Vice President Kamala Harris will announce Monday that the Biden administration is investing $1.5 billion from the coronavirus aid package to address the health care worker shortage in underserved communities.
The funding will go to the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery programs, all federal programs that offer scholarship and loan repayments for health care students and workers if they pledge to work in underserved and high-risk communities.
The money, which includes funds from the American Rescue Plan and other sources, will support more than 22,700 providers, marking the largest number of providers enrolled in these programs in history, according to the White House.
It comes in response to recommendations laid out earlier this month by the White House’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which issued a report outlining how the administration could address the lack of health care in certain demographics.
It’s just the latest investment from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed in March of this year, aimed at addressing health disparities among minority and underserved communities.
Earlier this month, the White House announced an additional $785 million in funding for federal programs aimed at improving diversity in the public health workforce and supporting people with disabilities.
During the Monday event, Harris is also expected to push for passage of President Joe Biden’s nearly $2 trillion package for the environment and social programs, which would provide funding to temporarily close the Medicaid coverage gap and expand access to health insurance marketplace subsidies through 2025.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.