Specialty Physicians Advancing Rural Care Act (H.R. 4681)

This bill, introduced by Mr. Oyce of Pennsylvania and Ms. Ross, aims to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a loan repayment program for specialty medicine physicians and non-physician specialty health care providers who agree to serve in rural communities experiencing a shortage of such professionals.

Key Points

The bill creates a program to repay eligible loans for education in specialty medicine or specialty health care.
The participants must agree to complete a 6-year commitment to full-time employment as a specialty medicine physician or non-physician specialty health care provider in a rural community experiencing a shortage.
The total amount of payments under this section to any specialty medicine physician or non-physician specialty health care provider shall not exceed $250,000.
Only 15% of the allocated funds can be given to awards for non-physician specialty health care providers.

Details

The bill defines ‘specialty medicine physician’ and ‘non-physician specialty health care provider’. It also establishes a liquidated damages formula in the event of a breach of agreement, and reports to Congress on the practice location and impact of the loan repayment program.

For more details, please refer to the original text: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-119hr4681ih