I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1127
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY7, 2025
Mr. K
USTOFF(for himself and Ms. BUDZINSKI) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
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
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•HR 1127 IH
SEC. 2. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS RURAL PRO-1
VIDER LOAN REPAYMENT DEMONSTRATION 2
PROGRAM. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 4
(1) E
STABLISHMENT.—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) E
LIGIBLE 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) P
ROCEDURE.— 21
(1) R
EQUIREMENTS.—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
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•HR 1127 IH
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) P
AYMENTS.— 9
(A) S
ERVICE 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
⁄5of 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) M
AXIMUM AMOUNT .—The total 22
amount of payments under this section to any 23
individual shall not exceed $200,000. 24
(3) B
REACH.— 25
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•HR 1127 IH
(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) L
IMITATION.—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) A
PPLICABILITY 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 dem-21
onstration program under this section. 22
(c) D
ESIGNATIONS.—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
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•HR 1127 IH
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 2026 3
through 2030. 4
(d) R
EPORT.—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) H
EALTHPROFESSIONALSHORTAGEAREA.—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) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 18
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 19
Æ
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