Sec. 103. Authority to buy out service contracts for health care professionals in exchange for employment at rural or highly rural facilities of Department of Veterans Affairs
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For any covered health care professional to whom the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has offered employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary may buy out the non-Department service contract of such individual in exchange for such individual agreeing to be employed at a rural or highly rural facility of the Department for a period of obligated service specified in subsection (c). Payment of any amounts for a buy out of a service contract for a covered health care professional under subsection
(a)shall be made directly to the individual or entity with respect to which the covered health care professional has a service obligation under such contract. In exchange for a contract buy out under subsection (a), a covered health care professional shall agree to be employed for not less than four years at a rural or highly rural facility of the Department. Except as provided in paragraph (2), if a covered health care professional fails for any reason to complete the period of obligated service of the individual under subsection (c), the United States shall be entitled to recover from the individual an amount equal to— the total amount paid under subsection
(a)to buy out the non-Department service contract of the individual; multiplied by a fraction— the numerator of which is— the total number of months in the period of obligated service of the individual; minus the number of months served by the individual; and the denominator of which is the total number of months in the period of obligated service of the individual. Liability shall not arise under paragraph
(1)in the case of an individual covered by that paragraph if the individual does not obtain, or fails to maintain, employment as an employee of the Department due to staffing changes approved by the Under Secretary for Health. A contract buy out for a covered health care professional under subsection
(a)shall not be considered a taxable benefit or event for the covered health care professional. Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the use by the Secretary of the authority under this section. In this section: The term covered health care professional means a health care professional offered employment with the Veterans Health Administration under— section 7401 of title 38, United States Code; or title 5, United States Code. The terms rural and highly rural have the meanings given those terms under the rural-urban commuting areas coding system of the Department of Agriculture.