,i  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cgcc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #be1 #bjbc ,mr4 
,smith of ,washington introduced the    
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce1
 and in addition to the ,committee on   
,ways and ,means1 for a period to be    
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to address barriers         
immigrants and refugees face to entering
 the health care workforce1 and for     
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,international 
,medical ,graduates ,assistance ,act of 
#bjbc4  ,i ,incentivizing ,states to    
allow transitional practice by          
international medical graduates  #aja4  
,grants  7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary
 of ,health and ,human ,services may    
award grants to ,states to develop and  
implement programs to allow eligible    

international medical graduates1 for a  
period of up to #d years while          
completing steps #a and #b of the       
,united ,states ,medical ,licensing     
,examination1 to practice medicine in   
the respective ,state under the         
supervision of a fully licensed         
physician4  7b7 ,definition ,in this    
section3 7#a7 ,the term eligible        
international medical graduate means an 
individual who--  7,a7 graduated from a 
school of medicine outside of the       
,united ,states or ,canada2 and  7,b7   
is--  7i7 lawfully admitted for         
permanent residence2  7ii7 admitted as a
 refugee under section #bjg of the      
,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h  
,u4,s4,c4 #aaeg72  7iii7 granted asylum 
under section #bjh of such ,act 7#h     
,u4,s4,c4 #aaeh72 or  7iv7 a person     
otherwise authorized to be employed in  
the ,united ,states4  7#b7 ,the term    
,state includes the ,district of        
,columbia and any territory of the      
,united ,states4  #ajb4 ,exemption of   

certain eligible international medical  
graduates from application of ,,fte cap 
7a7 ,in general ,section                
#ahhf7;h77#d77;,h7 of the ,social       
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7h77#d77;,h77 is amended by      
adding at the end the following new     
clause3  7vii7 ,exemption of certain    
foreign medical graduates from counting 
towards cap  7,i7 ,in general ,for      
purposes of applying the limit described
 in subparagraph 7,f71 a specified      
resident 7as defined in subclause       
7,,ii77 shall not be taken into account 
in determining the total number of      
full-time equivalent residents before   
application of weighting factors 7as    
determined under this paragraph7 with   
respect to a hospital's approved medical
 residency training program4  7,,ii7    
,specified resident defined ,for        
purposes of subclause 7,i71 the term    
specified resident means an eligible    
international medical graduate 7as      
defined in section #aja7;b7 of the      

,pathways to ,health ,care ,act of      
#bjbb7 who is a resident in a hospital's
 approved medical residency training    
program1 but only if such hospital--    
7aa7 has in effect an agreement with a  
,federally qualified health center under
 which residents training in such       
program spend time training at such     
center2  7bb7 is located in a ,state    
that allows such eligible international 
medical graduates to practice medicine  
as described in section #aja7;a7 of such
 ,act2 and  7cc7 predominantly serves   
medically underserved populations 7as   
defined in section #ccj7;b77#c77;,a7 of 
the ,public ,health ,service ,act71 as  
determined by the ,secretary4  4  7b7   
,study on removal of resident cap ,not  
later than #ahj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services shall submit to ,congress a   
report on the possibility of removing   
the resident cap under section          
#ahhf7;h77#d77;,f7 of the ,social       

,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4           
#acieww7h77#d77;,f774  ,,ii ,assisting  
international medical graduates during  
pursuit of licensure  #bja4 ,grants  7a7
 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,health 
and ,human ,services may award grants to
 ,states to provide assistance to       
eligible international medical graduates
 while such graduates are completing    
steps #a and #b of the ,united ,states  
,medical ,licensing ,examination4  7b7  
,covered assistance ,assistance provided
 to an eligible international medical   
graduate pursuant to this section may   
include paying the costs of the ,united 
,states ,medical ,licensing             
,examination1 career counseling1 case   
management1 classes in ,english as a    
second language1 assistance in diploma  
verification1 and test preparation      
courses4  7c7 ,definition ,in this      
section1 the terms eligible             
international medical graduate and      
,state have the meanings given to those 
terms in section #aja4