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Establishes an Allied Health Loan Forgiveness Program to support full-time allied health professionals serving in a federal, state, local, or tribal public health agency, or in other designated health care settings, such as acute care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, personal residences, and other settings located in HPSAs, MUAs, or to serve MUPs.
Due to the lack of appropriated funding, no loan repayments have been issued pursuant to this provision.
2014
On June 25, 2014, HRSA published a notice announcing that lists of all geographic areas, population groups and facilities designated as primary medical care, mental health and dental HPSAs soon will be available on the agency’s website, http://www.hrsa.gov/shortage/. Specifically, the HPSA section of the HRSA website is pending an update to reflect the latest listings. The lists will reflect an annual update, superseding HPSA lists appearing in the Federal Register on June 27, 2013, and will be current as of May 23, 2014. HRSA also incorporates daily updates to HPSAs here. As discussed on p. 2 of the notice, HPSAs affect site eligibility for the NHSCs; priority for certain HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce clinical residency training site grants; and qualifying providers’ eligibility for increased Medicare reimbursement when practicing in an HPSA geographic area, among other impacts.
On a related note, on Aug. 3, HRSA announced the award of $2.7 million in grants under the Rural Network Allied Health Training Program and Rural Outreach Benefits Counseling Program.
SEC. 5205 ø20 U.S.C. 1078–11¿. ALLIED HEALTH WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PROGRAMS. (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to assure an adequate supply of allied health professionals to eliminate critical allied health workforce shortages in Federal, State, local, and tribal public health agencies or in settings where patients might require health care services, including acute care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, personal residences and other settings, as recognized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services by authorizing an Allied Health Loan Forgiveness Program. (b) ALLIED HEALTH WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PROGRAM.—Section 428K of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) is amended— (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(18) ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.—The individual is employed full-time as an allied health professional— ‘‘(A) in a Federal, State, local, or tribal public health agency; or ‘‘(B) in a setting where patients might require health care services, including acute care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, personal residences and other settings located in health professional shortage areas, medically underserved areas, or medically underserved populations, as recognized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.’’; and (2) in subsection (g)— (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (9) as paragraphs (2) through (10), respectively; and (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redesignated by subparagraph (A)) the following: ‘‘(1) ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL.—The term ‘allied health professional’ means an allied health professional as defined in section 799B(5) of the Public Heath Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(5)) who— ‘‘(A) has graduated and received an allied health professions degree or certificate from an institution of higher education; and ‘‘(B) is employed with a Federal, State, local or tribal public health agency, or in a setting where patients might require health care services, including acute care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, personal residences and other settings located in health professional shortage areas, medically underserved areas, or medically underserved populations, as recognized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.’’.
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