II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3828 

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

the front line in response to COVID–19. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2022 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR 

7 FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 

8 (a) FORGIVENESS REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of law, the Secretary of Education shall 

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


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1 the outstanding balance of interest and principal due on 

2 the applicable eligible Federal student loans of borrowers 

3 who are frontline health care workers. 

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

5 out the loan forgiveness program required under sub6 section (a), as soon as practicable after the Secretary of 

7 Education has confirmed that an applicant is a frontline 

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

9 student loan, the Secretary of Education shall— 

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

11 obligation to repay the outstanding balance of inter12 est and principal due on the applicable eligible Fed13 eral student loans of the borrower made, insured, or 

14 guaranteed under part B of title IV of the Higher 

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

16 and 

17 (2) cancel the outstanding balance of interest 

18 and principal due on the applicable eligible Federal 

19 student loans of the borrower made under part D or 

20 part E of such title. 

21 (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

22 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund23 ing of any eligible Federal student loan repayment made 

24 before the date a borrower’s loans are forgiven in accord25 ance with this section. 


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1 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

2 amount of a borrower’s eligible Federal student loans for3 given under this section shall not be included in the gross 

4 income of the borrower for purposes of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986. 

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

7 each billing statement sent to a borrower during the two8 year period beginning on the 15th day after the date of 

9 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall 

10 include, and shall require each holder of eligible Federal 

11 student loans to include, a notice informing the borrower 

12 of the availability of the Federal student loan forgiveness 

13 and private student loan repayment programs for frontline 

14 health care workers under this Act, including where to 

15 find information about how to qualify as a frontline health 

16 care worker, how to apply to such programs, and the ap17 plication deadline for such programs. 

18 SEC. 3. PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR FRONT19 LINE HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 

20 (a) REPAYMENT REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

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

22 carry out a program in accordance with this Act under 

23 which the Secretary of the Treasury shall repay in full 

24 the outstanding balance of principal and interest due on 


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1 the applicable eligible private student loans of borrowers 

2 who are frontline health care workers. 

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

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

5 as practicable after the Secretary of the Treasury has con6 firmed that an applicant is a frontline health care worker 

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

8 Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the private edu9 cational lender of each of the applicable eligible private 

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

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

12 charges of such applicable eligible private student loans, 

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

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

15 the borrower from any remaining obligation to the private 

16 educational lender with respect to such applicable eligible 

17 private student loans. 

18 (c) REPAYMENT REFUNDS PROHIBITED.—Nothing 

19 in this section shall be construed to authorize any refund20 ing of any repayment of a loan made before the date a 

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

22 in accordance with this section. 

23 (d) EXCLUSION FROM TAXABLE INCOME.—The 

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

25 by the Secretary of the Treasury under this section shall 


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

2 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

3 (e) NOTICE TO BORROWERS IN STATEMENTS.—Sec4 tion 128(e) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 1638(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

6 new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(12) NOTICE REQUIRED ALONG WITH BILLING

8 STATEMENTS.—With each billing statement sent to 

9 the borrower during the two-year period beginning 

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

11 Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health 

12 Workers Act, the private educational lender shall in13 clude a notice informing the borrower of the avail14 ability of the Federal student loan forgiveness and 

15 private student loan repayment programs for front16 line health care workers under the Student Loan 

17 Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act, in18 cluding where to find information about how to qual19 ify as a frontline health care worker, how to apply 

20 to such programs, and the application deadline for 

21 such programs.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. COORDINATED PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 

23 The Secretaries concerned shall jointly develop the 

24 programs required under section 2 and section 3 of this 


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

2 carrying out such programs to ensure that— 

3 (1) determinations of eligibility are uniform and 

4 consistent across both programs; 

5 (2) frontline health care workers who are bor6 rowers of both eligible Federal student loans and eli7 gible private student loans may apply for both loan 

8 forgiveness under section 2 and loan repayment 

9 under section 3 with submission of only one applica10 tion; 

11 (3) borrowers with outstanding eligible Federal 

12 student loans and borrowers with outstanding eligi13 ble private student loans are notified of the avail14 ability of both programs required under this Act; 

15 and 

16 (4) such programs are made available to front17 line health care workers who were borrowers of eligi18 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 

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

20 coronavirus, to relieve the families and estates of 

21 such deceased frontline health care workers of the 

22 burden of the student loans of the such workers. 

