I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2418 

To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers who are on 

the front line in response to COVID–19. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2021 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 

Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To provide student loan forgiveness to health care workers 

who are on the front line in response to COVID–19. 

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 ‘‘Student Loan Forgive5 ness for Frontline Health Workers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR 

2 FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 

3 (a) FORGIVENESS REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, the Secretary of Education shall 

5 carry out a program in accordance with this Act to forgive 

6 the outstanding balance of interest and principal due on 

7 the applicable eligible Federal student loans of borrowers 

8 who are frontline health care workers. 

9 (b) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—In carrying 

10 out the loan forgiveness program required under sub11 section (a), as soon as practicable after the Secretary of 

12 Education has confirmed that an applicant is a frontline 

13 health care worker who is a borrower of an eligible Federal 

14 student loan, the Secretary of Education shall— 

15 (1) through the holder of a loan, assume the 

16 obligation to repay the outstanding balance of inter17 est and principal due on the applicable eligible Fed18 eral student loans of the borrower made, insured, or 

19 guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.); 

21 and 

22 (2) cancel the outstanding balance of interest 

23 and principal due on the applicable eligible Federal 

24 student loans of the borrower made under part D or 

25 part E of such title. 


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1 (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

2 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund3 ing of any eligible Federal student loan repayment made 

4 before the date a borrower’s loans are forgiven in accord5 ance with this section. 

6 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

7 amount of a borrower’s eligible Federal student loans for8 given under this section shall not be included in the gross 

9 income of the borrower for purposes of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986. 

11 (e) NOTICE TO BORROWERS IN STATEMENTS.—With 

12 each billing statement sent to a borrower during the two13 year period beginning on the 15th day after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 

15 include, and shall require each holder of eligible Federal 

16 student loans to include, a notice informing the borrower 

17 of the availability of the Federal student loan forgiveness 

18 and private student loan repayment programs for frontline 

19 health care workers under this Act, including where to 

20 find information about how to qualify as a frontline health 

21 care worker, how to apply to such programs, and the ap22 plication deadline for such programs. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR FRONT2 LINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 

3 (a) REPAYMENT REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

5 carry out a program in accordance with this Act under 

6 which the Secretary shall repay in full the outstanding bal7 ance of principal and interest due on the applicable eligible 

8 private student loans of borrowers who are frontline health 

9 care workers. 

10 (b) METHOD OF LOAN REPAYMENT.—In carrying 

11 out the program required under subsection (a), as soon 

12 as practicable after the Secretary of the Treasury has con13 firmed that an applicant is a frontline health care worker 

14 who is a borrower of an eligible private student loan, the 

15 Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the private edu16 cational lender of each of the applicable eligible private 

17 student loans of the borrower an amount equal to the sum 

18 of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, and late 

19 charges of such applicable eligible private student loans, 

20 as calculated on the date of the repayment of such loans 

21 by the Secretary of the Treasury, in order to discharge 

22 the borrower from any remaining obligation to the private 

23 educational lender with respect to such applicable eligible 

24 private student loans. 

25 (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

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1 ing of any repayment of a loan made before the date a 

2 borrower’s loans are paid by the Secretary of the Treasury 

3 in accordance with this section. 

4 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

5 amount of a borrower’s eligible private student loans paid 

6 by the Secretary of the Treasury under this section shall 

7 not be included in the gross income of the borrower for 

8 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

9 (e) NOTICE TO BORROWERS IN STATEMENTS.—Sec10 tion 128(e) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 1638(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(12) NOTICE REQUIRED ALONG WITH BILLING

14 STATEMENTS.—With each billing statement sent to 

15 the borrower during the two-year period beginning 

16 on the 15th day after the date of enactment of the 

17 Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health 

18 Workers Act, the private educational lender shall in19 clude a notice informing the borrower of the avail20 ability of the Federal student loan forgiveness and 

21 private student loan repayment programs for front22 line health care workers under the Student Loan 

23 Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act, in24 cluding where to find information about how to qual25 ify as a frontline health care worker, how to apply 


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1 to such programs, and the application deadline for 

2 such programs.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. COORDINATED PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 

4 The Secretaries concerned shall jointly develop the 

5 programs required under section 2 and section 3 of this 

6 Act, and shall coordinate and consult with one another in 

7 carrying out such programs to ensure that— 

8 (1) determinations of eligibility are uniform and 

9 consistent across both programs; 

10 (2) frontline health care workers who are bor11 rowers of both eligible Federal student loans and eli12 gible private student loans may apply for both loan 

13 forgiveness under section 2 and loan repayment 

14 under section 3 with submission of only one applica15 tion; 

16 (3) borrowers with outstanding eligible Federal 

17 student loans and borrowers with outstanding eligi18 ble private student loans are notified of the avail19 ability of both programs required under this Act; 

20 and 

21 (4) such programs are made available to front22 line health care workers who were borrowers of eligi23 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 

24 loans, or both, and who died as a result of the 

25 coronavirus, to relieve the families and estates of 


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1 such deceased frontline health care workers of the 

2 burden of the student loans of the such workers. 

