I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2042 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to establish a Frontline Providers Loan Repayment 

Program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. LOEBSACK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

Frontline Providers Loan Repayment Program. 

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 ‘‘Access to Frontline 

5 Health Care Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FRONTLINE PROVIDERS LOAN REPAYMENT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating the second subpart XI (as 

2 added by section 10333 of Public Law 111–148) as 

3 subpart XII; 

4 (2) by redesignating the second section 340H 

5 (as added by such section 10333) as section 340I; 

6 and 

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

8 ‘‘Subpart XIII—Frontline Health Care Services 

9 ‘‘SEC. 340J. FRONTLINE PROVIDERS LOAN REPAYMENT 

10 PROGRAM. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

12 and carry out a Frontline Providers Loan Repayment Pro13 gram (in this section referred to as the ‘Loan Repayment 

14 Program’) under which, pursuant to contracts in accord15 ance with this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the Secretary agrees to make student loan 

17 repayments; and 

18 ‘‘(2) the individual agrees to serve as a health 

19 professional for a period of full-time service of not 

20 less than 2 years at a health care facility serving a 

21 frontline care scarcity area. 

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

23 the Loan Repayment Program, an individual must— 


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1 ‘‘(1) submit an application to participate in the 

2 Loan Repayment Program in such form and manner 

3 and at such time as specified by the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(2) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

5 time of submittal of such application, a written con6 tract (described in subsection (d)). 

7 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual becomes a 

9 participant in the Loan Repayment Program only 

10 upon the approval of the Secretary of the individ11 ual’s application submitted under subsection (b)(1) 

12 and the Secretary’s acceptance of the contract sub13 mitted by the individual under subsection (b)(2). 

14 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—In awarding contracts 

15 under this section, the Secretary shall give pref16 erence to applicants who have undertaken training 

17 or coursework in interdisciplinary studies. 

18 ‘‘(3) RECRUITMENT FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY

19 PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) determine the frontline care scarcity 

21 areas in which to place contract recipients 

22 under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(B) in making such determination, give 

24 preference to areas with a demonstrated pro25 gram of interdisciplinary health care, or with 


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1 demonstrated plans to initiate interdisciplinary 

2 approaches to community health care. 

3 ‘‘(4) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall provide 

4 written notice to an individual promptly upon the 

5 Secretary’s approving, under paragraph (1), of the 

6 individual’s participation in the Loan Repayment 

7 Program. 

8 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The contract described in this sub9 section is a written contract between the Secretary and 

10 an individual that contains— 

11 ‘‘(1) an agreement that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Secretary agrees to provide the 

13 individual with student loan repayment (de14 scribed in subsection (e)) for a period of time 

15 as determined by the Secretary, to pay off debts 

16 incurred during the course of the study or pro17 gram described in subsection (g)(2)(B); and 

18 ‘‘(B) the individual agrees— 

19 ‘‘(i) to accept provision of such a stu20 dent loan repayment to the individual; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) to provide frontline care services 

22 for a period of full-time service of not less 

23 than 2 years at a health care facility serv24 ing a frontline care scarcity area; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a provision that any financial obligation of 

2 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

3 into under this section and any obligation of the in4 dividual which is conditioned thereon, is contingent 

5 upon funds being appropriated for student loan re6 payment under this section; 

7 ‘‘(3) a statement of the damages to which the 

8 United States is entitled, under subsection (f), for 

9 the individual’s breach of the contract; and 

10 ‘‘(4) such other statements as the Secretary 

11 deems appropriate of the rights and liabilities of the 

12 Secretary and of the individual, not inconsistent 

13 with the provisions of this section. 

14 ‘‘(e) STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—The amount of an annual stu16 dent loan repayment under this section on behalf of 

17 an individual shall be determined by the Secretary, 

18 and shall take into consideration the need to pay a 

19 sufficient amount to enable recruiting of health care 

20 providers into the loan repayment program under 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS DIRECTLY TO LOAN PRO23 VIDER.—The Secretary may contract with an indi24 vidual’s loan provider, for the payment to the loan 

25 provider, on behalf of the individual, of the amounts 


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1 of a student loan repayment described in paragraph 

2 (1). 

3 ‘‘(f) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—If an individual 

4 breaches a written contract under this section by failing 

5 to begin such individual’s service obligation, or to complete 

6 such service obligation, the United States shall be entitled 

7 to recover from the individual an amount that is equal 

8 to the sum of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the total amount which has been paid to 

10 the individual, or on behalf of the individual, under 

11 the contract; and 

12 ‘‘(2) any amount of interest, as determined by 

13 the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘frontline care scarcity area’ 

16 means an area, population group, or facility that— 

17 ‘‘(A) is designated as a health professional 

18 shortage area under section 332; or 

19 ‘‘(B) is designated by the State in which 

20 the area is located as having a shortage of 

21 frontline care services. 

22 ‘‘(2) The term ‘frontline care services’ means 

23 health care services— 

24 ‘‘(A) in the field of general surgery, optom25 etry, ophthalmology, chiropractic, physical therVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Apr 14, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2042.IH H2042

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1 apy, audiology, speech language pathology, 

2 pharmacies, public health, podiatric medicine, 

3 dietetics, occupational therapy, general pediat4 rics, respiratory therapy, medical technology, 

5 otolaryngology, or radiologic technology; and 

6 ‘‘(B) provided by a general surgeon, op7 tometrist, ophthalmologist, chiropractor, phys8 ical therapist, audiologist, speech language pa9 thologist, pharmacist, public health profes10 sional, podiatric physician, registered dietician, 

11 occupational therapist, pediatrician, respiratory 

12 therapist, medical technologist, otolaryngologist, 

13 or radiologic technologist who has completed an 

14 appropriate course of study or program, offered 

15 by an accredited institution of higher education 

16 in the United States. 

17 ‘‘(h) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall begin 

18 implementation of the loan repayment program under this 

19 section within 180 days of the date of the enactment of 

20 this section.’’. 

Æ 


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