[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5924 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5924
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment
program to encourage specialty medicine physicians to serve in rural
communities experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 18, 2020
Mr. McKinley (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment
program to encourage specialty medicine physicians to serve in rural
communities experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SPECIALTY WORKFORCE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES.
Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.)
is amended--
(1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 795j et seq.) as
part H; and
(2) by inserting after part F (42 U.S.C. 295h) the
following new part:
``PART G--SPECIALTY MEDICINE WORKFORCE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES
``SEC. 782. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator
of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall carry out a
program under which--
``(1) the Secretary enters into agreements with specialty
medicine physicians to make payments in accordance with
subsection (b) on the principal of and interest on any eligible
loans described in subsection (c); and
``(2) the specialty medicine physicians each agree to
complete a period of obligated service described in subsection
(d) as a specialty medicine physician in the United States in a
rural community experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine
physicians.
``(b) Payments.--For each year of obligated service by a specialty
medicine physician pursuant to an agreement under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall make a payment to such physician as follows:
``(1) Service in shortage area.--The Secretary shall pay--
``(A) for each year of obligated service by a
specialty medicine physician pursuant to an agreement
under subsection (a), \1/6\ of the principal of and
interest on each eligible loan of the physician which
is outstanding on the date the physician began service
pursuant to the agreement; and
``(B) for completion of the sixth and final year of
such service, the remainder of such principal and
interest.
``(2) Maximum amount.--The total amount of payments under
this section to any specialty medicine physician shall not
exceed $250,000.
``(c) Eligible Loans.--The loans eligible for repayment under this
section are each of the following:
``(1) Any loan for education in specialty medicine.
``(2) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Direct PLUS
Loan, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or Federal
Direct Consolidation Loan (as such terms are used in section
455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965).
``(3) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E of title I of
the Higher Education Act of 1965.
``(4) Any other Federal loan as determined appropriate by
the Secretary.
``(d) Period of Obligated Service.--Any specialty medicine
physician receiving payments under this section as required by an
agreement under subsection (a) shall agree to a 6-year commitment to
full-time employment, with no more than 1 year passing between any 2
years of covered employment, as a specialty medicine physician in the
United States in a rural community experiencing a shortage of specialty
medicine physicians.
``(e) Ineligibility for Double Benefits.--No borrower may, for the
same service, receive a reduction of loan obligations or a loan
repayment under both--
``(1) this section; and
``(2) any Federally supported loan forgiveness program,
including under section 338B, 338I, or 846 of this Act, or
section 428J, 428L, 455(m), or 460 of the Higher Education Act
of 1965.
``(f) Breach.--
``(1) Liquidated damages formula.--The Secretary may
establish a liquidated damages formula to be used in the event
of a breach of an agreement entered into under subsection (a).
``(2) Limitation.--The failure by a specialty medicine
physician to complete the full period of service obligated
pursuant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not
constitute a breach of the agreement, so long as the physician
completed in good faith the years of service for which payments
were made to the physician under this section.
``(g) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 5 years after the date
of enactment of this section, and not less than every other year
thereafter through fiscal year 2030, the Secretary shall report to
Congress on--
``(1) the practice location of physicians participating, or
who have participated, in the loan repayment program under this
section; and
``(2) the impact of the loan repayment program under this
section on the availability of specialty medicine services in
the United States in rural communities experiencing a shortage
of specialty medicine physicians.
``(h) Definition.--In this section, the term specialty medicine
physician means a physician practicing in a specialty identified in the
December 2008 report of the Health Resources and Services
Administration entitled `The Physician Workforce: Projections and
Research into Current Issues Affecting Supply and Demand' as a
specialty whose baseline projected demand exceeds its projected supply
for the period of 2005 through 2020.
``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
for fiscal years 2021 through 2030.''.
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