Mental Health Loan Repayment Act

Summary#

This bill would add a new part to the Public Health Service Act to create a loan repayment program for mental health professionals who work in areas with a shortage of mental health providers. The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), would make annual payments on eligible education loans for people who agree to serve in a mental health professional shortage area.

Payments would be 1/6 of the original principal and interest on each eligible loan for each year of service, with the remainder paid after the sixth year. The program would cap total payments to any individual at $250,000. Eligible loans include education loans for mental health degrees (master’s, doctoral, or post-doctoral study) and certain federal student loans (for example, Federal Direct loans and Federal Perkins Loans), and other federal loans the Secretary deems appropriate.

Service requirements are up to six years of full-time work as a mental health professional in a designated mental health professional shortage area, with no more than one year allowed to pass between covered years of employment. The bill lists many example professions (for example, physicians (MD/DO), psychiatric nurses, social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, occupational therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and neurologists). "Mental health professional shortage area" means areas designated under section 332 for mental health shortages or facilities the Secretary identifies because of shortages.

The bill bars a borrower from getting a reduction of loan obligations or loan repayment for the same service under this program and certain other federally supported loan forgiveness programs named in the bill. The Secretary may set a liquidated damages formula for breaches, but not completing the full service period alone does not count as a breach if the person completed in good faith the years for which payments were already made. The Secretary may add further rules and must notify congressional committees. The Secretary must report to Congress no later than 5 years after enactment and then every two years on the number and location of borrowers and the program’s impact on availability of mental health services. The bill authorizes $25,000,000 each fiscal year for 2026 through 2035 to carry out the program.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a mental health professional with eligible student loans, you could apply for payments if you agree to work full time in a designated shortage area for up to six years.
  • Payments would be made each year while you serve, with a final payment after year six, up to a $250,000 total cap.
  • You could not get the same repayment or loan reduction for the same service from this program and certain other federal loan forgiveness programs named in the bill.
  • The Secretary will set additional rules about who can participate and how the program works.

If you are in a community identified as a mental health professional shortage area, the program is intended to increase the number of professionals who serve there. No publicly available information is provided in the bill about how many practitioners would participate or exact local effects.

Expenses#

  • The bill authorizes $25,000,000 per year for each fiscal year 2026 through 2035 to carry out this section.
  • The bill specifies payment rules and a per-person cap of $250,000 but does not include a full federal cost estimate, number of expected participants, or total projected spending beyond the annual authorization. No publicly available information on estimated fiscal impact beyond the authorization amounts is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill’s stated purpose is to relieve workforce shortages of mental health professionals by offering loan repayment in exchange for service in shortage areas.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.