Rural America Health Corps Act

Loan repayment for rural health workers

This bill would create a demonstration program to pay principal and interest on eligible loans for certain rural health providers. You would need to be eligible for the NHSC Loan Repayment Program but not already participating. Participants would agree to five years of full-time service in a rural Health Professional Shortage Area. Each year the program would pay one-fifth of your eligible loan balance, and after the fifth year it would pay the remainder, up to $200,000 per person. The bill would authorize $50 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The HHS Secretary would be allowed to set a liquidated damages formula, and not finishing all five years would not automatically count as a breach if you completed in good faith the years paid. The program and its participants would not count toward HPSA designations during fiscal years 2026–2030. The Secretary would report to Congress on the demonstration within five years.