Jay Rockefeller: “I am delighted that $10 million to fund S. 2115, the Department of Veterans Affairs Primary Care Providers Incentive…”

“I am delighted that $10 million to fund S. 2115, the Department of Veterans Affairs Primary Care Providers Incentive Act, has been provided through a managers' amendment to the VA/HUD appropriations bill. I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member of the VA/HUD Subcommittee, Senator Bond and Senator Mikulski, for their cooperation in making this possible. The new scholarship and educational debt reduction programs that are contained in S. 2115 are designed to revitalize the Health Professionals Education Assistance Program at VA. This program was originally intended to help VA to recruit and retain health professionals, but it has atrophied in recent years, despite an ongoing demand for educational financial aid by health professionals employed by or interested in working at VA. This funding will help breathe new life into the educational assistance programs, and provide much needed incentives to improve recruitment and retention of primary care providers.”