23 SEC. 5. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. 

24 Not later than 15 days after the date of enactment 

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


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1 institutions of higher education and lenders and holders 

2 of Federal student loans and private education loans, shall 

3 take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that bor4 rowers who have outstanding eligible Federal student 

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

6 are aware of the loan forgiveness and loan repayment pro7 grams authorized by this Act. Such information shall— 

8 (1) be presented in a form that is widely avail9 able to the public, especially to borrowers with eligi10 ble Federal student loans, eligible private student 

11 loans, or both; 

12 (2) be easily understandable; and 

13 (3) clearly notify borrowers that to be consid14 ered for loan forgiveness or loan repayment (or 

15 both) under this Act, borrowers must submit an ap16 plication to the Secretaries concerned, and must do 

17 so during the application period described in section 

18 6. 

19 SEC. 6. APPLICATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGI20 BILITY. 

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

22 for loan forgiveness under section 2, loan repayment under 

23 section 3, or both, by submitting an application to the Sec24 retaries concerned during the period that begins on the 

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


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

2 end of the qualifying period. 

3 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATION.—Not 

5 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall jointly, in 

7 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services and the Intergovernmental Working 

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

10 application for borrowers of both eligible Federal 

11 student loans and eligible private student loans to 

12 apply for loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or 

13 both, under this Act. 

14 (2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The appli15 cation required under paragraph (1) may only in16 clude such information as is necessary for the Secre17 taries concerned to make a determination of whether 

18 the applicant— 

19 (A) is a frontline health care worker, with20 out consideration of the period of time the ap21 plicant served as such a worker; and 

22 (B) is a borrower of an applicable eligible 

23 Federal student loan, an applicable eligible pri24 vate student loan, or both. 


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

2 after the date on which the Secretaries concerned re3 ceive an application from an individual in accordance 

4 with this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall— 

5 (A) confirm that such individual is a front6 line health care worker who is a borrower of an 

7 applicable eligible Federal student loan, an ap8 plicable eligible private student loan, or both, 

9 then notify the individual of such confirmation, 

10 and grant the individual loan forgiveness or 

11 loan repayment, or both, in accordance with 

12 sections 2 and 3 of this Act; or 

13 (B) determine that such individual is not a 

14 frontline health care worker who is a borrower 

15 of an applicable eligible Federal student loan, 

16 an eligible private student loan, or both, then 

17 deny such application, and provide a notifica18 tion to the individual that includes— 

19 (i) that the application was denied; 

20 (ii) the reason for such denial; and 

21 (iii) if the application was denied be22 cause the Secretaries concerned determined 

23 that the applicant was not a frontline 

24 health care worker, an explanation that the 

25 individual may appeal the denial to the 


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1 Intergovernmental Working Group within 

2 30 days of the date of such denial, and in3 formation on how the applicant may sub4 mit such an appeal. 

5 (4) TREATMENT AFTER SUCCESSFUL AP6 PEAL.—In the case that an individual appeals the 

7 denial of an application to the Intergovernmental 

8 Working Group in accordance with section 7, and 

9 the individual is determined by the Intergovern10 mental Working Group to be a frontline health care 

11 worker, the Secretaries concerned shall grant the in12 dividual loan forgiveness or loan repayment, or both, 

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

14 later than 30 days after the Secretaries concerned 

15 are notified of the outcome of the appeal by the 

16 Intergovernmental Working Group. 

17 SEC. 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP. 

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

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries con20 cerned and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

21 shall jointly establish an Intergovernmental Working 

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

23 administration of the programs required under this Act. 

