House Approves Bill on "Conrad 20" Extension
Posted Jul 12, 2002

On June 25, 2002 the U.S. House of Representatives (House) passed legislation to renew and extend the "Conrad State 20" program. This group of state-level programs allows waivers of the two-year home residency rule for selected J-1 physicians. In order to be eligible, the physicians must agree to work in medically underserved areas for three years. Conrad State 20 waivers were the subject of our October 26, 2001 MurthyBulletin article, J-1 Medical Doctor Waiver Approvals, which can be found on MurthyDotCom.

The legislation passed by the House (H.R. 4858) reinstates the Conrad State 20 Program retroactively, to the expiration date of May 31, 2002. It would extend the program for two years and would increase the number of possible waivers from twenty to thirty per state. Similar legislation (S. 2674) is pending in the U.S. Senate (Senate). The Senate version of the bill would make the program permanent, as well as increase the number of physicians to thirty per state.

These are still only bills that have not yet become the law. Understanding such bills is helpful, since particular issues can be tracked, better enabling one to make plans. The Law Office of Sheela Murthy will continue to follow the progress of these bills in order to update our MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers.