Rural America Health Corps Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 924 To establish a demonstration program to provide payments on eligible loans for individuals who are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 23, 2021 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a demonstration program to provide payments on eligible loans for individuals who are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Pro- gram. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural America Health 4 Corps Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 924 IS SEC. 2. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS RURAL PRO- 1 VIDER LOAN REPAYMENT DEMONSTRATION 2 PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 5 and Human Services (referred to in this section as 6 the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a demonstration 7 program to provide payments on the principal of and 8 interest on any eligible loan for eligible individuals 9 described in paragraph (2). 10 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—To be eligible for 11 payments under the program under this section, an 12 individual shall— 13 (A) be eligible to participate in the Loan 14 Repayment Program under section 338B of the 15 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1), 16 but not be participating in such Loan Repay- 17 ment Program; and 18 (B) agree to the requirements described in 19 subsection (b)(1). 20 (b) PROCEDURE.— 21 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to receive 22 assistance under this section, an eligible individual 23 shall— 24 (A) comply with all rules and requirements 25 described in section 338B of the Public Health 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 924 IS Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1), except for the 1 period of obligated service described in sub- 2 section (f)(1)(B)(iv) of such section and as pro- 3 vided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this sub- 4 section; and 5 (B) agree to a period of obligated service 6 of 5 years of full-time employment in a health 7 professional shortage area that is a rural area. 8 (2) PAYMENTS.— 9 (A) SERVICE IN A RURAL AREA.—The Sec- 10 retary shall pay— 11 (i) for each year of obligated service 12 by an individual pursuant to an agreement 13 under this section, 1⁄5 of the principal of 14 and interest on each eligible loan, as deter- 15 mined by the Secretary, which is out- 16 standing on the date the individual began 17 service pursuant to the agreement; and 18 (ii) for completion of the fifth and 19 final year of such service, the remainder of 20 such principal and interest. 21 (B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total 22 amount of payments under this section to any 23 individual shall not exceed $200,000. 24 (3) BREACH.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 924 IS (A) LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FORMULA.— 1 The Secretary may establish a liquidated dam- 2 ages formula to be used in the event of a 3 breach of an agreement entered into under this 4 section. 5 (B) LIMITATION.—The failure by an indi- 6 vidual to complete the full period of service obli- 7 gated pursuant to such an agreement, taken 8 alone, shall not constitute a breach of such 9 agreement, so long as the individual completed 10 in good faith the years of service for which pay- 11 ments were made to the individual under this 12 section. 13 (4) APPLICABILITY OF LOAN REPAYMENT PRO- 14 GRAM PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise provided in 15 this section, all provisions in subparts II and III of 16 title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 17 241 et seq.) pertaining to the administration of, and 18 other requirements with respect to, the Loan Repay- 19 ment Program described in section 338B of such 20 Act (42 U.S.C.254l–1) shall apply to the demonstra- 21 tion program under this section. 22 (c) DESIGNATIONS.—The demonstration program 23 under this section, and any providers who are selected to 24 participate in such program, shall not be considered by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 924 IS the Secretary in the designation of health professional 1 shortage areas under section 332 of the Public Health 2 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) during fiscal years 2022 3 through 2026. 4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 5 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 6 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- 7 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 8 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that 9 evaluates the demonstration program established under 10 this section, including the effects of such program on 11 health care access in rural areas. 12 (e) HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREA.—In 13 this section, the term ‘‘health professional shortage area’’ 14 has the meaning given such term in section 332 of the 15 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e). 16 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 18 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS