Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Health Service Corps Strengthening Act of 2017”.
National Health Service Corps Strengthening Act of 2017
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend funding for the National Health Service Corps program.
Sec. 2 Findings
The Congress finds as follows:
The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program provides scholarships and loan repayment for primary care providers serving in designated shortage areas of the country.
The NHSC program has proven to be an effective and cost-efficient program that enables providers to both choose primary care practice and serve in a shortage area of the country.
Since its founding 45 years ago, more than 50,000 providers have participated in the NHSC program.
Today, more than 11 million people receive access to primary medical, dental, and mental health services from a NHSC provider.
However, more than 66 million people live in designated primary care shortage areas of the country. Additionally, more than 51 million live in dental health shortage areas, and more than 106 million live in mental and behavioral health shortage areas.
A modest expansion of the NHSC through 2022 would enable nearly 5 million additional people to receive primary care through a NHSC-supported provider.
A 5-year extension of the funding for the NHSC is critical to preserve access to care for millions of underserved people.
For these reasons, it is vital to extend and strengthen the NHSC program for fiscal year 2018 and beyond.
Sec. 3 Extension of funding for the national health service corps program
Paragraph (2) of section 10503(b) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 254b–2(b)) is amended—
in subparagraph (D), by striking “and” at the end; and
in subparagraph (E), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(F) $320,000,000 for fiscal year 2018;
“(G) $330,000,000 for fiscal year 2019;
“(H) $340,000,000 for fiscal year 2020;
“(I) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
“(J) $360,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.”