3 SEC. 5. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. 

4 Not later than 15 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretaries concerned, in consultation with 

6 institutions of higher education and lenders and holders 

7 of Federal student loans and private education loans, shall 

8 take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that bor9 rowers who have outstanding eligible Federal student 

10 loans, outstanding eligible private student loans, or both, 

11 are aware of the loan forgiveness and loan repayment pro12 grams authorized by this Act. Such information shall— 

13 (1) be presented in a form that is widely avail14 able to the public, especially to borrowers with eligi15 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 

16 loans, or both; 

17 (2) be easily understandable; and 

18 (3) clearly notify borrowers that to be consid19 ered for loan forgiveness or loan repayment (or 

20 both) under this Act, borrowers must submit an ap21 plication to the Secretaries concerned, and must do 

22 so during the application period described in section 

23 6. 


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1 SEC. 6. APPLICATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGI2 BILITY. 

3 (a) APPLICATION PERIOD.—An individual may apply 

4 for loan forgiveness under section 2, loan repayment under 

5 section 3, or both, by submitting an application to the Sec6 retaries concerned during the period that begins on the 

7 date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act and that ends on the date that is 2 years after the 

9 end of the qualifying period. 

10 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION.—Not 

12 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

13 this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall jointly, in 

14 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

15 Human Services and the Intergovernmental Working 

16 Group (in accordance with section 7), develop one 

17 application for borrowers of both eligible Federal 

18 student loans and eligible private student loans to 

19 apply for loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or 

20 both, under this Act. 

21 (2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The appli22 cation required under paragraph (1) may only in23 clude such information as is necessary for the Secre24 taries concerned to make a determination of whether 

25 the applicant— 


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1 (A) is a frontline health care worker, with2 out consideration of the period of time the ap3 plicant served as such a worker; and 

4 (B) is a borrower of an applicable eligible 

5 Federal student loan, an applicable eligible pri6 vate student loan, or both. 

7 (3) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 30 days 

8 after the date on which the Secretaries concerned re9 ceive an application from an individual in accordance 

10 with this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall— 

11 (A) confirm that such individual is a front12 line health care worker who is a borrower of an 

13 applicable eligible Federal student loan, an ap14 plicable eligible private student loan, or both, 

15 then notify the individual of such confirmation, 

16 and grant the individual loan forgiveness or 

17 loan repayment, or both, in accordance with 

18 sections 2 and 3 of this Act; or 

19 (B) determine that such individual is not a 

20 frontline health care worker who is a borrower 

21 of an applicable eligible Federal student loan, 

22 an eligible private student loan, or both, then 

23 deny such application, and provide a notifica24 tion to the individual that includes— 

25 (i) that the application was denied; 


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1 (ii) the reason for such denial; and 

2 (iii) if the application was denied be3 cause the Secretaries concerned determined 

4 that the applicant was not a frontline 

5 health care worker, an explanation that the 

6 individual may appeal the denial to the 

7 Intergovernmental Working Group within 

8 30 days of the date of such denial, and in9 formation on how the applicant may sub10 mit such an appeal. 

11 (4) TREATMENT AFTER SUCCESSFUL AP12 PEAL.—In the case that an individual appeals the 

13 denial of an application to the Intergovernmental 

14 Working Group in accordance with section 7, and 

15 the individual is determined by the Intergovern16 mental Working Group to be a frontline health care 

17 worker, the Secretaries concerned shall grant the in18 dividual loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or both, 

19 in accordance with sections 2 and 3 of this Act not 

20 later than 30 days after the Secretaries concerned 

21 are notified of the outcome of the appeal by the 

22 Intergovernmental Working Group. 

23 SEC. 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries conVerDate Sep 11 2014 08:46 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2418.IH H2418

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1 cerned and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

2 shall jointly establish an Intergovernmental Working 

3 Group to assist, in accordance with this section, with the 

4 administration of the programs required under this Act. 