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Intergovernmental Working 

25 Group shall have 9 members, of whom— 


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1 (1) five members shall be selected by the Sec2 retary of Health and Human Services from employ3 ees of the Department of Health and Human Serv4 ices who are knowledgeable concerning the edu5 cation, training, employment, and medical practices 

6 of health care professionals and the health care 

7 workforce; 

8 (2) two members shall be selected by the Sec9 retary of Education from employees of the Depart10 ment of Education who are knowledgeable con11 cerning eligible Federal student loans and the ad12 ministration of such loans; and 

13 (3) two members shall be selected by the Sec14 retary of the Treasury from employees of the De15 partment of the Treasury who are knowledgeable 

16 concerning eligible private student loans, the admin17 istration of such loans, and private educational lend18 ers. 

19 (c) DUTIES.—The Intergovernmental Working Group 

20 established under this section shall— 

21 (1) develop a procedure or list of requirements 

22 to determine whether an individual has made signifi23 cant contributions to the medical response to the 

24 qualifying emergency for purposes of determining 


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1 whether the individual is a frontline health care 

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

3 (2) determine what information an individual 

4 needs to provide for the Secretaries concerned to de5 termine whether the individual has made significant 

6 contributions to the medical response to the quali7 fying emergency for purposes of determining wheth8 er the individual is a frontline health care worker as 

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

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

11 which the Council is established, report the informa12 tion described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to the Sec13 retaries concerned for inclusion in the application 

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

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

16 which the Council is established, develop a process 

17 by which— 

18 (A) an applicant who is denied loan for19 giveness or loan repayment (or both) under this 

20 Act by the Secretaries concerned because of a 

21 determination that the applicant is not a front22 line health care worker may, within 30 days of 

23 the date of such denial, submit an appeal of 

24 such denial to the Intergovernmental Working 

25 Group; and 


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1 (B) the Intergovernmental Working Group 

2 will review the appeal and make a determina3 tion with respect to whether the applicant is a 

4 frontline health care worker; and 

5 (5) upon the request for an appeal by an appli6 cant described in paragraph (4), using the appeals 

7 process developed under such paragraph, determine 

8 within 30 days after submission of the appeal by the 

9 applicant, whether the applicant is a frontline health 

10 care worker, and notify the Secretaries concerned 

11 and the applicant of the outcome of such appeal 

12 within 15 days of such determination. 

13 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

14 The authority of the Secretaries concerned to carry 

15 out the loan forgiveness program under section 2 and loan 

16 repayment program under section 3, and the authority of 

17 the Intergovernmental Working Group to carry out the ac18 tivities authorized under section 7, shall cease on the date 

19 that is 180 days after the end date of the application pe20 riod described in section 6(a). 

21 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) APPLICABLE LOAN.—For the purposes of 

24 this Act, the term ‘‘applicable loan’’, when used with 


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1 respect to an eligible Federal student loan or an eli2 gible private student loan, means— 

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

4 worker who has obtained a graduate education 

5 degree or certificate— 

6 (i) any eligible Federal student loan 

7 for the graduate education of such worker 

8 (including a consolidation loan, to the ex9 tent that such consolidation loan was used 

10 to repay loans for graduate education); 

11 and 

12 (ii) any eligible private student loan 

13 for the graduate education of such worker; 

14 or 

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

16 worker who has not obtained a graduate edu17 cation degree or certificate— 

18 (i) any eligible Federal student loan 

19 for the undergraduate education of such 

20 worker (including a consolidation loan, to 

21 the extent that such consolidation loan was 

22 used to repay loans for undergraduate edu23 cation), provided that such loan was used 

24 for undergraduate education in a relevant 

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1 essary for an individual to enter or ad2 vance within the specific health care-re3 lated occupation of the worker; and 

4 (ii) any eligible private student loan 

5 for the undergraduate education of such 

6 worker, provided that such loan was used 

7 for undergraduate education in a relevant 

8 health care program of study that is nec9 essary for an individual to enter or ad10 vance within the specific health care-re11 lated occupation of the worker. 

