Title V of the Affordable Care Act, is the portion of the legislation that deals with health care workforce.According to the federal government, this section appropriately titled “Health Care Workforce” providesfunds, scholarships and loan repayment programs to increase the number of primary care physicians,nurses, physician assistants, mental health providers, and dentists in the areas of the country that needthem most. It does through a number of state health care workforce development grants, federallysupported student loan funds, nursing student loan program and health care workforce loan repaymentprograms. It also does through enhanced training in family medicine, general internal medicine, generalpediatrics, and physician assistantship.

Section V also tries to address the nursing shortage through a comprehensive approach that seeks toretain current nurses and provide them with more expanded educational opportunities that keeps themcurrent with the evolving changes in health care. Lastly, through new incentives and recruitment, theAct increases the supply of public health professionals so that in the case of a public health emergency,the country is appropriately and adequately equipped with the correct number of skilled personnel.The Health Care Workforce section also provides state and local governments flexibility and resourcesto develop health workforce recruitment strategies through the extension of family-to-family healthinformation centers and interdisciplinary, community-based linkages.

Section V is an important section of the Affordable Care Act because it takes the existing health careworkforce and attempts to strengthen the services they provide and expand the resources they have toprovide care to the communities they serve. In addition, as the need for health care personnel increases,Section V provides incentives for citizens who are considering a career in the health field through anumber of loan, incentive and funding programs.