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Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 7, 2025
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.
People & committees
Rep. Kustoff, David [R-TN-8] · R–TN
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 6, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-07 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Rural America Health Corps Act would create a trial program to repay eligible health workers’ loans in exchange for a five-year commitment to full-time work in rural areas designated as having health worker shortages. Payments would cover loan principal—the amount borrowed—and interest, up to $200,000 per person. Participants would need to qualify for the existing federal loan repayment program without participating in it. The bill would authorize funding; it would not itself provide that funding.
This Act may be cited as the Rural America Health Corps Act.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the Secretary) shall establish a demonstration program to provide payments on the principal of and interest on any eligible loan for eligible individuals described in paragraph (2).
be eligible to participate in the Loan Repayment Program under section 338B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1), but not be participating in such Loan Repayment Program
agree to a period of obligated service of 5 years of full-time employment in a health professional shortage area that is a rural area.
The total amount of payments under this section to any individual shall not exceed $200,000.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services would have to establish the program. Applicants would have to qualify for the existing Loan Repayment Program, be outside that program, and agree to the new program’s requirements.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the Secretary) shall establish a demonstration program to provide payments on the principal of and interest on any eligible loan for eligible individuals described in paragraph (2).
To be eligible for payments under the program under this section, an individual shall— (A) be eligible to participate in the Loan Repayment Program under section 338B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1), but not be participating in such Loan Repayment Program; and (B) agree to the requirements described in subsection (b)(1).
Participants would commit to five years of full-time work in a rural health professional shortage area. They would follow the existing program’s rules, subject to the bill’s different service period, payment rules, and rules for breaking an agreement.
an eligible individual shall— (A) comply with all rules and requirements described in section 338B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1), except for the period of obligated service described in subsection (f)(1)(B)(iv) of such section and as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection; and (B) agree to a period of obligated service of 5 years of full-time employment in a health professional shortage area that is a rural area.
For each year of required service, the Secretary would pay one-fifth of the eligible loan principal and interest outstanding when service began, as determined by the Secretary. Upon completion of the fifth year, the Secretary would pay the remainder, subject to the overall $200,000 limit per participant.
The Secretary shall pay— (i) for each year of obligated service by an individual pursuant to an agreement under this section, 1/5 of the principal of and interest on each eligible loan, as determined by the Secretary, which is outstanding on the date the individual began service pursuant to the agreement; and (ii) for completion of the fifth and final year of such service, the remainder of such principal and interest.
The total amount of payments under this section to any individual shall not exceed $200,000.
The Secretary could establish a formula for money owed when a participant breaks an agreement. Leaving before completing all five years would not, by itself, count as breaking the agreement if the participant completed in good faith the years of service for which payments were made.
The Secretary may establish a liquidated damages formula to be used in the event of a breach of an agreement entered into under this section.
The failure by an individual to complete the full period of service obligated pursuant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not constitute a breach of such agreement, so long as the individual completed in good faith the years of service for which payments were made to the individual under this section.
Except where the bill provides otherwise, existing statutory provisions governing administration and other requirements of the Loan Repayment Program would also govern this trial program.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, all provisions in subparts II and III of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) pertaining to the administration of, and other requirements with respect to, the Loan Repayment Program described in section 338B of such Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1) shall apply to the demonstration program under this section.
During fiscal years 2026 through 2030, the Secretary would have to exclude the trial program and its selected providers from consideration when designating health professional shortage areas.
The demonstration program under this section, and any providers who are selected to participate in such program, shall not be considered by the Secretary in the designation of health professional shortage areas under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) during fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Within five years after enactment, the Secretary would have to report to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The report would evaluate the program, including its effects on rural access to health care; the bill does not establish what those effects would be.
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that evaluates the demonstration program established under this section, including the effects of such program on health care access in rural areas.
The bill would use the existing definition of “health professional shortage area” in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act. That definition is referenced but not reproduced in the supplied text.
In this section, the term health professional shortage area has the meaning given such term in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e).
The bill would authorize Congress to provide $50 million for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2030. This is authorization for future appropriations, rather than an appropriation that itself supplies the money.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 6, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 7, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-06T18:34:03Z. 2025-02-07: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2025-02-07: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-07. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark disclosures and accompanying materials are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text includes narrow exceptions within the program’s service and shortage-designation rules. These are related to the main policy; identifying them does not establish improper favoritism.
Participants would receive a specific exception to the five-year service commitment: failure to finish the full term alone would not constitute a breach if they completed in good faith the years for which payments were made. This protects qualifying participants who leave early from breach treatment based solely on their incomplete term.
agree to a period of obligated service of 5 years of full-time employment in a health professional shortage area that is a rural area.
The failure by an individual to complete the full period of service obligated pursuant to such an agreement, taken alone, shall not constitute a breach of such agreement, so long as the individual completed in good faith the years of service for which payments were made to the individual under this section.
The trial program and its selected providers would receive special exclusion from shortage-area designation assessments during fiscal years 2026 through 2030. This is a narrow designation exception tied to the rural service program; the supplied text does not establish its effect on any particular area’s designation or funding.
The demonstration program under this section, and any providers who are selected to participate in such program, shall not be considered by the Secretary in the designation of health professional shortage areas under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) during fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 6, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI