I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6400 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to States for 
the purpose of assisting the States in operating an RDOCS program 
in order to provide for the increased availability of primary health care 
services in health professional shortage areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012 
Mr. MCDERMOTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants 
to States for the purpose of assisting the States in 
operating an RDOCS program in order to provide for 
the increased availability of primary health care services 
in health professional shortage areas. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring the Doctors 
of Our Country through Scholarships Act of 2012’’ or the 
‘‘RDOCS Act of 2012’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Due to an aging population, the retirement 
of a generation of physicians, and 30,000,000 newly 
insured under the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act (Public Law 110–148), the United States 
is expected to experience an acute physician work-
force shortage in the coming decades, particularly in 
primary care. If unaddressed, this shortage will com-
promise the health of the population as well as the 
ability of the United States to remain competitive in 
the world. 
(2) By 2020, the shortage of primary care doc-
tors is expected to reach 45,000. 
(3) The shortage will disproportionately impact 
rural communities and underserved urban commu-
nities. 
(4) The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps 
(ROTC) model of education and training is a re-
spected and effective way of meeting the Nation’s 
need for educated and trained officers in the United 
States Armed Forces, and can be applied to solving 
the Nation’s primary care shortage. 
(5) There are 10 applicants for each National 
Health Service Corps scholarship awarded, indi-
cating the unmet demand for medical scholarships. 
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SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES FOR RESTORING THE DOCTORS 
OF OUR COUNTRY THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS 
(RDOCS) PROGRAMS. 
Subpart III of part D of title III of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 338N. GRANTS TO STATES FOR SCHOLARSHIP PRO-
GRAMS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS TO STATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Administrator of the Health Resources 
and Services Administration, shall make grants to 
States for the purpose of assisting the States in op-
erating a program described in paragraph (2) (re-
ferred to in this section as an ‘RDOCS program’) in 
order to provide for the increased availability of pri-
mary health care services in health professional 
shortage areas. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To seek a grant under 
this section, a State shall submit an application in 
such form, in such manner, and containing such 
agreements, assurances, and information as the Sec-
retary determines to be necessary to carry out this 
section. 
‘‘(b) SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM
DESCRIBED.—An 
RDOCS program is a program of entering into contracts 
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between the State involved and an RDOCS scholar under 
which— 
‘‘(1) the State involved agrees— 
‘‘(A) to pay all tuition and costs for the 
RDOCS scholar’s undergraduate medical edu-
cation, to the participating undergraduate med-
ical program, for a period of study not exceed-
ing 48 consecutive months; and 
‘‘(B) to pay, during such period, a cost-of- 
living stipend, in an amount to be determined 
by the Secretary, to the RDOCS scholar; and 
‘‘(2) the RDOCS scholar agrees— 
‘‘(A) to be admitted into and maintain en-
rollment in a participating undergraduate med-
ical program in the RDOCS scholar’s State of 
residence (or if such State of residence operates 
no such program, in a participating under-
graduate medical program in a State within an 
associated region); 
‘‘(B) when enrolled in such program, to 
maintain a minimum level (to be determined by 
the Secretary) of academic standing; 
‘‘(C) to complete an accredited residency 
training program in a primary care specialty; 
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‘‘(D) to become licensed to practice medi-
cine in the applicant’s State of residence; 
‘‘(E) to receive and maintain board certifi-
cation in a primary care speciality; and 
‘‘(F) to complete a 5-year post-graduate 
period of service in a health professional short-
age area. 
‘‘(c) PRIORITY IN AWARDING SCHOLARSHIPS.—In se-
lecting RDOCS scholars and awarding scholarship con-
tracts described in subsection (b), the State involved shall 
give preference to applicants who are enrolled in— 
‘‘(1) an accelerated track family-medicine pro-
gram; or 
‘‘(2) a program that includes clinical training in 
rural or underserved urban communities. 
‘‘(d) DIRECT ADMINISTRATION BY STATE AGENCY.— 
The RDOCS program of any State receiving a grant under 
this section shall be administered directly by a State agen-
cy. 
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State receiving a grant 
under this section shall, with respect to the costs of 
making payments on behalf of individuals under 
scholarship contracts described in subsection (b), 
make available (directly or through donations from 
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public or private entities) non-Federal contributions 
in cash toward such costs in an amount equal to not 
less than $1 for each $9 of Federal funds provided 
through the grant. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION
OF
AMOUNT
OF
NON- 
FEDERAL
CONTRIBUTION.—In 
determining 
the 
amount of non-Federal contributions in cash that a 
State has provided pursuant to paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) any amounts provided to the State by 
the Federal Government shall not be included; 
and 
‘‘(B) any amounts expended by the State 
as administrative funds to operate its RDOCS 
program may, at the State’s discretion, be in-
cluded. 
‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENTS
FOR
HEALTH
PROFES-
SIONAL
SHORTAGE
AREAS
UNDER
FEDERAL
PRO-
GRAM.—Any State receiving a grant under this sec-
tion shall, in carrying out its RDOCS program, as-
sign RDOCS officers participating in the program 
only to public and nonprofit private entities located 
in and providing health services in health profes-
sional shortage areas. 
