7 how ,federal funds1    
including the ,provider ,relief ,fund   
and any assistance granted to a health  
care institution under the ,robert ,t4  
,stafford ,disaster ,relief and         
,emergency ,assistance ,act 7#db        
,u4,s4,c4 #e #aba et seq471 were used by
 health care institutions to pay such   
agencies throughout the workforce       

shortages exacerbated by the ,,covid-#ai
 pandemic2  7,g7 the extent to which    
travel nurse agency practices contribute
 to workforce shortages2 and  7,h7 the  
extent to which travel nurse agencies   
have been acquired by private equity    
firms and the impact of such            
acquisitions on the profits of the      
agencies2 and  7#b7 not later than #a   
year after the date of enactment of this
 ,act1 submit a report to ,congress on  
such study4