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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 14, 2009
Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand training for health professionals in the fields of geriatrics, long-term care, and chronic care management.
Requires an analysis of the health and long-term care workforce.
Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for information to adults and dislocated workers about health care and long-term care occupations. Provides for information to veterans about training, internship, and employment opportunities in geriatrics, gerontology, and long-term care.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Assistant Secretary for Aging to: (1) develop family caregiver training materials; and (2) provide for the establishment and operation of a National Resource Center on Volunteers, Students, and Seniors to promote partnerships between entities in the aging network and institutions of higher education and secondary schools, and to encourage projects that involve underserved communities.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide for the development of core training competencies for personal or home care aides and additional training content for nurse aides and home health aides; and (2) establish a panel of long-term care workforce experts.
Provides for the development of information and referral protocols for family caregivers of Medicare beneficiaries.
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of assessments of family caregiver support needs.
Provides for studies on: (1) the mental health workforce; (2) the aging network's capacity to meet current and future needs; (3) retention and tenure of nurse aides and home health aides; and (4) spending by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on conditions and illnesses that disproportionately impact the health of older individuals.
People & committees
Sen. Kohl, Herb [D-WI] · D–WI
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S393-394)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jan 21, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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