DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE COMMISSIONED CORPS
THE INSTRUCTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS FACT
SHEET MUST BE FOLLOWED FOR MSP TO BE PAID
This fact sheet contains information on completing a
contract (form PHS-6300-1) for
Medical Special Pay (MSP). MSP is
an annual bonus payable to eligible medical officers who agree to serve on
active duty for at least 1 year in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health
Service (PHS). MSP consists of three
separate contractual pays: Retention
Special Pay (RSP), designed to attract and retain qualified physicians;
Multiyear Retention Bonus (MRB), designed to enhance retention of trained
specialists; and Incentive Special Pay (ISP), designed to make the compensation
levels of qualified specialists competitive with the private sector. All medical officers are eligible for RSP,
except under certain conditions (see item 3 for exceptions). However, only medical officers who are
medical specialists (see item 5 for specialists) are eligible to apply for MRB
and/or ISP.
Before completing the MSP contract, carefully read the following information and instructions. Failure to complete the MSP contract in accordance with these instructions may result in late payment or nonpayment of MSP.
1.
PHS policies and
procedures for MSP are contained in INSTRUCTION 3, "Retention
Special Pay (RSP)"; INSTRUCTION 9, "Multiyear
Retention Bonus (MRB)"; and INSTRUCTION 10, "Incentive
Special Pay (ISP)"; Subchapter CC22.2, of the Commissioned Corps
Personnel Manual (CCPM).
2.
Each officer is
ultimately responsible for requesting/monitoring his/her special pays, and for
being familiar with the policies governing the eligibility requirements,
processing, and payment of those pays.
Each officer should exercise informed judgment when entering into a
contractual agreement by carefully reading the policy and understanding the
obligation incurred pursuant to receipt of MSP.
3.
An MSP
contract is a formal agreement which serves as proof of your obligation. The contract
is binding on you and will continue in force until its terms and conditions are
fulfilled. The MSP contract becomes a
legal and binding contract only after the Compensation Branch (CB), Division of
Commissioned Personnel (DCP), issues orders and payment in consideration of
your obligation to the PHS. NO other
agency or office has the authority to make this contract binding.
4.
In order to be eligible
for MSP, you must first determine if, by law, you are eligible for RSP. To be eligible for RSP, you must be entitled
to variable special pay (VSP) and be on active duty under a call to active duty
for a period of not less than 1 year.
In addition, you must be eligible to remain on active duty for a period
of at least 1 year from the effective date of the RSP contract and execute a
contract to remain on active duty.
However, you are not eligible for RSP if you are participating in
a medical internship or in initial residency training, as defined in
INSTRUCTION 3, Subchapter CC22.2, of the CCPM, or if you are working in
an assignment, with the exception of Indian Health Service (IHS), during which
time you are serving obligated service pursuant to participation in the
National Health Service Corps (NHSC) or a Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) sponsored scholarship program.
You must also have a current valid license, and a recent Commissioned
Officer's Effectiveness Report (COER) (if you have been on duty for more than 6
months) in order to receive MSP.
5.
Unless you are initially
entering on active duty, you may execute, if otherwise eligible, the MSP for 1,
2, 3, or 4 years. If you are initially
entering on active duty and if otherwise eligible, you must execute an
MSP contract for at least a 2-year period.
6.
To be eligible for MRB
and/or ISP, you must be eligible to receive RSP, and you must be "board
certified" or "fully trained in a medical specialty" (see INSTRUCTION 1, Section C.3.,
Subchapter CC22.2, of the CCPM, for definition of "board
certified." The definition of
"fully trained in a medical specialty" as defined in INSTRUCTION 9, Section C.7.,
or INSTRUCTION 10, Section C.6.,
Subchapter CC22.2, of the CCPM, is
"satisfactory completion of an accredited residency training program
approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the
Advisory Board for Osteopathic Specialists of the American Osteopathic
Association), and you must be able to undertake a minimum of 112 hours of
clinical practice time or be fulfilling your clinical practice requirement
through the execution of your billet (i.e., Preventive Medicine, Research
Officers Group (ROG)).
7.
If you are applying for
MRB and/or ISP, if otherwise eligible, you must execute the MSP contract/RSP
portion and the MRB and/or ISP portion(s) for a period of 1 (RSP/ISP
combination only), 2, 3, or 4 year (RSP/MRB/ISP combinations) to run
concurrently. Although the ISP is a 1
year contract, the rate of ISP you receive is locked in for the duration of the
RSP/MRB contract when executed simultaneously.
This provision does not apply to ISP contracts executed for hardship
locations or for 1-year RSP/ISP only combinations. Under these two conditions the current year’s rate applies to the
ISP contract.
8.
If you are applying for
MRB and/or ISP you must complete a MRB/ISP Validation Record (available through
your agency,
see Exhibit 1) and submit all required documentation. Contracts submitted without complete
documentation will be held for payment until all such required documents have
been received. To preserve your
contract date, if there is a delay in obtaining all documentation for
submission, forward the contract and validation record through your agency with
a note stating that the required documents are forthcoming.
9.
By signing the MSP
contract and accepting MSP, you are voluntarily agreeing to remain on active
duty as a PHS commissioned medical officer, beginning with the effective date
of your MSP contract, for the number of years you indicated on your
contract. The effective date of your
MSP contract cannot be changed once the contract is in effect.
10. If you do not serve on active duty for the entire
period for which you received MSP, you will be required to refund a pro rata
portion of any payment received. which represents the unserved part of your
active-duty obligation and any additional bonus amounts received for longevity
contracts (3 or 4 year MRB contract amounts).
