HELP Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2295 To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to provide for a loan repayment program for the HIV clinical and dental workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2021 Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to provide for a loan repayment program for the HIV clin- ical and dental workforce, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘HIV Epidemic Loan- 4 Repayment Program Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 5 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2295 IH SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR HIV CLINICAL 1 AND DENTAL WORKFORCE. 2 Part C of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 3 (42 U.S.C. 293k et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘Subpart III—Loan Repayment Program for HIV 6 Clinical and Dental Workforce 7 ‘‘SEC. 749C. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR HIV CLIN- 8 ICAL AND DENTAL WORKFORCE. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 10 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 11 Administration, shall carry out a program under which— 12 ‘‘(1) the Secretary enters into agreements with 13 physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, phy- 14 sician assistants, clinical pharmacists, and dentists 15 to make payments in accordance with subsection (b) 16 on the principal of and interest on any eligible loan; 17 and 18 ‘‘(2) the individuals each agree to the require- 19 ments of service in HIV treatment or HIV dental 20 care employment, as described in subsection (d). 21 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS.—For each year of obligated service 22 by an individual pursuant to an agreement under sub- 23 section (a), the Secretary shall make a payment to such 24 individual as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2295 IH ‘‘(1) SERVICE IN A SHORTAGE AREA.—The Sec- 1 retary shall pay— 2 ‘‘(A) for each year of obligated service by 3 an individual pursuant to an agreement under 4 subsection (a), 1⁄5 of the principal of and inter- 5 est on each eligible loan of the individual which 6 is outstanding on the date the individual began 7 service pursuant to the agreement; and 8 ‘‘(B) for completion of the fifth and final 9 year of such service, the remainder of such 10 principal and interest. 11 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount of 12 payments under this section to any individual shall 13 not exceed $250,000. 14 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE LOANS.—The loans eligible for repay- 15 ment under this section are each of the following: 16 ‘‘(1) Any loan for education or training for HIV 17 treatment employment. 18 ‘‘(2) Any loan under part E of title VIII (relat- 19 ing to nursing student loans). 20 ‘‘(3) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Fed- 21 eral Direct PLUS Loan, Federal Direct Unsub- 22 sidized Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Consolida- 23 tion Loan (as such terms are used in section 455 of 24 the Higher Education Act of 1965). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2295 IH ‘‘(4) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E 1 of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 2 ‘‘(5) Any other Federal loan as determined ap- 3 propriate by the Secretary. 4 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS OF SERVICE.—Any individual 5 receiving payments under the program under this section 6 as required by an agreement under subsection (a) shall 7 agree to an annual commitment to full-time employment, 8 with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years 9 of HIV treatment employment in the United States in a 10 service area that is— 11 ‘‘(1) a health professional shortage area, as des- 12 ignated under section 332; 13 ‘‘(2) a clinical site awarded a grant or other as- 14 sistance under title XXVI for the provision of clin- 15 ical or dental services; or 16 ‘‘(3) an area that meets criteria specified pur- 17 suant to subsection (f). 18 ‘‘(e) WAIVERS FOR HALF-TIME SERVICE.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue 20 waivers to individuals who have entered into a con- 21 tract for obligated service under this section under 22 which the individuals are authorized to satisfy the 23 requirement of obligated service through providing 24 service that is half time. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2295 IH ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The provisions 1 of subparts II and III of part D of title III respect- 2 ing waivers under section 331(i) and half-time serv- 3 ice pursuant to such waivers shall apply to waivers 4 and half-time service under this section to the same 5 extent and in the same manner as such provisions 6 apply with respect to the National Health Service 7 Corps Loan Repayment Program. 8 ‘‘(f) CRITERIA FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICE AREAS.— 9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 10 of this section, the Secretary, acting through the Adminis- 11 trator of the Health Resources and Services Administra- 12 tion, shall establish criteria for additional service areas for 13 purposes of the requirement under subsection (d). 14 ‘‘(g) INELIGIBILITY FOR DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 15 borrower may, for the same service, receive a reduction 16 of loan obligations or a loan repayment under both— 17 ‘‘(1) this section; and 18 ‘‘(2) any federally supported loan forgiveness 19 program, including under section 338B, 338I, or 20 846 of this Act, or section 428J, 428L, 455(m), or 21 460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 22 ‘‘(h) BREACH.— 23 ‘‘(1) LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FORMULA.—The 24 Secretary may establish a liquidated damages for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2295 IH mula to be used in the event of a breach of an 1 agreement entered into under subsection (a). 2 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The failure by an individual 3 to complete the full period of service obligated pur- 4 suant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not 5 constitute a breach of the agreement, so long as the 6 individual completed in good faith the years of serv- 7 ice for which payments were made to the individual 8 under this section. 9 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary— 10 ‘‘(1) may establish such criteria and rules to 11 carry out this section as the Secretary determines 12 are needed and in addition to the criteria and rules 13 specified in this section; and 14 ‘‘(2) shall give notice to the committees speci- 15 fied in subsection (j) of any criteria and rules so es- 16 tablished. 17 ‘‘(j) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 18 after the date of the enactment of this section, and every 19 other year thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and sub- 20 mit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 22 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 23 on— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2295 IH ‘‘(1) the number, provider type, and location of 1 borrowers who have qualified for loan repayments 2 under this section; and 3 ‘‘(2) the impact of this section on the avail- 4 ability of HIV clinical care and treatment or HIV 5 dental care nationally, in shortage areas, and in 6 States, counties, and other jurisdictions targeted by 7 the Federal End the HIV Epidemic Initiative. 8 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘HIV’ means the human im- 10 munodeficiency virus. 11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘HIV treatment employment’ 12 means employment (including a fellowship)— 13 ‘‘(A) as a physician, physician assistant, 14 advanced practice registered nurse, clinical 15 pharmacist, dentist, or other relevant practi- 16 tioner licensed or certified in accordance with 17 applicable State and Federal law, where the pri- 18 mary intent and function of the position is the 19 direct treatment and care of persons living with 20 HIV; and 21 ‘‘(B) which is located at an HIV treatment 22 program, which could be affiliated with a pri- 23 vate practice, community health center, tele- 24 health platform, migrant health center, aca- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2295 IH demic medical center, hospital, rural health pro- 1 gram, health program or facility operated by an 2 Indian tribe or tribal organization, Federal 3 medical facility, or any other facility as deter- 4 mined appropriate for purposes of this section 5 by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organi- 7 zation’ have the meanings given those terms in sec- 8 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 9 cation Assistance Act. 10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘jurisdiction’ means a city, town, 11 county, or other public body created by or pursuant 12 to State law, or an Indian tribe. 13 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 15 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2027.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS