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HR 1127
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Rural America Health Corps Act

To establish a demonstration program to provide payments on eligible loans for individuals who are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.

Introduced Feb 7, 2025

Latest action (Feb 7, 2025) Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Referred to
Energy and Commerce Committee
Policy area
Health
Issues
Healthcare
Legislative subjects (8)
Congressional oversightGovernment lending and loan guaranteesHealth care coverage and accessHealth personnelHigher educationMedical educationRural conditions and developmentStudent aid and college costs

Summary
  • Establishes a demonstration program to provide loan repayment assistance for health professionals who commit to working in rural health professional shortage areas.
  • Participants must agree to 5 years of full-time employment in a rural health professional shortage area and comply with existing National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program requirements.
  • The program will pay up to $200,000 per individual toward eligible loan principal and interest, distributed in annual increments over the 5-year service commitment.
  • Authorizes $50,000,000 per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030 to fund the demonstration program.
  • Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a report within 5 years evaluating the program's effects on rural health care access.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to David Kustoff’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

  • BLACKSTONE $35,000
  • APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $24,400
  • UROLOGY OF INDIANA $14,400
  • TOWER VENTURES $14,200
  • MID-AMERICA APARTMENT COMMUNITIES INC. $13,200

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for David Kustoff → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)
  1. Feb 7, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
  2. Feb 7, 2025 Introduced in House

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

  • HR 5304 — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 8 subjects)
  • HR 1 — An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14. (shares 8 subjects)
  • HR 191 — Inflation Reduction Act of 2025 (shares 8 subjects)
  • HR 3358 — Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018 (shares 8 subjects)
  • HR 6938 — Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 7 subjects)
  • HR 2483 — SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 (shares 7 subjects)
  • S 1071 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 6 subjects)
  • HR 1654 — CUTS Act (shares 6 subjects)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • S 4208 — Rural America Health Corps Act · Introduced Mar 25, 2026 · Cong. 119 80%
  • HR 7201 — Rural Service and Workforce Corps Act · Introduced Mar 20, 2026 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 8504 — Rural Health Resilience Act of 2026 · Introduced Apr 27, 2026 · Cong. 119 64%
  • S 4460 — Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program Reauthorization · Passed Senate May 21, 2026 · Cong. 119 64%
  • HR 1417 — Rural Health Care Facility Technical Assistance Program Act · Introduced Mar 28, 2025 · Cong. 119 63%
  • HR 8967 — Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program Reauthorization · Introduced May 21, 2026 · Cong. 119 62%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Feb 7, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 7, 2025

Mr. Kustoff (for himself and Ms. Budzinski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To establish a demonstration program to provide payments on eligible loans for individuals who are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Rural America Health Corps Act”.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS RURAL PROVIDER LOAN REPAYMENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.

(a) In General.—

(1) Establishment.—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).

(2) Eligible individuals.—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).

(b) Procedure.—

(1) Requirements.—To be eligible to receive assistance under this section, 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.

(2) Payments.—

(A) Service in a rural area.—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.

(B) Maximum amount.—The total amount of payments under this section to any individual shall not exceed $200,000.

(3) Breach.—

(A) Liquidated damages formula.—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.

(B) Limitation.—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.

(4) Applicability of loan repayment program provisions.— 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.

(c) Designations.—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.

(d) Report.—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.

(e) Health Professional Shortage Area.—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).

(f) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. <all>

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