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 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘HIV Epidemic Loan5 Repayment Program Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 

6 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR HIV CLINICAL 

2 AND DENTAL WORKFORCE. 

3 Part C of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 293k et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘Subpart III—Loan Repayment Program for HIV 

7 Clinical and Dental Workforce 

8 ‘‘SEC. 749C. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR HIV CLIN9 ICAL AND DENTAL WORKFORCE. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

11 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

12 Administration, shall carry out a program under which— 

13 ‘‘(1) the Secretary enters into agreements with 

14 physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, phy15 sician assistants, clinical pharmacists, and dentists 

16 to make payments in accordance with subsection (b) 

17 on the principal of and interest on any eligible loan; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) the individuals each agree to the require20 ments of service in HIV treatment or HIV dental 

21 care employment, as described in subsection (d). 

22 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS.—For each year of obligated service 

23 by an individual pursuant to an agreement under sub24 section (a), the Secretary shall make a payment to such 

25 individual as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) SERVICE IN A SHORTAGE AREA.—The Sec2 retary shall pay— 

3 ‘‘(A) for each year of obligated service by 

4 an individual pursuant to an agreement under 

subsection (a), 1 5 ⁄5 of the principal of and inter6 est on each eligible loan of the individual which 

7 is outstanding on the date the individual began 

8 service pursuant to the agreement; and 

9 ‘‘(B) for completion of the fifth and final 

10 year of such service, the remainder of such 

11 principal and interest. 

12 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount of 

13 payments under this section to any individual shall 

14 not exceed $250,000. 

15 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE LOANS.—The loans eligible for repay16 ment under this section are each of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Any loan for education or training for HIV 

18 treatment employment. 

19 ‘‘(2) Any loan under part E of title VIII (relat20 ing to nursing student loans). 

21 ‘‘(3) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Fed22 eral Direct PLUS Loan, Federal Direct Unsub23 sidized Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Consolida24 tion Loan (as such terms are used in section 455 of 

25 the Higher Education Act of 1965). 


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1 ‘‘(4) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E 

2 of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

3 ‘‘(5) Any other Federal loan as determined ap4 propriate by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS OF SERVICE.—Any individual 

6 receiving payments under the program under this section 

7 as required by an agreement under subsection (a) shall 

8 agree to an annual commitment to full-time employment, 

9 with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 years 

10 of HIV treatment employment in the United States in a 

11 service area that is— 

12 ‘‘(1) a health professional shortage area, as des13 ignated under section 332; 

14 ‘‘(2) a clinical site awarded a grant or other as15 sistance under title XXVI for the provision of clin16 ical or dental services; or 

17 ‘‘(3) an area that meets criteria specified pur18 suant to subsection (f). 

19 ‘‘(e) WAIVERS FOR HALF-TIME SERVICE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue 

21 waivers to individuals who have entered into a con22 tract for obligated service under this section under 

23 which the individuals are authorized to satisfy the 

24 requirement of obligated service through providing 

25 service that is half time. 


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1 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The provisions 

2 of subparts II and III of part D of title III respect3 ing waivers under section 331(i) and half-time serv4 ice pursuant to such waivers shall apply to waivers 

5 and half-time service under this section to the same 

6 extent and in the same manner as such provisions 

7 apply with respect to the National Health Service 

8 Corps Loan Repayment Program. 

9 ‘‘(f) CRITERIA FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICE AREAS.— 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this section, the Secretary, acting through the Adminis12 trator of the Health Resources and Services Administra13 tion, shall establish criteria for additional service areas for 

14 purposes of the requirement under subsection (d). 

15 ‘‘(g) INELIGIBILITY FOR DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 

16 borrower may, for the same service, receive a reduction 

17 of loan obligations or a loan repayment under both— 

18 ‘‘(1) this section; and 

19 ‘‘(2) any federally supported loan forgiveness 

20 program, including under section 338B, 338I, or 

21 846 of this Act, or section 428J, 428L, 455(m), or 

22 460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

23 ‘‘(h) BREACH.— 

24 ‘‘(1) LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FORMULA.—The 

25 Secretary may establish a liquidated damages forVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295

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1 mula to be used in the event of a breach of an 

2 agreement entered into under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The failure by an individual 

4 to complete the full period of service obligated pur5 suant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not 

6 constitute a breach of the agreement, so long as the 

7 individual completed in good faith the years of serv8 ice for which payments were made to the individual 

9 under this section. 

10 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(1) may establish such criteria and rules to 

12 carry out this section as the Secretary determines 

13 are needed and in addition to the criteria and rules 

14 specified in this section; and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall give notice to the committees speci16 fied in subsection (j) of any criteria and rules so es17 tablished. 

18 ‘‘(j) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 

19 after the date of the enactment of this section, and every 

20 other year thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and sub21 mit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

23 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

24 on— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the number, provider type, and location of 

2 borrowers who have qualified for loan repayments 

3 under this section; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the impact of this section on the avail5 ability of HIV clinical care and treatment or HIV 

6 dental care nationally, in shortage areas, and in 

7 States, counties, and other jurisdictions targeted by 

8 the Federal End the HIV Epidemic Initiative. 

9 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘HIV’ means the human im11 munodeficiency virus. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘HIV treatment employment’ 

13 means employment (including a fellowship)— 

14 ‘‘(A) as a physician, physician assistant, 

15 advanced practice registered nurse, clinical 

16 pharmacist, dentist, or other relevant practi17 tioner licensed or certified in accordance with 

18 applicable State and Federal law, where the pri19 mary intent and function of the position is the 

20 direct treatment and care of persons living with 

21 HIV; and 

22 ‘‘(B) which is located at an HIV treatment 

23 program, which could be affiliated with a pri24 vate practice, community health center, tele25 health platform, migrant health center, acaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2295.IH H2295

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1 demic medical center, hospital, rural health pro2 gram, health program or facility operated by an 

3 Indian tribe or tribal organization, Federal 

4 medical facility, or any other facility as deter5 mined appropriate for purposes of this section 

6 by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organi8 zation’ have the meanings given those terms in sec9 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu10 cation Assistance Act. 

11 ‘‘(4) The term ‘jurisdiction’ means a city, town, 

12 county, or other public body created by or pursuant 

13 to State law, or an Indian tribe. 

14 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2027.’’. 

Æ 


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