National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program

The Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to assure, with respect to the provision of primary health services pursuant to section 254d(a)(2) of this title— To be eligible to participate in the Loan Repayment Program, an individual must— be enrolled as a full-time student— In disseminating application forms and contract forms to individuals desiring to participate in the Loan Repayment Program, the Secretary shall include with such forms— The application form, contract form, and all other information furnished by the Secretary under this subpart shall be written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average individual applying to participate in the Loan Repayment Program. The Secretary shall make such application forms, contract forms, and other information available to individuals desiring to participate in the Loan Repayment Program on a date sufficiently early to ensure that such individuals have adequate time to carefully review and evaluate such forms and information. Subject to section 254f–1 of this title, in providing contracts under the Loan Repayment Program— In providing contracts under the Loan Repayment Program, the Secretary shall give priority— An individual becomes a participant in the Loan Repayment Program only upon the Secretary and the individual entering into a written contract described in subsection (f). The written contract (referred to in this subpart) between the Secretary and an individual shall contain— an agreement that— subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary agrees— subject to paragraph (3), the individual agrees— A loan repayment provided for an individual under a written contract under the Loan Repayment Program shall consist of payment, in accordance with paragraph (2), on behalf of the individual of the principal, interest, and related expenses on government and commercial loans received by the individual regarding the undergraduate or graduate education of the individual (or both), which loans were made for— For each year of obligated service that an individual contracts to serve under subsection (f) the Secretary may pay up to $50,000, plus, beginning with fiscal year 2012, an amount determined by the Secretary on an annual basis to reflect inflation, on behalf of the individual for loans described in paragraph (1). In making a determination of the amount to pay for a year of such service by an individual, the Secretary shall consider the extent to which each such determination— Any arrangement made by the Secretary for the making of loan repayments in accordance with this subsection shall provide that any repayments for a year of obligated service shall be made no later than the end of the fiscal year in which the individual completes such year of service. For the purpose of providing reimbursements for tax liability resulting from payments under paragraph (2) on behalf of an individual— The Secretary may enter into an agreement with the holder of any loan for which payments are made under the Loan Repayment Program to establish a schedule for the making of such payments. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, individuals who have entered into written contracts with the Secretary under this section, while undergoing academic or other training, shall not be counted against any employment ceiling affecting the Department.