§1395hhh Health Care Infrastructure Improvement Program

Summary

Creates a loan program that gives money to qualifying hospitals to pay capital costs for projects that improve hospital buildings, like construction, renovation, or other big upgrades. The Secretary of Health sets how to apply and the loan rules. The Secretary will choose which hospitals get loans based on factors such as whether the project is important for the nation or region and the medical benefit it will provide. Qualifying hospital: a hospital or nonprofit that does cancer research and is either a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center or was named a state’s official cancer institute before December 8, 2003. A qualifying nonprofit must be tax-exempt under 501(c)(3), have at least one formal tie to a hospital in its state, and provide on-site outpatient cancer treatment plus lab research and education/outreach. The Secretary may forgive loans using rules like the student loan forgiveness rules in part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), but only if the hospital sets up outreach programs that serve most residents of a state or region (including rural areas), serve multiple Indian tribes, and has or is affiliated with unique research resources. Congress provided $200,000,000 from the Treasury, available from July 1, 2004, through September 30, 2008, and up to $2,000,000 each year for 2004–2008 for program administration. The Secretary must report to Congress within 4 years after December 8, 2003, on the loans and say whether the program should continue past fiscal year 2008. There is no administrative or court review of the Secretary’s decisions for this program.