5 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Intergovernmental Working 

6 Group shall have 9 members, of whom— 

7 (1) five members shall be selected by the Sec8 retary of Health and Human Services from employ9 ees of the Department of Health and Human Serv10 ices who are knowledgeable concerning the edu11 cation, training, employment, and medical practices 

12 of health care professionals and the health care 

13 workforce; 

14 (2) two members shall be selected by the Sec15 retary of Education from employees of the Depart16 ment of Education who are knowledgeable con17 cerning eligible Federal student loans and the ad18 ministration of such loans; and 

19 (3) two members shall be selected by the Sec20 retary of the Treasury from employees of the De21 partment of the Treasury who are knowledgeable 

22 concerning eligible private student loans, the admin23 istration of such loans, and private educational lend24 ers. 


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1 (c) DUTIES.—The Intergovernmental Working Group 

2 established under this section shall— 

3 (1) develop a procedure or list of requirements 

4 to determine whether an individual has made signifi5 cant contributions to the medical response to the 

6 qualifying emergency for purposes of determining 

7 whether the individual is a frontline health care 

8 worker as defined in section 9(1)(C); 

9 (2) determine what information an individual 

10 needs to provide for the Secretaries concerned to de11 termine whether the individual has made significant 

12 contributions to the medical response to the quali13 fying emergency for purposes of determining wheth14 er the individual is a frontline health care worker as 

15 defined in section 9(1)(B); 

16 (3) not later than 15 days after the date on 

17 which the Council is established, report the informa18 tion described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to the Sec19 retaries concerned for inclusion in the application 

20 developed in accordance with section 6(b)(1); 

21 (4) not later than 60 days after the date on 

22 which the Council is established, develop a process 

23 by which— 

24 (A) an applicant who is denied loan for25 giveness or loan repayment (or both) under this 


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1 Act by the Secretaries concerned because of a 

2 determination that the applicant is not a front3 line health care worker may, within 30 days of 

4 the date of such denial, submit an appeal of 

5 such denial to the Intergovernmental Working 

6 Group; and 

7 (B) the Intergovernmental Working Group 

8 will review the appeal and make a determina9 tion with respect to whether the applicant is a 

10 frontline health care worker; and 

11 (5) upon the request for an appeal by an appli12 cant described in paragraph (4), using the appeals 

13 process developed under such paragraph, determine 

14 within 30 days after submission of the appeal by the 

15 applicant, whether the applicant is a frontline health 

16 care worker, and notify the Secretaries concerned 

17 and the applicant of the outcome of such appeal 

18 within 15 days of such determination. 

19 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

20 The authority of the Secretaries concerned to carry 

21 out the loan forgiveness program under section 2 and loan 

22 repayment program under section 3, and the authority of 

23 the Intergovernmental Working Group to carry out the ac24 tivities authorized under section 7, shall cease on the date 


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1 that is 180 days after the end date of the application pe2 riod described in section 6(a). 

3 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKER.—The 

6 term ‘‘frontline health care worker’’ means an indi7 vidual who, in exchange for payment or as a volun8 teer, for any period during a qualifying emergency— 

9 (A) is a— 

10 (i) doctor, medical resident, medical 

11 intern, medical fellow, nurse, home health 

12 care worker, mental health professional, or 

13 other health care professional who is li14 censed, registered, or certified under Fed15 eral or State law to provide health care 

16 services and who provides COVID-related 

17 health care services; 

18 (ii) a student enrolled at an institu19 tion of higher education in a medical, nurs20 ing, or other relevant health care program 

21 of study who provides COVID-related 

22 health care services; 

23 (iii) a laboratory worker who con24 ducts, evaluates, or analyzes coronavirus 

25 testing; 


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1 (iv) a medical researcher who con2 ducts research related to the prevention, 

3 treatment, or cure of the coronavirus; or 

4 (v) an emergency medical services 

5 worker who responds to health emergencies 

6 or transports patients to hospitals or other 

7 medical facilities; or 

8 (B) does not meet the requirements of any 

9 of the clauses under subparagraph (A), but is 

10 a health care professional who is licensed, reg11 istered, or certified under Federal or State law 

12 to provide health care and has made significant 

13 contributions to the medical response to the 

14 qualifying emergency. 

