H.R. 1127 — Rural America Health Corps Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Rural America Health Corps Act.”

This section establishes a National Health Service Corps rural provider loan repayment demonstration program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services provides payments on the principal and interest of eligible loans for eligible individuals who are eligible for, but not participating in, the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program under 42 U.S.C. 254l–1 and who agree to serve for 5 years of full-time employment in a health professional shortage area that is a rural area. As background, the National Health Service Corps uses loan repayment incentives to recruit clinicians to shortage areas. The Secretary would pay 1/5 of the outstanding principal and interest for each year of obligated service and the remaining balance upon completion of the fifth year, with total payments capped at $200,000 per individual. The section also permits the Secretary to establish a liquidated damages formula for breach, specifies that failure to complete the full service term is not, by itself, a breach if the individual completed in good faith the years of service for which payments were made, and applies the existing National Health Service Corps loan repayment program rules except as otherwise provided. It further excludes the demonstration program and participating providers from being considered in health professional shortage area designations under 42 U.S.C. 254e during FY2026 through FY2030, requires a report to Congress not later than 5 years after enactment evaluating the program and its effects on rural health care access, and authorizes $50 million for each of FY2026 through FY2030.