Congress·In Committee·S. 4416

PHS ACCESS Act

Sending Public Health Officers to Underserved Communities

2 months ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

The PHS ACCESS Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Could go either way

The bill has strong support from both parties and addresses a common problem, but it still needs to go through the full committee process.

Key Points

This bill allows the government to send Public Health Service officers to work directly with Urban Indian organizations. These officers are health professionals who work for the federal government to protect the public's health.
The plan creates new rules to reward health officers who choose to work in difficult locations. This includes rural towns, remote areas, and places that do not have enough doctors or specialists.
Health officers who work with Native American tribes or in areas where it is hard to get medical care will get extra credit for their years of service. This helps them move up in their careers faster as an incentive to work where they are needed most.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services will be required to set clear and fair rules for these rewards. These rules must be updated regularly to make sure the government is focusing on the parts of the country that need the most help.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 28, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Apr 28, 2026

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

PHS ACCESS Act

Bill NumberS 4416

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(3)

D: 2R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.