I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5102 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment 
program for substance use disorder treatment employees, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2018 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. SAR-
BANES, and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a 
loan repayment program for substance use disorder 
treatment employees, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Substance Use Dis-
order Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE USE 
DISORDER TREATMENT EMPLOYEES. 
Title VII of the Public Health Service Act is amend-
ed— 
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(1) by redesignating part F as part G; and 
(2) by inserting after part E (42 U.S.C. 294n 
et seq.) the following: 
‘‘PART F—SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
TREATMENT EMPLOYEES 
‘‘SEC. 781. LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR SUBSTANCE 
USE DISORDER TREATMENT EMPLOYEES. 
‘‘(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 
individuals to make payments in accordance with 
subsection (b) on the principal of and interest on 
any eligible loan; and 
‘‘(2) the individuals each agree to complete a 
period of service in a substance use disorder treat-
ment job, as described in subsection (d). 
‘‘(b) PAYMENTS.—For each year of obligated service 
by an individual pursuant to an agreement under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall make a payment to such 
individual as follows: 
‘‘(1) SERVICE IN A SHORTAGE AREA.—The Sec-
retary shall pay— 
‘‘(A) for each year of obligated service by 
an individual pursuant to an agreement under 
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subsection (a), 1⁄6 of the principal of and inter-
est on each eligible loan of the individual which 
is outstanding on the date the individual began 
service pursuant to the agreement; 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 individual 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 or training for a 
substance use disorder treatment job. 
‘‘(2) Any loan under part E of title VIII (relat-
ing to nursing student loans). 
‘‘(3) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Fed-
eral Direct PLUS Loan, or 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). 
‘‘(4) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E 
of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(5) Any other Federal loan as determined ap-
propriate by the Secretary. 
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‘‘(d) PERIOD OF SERVICE.—The period of service re-
quired by an agreement under subsection (a) shall consist 
of up to 6 years of full-time employment, with no more 
than one year passing between any two years of covered 
employment, in a substance use disorder treatment job in 
the United States in— 
‘‘(1) a Mental Health Professional Shortage 
Area, as designated under section 332; or 
‘‘(2) a county (or a municipality, if not con-
tained within any county) where the mean drug 
overdose death rate per 100,000 people over the past 
3 years for which official data is available from the 
State, is higher than the most recent available na-
tional average overdose death rate per 100,000 peo-
ple, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention. 
‘‘(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 subsection; and 
‘‘(2) any Federally supported loan forgiveness 
program, including under section 338B, 338I, or 
846 of this Act, or section 428J, 428 L, 455(m), or 
460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(f) BREACH.— 
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‘‘(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). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The failure by an individual 
to complete the full period of service obligated pur-
suant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not 
constitute a breach of the agreement, so long as the 
individual completed in good faith the years of serv-
ice for which payments were made to the individual 
under this section. 
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary— 
‘‘(1) may establish such criteria and rules to 
carry out this section as the Secretary determines 
are needed and in addition to the criteria and rules 
specified in this section; and 
‘‘(2) shall give notice to the committees speci-
fied in subsection (h) of any criteria and rules so es-
tablished. 
‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 
after the date of enactment of the Substance Use Disorder 
Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2018, and every other 
year thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
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