With 6 votes in favor and 1 abstention, this bill passes the Frémont Parliament.
AN ACT
to improve rural health
Section 1 (Title & definitions)
i. The title of this act shall be, the "Rural Health Act."
ii. As it appears in this legislation, "depleted rural area" shall refer to communities so classified by the Ministry of Health and Human Services as having a shortage of healthcare workers.
Section 2 (Addressing the rural healthcare worker shortage)
i. The government shall appropriate a sum of $1 billion in the fiscal year of 2021 to finance a program of grants to students majoring in medicine and other healthcare-related fields to recompense up to 80% of their total educational expenses, including tuition, textbook fees, and room and board, who will agree to accept employment at a hospital, pharmacy, or healthcare clinic in a depleted rural area for five years after graduation.
(a) To be eligible to apply, an individual studying for a medical degree must have completed at least one year of medical school.
(b) An individual studying to be an RN nurse must have completed at least 1 semester of their program.
(c) An individual studying to be a BSN nurse must have completed at least 1 year of their program.
ii. The government shall appropriate a further sum of $1 billion annually to finance a program of grants to hospitals and healthcare clinics in depleted rural areas to pay the salaries of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers hired after 1 April 2021 and to provide programs meant to integrate said workers into their community.
(a) To qualify to receive this grant, the hospital or healthcare clinic must demonstrate
(1) the hired positions were necessary to adequately perform its mission; and
(2) the hospital or clinic would be otherwise unable to pay the salaries for the hired positions.
