Pathways to Health Careers Act

Key Points

• The bill provides about $435 million per year from 2027 through 2031 (roughly $2.175 billion total) to fund grants that train low-income people for health care jobs like nursing, EMT work, and health information technology.
• Grant programs must guarantee support services beyond tuition, including child care and transportation help, so financial and logistical barriers do not stop participants from completing training.
• A required share of demonstration funding must go toward helping people with arrest or conviction records get licensed and hired in health careers, including legal help to clear workforce barriers tied to their records.
• Only people whose family income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level qualify for the program, targeting the aid toward lower-income households.
• Every state and the District of Columbia is guaranteed at least two grant recipients per cycle, and separate funding is reserved for tribal organizations and U.S. territories, to spread the program nationwide.