15 (2) APPLICABLE LOANS.—For the purposes of 

16 this Act, the term ‘‘applicable’’, when used with re17 spect to an eligible Federal student loan or an eligi18 ble private student loan, means— 

19 (A) in the case of a frontline health care 

20 worker who has obtained a graduate education 

21 degree or certificate— 

22 (i) any eligible Federal student loan 

23 for the graduate education of such worker 

24 (including a consolidation loan, to the ex25 tent that such consolidation loan was used 


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1 to repay loans for graduate education); 

2 and 

3 (ii) any eligible private student loan 

4 for the graduate education of such worker; 

5 or 

6 (B) in the case of a frontline health care 

7 worker who has not obtained a graduate edu8 cation degree or certificate— 

9 (i) any eligible Federal student loan 

10 for the undergraduate education of such 

11 worker (including a consolidation loan, to 

12 the extent that such consolidation loan was 

13 used to repay loans for undergraduate edu14 cation), provided that such loan was used 

15 for undergraduate education in a relevant 

16 health care program of study that is nec17 essary for an individual to enter or ad18 vance within the specific health care-re19 lated occupation of the worker; and 

20 (ii) any eligible private student loan 

21 for the undergraduate education of such 

22 worker, provided that such loan was used 

23 for undergraduate education in a relevant 

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1 vance within the specific health care-re2 lated occupation of the worker. 

3 (3) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘coronavirus’’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 506 of the 

5 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple6 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 

7 123). 

8 (4) COVID-RELATED HEALTH CARE SERV9 ICES.—The term ‘‘COVID-related health care serv10 ices’’ means any health care services that relate to— 

11 (A) the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment 

12 of the coronavirus, including through telehealth 

13 services; 

14 (B) the assessment or care of the health of 

15 a human being related to an actual or sus16 pected case of the coronavirus, including 

17 through telehealth services; or 

18 (C) patient care in a setting where there is 

19 a reasonable expectation of risk of exposure to 

20 the coronavirus. 

21 (5) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN.—The 

22 term ‘‘eligible Federal student loan’’ means any loan 

23 made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, part D, 

24 or part E of title IV of the Higher Education Act 


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1 of 1965 before the date of enactment of this Act, in2 cluding a consolidation loan under such title. 

3 (6) ELIGIBLE PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN.—The 

4 term ‘‘eligible private student loan’’ means a private 

5 education loan, as defined in section 140(a) of the 

6 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)), that was 

7 expressly for the cost of attendance (as defined in 

8 section 472) at an institution of higher education 

9 participating in a loan program under part B, part 

10 D, or part E of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), as of the date 

12 that the loan was disbursed, and that was made be13 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (7) GRADUATE EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘grad15 uate education’’ means a postbaccalaureate program 

16 of study at an institution of higher education that— 

17 (A) leads to a master’s degree; 

18 (B) leads to a doctoral degree; or 

19 (C) does not lead to a graduate degree, but 

20 awards or is necessary to obtain a professional 

21 certification or licensing credential that is re22 quired for employment. 

23 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

3 (9) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDER.—The 

4 term ‘‘private educational lender’’ has the meaning 

5 given the term in section 140(a) of the Truth in 

6 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)). 

7 (10) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 

8 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 

9 (A) a public health emergency related to 

10 the coronavirus declared by the Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services pursuant to sec12 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 247d); 

14 (B) an event related to the coronavirus for 

15 which— 

16 (i) the President declared a major dis17 aster or an emergency under section 401 

18 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf19 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist20 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 

21 (ii) the governor of a State or terri22 tory of the United States declared an 

23 emergency; or 

24 (C) a national emergency related to the 

25 coronavirus declared by the President under 


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1 section 201 of the National Emergencies Act 

2 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

3 (11) SECRETARIES CONCERNED.—The term 

4 ‘‘Secretaries concerned’’ means— 

5 (A) the Secretary of Education, with re6 spect to eligible Federal student loans and bor7 rowers of such loans; and 

8 (B) the Secretary of the Treasury, with re9 spect to eligible private student loans and bor10 rowers of such loans. 

11 (12) UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION.—The term 

12 ‘‘undergraduate education’’ means a postsecondary 

13 program of study at an institution of higher edu14 cation that— 

15 (A) leads to an associate’s degree; 

16 (B) leads to a baccalaureate degree; or 

17 (C) does not lead to an associate’s or bac18 calaureate degree, but awards or is necessary to 

19 obtain a certification or licensing credential that 

20 is required for employment. 

Æ 


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