Supporting Statement LRP Final

Supporting Statement for the
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program
Information Collection 0917-0014
Authorized Under 25 U.S.C. § 1616a
P.L. 94-437 § 108

OMB Burden Statement
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an Agency may not conduct, nor
sponsor, and no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it
displays a valid OMB control number. The approved OMB Control Number for this
information collection is 0917–0014 (expires 2/28/2025). Public reporting for this survey
is estimated to 90 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search
existing data resources, gather and maintain the data needed to review and complete the
information collection. All responses to this survey are voluntary. Send comments
regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including
suggestions for reducing this burden or for improving this form to: Indian Health Service,
OMS/DRPC, 5600 Fishers Lane, mailstop: 09E70, Rockville, MD 20857, Attention:
Information Collections Clearance Officer.

Background
The Indian Health Service (IHS) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) identifies health
professionals with pre-existing financial obligations for education expenses that meet
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program criteria and who are qualified and willing to serve at, often remote, IHS health
care facilities. Under the program, eligible health professionals sign a contract through
which the IHS agrees to repay part or all of their indebtedness in exchange for an initial
2- year service commitment to practice fulltime at an eligible Indian health program.

A.

Justification
1.

Need and Legal Basis
This program is necessary to augment the critically low health professional staff at
eligible Indian health care facilities. Any health professional wishing to have their
health education loans repaid, may apply to the IHS LRP. A 2-year contract
obligation is signed by both parties, and the individual agrees to work at an eligible
location and provide health services to American Indian and Alaska Native
individuals. The proposed information collection is a request for an extension of the
currently approved information collection, 0917-0014, “Indian Health Service Loan
Repayment Program.” The application for the Indian Health Service Loan
Repayment Program is available online and is electronically fillable and fileable;
applicants can complete and submit the application online. The application can be
found on the IHS.gov website, at: https://www.ihs.gov/loanrepayment/applynow/

This information is authorized to be collected by the Indian Health Care Improvement
Act, Public Law (Pub. L.) 94-437, § 1616a, as amended (See
https://www.ihs.gov/ihcia/includes/themes/responsive2017/display_objects/document
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s/home/USCode_Title25_Chapter%2018.pdf

2.

Information Users
The previously approved LRP application is available in an online format. This
information collection provides the applicant with the capacity to complete and
submit the application to the LRP using electronic information technology. The
technology also provides the IHS with the capability to store the information in a
database.

The information collected from individuals is analyzed by the LRP staff, and a score
is given to each applicant. This score will determine which applicants will be
awarded each fiscal year. The administrative scoring system assigns a score to the
geographic-location according to vacancy-rates for that fiscal year and also considers
whether the location is in an isolated area. When an applicant accepts employment
at a location, they in turn “pick-up” the score of that location.

The awardees then sign 2-year contracts obligating them to work at their locations,
and in return the Agency pays their eligible student loans.

In addition to making program decisions the information will also be used to establish
and collect debts owed by participants pursuant to the statute.

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This request for information collection has been approved in previous years, since
1988.

3.

Improved Information Technology:
The IHS LRP Application is available to complete and submit in an electronic online
format. The application’s data is encrypted and complies with the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) security standards.

4.

Duplication of Similar Information
Duplication is not an issue. There is no similar information available which can be
used or modified to meet the information needs of this program. The information
requested on the IHS LRP application is specific to the applicant and unique to this
program.

5.

Small Businesses
This information will not involve the collection of information from small businesses.

6.

Frequency of Collection
The information from the IHS LRP application is collected once per applicant. Upon
completing the LRP application, applicants are entered into consideration for an LRP
contract for the fiscal year in which the application was submitted. The information
collected is reviewed on a monthly basis.
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7.

Special Circumstances
This information collection will be consistent with the guidelines in 5 C.F.R.
1320.5(d)(2).

8.

Federal Register Notice/Outside Consultation
A 60-day Federal Register Notice (89 FR 105617) was published on December 27,
2024. There were no public comments received. This section will be updated with
more recent information once a 30-day Federal Register Notice is published.

OUTSIDE CONSULTATION: The program surveyed non-agency individuals to
obtain constructive feedback to improve the application, improve efficiency, and
minimize the information collection burden. The comments on the clarity and ease
of completion of the forms were positive. There were no suggestions for
improvement nor any major problems identified. The consultations took place in
2015.

