YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyRural health workers could get up to $200,000 in student loans paid off for 5 years of service.
Your Money
Doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and mental health workers who serve 5 years in a short-staffed rural area would have their loans paid off. HHS would pay one-fifth each year and the rest after year 5.
Leaving before the 5 years are up would not, by itself, break the deal if you served the paid years in good faith. You would keep the payments made for those years. HHS could still set a penalty formula for other breaks of the deal.
More about this bill
If you are a doctor, dentist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or mental health worker, this bill could pay off your student loans for rural work. You would agree to work full time for 5 years in a rural area that is short on health workers. For each year you serve, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would pay one-fifth of your loans and interest. After year 5, it would pay off the rest. Total payments would be capped at $200,000. The new program is a trial run. It is for people who qualify for the National Health Service Corps loan program but are not in it. That program pays up to $50,000 a year, plus an inflation increase, for at least 2 years of service. If you leave early in good faith, you would keep what was paid for the years you served. HHS would not count these workers when deciding which areas are short on health workers through 2030. HHS would report to Congress on the results within 5 years. The bill allows up to $50 million a year from 2026 through 2030.
Congressional Summary
Rural America Health Corps Act This bill establishes a student loan repayment demonstration program for eligible providers who agree to work for five years in a rural area with a shortage of primary, dental, or mental health care providers. For each year of this service, the Department of Health and Human Services must pay one-fifth of the principal and interest on a provider's qualifying loans. Total payments to a provider may not exceed $200,000.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-02-07
- Date Added
- 2026-10-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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