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- Travel, PCS and Transportation
- Important Regulation Changes
- Travel & Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Temporary Duty (TDY)
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Official Travel Forms
- Household Goods Officers
- Transportation
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Links
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
- About Medical Affairs
- Dental
- Active Duty Dental Program
- Previous Active Duty Dental Plan Member Portal
- Family Coverage: TRICARE Dental Program
- Retiree Dental Program
- Immunizations
- Periodic Health Update
- PHU FAQs
- Deployment Health Assessments
- Medical Waiver Program
- Smoking Cessation
- Medical Affairs FAQs
- About Personnel & Career Management
- Awards-Officer Awards Program
- Nominations Procedures and Forms
- Eligibility to Receive Awards
- Approval Levels
- Types of Recognition & Awards Criteria
- Non-PHS Awards
- Write-Up (Narrative) Guidance & Tips
- List of OPDIV Awards Coordinators (PDF, 67kb)
- List of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- 2021 USPHS Awards Process Flowchart (PDF, 702kb)
- FAQs
- May 2022 Officer Awards
- DEERS Information (PDF, 139kb)
- Important Information Regarding DEERS and ID Cards During COVID-19 (PDF, 57kb)
- eCORPS Information
- Education Benefits Overview
- FAQs
- Forms
- Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)
- eOPF FAQs
- eOPF Status
- FAQs Practice Hours and Special Pay Changes
- Licensure
- Transcripts FAQs
- Extramural and Intramural Training FAQs
- Officer Leave and Absence Request FAQ
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Practice Hours
- Link to list of Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Chairs (PDF, 19kb)
- About Policy
- Commissioned Corps Issuance System
- Equal Opportunity
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Political Restrictions
- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
- SGHG Drill and Ceremonies Manual (PDF, 3.39mb)
- Uniform Specifications
- PHS Hard Shoulder Boards and Sleeve Insignia (Male and Female) (PDF, 828kb)
- PHS Soft Shoulder Marks (Unisex) (PDF, 324kb)
- Medical Requirements for Promotion
- Force Readiness Information
- Link to list of Chief Professional Officers (CPO) (PDF, 348kb)
- Link to list of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- Promotion Board Recommendations
- Not promoted? Now What?
- FAQs
- Board Composition and Scoresheet FAQs
- Officer Promotion Packet Verification System (OPPVS) Timeline & FAQs
- Promotion, Readiness and Compliance FAQs
- Permanent Promotion Eligibility Chart
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- Visit CDC.gov for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Public Health Updates
As Public Health Service Officers and America’s Health Responders, we stand ready to preserve public health and national security during national or global health emergencies. Our mission is to be out the door as soon as requested, as this is an “all hands on deck” situation. All Corps officers were placed on involuntary deploy or "alert" status effective Wednesday, March 25, 2020, irrespective of the 'on-call month' status. Under Commissioned Corps Directive 121.02, "Deployment and Readiness," as directed by Assistant Secretary for Health, Commissioned Corps Headquarters will deploy Commissioned Corps officers assigned to HHS OpDivs/StaffDivs, either voluntarily or involuntarily and without supervisory approval, who are not considered mission critical, for deployments, under the current National Emergency. Mission critical requests sent to CCHQ are not final until the request is approved by the CCHQ Director as per the POM 821.76 ”Deployment Procedures”. An officer with a non-HHS organization may be deployed in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding between the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the non-HHS organization.
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Health Professions Special Pays (HPSP)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Commissioned Corps Directive (CCD) 151.05 provides broad policy on HPSP, including what is required by legislation, and the broad policy, authority, and responsibilities;
Commissioned Corps Instruction (CCI) 633.01 prescribes the plan of action for carrying out the policy; and
The Personnel Operations Memorandum (POM) 821.70 provides more guidance.Accession Bonus (AB), Critical Wartime Skills Accession Bonus (CWS-AB), Retention Bonus (RB) Incentive Pay (IP), Board Certification Incentive Pay (BCIP).
