I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3014 

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 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Mrs. DAHLKEMPER (for herself, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SHULER, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. ELLSWORTH, and Mr. NYE) 

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 ‘‘ Small Business Health 

5 Information Technology Financing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS ACT. 

2 The Small Business Act is amended by redesignating 

3 section 44 as section 45 and by inserting the following 

4 new section after section 43: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 44. 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 that supports the meaningful EHR use 

11 requirements set forth in section 1848(o)(2)(A) of 

12 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 

13 4(o)(2)(A)) and is purchased by an eligible profes14 sional to aid in the provision of health care in a 

15 health care setting, including, but not limited to, 

16 electronic medical records, and that provides for— 

17 ‘‘(A) enhancement of continuity of care for 

18 patients through electronic storage, trans19 mission, and exchange of relevant personal 

20 health data and information, such that this in21 formation is accessible at the times and places 

22 where clinical decisions will be or are likely to 

23 be made; 

24 ‘‘(B) enhancement of communication be25 tween patients and health care providers; 


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1 ‘‘(C) improvement of quality measurement 

2 by eligible professionals enabling them to col3 lect, store, measure, and report on the proc4 esses and outcomes of individual and population 

5 performance and quality of care; 

6 ‘‘(D) improvement of evidence-based deci7 sion support; or 

8 ‘‘(E) enhancement of consumer and pa9 tient empowerment. 

10 Such term shall not include information technology 

11 whose sole use is financial management, mainte12 nance of inventory of basic supplies, or appointment 

13 scheduling. 

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

15 of the following: 

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

17 1861(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 1395x(r)) 

19 ‘‘(B) A practitioner described in section 

20 1842(b)(18)(C) of that Act. 

21 ‘‘(C) A physical or occupational therapist 

22 or a qualified speech-language pathologist. 

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

24 section 1861(ll)(3)(B)) of that Act. 


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

2 means an eligible professional whose office can be 

3 classified as a small business concern by the Admin4 istrator Small Business Administration for purposes 

5 of this Act under size standards established under 

6 section 3 of this Act. 

7 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR QUALIFIED ELIGIBLE

8 PROFESSIONALS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 the Administrator may guarantee up to 90 percent 

11 of the amount of a loan made to a qualified eligible 

12 professional to be used for the acquisition of health 

13 information technology for use in such eligible pro14 fessional’s medical practice and for the costs associ15 ated with the installation of such technology. Except 

16 as otherwise provided in this section, the terms and 

17 conditions that apply to loans made under section 

18 7(a) of the Small Business Act shall apply to loan 

19 guarantees made under this section. 

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

21 The maximum amount of loan principal guaranteed 

22 under this subsection may not exceed— 

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

24 qualified eligible professional, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 with respect to a singled 

2 group of affiliated qualified eligible profes3 sionals. 

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

5 guarantee fee on the borrower for the purpose of reducing 

6 the cost (as defined in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit 

7 Reform Act of 1990) of the guarantee to zero in an 

8 amount not to exceed 2 percent of the total guaranteed 

9 portion of any loan guaranteed under this section. The Ad10 ministrator may also impose annual servicing fees on lend11 ers not to exceed 0.5 percent of the outstanding balance 

12 of the guarantees on lenders’ books. 

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

14 application fees, points, brokerage fees, bonus points, or 

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

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

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFERRAL PERIOD.—Loans guaranteed under 

19 this section shall carry a deferral period of not less than 

20 1 year and not more than 3 years. The Administrator shall 

21 have the authority to subsidize interest during the deferral 

22 period. 

23 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—No loan may be guaranteed 

24 under this section until the meaningful EHR use requireVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:52 Jun 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3014.IH H3014

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1 ments have been determined by the Secretary of Health 

2 and Human Services. 

3 ‘‘(f) SUNSET.—No loan may be guaranteed under 

4 this section after 5 years after meaningful EHR use re5 quirements have been determined by the Secretary of 

6 Health and Human Services. 

7 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated for the cost (as defined 

9 in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 

10 1990) of guaranteeing $10,000,000,000 in loans under 

11 this section. The Administrator shall determine such pro12 gram cost separately and distinctly from other programs 

13 operated by the Administrator.’’. 

Æ 


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