A Republican bill with 4 Democratic cosponsors · See all 5 cosponsors
Last activity — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The SPARC Act aims to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a loan repayment program. This program is designed to encourage specialty medicine physicians and certain non-physician providers to serve in rural communities facing shortages. Participants can receive payments toward the principal and interest of eligible educational loans. These payments are tied to a required period of full-time service in designated rural areas. The program includes specific rules regarding maximum payment amounts and service commitments.
Yes· 3 of 6
- Scored +8
Does this reduce what student borrowers owe or repay?
The bill provides a direct mechanism for paying off educational loans through service-based loan repayment.
- Scored +7
Would people in rural areas be better off under this?
The bill incentivizes specialty healthcare providers to practice in rural communities to address shortages.
- Scored +7
Does this make health care easier to get in general?
The bill aims to increase the availability of specialty medicine and health care services in rural communities experiencing shortages.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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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)).
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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).
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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)).
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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)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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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)).
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Payment Caps: The total amount of payments provided to any individual physician or provider cannot exceed $250,000 (Section 782(b)(2)).
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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)).
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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)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would people in rural areas be better off under this? — The bill incentivizes specialty healthcare providers to practice in rural communities to address shortages. Would people in their twenties and thirties be better off under this? — The bill provides financial relief for medical professionals likely to be in their younger working years due to educational debt. Would high-income households be better off under this? — Specialty physicians often enter high-income brackets, and this bill assists them with their educational debt.
- Education And Technology
- Does this reduce what student borrowers owe or repay? — The bill provides a direct mechanism for paying off educational loans through service-based loan repayment.
- Healthcare
- Does this make health care easier to get in general? — The bill aims to increase the availability of specialty medicine and health care services in rural communities experiencing shortages.
- Social Issues And Justice
- Is this likely to lift people out of poverty? — The bill helps reduce the debt burden for medical professionals serving in underserved areas.
- 6/23/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 12/17/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 10/28/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/15/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 7/23/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in House
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Don BaconRepublican · Nebraska
Brittany PettersenDemocrat · Colorado
Deborah RossDemocrat · North Carolina
Gabe VasquezDemocrat · New Mexico
Eugene VindmanDemocrat · Virginia