S. 1380 — SPARC Act

This section establishes a loan repayment program—mandatory for specialty medicine physicians and at the Secretary's discretion for non-physician specialty health care providers—under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration, repays principal and interest on eligible loans in exchange for a six-year commitment to full-time employment (with no more than one year between service years) as such a provider in a U.S. rural community experiencing a shortage of specialty medicine physicians or non-physician specialty health care providers, as applicable. For each year of service, the Secretary pays 1/6 of the outstanding principal and interest due on the date service begins, with the remainder paid upon completing the sixth year; total payments per individual are capped at $250,000. Eligible loans include those for specialty medicine or health care education, specified Federal Direct Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and other Federal loans deemed appropriate by the Secretary. Participants are ineligible for double benefits from other federal loan repayment or forgiveness programs (e.g., NHSC Loan Repayment Program); no more than 15% of annual funds may support non-physician providers, who are further barred from other federal health provider-specific forgiveness programs; and breach provisions include a liquidated damages option but no penalty solely for incomplete service after payments received. (As background, this new program—modeled on the existing substance use disorder treatment workforce loan repayment program at 42 U.S.C. 295h—aims to address rural shortages of specialists such as cardiologists or oncologists.) The section also requires biennial reports to Congress beginning five years after enactment through FY2033 on participant practice locations and program impacts.