II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2500 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment 

program for mental health professionals to relieve workforce shortages, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself and Mr. GARDNER) 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 authorize a 

loan repayment program for mental health professionals 

to relieve workforce shortages, 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 ‘‘Mental Health Profes5 sionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 

6 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH 

2 PROFESSIONALS IN SHORTAGE. 

3 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 295j et 

6 seq.) as part H; and 

7 (2) by inserting after part F (42 U.S.C. 294n 

8 et seq.) the following: 

9 ‘‘PART G—MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN 

10 WORKFORCE SHORTAGE 

11 ‘‘SEC. 783. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL 

12 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN WORKFORCE 

13 SHORTAGES. 

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

15 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

16 Administration, shall carry out a program under which— 

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

18 individuals to make payments in accordance with 

19 subsection (b) on the principal of and interest on 

20 any eligible loan; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the individuals each agree to complete a 

22 period of service in a mental health professional 

23 shortage area. 

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

25 by an individual pursuant to an agreement under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2500.IS S2500

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1 section (a), the Secretary shall make a payment to such 

2 individual as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) SERVICE IN A SHORTAGE AREA.—The Sec4 retary shall pay— 

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

6 an individual pursuant to an agreement under 

subsection (a), 1 7 ⁄6 of the principal of and inter8 est on each eligible loan of the individual which 

9 is outstanding on the date the individual began 

10 service pursuant to the agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(B) for completion of the sixth and final 

12 year of such service, the remainder of such 

13 principal and interest. 

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

15 payments under this section to any individual shall 

16 not exceed $250,000. 

17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE LOANS.—The loans eligible for repay18 ment under this section are each of the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) Any loan for education in mental health or 

20 a related field leading to a master’s degree, leading 

21 to a doctoral degree, or consisting of post-doctoral 

22 study. 

23 ‘‘(2) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Fed24 eral Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal Direct Unsub25 sidized Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct ConsolidaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2500.IS S2500

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1 tion Loan (as such terms are used in section 455 of 

2 the Higher Education Act of 1965). 

3 ‘‘(3) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E 

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

5 ‘‘(4) Any other Federal loan as determined ap6 propriate by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF SERVICE.—The period of service re8 quired by an agreement under subsection (a) shall consist 

9 of up to 6 years of full-time employment, with no more 

10 than one year passing between any two years of covered 

11 employment, as a mental health professional in the United 

12 States in a mental health professional shortage area. 

13 ‘‘(e) INELIGIBILITY FOR DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 

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

15 of loan obligations or a loan repayment under both— 

16 ‘‘(1) this subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(2) any federally supported loan forgiveness 

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

19 846 of this Act, or section 428J, 428L, 455(m), or 

20 460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

21 ‘‘(f) BREACH.— 

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

23 Secretary may establish a liquidated damages for24 mula to be used in the event of a breach of an 

25 agreement entered into under subsection (a). 


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

2 to complete the full period of service obligated pur3 suant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not 

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

5 individual completed in good faith the years of serv6 ice for which payments were made to the individual 

7 under this section. 

8 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary— 

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

10 carry out this section as the Secretary determines 

11 are needed and in addition to the criteria and rules 

12 specified in this section; and 

13 ‘‘(2) shall give notice to the committees speci14 fied in subsection (h) of any criteria and rules so es15 tablished. 

16 ‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 

17 after the date of enactment of the Mental Health Profes18 sionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act of 2019, 

19 and every other year thereafter, the Secretary shall pre20 pare and submit to the Committee on Energy and Com21 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

22 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 

23 a report on— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the number and location of borrowers who 

2 have qualified for loan repayments under this sec3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the impact of this section on the avail5 ability of mental health services in mental health 

6 professional shortage areas. 

7 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘mental health professional’ 

9 means a full-time job (including a fellowship) where 

10 the primary intent and function of the job is the di11 rect treatment or recovery support of patients with 

12 or in recovery from a mental health disorder, such 

13 as a physician (MD or DO), psychiatric nurse, social 

14 worker, marriage and family therapist, mental 

15 health counselor, occupational therapist, psycholo16 gist, psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, 

17 or neurologist. 

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘mental health professional 

19 shortage area’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) an area designated under section 332 

21 with respect to a shortage of mental health pro22 fessionals; or 

23 ‘‘(B) any facility, program, center, or clinic 

24 as determined appropriate by the Secretary for 

25 purposes of this section because of a shortage 


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1 of mental health professionals, including private 

2 physician practices and other medical facilities 

3 designated under section 332(a) as having such 

4 a shortage. 

5 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

7 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029.’’. 

Æ 


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