§ 68.14 Under what circumstances can the service or payment obligation be canceled, waived, or suspended?

(a) Any obligation of a participant for service or payment will be canceled upon the death of the participant. (b)(1) The NIH may waive or suspend any service or payment obligation incurred by the participant upon request whenever compliance by the participant: (i) Is impossible; (ii) Would involve extreme hardship to the participant; or (iii) If enforcement of the service or payment obligation would be unconscionable. (2) The NIH may approve a request for a suspension of the service or payment obligations for a period of up to one (1) year. (c) Compliance by a participant with a service or payment obligation will be considered impossible if the NIH determines, on the basis of information and documentation as may be required, that the participant suffers from a permanent physical or mental disability resulting in the inability of the participant to perform the service or other activities that would be necessary to comply with the obligation. (d) In determining whether to waive or suspend any or all of the service or payment obligations of a participant as imposing an undue hardship and being against good conscience, the NIH, on the basis of such information and documentation as may be required, will consider: (1) The participant's present financial resources and obligations; (2) The participant's estimated future financial resources and obligations; and (3) The extent to which the participant has problems of a personal nature, such as a physical or mental disability or terminal illness in the immediate family, which so intrude on the participant's present and future ability to perform as to raise a presumption that the individual will be unable to perform the obligation incurred.