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Read. Follow. Verify.The SPARC Act: Loan Repayment for Rural Specialty Doctors
Last action · March 19, 2026: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.Sponsors: Jacky Rosen and 5 others
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What This Bill Would Do
The SPARC Act proposes a new federal program to pay off student loans for specialty doctors and non-physician specialists who commit to working for six years in rural areas facing medical shortages. The program aims to increase access to specialized care in underserved communities by providing up to $250,000 in loan repayment.
This bill would create a new financial incentive for specialty medical providers to relocate to rural areas, potentially increasing the availability of specialized healthcare services for residents in those regions.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Specialty medicine physicians
Eligible for federal loan repayment in exchange for a six-year service commitment in rural shortage areas.
Non-physician specialty health care providers
Eligible for federal loan repayment, subject to a 15% cap on total program funding allocated to this group.
Rural residents
May experience changes in the availability of specialty medical services in their communities.
Key Facts
- The program offers loan repayment for specialty medicine physicians and non-physician specialty health care providers who serve in rural shortage areas.
- Participants must commit to a 6-year period of full-time employment in a designated rural shortage area.
- The maximum total payment per participant is $250,000.
- Payments are structured as 1/6 of the loan principal and interest per year of service, with the remainder paid upon completion of the 6th year.
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- Eligible loans include Federal Direct Stafford, PLUS, Unsubsidized Stafford, Consolidation, and Perkins loans, as well as other federal loans deemed appropriate by the Secretary.
- Participants cannot receive loan forgiveness from this program and other federal programs for the same period of service.
- No more than 15% of the program's annual funding may be allocated to non-physician specialty health care providers.
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services must report to Congress on program impact and provider locations starting 5 years after enactment and biennially through 2033.
- The Health Resources and Services Administration is required to update public data on the supply of specialty medical providers.
- Failure to complete the full 6-year service term does not constitute a breach if the provider completed the years for which they already received payments in good faith.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible for this loan repayment program?
How much of my student loan can be repaid?
What happens if I cannot finish the full six-year commitment?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Mar 19, 2026SenateCommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.
- Apr 9, 2025SenateCommitteeRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Apr 9, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced in Senate
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Rural Specialty Focus
The bill specifically targets 'specialty' medicine rather than general primary care, which is the focus of many existing federal rural health programs.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.congress.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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