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‘‘(2) REMEDIES FOR BREACH OF CONTRACTS.— 
The Secretary may not make a grant under sub-
section (a) unless the State involved agrees that the 
scholarship contracts provided by the State pursuant 
to subsection (b) will provide remedies for any 
breach of the contracts by the RDOCS scholars and 
RDOCS officers involved. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION
REGARDING
CONTRACT
IN-
DUCEMENTS.—Any State receiving a grant under 
this section shall ensure that contracts between the 
State and RDOCS scholars under this section do not 
include any terms more favorable to the RDOCS 
scholars than the most favorable terms which the 
Secretary is authorized to provide in contracts under 
the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Pro-
gram under section 338A, including terms regarding 
the availability of remedies for any breach of the 
contracts by the health professionals involved. 
‘‘(g) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.—Any State 
receiving a grant under this section shall not expend the 
grant funds for any purpose other than making payments 
on behalf of or to RDOCS scholars under contracts en-
tered into pursuant to this section. 
‘‘(h) REPORTS BY STATES.—Any State receiving a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary— 
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‘‘(1) a report on the State’s RDOCS program 
not later than January 10 of each fiscal year imme-
diately following any fiscal year for which the State 
has received such a grant; and 
‘‘(2) such other reports regarding the State’s 
RDOCS program, as are determined to be appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(i) REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall 
report annually to the relevant committees on the physi-
cian workforce in the United States, and shall include in 
each such report— 
‘‘(1) data on the physician shortage, if any, 
disaggregated by State and region; and 
‘‘(2) a gap analysis of the primary care practi-
tioners needed in each State and region, and 5- and 
10-year estimates of the funding needed to close the 
gap through the RDOCS program. 
‘‘(j) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 
make payments under this section to a State for any 
fiscal year subsequent to the first fiscal year of such 
payments unless the Secretary determines that, for 
the immediately preceding fiscal year, the State has 
complied with each of the agreements made by the 
State under this section. 
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‘‘(2) REDUCTION IN GRANT RELATIVE TO NUM-
BER OF BREACHED CONTRACTS.— 
‘‘(A) DETERMINATION
OF
NUMBER
OF 
BREACHED
CONTRACTS.—Before 
making 
a 
grant under this section to a State for a fiscal 
year, the Secretary shall determine the number 
of contracts provided pursuant to the State’s 
RDOCS program with respect to which there 
has been an initial breach by the RDOCS schol-
ars or officers involved during the fiscal year 
preceding the fiscal year for which the State is 
applying to receive the grant. 
‘‘(B) REDUCTION OF GRANTS.—Subject to 
paragraph (3), in the case of a State with 1 or 
more initial breaches for purposes of subpara-
graph (A), the Secretary shall reduce the 
amount of a grant under this section to the 
State for the fiscal year involved by an amount 
equal to the sum of— 
‘‘(i) the expenditures of Federal funds 
made regarding the contracts involved; and 
‘‘(ii) an amount representing interest 
on the amount of such expenditures, deter-
mined with respect to each contract on the 
basis of the maximum legal rate prevailing 
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for loans made during the time amounts 
were paid under the contract, as deter-
mined by the Treasurer of the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) 
WAIVER
REGARDING
REDUCTION
IN 
GRANT.—The Secretary may waive the requirement 
of paragraph (2)(B) with respect to the initial 
breach of a contract if the Secretary determines that 
such breach by the RDOCS scholar or officer in-
volved was attributable solely to the professional 
having a serious illness. 
‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) ACCELERATED
TRACK
FAMILY-MEDICINE 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘accelerated track family-med-
icine program’ refers to an appropriately accredited, 
integrated course of study in which a candidate can 
complete undergraduate medical education and grad-
uate medical education in 6 years. 
‘‘(2) ASSOCIATED REGION.—The term ‘associ-
ated region’ refers to— 
‘‘(A) the area encompassing the boundaries 
of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, 
and Idaho; 
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‘‘(B) the area encompassing the bound-
aries of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont; 
‘‘(C) the area encompassing the boundaries 
of Delaware and Pennsylvania; or 
‘‘(D) the area encompassing the bound-
aries of Maryland, the District of Columbia, 
and Virginia. 
‘‘(3) BOARD CERTIFICATION.—The term ‘board 
certification’ means a certification to practice medi-
cine in a specialty, by an appropriate medical spe-
cialty board. 
‘‘(4) 
HEALTH
PROFESSIONAL
SHORTAGE 
AREA.—The term ‘health professional shortage area’ 
means a health professional shortage area des-
ignated under section 332. 
‘‘(5) PARTICIPATING
UNDERGRADUATE
MED-
ICAL
PROGRAM.—The term ‘participating under-
graduate medical program’ means an allopathic or 
osteopathic undergraduate medical program oper-
ated by a State. 
‘‘(6) PRIMARY
CARE
SPECIALTY.—The term 
‘primary care specialty’ means pediatrics, family 
medicine, or general internal medicine. 
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‘‘(7) RDOCS OFFICER.—The term ‘RDOCS of-
ficer’ means an RDOCS program participant who 
has completed undergraduate medical training, but 
has not yet fulfilled the remaining requirements of 
his or her scholarship contract under subsection (b). 
‘‘(8) RDOCS SCHOLAR.—The term ‘RDOCS 
scholar’ means an individual participating in an 
RDOCS program pursuant to a scholarship contract 
under subsection (b), who has not yet completed un-
dergraduate medical education. 
‘‘(9) RELEVANT COMMITTEES.—The term ‘rel-
evant committees’ means the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives. 
‘‘(10) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For carrying out this sec-
tion, there is authorized to be appropriated 
$200,000,000 for each of fiscal year 2013 through 
2016. 
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‘‘(2) 
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts 
appropriated 
under paragraph (1) shall remain available until ex-
pended.’’. 
Æ 
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