IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3014 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Health 

3 Information Technology Financing Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INFORMATION TECH5 NOLOGY FINANCING PROGRAM. 

6 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

7 amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45 and 

8 by inserting the following new section after section 43: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 44. LOAN GUARANTEES FOR HEALTH INFORMATION 

10 TECHNOLOGY. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘health information technology’ 

13 means computer hardware, software, and related 

14 technology that supports the meaningful EHR use 

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

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

17 4(o)(2)(A)) and is purchased by an eligible profes18 sional to aid in the provision of health care in a 

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

20 electronic medical records, and that provides for— 

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

22 patients through electronic storage, trans23 mission, and exchange of relevant personal 

24 health data and information, such that this in25 formation is accessible at the times and places 


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1 where clinical decisions will be or are likely to 

2 be made; 

3 ‘‘(B) enhancement of communication be4 tween patients and health care providers; 

5 ‘‘(C) improvement of quality measurement 

6 by eligible professionals enabling them to col7 lect, store, measure, and report on the proc8 esses and outcomes of individual and population 

9 performance and quality of care; 

10 ‘‘(D) improvement of evidence-based deci11 sion support; or 

12 ‘‘(E) enhancement of consumer and pa13 tient empowerment. 

14 Such term shall not include information technology 

15 whose sole use is financial management, mainte16 nance of inventory of basic supplies, or appointment 

17 scheduling. 

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

19 of the following: 

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

21 1861(r) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 1395x(r))). 

23 ‘‘(B) A practitioner described in section 

24 1842(b)(18)(C) of that Act. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A physical or occupational therapist 

2 or a qualified speech-language pathologist. 

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

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

5 ‘‘(E) A qualified medical transcriptionist 

6 who is either certified by or registered with the 

7 Association for Healthcare Documentation In8 tegrity, or a successor association thereto. 

9 ‘‘(F) A State-licensed pharmacist. 

10 ‘‘(G) A State-licensed supplier of durable 

11 medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, or 

12 supplies. 

13 ‘‘(H) A State-licensed, a State-certified, or 

14 a nationally accredited home health care pro15 vider. 

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

17 means an eligible professional whose office can be 

18 classified as a small business concern by the Admin19 istrator for purposes of this Act under size stand20 ards established under section 3 of this Act. 

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘qualified medical 

22 transcriptionist’ means a specialist in medical lan23 guage and the healthcare documentation process 

24 who interprets and transcribes dictation by physi25 cians and other healthcare professionals to ensure 


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1 accurate, complete, and consistent documentation of 

2 healthcare encounters. 

3 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR QUALIFIED ELIGIBLE

4 PROFESSIONALS.— 

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

6 the Administrator may guarantee up to 90 percent 

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

8 professional to be used for the acquisition of health 

9 information technology for use in such eligible pro10 fessional’s medical practice and for the costs associ11 ated with the installation of such technology. Except 

12 as otherwise provided in this section, the terms and 

13 conditions that apply to loans made under section 

14 7(a) of this Act shall apply to loan guarantees made 

15 under this section. 

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

17 The maximum amount of loan principal guaranteed 

18 under this subsection may not exceed— 

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

20 qualified eligible professional; and 

21 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 with respect to a single 

22 group of affiliated qualified eligible profes23 sionals. 

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

25 guarantee fee on the borrower for the purpose of reducing 


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

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

3 amount not to exceed 2 percent of the total guaranteed 

4 portion of any loan guaranteed under this section. The Ad5 ministrator may also impose annual servicing fees on lend6 ers not to exceed 0.5 percent of the outstanding balance 

7 of the guarantees on lenders’ books. 

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

9 application fees, points, brokerage fees, bonus points, or 

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

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

12 section. 

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

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

15 1 year and not more than 3 years. The Administrator shall 

16 have the authority to subsidize interest during the deferral 

17 period. 

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

19 under this section until the meaningful EHR use require20 ments have been determined by the Secretary of Health 

21 and Human Services. 

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

23 this section after the date that is 7 years after meaningful 

24 EHR use requirements have been determined by the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services. 


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

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary for the cost (as defined in section 502(5) of the 

4 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990) of guaranteeing 

5 $10,000,000,000 in loans under this section. The Admin6 istrator shall determine such program cost separately and 

7 distinctly from other programs operated by the Adminis8 trator.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 

10 Except as otherwise provided in this Act or in amend11 ments made by this Act, after an opportunity for notice 

12 and comment, but not later than 180 days after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue 

14 regulations to carry out this Act and the amendments 

15 made by this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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