In addition, if you voluntarily terminate your MSP contract, you will be
divested of your separation entitlements, such as travel and transportation
allowances for you and your dependents, shipment of household goods, and
transfer of or payment for unused annual leave, under authority of the Joint
Federal Travel Regulations and annual leave regulations and policies
respectively. (See INSTRUCTION 3, Subchapter CC22.2,
of the CCPM for additional information concerning the voluntary and involuntary
termination of MSP contracts plus the consequences of such termination.) If you are denied lump-sum payment for
unused annual leave because you failed to fulfill the terms of the MSP
contract, you must also be denied terminal leave in accordance with INSTRUCTION 2, Subchapter CC29.1,
of the CCPM. Terminal leave is any
approved annual leave taken after an officer has submitted form PHS-1373, "Separation of a
Commissioned Officer."
11. Before your MSP contract becomes effective and prior
to any payment, the PHS component or other Federal agency to which you are
assigned or detailed (see Exhibit 1
for a list of PHS components and other agencies to which PHS commissioned
officers are assigned or detailed) must certify that you are eligible to
receive MSP, that your performance is satisfactory, that you are able to remain
on active duty for the entire time period covered by the contract, and that the
required documentation is included with your MSP contract. If you are not recommended for an MSP
contract by the PHS component or Federal agency to which you are assigned or
detailed, or if your clinical practice time is in question, a board composed
of medical officers may be convened to
make a recommendation about your eligibility for MSP, as well as
recommendations on payment of MSP.
12. If you sign an MSP contract for more than 1 year, the
PHS component or other Federal agency to which you are assigned or detailed
will be required to annually recertify that you meet the same eligibility
criteria as established in item 10 above before subsequent payments will be
made.
13. Once a completed MSP contract and required
documentation is received, payment will normally be made within 90 days of the
effective date of your contract. However,
YOU SHOULD NOT INCUR ANY FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS based on the possibility
that you will receive MSP until you actually receive the payment.
RSP is payable in the amount of $15,000 a year.
The effective date of your contract is the date your
MSP obligation begins. The effective
date will be determined as follows (this information is also on the face of the
contract):
1. Initial
Contract. If you enter into an
initial contract incident to entry on active duty or after your entry on active
duty, your MSP contract will be effective on one of the following dates,
whichever is later:
a. Date you attain eligibility for MSP, provided
the completed contract is received in the CB, DCP, within 60 days after you are
initially eligible and your contract is signed and notarized within 30 days
after you are initially eligible for MSP;
b. Date your completed contract is notarized, if
received in CB within 60 days of date of your eligibility, but has not been
notarized within 30 days of date of initial eligibility;
c. Date your completed, notarized contract is
received in CB, if not received in CB, within 60 days of date of your eligibility;
or
d. A later date specified by you in your MSP
contract.
2. Subsequent
Contract. The effective date of
subsequent MSP contracts will be one of the following dates, whichever is
later:
a. Date following the date your preceding
contract expires, provided your completed contract is received in CB within 60
days after the date of expiration of your previous contract, and the contract
is signed and notarized on or before the date following the date your preceding
contract expired;
b. Date your completed contract is notarized, if
the contract is received in CB within 60 days after the date of expiration of
the previous contract, but has not been notarized on or before the date your
previous contract expired;
c. Date your completed, notarized contract is
received in CB, if not received in CB within 60 days of the date following the
date that your preceding contract expired; or
d. A later date specified by you in your MSP
contract.
1. Read the
contract carefully, including the Privacy Act Statement on the reverse side of
the contract.
2. The MSP
contract consists of an original two sided contract, which once notarized, will
be submitted through your agency to DCP.
a. In Section 1 - print or type your full name,
grade, and PHS serial number on the first line on the front of the
contract. Fill in the name of the PHS
component or other Federal agency to which you are assigned or detailed (see
Exhibit 1), your duty station phone number, and your social security number
on line 2.
b. In Section 2 - indicate the type of special
pay requested (RSP, MRB, and/or ISP) and the number of years (either 1, 2, 3,
or 4 years) you wish the contract to be in effect. Again, note that if you are initially entering on active duty,
you must execute an RSP contract for at least a 2-year period.
c.
If you agree to the
terms and conditions of the MSP contract, take the contract to a notary, sign
and date the contract in the notary's presence, and have the notary complete
the notarization blanks on the contract.
d. Submit the original contract to your
immediate supervisor. Retain
a copy of the contract with your important papers to verify, if necessary, that
you completed and notarized an MSP contract on a certain date
e. Your immediate supervisor will recommend whether you should or should not receive MSP and will forward the contract through the normal supervisory channels to the PHS component or other Federal agency to which you are assigned or detailed. The head of the PHS component, or a designated official at the headquarters level to which you are assigned, must certify your contract before it will be accepted by DCP.
Failure to submit your contract in
accordance with these procedures
will delay your payment or result in
nonpayment.
If your contract is approved, personnel orders will be
issued authorizing RSP, MRB, and/or ISP.
If the personnel order is dated on or before the 17th of the month, MSP
will usually be included in that month's pay.
Personnel orders dated after the 17th of the month generally
indicate that MSP will be included in your next month's pay. Please note that all medical special pays
are taxable income.
If you have any
additional questions about MSP, the contract, or other related matters, contact
the appropriate office for the PHS component or other Federal agency to which
you are assigned or detailed as listed in Exhibit 1.