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Title II — Improving Access for Rural and Indigent Patients

S. 1860 · 113th Congress · Dec 19, 2013 · Lineage

II Improving Access for Rural and Indigent Patients

Sec. 201 Improving access for rural and indigent patients

(a)
Loan forgiveness for primary care providers—
(1)
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall carry out a program of entering into contracts with eligible individuals under which—
(A)
the individual agrees to serve for a period of not less than 4 years as a primary care provider in a medically underserved community (as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)); and
(B)
in consideration of such service, the Secretary agrees to pay not more than $100,000 on the principal and interest on the individual’s graduate educational loans.
(2)
Eligibility— To be eligible to enter into a contract under subsection (1), an individual must—
(A)
have a graduate degree in medicine, osteopathic medicine, or another health profession from an accredited (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) institution of higher education; and
(B)
have practiced as a primary care provider for a period (excluding any residency or fellowship training period) of not less than 3 years in a medically underserved community (as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)).
(3)
Installments— Payments under this section may be made in installments of not more than $25,000 for each year of service described in paragraph (1) (A).
(4)
Applicability of certain provisions— The provisions of subpart III of part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act shall, except as inconsistent with this section, apply to the program established under this section in the same manner and to the same extent as such provisions apply to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program established in such subpart.
(b)
Permitting State designation of critical access hospitals— Section 1820(c)(2)(B)(i)(II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4(c)(2)(B)(i)(II)) is amended by inserting “or on or after the date of enactment of the Steps Toward Access and Reform Act of 2013” after “January 1, 2006,”.
(c)
Patient fairness and indigent care promotion—
(1)
In General— Section 166 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to bad debts) is amended by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by inserting after subsection (e) the following new subsection:

“(f) Unpaid Medical Care Provided to Low-Income Individuals

“(1) In general—In the case of a taxpayer to whom this subsection applies, the deduction under subsection (a) for worthless qualified medical care debt shall not be less than 75 percent of the taxpayer’s charge for such care.

“(2) Taxpayer to whom subsection applies—This subsection shall apply to any taxpayer who is engaged in the trade or business of providing medical care other than as an employee and who used the cash receipts and disbursements method of accounting.

“(3) Qualified medical care debt—For purposes of this subsection, the term qualified medical care debt means any debt for medical care provided by the taxpayer to a low-income individual who is a citizen or legal resident of the United States.

“(4) Determination of charge—The amount of the taxpayer’s charge which may be taken into account—

“(A) shall not exceed the amount of the charge that would be recognized for purposes of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, and

“(B) shall not include any amount for which the taxpayer is not entitled to reimbursement from the low-income individual.

“(5) Low-income individual—For purposes of this subsection, the term low-income individual means an individual who, at the time the medical care attributable to the debt is provided, has an annual household income below 135 percent of the poverty line (as defined in section 673 of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902)) applicable to the size of the family involved, and is a citizen or legal resident of the United States.

“(6) Medical care—For purposes of this subsection, the term medical care has the meaning given to such term by section 213(d).

“(7) Regulations—The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out this section, including regulations providing for methods of establishing that an individual is a low-income individual for purposes of this section.”

(2)
Effective Date— The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.