(1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 795j et 
seq.) as part H; and 
(2) by inserting after part F (42 U.S.C. 295h) 
the following new part: 
‘‘PART G—SPECIALTY MEDICINE WORKFORCE IN 
RURAL COMMUNITIES 
‘‘SEC. 782. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, shall carry out a program under which— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary enters into agreements with 
specialty medicine physicians to make payments in 
accordance with subsection (b) on the principal of 
and interest on any eligible loans described in sub-
section (c); and 
‘‘(2) the specialty medicine physicians each 
agree to complete a period of obligated service de-
scribed in subsection (d) as a specialty medicine 
physician in the United States in a rural community 
experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physi-
cians. 
‘‘(b) PAYMENTS.—For each year of obligated service 
by a specialty medicine physician pursuant to an agree-
ment under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make a 
payment to such physician as follows: 
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‘‘(1) SERVICE IN SHORTAGE AREA.—The Sec-
retary shall pay— 
‘‘(A) for each year of obligated service by 
a specialty medicine physician pursuant to an 
agreement under subsection (a), 1⁄6 of the prin-
cipal of and interest on each eligible loan of the 
physician which is outstanding on the date the 
physician began service pursuant to the agree-
ment; and 
‘‘(B) for completion of the sixth and final 
year of such service, the remainder of such 
principal and interest. 
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount of 
payments under this section to any specialty medi-
cine physician shall not exceed $250,000. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE LOANS.—The loans eligible for repay-
ment under this section are each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Any loan for education in specialty medi-
cine. 
‘‘(2) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Fed-
eral Direct PLUS Loan, Federal Direct Unsub-
sidized Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Consolida-
tion Loan (as such terms are used in section 455 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965). 
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‘‘(3) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E 
of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(4) Any other Federal loan as determined ap-
propriate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(d) PERIOD OF OBLIGATED SERVICE.—Any spe-
cialty medicine physician receiving payments under this 
section as required by an agreement under subsection (a) 
shall agree to a 6-year commitment to full-time employ-
ment, with no more than 1 year passing between any 2 
years of covered employment, as a specialty medicine phy-
sician in the United States in a rural community experi-
encing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians. 
‘‘(e) INELIGIBILITY FOR DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 
borrower may, for the same service, receive a reduction 
of loan obligations or a loan repayment under both— 
‘‘(1) this section; and 
‘‘(2) any Federally supported loan forgiveness 
program, including under section 338B, 338I, or 
846 of this Act, or section 428J, 428L, 455(m), or 
460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(f) BREACH.— 
‘‘(1) LIQUIDATED
DAMAGES
FORMULA.—The 
Secretary may establish a liquidated damages for-
mula to be used in the event of a breach of an 
agreement entered into under subsection (a). 
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‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The failure by a specialty 
medicine physician to complete the full period of 
service obligated pursuant to such an agreement, 
taken alone, shall not constitute a breach of the 
agreement, so long as the physician completed in 
good faith the years of service for which payments 
were made to the physician under this section. 
‘‘(g) REPORTS
TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 
years after the date of enactment of this section, and not 
less than every other year thereafter through fiscal year 
2030, the Secretary shall report to Congress on— 
‘‘(1) the practice location of physicians partici-
pating, or who have participated, in the loan repay-
ment program under this section; and 
‘‘(2) the impact of the loan repayment program 
under this section on the availability of specialty 
medicine services in the United States in rural com-
munities experiencing a shortage of specialty medi-
cine physicians. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term specialty 
medicine physician means a physician practicing in a spe-
cialty identified in the December 2008 report of the 
Health Resources and Services Administration entitled 
‘The Physician Workforce: Projections and Research into 
Current Issues Affecting Supply and Demand’ as a spe-
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cialty whose baseline projected demand exceeds its pro-
jected supply for the period of 2005 through 2020. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 
2022 through 2031.’’. 
Æ 
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