Federal program offers tax credits and loan forgiveness to lure doctors to underserved areas
H.R. 9488 — Health Disparity Zones Act of 2026 · Filed by Shri Thanedar (D-MI) · Introduced Jun 25, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates a federal program called Health Disparity Zones that designates underserved areas and offers tax credits, grants, loan repayment, and higher Medicare payments to attract healthcare providers to those regions. Communities apply through coalitions of nonprofits, hospitals, and local agencies; if approved, they receive up to 10 years of incentives including a 40% tax credit for workers hired in the zone, up to $5 million in subgrants per provider, student loan repayment up to $100,000 per practitioner, and a 10% boost to Medicare Part B payment rates.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a 10-year federal incentive program designed to attract healthcare providers to underserved areas through tax credits, grants, loan repayment, and Medicare payment increases. It is a targeted public-health intervention, not a tax cut or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The 10% Medicare Part B payment increase applies only to cost-sharing calculations for beneficiaries, not to the provider's actual reimbursement rate, which may limit the intended incentive effect.
- The bill requires 'supporting funds from the private sector' as a priority criterion but does not mandate or enforce private-sector participation, potentially disadvantaging rural or very poor communities unable to attract private investment.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
healthcare providers (primary care, behavioral health, dental); hospitals and health systems in underserved areas; nonprofit community health organizations