SPARC Act

Loan Repayment Assistance: Specialty medicine physicians and non-physician specialty health care providers can receive payments toward the principal and interest of their educational loans (Section 782(a)).

Support for Rural Communities: The bill seeks to address shortages of specialty medicine and health care providers in rural communities through a service-based incentive program (Section 2).

Flexible Payment Structure: For service in a shortage area, the Secretary pays 1/6 of the outstanding loan principal and interest each year, with the remaining balance paid upon completion of the sixth year (Section 782(b)(1)).

Inclusion of Non-Physician Providers: The program allows for the participation of non-physician specialty health care providers, who are licensed to provide patient care other than primary care (Section 782(a)(2) and Section 782(j)(1)).

Service Commitment Requirement: Participants must commit to 6 years of full-time employment in a rural community, with no more than 1 year passing between any two years of service (Section 782(d)).

Payment Caps: The total amount of payments provided to any individual physician or provider cannot exceed $250,000 (Section 782(b)(2)).

Restrictions on Non-Physician Providers: Non-physician specialty health care providers are not eligible for other Federal loan forgiveness programs specific to health care providers, and their total awards are capped at 15 percent of the annual allocated amounts (Section 782(g)).

Ban on Double Benefits: Borrowers cannot receive payments from this program and any other federally supported loan forgiveness program for the same service (Section 782(e)).