I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1505 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to increase the maximum market pay of physicians and dentists 
in the Veterans Health Administration who work in health professional 
shortage areas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2017 
Mr. O’ROURKE (for himself and Mr. ABRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the maximum 
market pay of physicians and dentists in the Veterans 
Health Administration who work in health professional 
shortage areas, 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 ‘‘VA Provider Pay Mod-
ernization Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. MARKET PAY FOR PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS IN 
THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION IN 
HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREAS. 
Section 7431(c) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub-
ject to paragraph (5), the’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘determined by the Sec-
retary on a case-by-case basis’’ and inserting 
‘‘the same for each physician or dentist with 
the same specialty or assignment in the same 
Veterans Integrated Service Network’’; 
(2) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘Sub-
ject to subparagraph (C), the’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘shall take’’ and inserting 
‘‘may exceed the market pay generally available 
under paragraph (3) to a physician or dentist 
with the same specialty or assignment in the 
same Veterans Integrated Service Network by 
an amount not to exceed five percent of the 
total pay of such physician or dentist, taking’’; 
and 
(C) in subparagraph (C)— 
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(i) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘the 
health care labor market’’; 
(ii) by striking all that follows ‘‘den-
tist’’ and inserting ‘‘in the relevant health 
service area, as designated by the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services 
under section 5.2 of title 42, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (42 C.F.R. 5.2); and’’; 
and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘(ii) whether the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services has designated under section 
332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 254e) such health service area as a 
health professional shortage area with regards 
to the specialty of the physician or dentist, in 
which case market pay for the physician or den-
tist may exceed, by not more than 25 percent, 
the market pay for a physician or dentist in 
such health service area with a specialty or as-
signment not relevant to the health professional 
shortage area;’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘24’’ and in-
serting ‘‘12’’. 
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