12 (2) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘coronavirus’’ 

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

14 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple15 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 

16 123). 

17 (3) COVID-RELATED HEALTH CARE SERV18 ICES.—The term ‘‘COVID-related health care serv19 ices’’ means any health care services that relate to— 

20 (A) the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment 

21 of the coronavirus, including through telehealth 

22 services; 

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

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1 pected case of the coronavirus, including 

2 through telehealth services; or 

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

4 a reasonable expectation of risk of exposure to 

5 the coronavirus. 

6 (4) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN.—The 

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

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

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

10 of 1965 before the date of enactment of this Act, in11 cluding a consolidation loan under such title. 

12 (5) ELIGIBLE PRIVATE STUDENT LOAN.—The 

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

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

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

16 expressly for the cost of attendance (as defined in 

17 section 472) at an institution of higher education 

18 participating in a loan program under part B, part 

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

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

21 that the loan was disbursed, and that was made be22 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

23 (6) FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE WORKER.—The 

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1 vidual who, in exchange for payment or as a volun2 teer, for any period during a qualifying emergency— 

3 (A) is— 

4 (i) a doctor, medical resident, medical 

5 intern, medical fellow, nurse, home health 

6 care worker, mental health professional, or 

7 other health care professional who is li8 censed, registered, or certified under Fed9 eral or State law to provide health care 

10 services and who provides COVID-related 

11 health care services; 

12 (ii) a student enrolled at an institu13 tion of higher education in a medical, nurs14 ing, or other relevant health care program 

15 of study who provides COVID-related 

16 health care services; 

17 (iii) a laboratory worker who con18 ducts, evaluates, or analyzes coronavirus 

19 testing; 

20 (iv) a medical researcher who con21 ducts research related to the prevention, 

22 treatment, or cure of the coronavirus; or 

23 (v) an emergency medical services 

24 worker who responds to health emergencies 


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1 or transports patients to hospitals or other 

2 medical facilities; or 

3 (B) does not meet the requirements of any 

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

5 a health care professional who is licensed, reg6 istered, or certified under Federal or State law 

7 to provide health care and has made significant 

8 contributions to the medical response to the 

9 qualifying emergency. 

10 (7) GRADUATE EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘grad11 uate education’’ means a postbaccalaureate program 

12 of study at an institution of higher education that— 

13 (A) leads to a master’s degree; 

14 (B) leads to a doctoral degree; or 

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

16 awards or is necessary to obtain a professional 

17 certification or licensing credential that is re18 quired for employment. 

19 (8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

21 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High22 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

23 (9) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDER.—The 

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


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

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

3 (10) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 

5 (A) a public health emergency related to 

6 the coronavirus declared by the Secretary of 

7 Health and Human Services pursuant to sec8 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 247d); 

10 (B) an event related to the coronavirus for 

11 which— 

12 (i) the President declared a major dis13 aster or an emergency under section 401 

14 or 501, respectively, of the Robert T. Staf15 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist16 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 

17 (ii) the Governor of a State or terri18 tory of the United States declared an 

19 emergency; or 

20 (C) a national emergency related to the 

21 coronavirus declared by the President under 

22 section 201 of the National Emergencies Act 

23 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

24 (11) SECRETARIES CONCERNED.—The term 

25 ‘‘Secretaries concerned’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Secretary of Education, with re2 spect to eligible Federal student loans and bor3 rowers of such loans; and 

4 (B) the Secretary of the Treasury, with re5 spect to eligible private student loans and bor6 rowers of such loans. 

7 (12) UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION.—The term 

8 ‘‘undergraduate education’’ means a postsecondary 

9 program of study at an institution of higher edu10 cation that— 

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

12 (B) leads to a baccalaureate degree; or 

13 (C) does not lead to an associate’s or bac14 calaureate degree, but awards or is necessary to 

15 obtain a certification or licensing credential that 

16 is required for employment. 

Æ 


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