All HPSP agreements can be served concurrently with the exception that an officer may NOT receive RB while serving an AB or CWS-AB period of obligated service. An RB is prohibited if there is a training obligation.
AB is paid in a lump sum, CSW-AB is paid in annual lump sum payments, RB is paid in annual lump sum payments, IP is paid in monthly payments, and BCIP is paid in monthly payments.
No. An officer must serve through the end of his or her agreement’s ADO.
The eligibility requirements are listed in POM 821.70, CCD 151.05, and CCI 633.01; however, the general eligibility requirements for all officers are: Serving in a designated health profession specialty or skill and:
- Have a performance rating of satisfactory on the most recent annual COER
- Must not have any active or pending administrative or disciplinary actions
- Maintain Conditions of Service (CCD 111.03)
- Have a Current Unrestricted License (CCI 251.01).
- Agree to a period of Obligated Active Duty Service (as defined in the HPSP Agreement)
- Starting in 2020:
- For Incentive Pay (IP), submit annual proof of 80 clinical hours in the previous year.
- To initiate a Retention Bonus (RB), submit proof of 80 clinical hours in the previous year. CCHQ must receive the agreement 60 days after the officer completes the qualifying training and licensure.
Early termination of an existing HPSP agreement creates a debt to the United States. The officer, therefore, must repay the unearned portion of HPSP on a prorated basis.
An eligible officer may receive an IP and BCIP at the same time as an RB and serve the ADO concurrently. An officer may NOT receive RB with an existing education/training obligation.
No. However, if you become eligible for a different amount, you must submit a new request. For example, if you are under a Retention Bonus (RB), and while under the RB you become eligible for a higher rate of IP, and the RB expires, you must submit for the lower RB rate IP effective the day after the RB agreement expires.
BCIP is paid at annual rate $6,000, paid in monthly increments of $500.
If an officer meets the eligibility requirements in the guidance, the officer must submit a request, with his/her Agency’s endorsement, to enter a minimum of one year agreement. After the initial year, the BCIP will continue to be paid, although the obligation for it has been fulfilled.
No. However, if your certification expires, you will need to submit a new request, with Agency’s endorsement, and documentation from the board to restart the BCIP.
Section 6-8 of the Health Professions Special Pay (HPSP) policy (CCI 633.01) establishes an HPSP Review Board, that only accepts appeals under 3 specific conditions (6-8 b);
- Termination of active agreements under specific circumstances, such as failure to be recommended for promotion, failure to maintain conditions of service, misconduct, etc. (6-7.d)
- A recommendation by the OPDIV/STAFFDIV to not pay an HPSP. (6-2.f)
- Termination of active agreements, or denial of HPSP eligibility, for officers in non-duty with pay status. (6-2.i.(2)).
Officers must submit a pay inquiry to FSB requesting validation of HPSP installment payment through their Agency Liaison, with supporting documents (earning statement, HPSP agreements).
Yes. Officers fulfilling a Legacy Pay Active Duty Obligation (ADO) may request an HPSP agreement provided the officer meets the eligibility requirements and the new agreement extends beyond the officer’s current ADO. The existing agreement(s) will be replaced with the current HPSP rate and/or longer period of service. Renegotiation of Agreement rules will apply. The Legacy agreement and its ADO are terminated
Yes. Officers fulfilling an HPSP Active Duty Obligation (ADO) may request a new HPSP agreement if the officer becomes eligible for a higher pay rate provided the new agreement extends beyond the officer’s current ADO. An officer may also enter a new agreement to align the completion of his/her agreement with an anticipated date of retirement provided the new ADO ends after the original agreement’s ADO.
Any unearned portion of the previous contract/agreement must be repaid on a pro rata basis.
- Initial agreement:
- The date the officer becomes eligible for HPSP provided the completed agreement is signed within 30 days of becoming eligible for HPSP, and FSB receives the agreement no later than 30 days after the effective date selected by the officer.
- Subsequent agreement:
- The day after the previous HPSP agreement expires provided the new agreement is received no later than 30 days after the effective date selected by the officer. Or a later date as specified by the officer in the new HPSP agreement.