I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 28 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide loan guarantees for the acquisition of health information technology by eligible professionals in solo 

and small group practices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2013 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to provide loan guarantees 

for the acquisition of health information technology by 

eligible professionals in solo and small group practices, 

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 ‘‘Working Families’ Ac5 cess to Health Innovations Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS ACT. 

2 The Small Business Act is amended by redesignating 

3 section 45 as section 46 and by inserting after section 44 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 45. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR HEALTH INFORMATION 

6 TECHNOLOGY. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘health information technology’ 

9 means computer hardware, software, and related 

10 technology (including electronic medical record tech11 nology) that— 

12 ‘‘(A) supports the compliance with the 

13 meaningful EHR use requirements set forth in 

14 section 1848(o)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(o)(2)(A)); 

16 ‘‘(B) is purchased by an eligible profes17 sional to aid in the provision of health care in 

18 a health care setting; and 

19 ‘‘(C) provides for— 

20 ‘‘(i) enhancement of continuity of care 

21 for patients through electronic storage, 

22 transmission, and exchange of relevant 

23 personal health data and information, such 

24 that this information is accessible at the 

25 times and places where clinical decisions 

26 will be or are likely to be made; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) enhancement of communication 

2 between patients and health care providers; 

3 ‘‘(iii) improvement of quality measure4 ment by eligible professionals enabling 

5 them to collect, store, measure, and report 

6 on the processes and outcomes of indi7 vidual and population performance and 

8 quality of care; 

9 ‘‘(iv) improvement of evidence-based 

10 decision support; or 

11 ‘‘(v) enhancement of consumer and 

12 patient empowerment. 

13 Such term does not include information technology 

14 the sole use of which is financial management, main15 tenance of inventory of basic supplies, or appoint16 ment scheduling. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible professional’ means any 

18 of the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) A physician (as defined in section 

20 1861(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 1395x(r))). 

22 ‘‘(B) A practitioner described in section 

23 1842(b)(18)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 1395u(b)(18)(C)). 


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1 ‘‘(C) A physical or occupational therapist 

2 or a qualified speech-language pathologist. 

3 ‘‘(D) A qualified audiologist (as defined in 

4 section 1861(ll)(4)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 1395x(ll)(4)(B))). 

6 ‘‘(E) A State-licensed pharmacist. 

7 ‘‘(F) A State-licensed supplier of durable 

8 medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, or 

9 supplies. 

10 ‘‘(G) A State-licensed, a State-certified, or 

11 a nationally accredited home health care pro12 vider. 

13 ‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified eligible professional’ 

14 means an eligible professional whose practice— 

15 ‘‘(A) is a small business concern; and 

16 ‘‘(B)(i) is in a medically underserved com17 munity (as defined in section 799B(6) of the 

18 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 295p(6))); 

20 ‘‘(ii) serves individuals at least 50 percent 

21 of whom are entitled to benefits or enrolled 

22 under title XVIII of the Social Security Act; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) serves an area that consists predomi24 nantly of low-income families (as defined in secVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:57 Jan 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H28.IH H28

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1 tion 3 of the United States Housing Act of 

2 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a)). 

3 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR QUALIFIED ELIGIBLE

4 PROFESSIONALS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) GUARANTEE PERCENTAGE.—Subject to 

6 paragraph (2), the Administrator may guarantee up 

7 to 90 percent of the amount of the loan made to a 

8 qualified eligible professional for the acquisition of 

9 health information technology for use in such eligible 

10 professional’s medical practice and for the costs as11 sociated with the installation of such technology. 

12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON GUARANTEE AMOUNTS.— 

13 The maximum amount of loan principal guaranteed 

14 under this subsection may not exceed— 

15 ‘‘(A) $350,000 with respect to any single 

16 qualified eligible professional; and 

17 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 with respect to a single 

18 group of affiliated qualified eligible profes19 sionals. 

20 ‘‘(c) FEES.—(1) The Administrator may impose a 

21 guarantee fee on the borrower in an amount not to exceed 

22 2 percent of the total guaranteed portion of any loan guar23 anteed under this section. The Administrator may also im24 pose annual servicing fees on lenders not to exceed 0.5 


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1 percent of the outstanding balance of the guarantees on 

2 lenders’ books. 

3 ‘‘(2) No service fees, processing fees, origination fees, 

4 application fees, points, brokerage fees, bonus points, or 

5 other fees may be charged to a loan applicant or recipient 

6 by a lender in the case of a loan guaranteed under this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(d) INTEREST RATES.—The interest rate charged 

9 on a loan guaranteed under this section shall not be great10 er than 25 basis points below the rate provided for a loan 

11 under the program under section 7(a). 

12 ‘‘(e) DEFERRAL PERIOD.—Loans guaranteed under 

13 this section shall carry a deferral period of not more than 

14 3 years. 

15 ‘‘(f) TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR LOAN GUARAN16 TEES.—The loans guaranteed under this section shall be 

17 subject to the terms and conditions that apply to the pro18 gram under section 7(a) or other such terms and condi19 tions as are prescribed by the Administrator.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER DUTIES. 

21 Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara24 graph (S); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (T) and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(U) facilitating the training of medical profes5 sionals in health information technology systems; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(V) establishing and providing a network of 

8 small health information technology companies avail9 able to medical professionals in low-income and un10 derserved areas, as defined by the Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services, for the purpose of aid12 ing medical professionals in such areas to purchase, 

13 utilize, and maintain such technology.’’. 

Æ 


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