(1) The projected growth in the number and 
proportion of older adults is unprecedented in 
United States history. 
(2) By 2030, the population of the United 
States aged 65 and older will exceed 70,000,000, 
about twice the number of such individuals in 2000. 
(3) In the December 2007 final report titled 
‘‘From Isolation to Integration: Recommendations to 
Improve Quality in Long-Term Care’’ the National 
Commission for Quality Long-Term Care reported 
that there is abundant evidence that the health and 
long-term care workforce is not equipped in skills or 
in numbers to respond adequately to the aging of 
the United States population. 
(4) Inadequate training in geriatrics and geron-
tology often results in misdiagnoses, medication er-
rors, inappropriate services, and a lack of care co-
ordination, particularly in transitions from one set-
ting to another, that are harmful to older patients 
and costly to our health and long-term care system. 
(5) Twenty-five percent of medical students re-
port inadequate amounts of time devoted to geriatric 
training, 30 percent feel unprepared to care for 
older adults in acute care settings, and 42 percent 
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say they are unprepared to care for frail older people 
in nursing homes. 
(6) Only 3 percent of psychologists view geri-
atrics as their primary area of practice and only 28 
percent of psychologists have some graduate training 
in geriatrics or gerontology. 
(7) Less than 1 percent of nurses are certified 
gerontological nurses and only 3 percent of advance 
practice nurses specialize in aging. 
(8) Only 5 percent of social workers are trained 
in aging issues, yet 70 percent of licensed clinical so-
cial workers have worked in some capacity with older 
adults and their families. 
(9) By 2050, the United States will need three 
times as many direct care workers in home, commu-
nity-based, and facility-based long-term care settings 
as are employed now to meet the needs of the baby 
boom generation. 
SEC. 3. GERIATRIC AND GERONTOLOGY LOAN REPAYMENT 
PROGRAM. 
Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 295 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘Subpart 3—Strengthening Recruitment and 
Retention for Geriatric Care Practice 
‘‘SEC. 771. GERIATRIC AND GERONTOLOGY LOAN REPAY-
MENT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a Geriatric and Gerontology Loan Repayment Pro-
gram within the Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration to ensure an adequate supply of physicians, physi-
cian assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse special-
ists, psychologists, and social workers trained in geriatrics 
or gerontology and to reduce critical workforce shortages 
in geriatric care practice. 
‘‘(b) CONTRACTS.—Under the program established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall enter into con-
tracts with individuals described in subsection (d) under 
which the individuals agree to provide full-time clinical 
practice and service to older adults for a minimum of 2 
years. 
‘‘(c) PAYMENT FOR YEARS OF SERVICE.—In consid-
eration of the Federal Government agreeing to pay, for 
each year of service under a contract under this section, 
not more than $35,000 of the principal and interest of 
the educational loans of the individual involved for each 
of the first 2 years of service, the individual shall carry 
out activities in accordance with subsection (d)(4). For 
subsequent years, loan repayments of up to $40,000 per 
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year for a third or fourth year of service may be made 
available. 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—An individual de-
scribed in this subsection is an individual— 
‘‘(1) who— 
‘‘(A) is a physician, including an osteo-
pathic physician, who has completed specialty 
training in geriatric medicine or geriatric psy-
chiatry; 
‘‘(B) is a nurse practitioner or clinical 
nurse specialist who has completed specialty 
training in geriatrics or gerontology; 
‘‘(C) is a physician assistant who has com-
pleted specialty training in geriatrics; 
‘‘(D) is a social worker who has completed 
specialty training in gerontology; 
‘‘(E) is a psychologist who has completed 
specialty training in gerontology; or 
‘‘(F) otherwise— 
‘‘(i) has a degree in medicine, osteo-
pathic medicine, clinical or counseling psy-
chology (doctoral degree program), social 
work (master’s or doctoral degree pro-
gram), or who is a certified nurse practi-
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tioner, certified clinical nurse specialist, or 
physician assistant; and 
‘‘(ii) is enrolled in, or has successfully 
completed, an accredited program of spe-
cialty training in geriatric medicine, geri-
atric psychiatry, geropsychology, geronto-
logical social work, gerontological nursing, 
or equivalent geriatric care practice (as de-
termined by the Secretary); 
‘‘(2) who has obtained an educational loan for 
costs associated with graduate training in medicine, 
psychology, or social work, or costs associated with 
becoming a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse spe-
cialist, or physician assistant; 
‘‘(3) who is appropriately licensed, without re-
striction (as determined by the Secretary), in the 
State in which the individual practices; and 
‘‘(4) who agrees to provide clinical services to 
older adults for a period of not less than 2 years in 
a setting determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY
OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS.— 
With respect to the National Health Service Corps Loan 
Repayment Program established in subpart III of part D 
of title III of this Act, the provisions of such subpart shall, 
except as inconsistent with this section, apply to the pro-
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