9.

Payment/Gift to Respondents
The respondents of this information collection will not receive any payments or gifts
for providing the information.

10.

Confidentiality
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The information collected through the IHS LRP application process is maintained in
accordance with the HHS Privacy Act Records System Notice 09-17-0002, “Indian
Health Service Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program,” as well as OMB M-2307, “Update to Transition to Electronic Records.” The Privacy Act notification
statement will be contained in the LRP Information and Application Booklet.
Applicants will be assured that their records will be maintained in accordance with
the provisions of the Privacy Act.

11.

Sensitive Questions
Social Security numbers are collected by the program. Respondents are requested to
voluntarily provide their Social Security Number (SSN) and informed that if awarded
an IHS loan repayment, under the Debt Collection Act, the SSN must be provided,
otherwise their application will be considered incomplete. Collection of this
sensitive information is authorized by law and required by HHS/IHS operational
necessities as the program needs tax identifier information for reporting to the
Internal Revenue Service, to determine employment suitability, and for debt
collection related to damages required by statute. See 25 U.S.C. § 1616a, 31 U.S.C. §
7701.

12.

Burden Estimate (Total Hours & Wages and Costs)
12A. Estimated Burden Hours
The estimated burden hours have increased due to the increase in respondents. Most
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Indian health program sites are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan
Repayment Program. The number of applicants has increased due to eligible health
professionals being recruited through the efforts of both programs.

Estimated Burden Hours
Data
Collection
Instrument

No. of
Respondents

No. of
Responses
per
Respondent

Average
Burden Hour
per Response

1999

1

1.5 hours

2998.5

1.5 hours

2998.5

LRP Application

Total

1999

1

Total
Annual
Burden
Hours

Annual Information Collection Costs to Respondents:
There are no costs to respondents, other than their time to voluntarily complete the
IHS LRP application process.
12B. Estimate of annualized costs to respondents for the hour burdens for collections
of information.

This information collection will not require the purchase of any capital equipment or
start-up costs; and places no additional computer or record keeping requirements
upon the respondents. Therefore, the estimated total annual cost burden to
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respondents or record keepers for capital and start-up costs components (annualized
over the expected useful life) for this information collection is zero. This process is
now available in an electronic on-line format. This information collection is part of
the respondents’ customary and usual business practices, and therefore is not included
in the estimate.

The estimated total cost burden to respondents or record keepers for operation and
maintenance, and purchase of services components for this information collection is
zero. The information collection will not create costs associated with generating,
maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information.

13. Capital Costs (Maintenance of Capital Costs)
The cost estimate is reflected into two components.
a) The total capital and start-up costs components which is not an issue due to the
use of all existing hardware and software.
b) The total operation and maintenance associated with generating, maintaining, and
disclosing information again is not an issue due to in-house, existing staff and
equipment and software. The expected useful life of capital is infinite.

14. Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
The annual cost to the Federal Government for this information collection is the cost
of maintaining capital associated with this information collection, the staff time to
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perform the initial screening of each application, and a thorough review and analysis
of each of the remaining applications. Cost estimate is also based on information
technology (IT) consultant’s fees and services. The estimated annual cost to the
Federal Government is as follows:
ITEM

COST

Estimated annual maintenance cost:

$143,838

Staff time – Initial screening and thorough review:
Average Staff Salary = $41.55 per hour x 1.5 hours x 1999

$124,588

Each Respondent
Estimated Annual Costs

15.

$268,426

Program or Burden Changes
This is a request for an extension. There was no changes or adjustments in annual
burden hours from the previously approved annual burden hours. Most Indian health
program sites are eligible for the National Health Service Corps LRP. The number of
applicants has increased due to eligible health professions being recruited through the
efforts of both programs. There were no program changes.

16.

Publication and Tabulation Dates
Information collected and tabulated is used by the IHS LRP for internal program
planning, management and evaluation purposes. There are no plans for publication
of this information.
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17. Expiration Date
The OMB approval number and expiration date will be displayed on the information
collection. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB
Control Number.

18.

Certification Statement
There are no exceptions to the certification.

B.

Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.

The Agency has determined that the need to use statistical methods during this collection of
information at this time of the process, will not reduce the burden of applicants, nor will it
improve the accuracy of the results. Once actual Loan Repayment awards are made,
however, the Program and the Agency report those statistics and relevant data to Congress.

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