§ 254l-1. National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program
(a)
Establishment
The Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to assure, with respect to the provision of primary health services pursuant to section
254d
(a)(2) of this title—
(b)
Eligibility
To be eligible to participate in the Loan Repayment Program, an individual must—
(1)
(A)
have a degree in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, or another health profession, or an appropriate degree from a graduate program of behavioral and mental health, or be certified as a nurse midwife, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant;
(B)
be enrolled in an approved graduate training program in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, behavioral and mental health, or other health profession; or
(c)
Information to be included with application and contract forms; understandability; availability
(1)
Summary and information
In disseminating application forms and contract forms to individuals desiring to participate in the Loan Repayment Program, the Secretary shall include with such forms—
(A)
a fair summary of the rights and liabilities of an individual whose application is approved (and whose contract is accepted) by the Secretary, including in the summary a clear explanation of the damages to which the United States is entitled under section
254o of this title in the case of the individual’s breach of the contract; and
(B)
information respecting meeting a service obligation through private practice under an agreement under section
254n of this title and such other information as may be necessary for the individual to understand the individual’s prospective participation in the Loan Repayment Program and service in the Corps.
(2)
Understandability
The application form, contract form, and all other information furnished by the Secretary under this subpart shall be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average individual applying to participate in the Loan Repayment Program.
(3)
Availability
The Secretary shall make such application forms, contract forms, and other information available to individuals desiring to participate in the Loan Repayment Program on a date sufficiently early to ensure that such individuals have adequate time to carefully review and evaluate such forms and information.
(4)
Recruitment and retention
(A)
The Secretary shall distribute to health professions schools materials providing information on the Loan Repayment Program and shall encourage the schools to disseminate the materials to the students of the schools.
(B)
(i)
In the case of any health professional whose period of obligated service under the Loan Repayment Program is nearing completion, the Secretary shall encourage the individual to remain in a health professional shortage area and to continue providing primary health services.
(ii)
During the period in which a health professional is planning and making the transition to private practice from obligated service under the Loan Repayment Program, the Secretary may provide assistance to the professional regarding such transition if the professional is remaining in a health professional shortage area and is continuing to provide primary health services.
(C)
In the case of entities to which participants in the Loan Repayment Program are assigned under section
254f of this title, the Secretary shall encourage the entities to provide options with respect to assisting the participants in remaining in the health professional shortage areas involved, and in continuing to provide primary health services, after the period of obligated service under the Loan Repayment Program is completed. The options with respect to which the Secretary provides such encouragement may include options regarding the sharing of a single employment position in the health professions by 2 or more health professionals, and options regarding the recruitment of couples where both of the individuals are health professionals.
(d)
Factors considered in providing contracts; priorities
(1)
Subject to section
254f–1 of this title, in providing contracts under the Loan Repayment Program—
(2)
In providing contracts under the Loan Repayment Program, the Secretary shall give priority—
(A)
to any application for such a contract submitted by an individual whose training is in a health profession or specialty determined by the Secretary to be needed by the Corps;
(B)
to any application for such a contract submitted by an individual who has (and whose spouse, if any, has) characteristics that increase the probability that the individual will continue to serve in a health professional shortage area after the period of obligated service pursuant to subsection (f) of this section is completed; and
(e)
Approval required for participation
An individual becomes a participant in the Loan Repayment Program only upon the Secretary and the individual entering into a written contract described in subsection (f) of this section.
(f)
Contents of contracts
The written contract (referred to in this subpart) between the Secretary and an individual shall contain—
(1)
an agreement that—
(B)
subject to paragraph (3), the individual agrees—
(ii)
in the case of an individual described in subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section, to maintain enrollment in a course of study or training described in such subsection until the individual completes the course of study or training;
(iii)
in the case of an individual described in subsection (b)(1)(C) of this section, while enrolled in such course of study or training, to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing (as determined under regulations of the Secretary by the educational institution offering such course of study or training); and
(iv)
to serve for a time period (hereinafter in this subpart referred to as the “period of obligated service”) equal to 2 years or such longer period as the individual may agree to, as a provider of primary health services in a health professional shortage area (designated under section
254e of this title) to which such individual is assigned by the Secretary as a member of the Corps or released under section
254n of this title;
(2)
a provision permitting the Secretary to extend for such longer additional periods, as the individual may agree to, the period of obligated service agreed to by the individual under paragraph (1)(B)(iv), including extensions resulting in an aggregate period of obligated service in excess of 4 years;
(3)
a provision that any financial obligation of the United States arising out of a contract entered into under this subpart and any obligation of the individual that is conditioned thereon, is contingent on funds being appropriated for loan repayments under this subpart and to carry out the purposes of sections
254d through
254h of this title and sections
254j and
254k of this title;
(4)
a statement of the damages to which the United States is entitled, under section
254o of this title for the individual’s breach of the contract; and
(g)
Payments
(1)
In general
A loan repayment provided for an individual under a written contract under the Loan Repayment Program shall consist of payment, in accordance with paragraph (2), on behalf of the individual of the principal, interest, and related expenses on government and commercial loans received by the individual regarding the undergraduate or graduate education of the individual (or both), which loans were made for—
(2)
Payments for years served
(A)
In general
For each year of obligated service that an individual contracts to serve under subsection (f) of this section the Secretary may pay up to $35,000 on behalf of the individual for loans described in paragraph (1). In making a determination of the amount to pay for a year of such service by an individual, the Secretary shall consider the extent to which each such determination—
(i)
affects the ability of the Secretary to maximize the number of contracts that can be provided under the Loan Repayment Program from the amounts appropriated for such contracts;
(B)
Repayment schedule
Any arrangement made by the Secretary for the making of loan repayments in accordance with this subsection shall provide that any repayments for a year of obligated service shall be made no later than the end of the fiscal year in which the individual completes such year of service.
(3)
Tax liability
For the purpose of providing reimbursements for tax liability resulting from payments under paragraph (2) on behalf of an individual—
(h)
Employment ceiling
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, individuals who have entered into written contracts with the Secretary under this section, while undergoing academic or other training, shall not be counted against any employment ceiling affecting the Department.