§254t Demonstration Project

Summary

The Secretary must set up a short-term demonstration project so chiropractic doctors and pharmacists can join the Loan Repayment Program described in section 254l–1. People chosen for the project must follow all the rules of that Loan Repayment Program except subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 254l–1(b)(1). Participants may work in rural or urban places. The Secretary cannot send a participant to a site unless a physician (as defined in section 1395x(r)) or another health professional licensed to prescribe drugs is also assigned there under sections 254m or 254n and will work at the same time. This does not mean the physician must supervise the participant, and it does not override State licensure laws. Providers and the demonstration project must not be counted when deciding Health Professional Shortage Areas under section 254e for fiscal years 2002 through 2004. States do not have to take part. The Secretary must evaluate the project and send a report to four Congressional committees named in the law: the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The report must explain how the project affected access to primary care, patient satisfaction, quality of care, and services for underserved groups; how adding chiropractors and pharmacists might affect shortage-area designations; and whether making them permanent members of the National Health Service Corps would work and help. Money as needed is authorized for fiscal years 2002 through 2004. If by September 30, 2004 the Secretary certifies there were too few participants to evaluate, funding authorization may be extended to fiscal year 2005.