II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2406 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Health 

Service Corps Rural Provider Loan Repayment Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. JONES, and 

Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the 

National Health Service Corps Rural Provider Loan Repayment Program, 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 ‘‘Rural America Health 

5 Corps Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS RURAL PRO2 VIDER LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

3 Subpart III of part D of title III of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 338O. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS RURAL 

7 PROVIDER LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish a demonstration project to provide for the par11 ticipation in the Loan Repayment Program de12 scribed in section 338B of individuals who are eligi13 ble for such program, subject to subsection (b), and 

14 who agree to complete their service obligation in a 

15 health professional shortage area that is a rural 

16 area. 

17 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL RURAL

18 AREA POSITIONS.—The individuals receiving assist19 ance under this subsection shall be in addition to 

20 any individuals who are otherwise participating in 

21 the Loan Repayment Program described in section 

22 338B and who agree to complete their service obli23 gation in a health professional shortage area that is 

24 a rural area. 

25 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive as2 sistance under subsection (a), with respect to the 

3 program described in section 338B, an individual 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) comply with all rules and require6 ments described in such section, except section 

7 338B(f)(1)(B)(iv) and as provided in paragraph 

8 (2); and 

9 ‘‘(B) agree to serve for a time period equal 

10 to 5 years, or such longer period as the indi11 vidual may agree to, in a health professional 

12 shortage area that is a rural area. 

13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

15 provided in this section, all provisions in this 

16 subpart and subpart II pertaining to the admin17 istration of, and other requirements with re18 spect to, the Loan Repayment Program de19 scribed in section 338B shall apply to the dem20 onstration project established under this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS FOR YEARS SERVED.— 

23 Consistent with subparagraph (A) and sub24 sections (f) and (g) of section 338B, the Sec25 retary shall pay on behalf of an individual reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2406.IS S2406

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1 ceiving assistance under subsection (a) loans in 

2 accordance with such subsection (g) for each 

3 year of obligated service the individual contracts 

4 to serve under paragraph (1)(B). 

5 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATIONS.—The demonstration project de6 scribed in subsection (a), and any providers who are se7 lected to participate in such project, shall not be consid8 ered by the Secretary in the designation of health profes9 sional shortage areas under section 332 during fiscal years 

10 2020 through 2024. 

11 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

12 of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit 

13 a report to the relevant committees of Congress that eval14 uates the participation of individuals in the demonstration 

15 project under subsection (a), the impact of such participa16 tion on rural areas, and the benefit and feasibility of per17 manently allowing such placements in the Loan Repay18 ment Program. 

19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

21 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF RURAL AREA.—For purposes of 

23 this section, the term ‘rural area’ has the meaning given 

24 such term in section 330J(e).’’. 

Æ 


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