Bill Text: NJ S2912 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends eligibility for Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program to physical therapists.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-07 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee [S2912 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2912-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Extends eligibility for Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program to physical therapists.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the Primary Care Practitioner and Loan Redemption Program and amending various sections of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:71C-32 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-32. "Approved site" means a site located within a State designated underserved area or a health professional shortage area, or a clinic which is part of the extramural network of dental clinics established by the New Jersey Dental School of Rutgers, The State University, or a site that has been determined by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, in consultation with the Department of Health [and Senior Services], to serve medically underserved populations according to criteria determined by the authority, including, but not limited to, the percentage of medically underserved patients served.
"Authority" means the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.
"Eligible qualifying loan expenses" means the cumulative outstanding balance of student loans covering the cost of attendance at an undergraduate institution of medical, dental, or other primary care professional education at the time an applicant is selected for the program. Interest paid or due on qualifying loans that an applicant has taken out for use in paying the costs of undergraduate medical, dental, or other primary care professional education shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under the program. The authority may establish a limit on the total amount of qualifying loans which may be redeemed for participants under the program, provided that the total redemption of qualifying loans does not exceed $120,000, or the maximum amount authorized by the federal government, whichever is greater, either in State funds or the sum of federal, State, and other non-federal matching funds, pursuant to section 338I of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.s.254q-1), whichever is applicable.
"Executive director" means the executive director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.
"Health professional shortage area" (HPSA) means an urban or rural area, a population group or a public or non-profit private medical or dental facility or other public facility which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines has a health professional shortage pursuant to section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. s.254e).
"Primary care" means the practice of family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general obstetrics, gynecology, pediatric dentistry, general dentistry, public health dentistry, and any other areas of medicine or dentistry which the Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services] may define as primary care. Primary care also includes the practice of a nurse-practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, and physician assistant.
"Primary care practitioner" means a State-licensed or certified health care professional who has obtained a degree in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, dentistry, or another primary care profession at an undergraduate institution of medical, dental, or other primary care professional education, as applicable.
"Program" means the Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-33.
"Program participant" means a [primary care] practitioner who contracts with the authority to engage in the clinical practice of primary care or physical therapy at an approved site in exchange for the redemption of eligible qualifying loan expenses provided under the program.
"Qualifying loan" means a government or commercial loan for the actual costs paid for tuition and reasonable education and living expenses relating to the obtaining of a degree in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, dentistry, or another primary care profession.
"State designated underserved area" means a geographic area in this State which has been ranked by the Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services] on the basis of health status and economic indicators as reflecting a medical or dental health professional shortage.
"Total and permanent disability" means a physical or mental disability that is expected to continue indefinitely or result in death and renders a participant in the program unable to perform that person's service obligation, as determined by the executive director or his designee.
"Undergraduate medical, dental, or other primary care professional education" means the period of time between entry into medical school, dental school, or other primary care or medical professional training program and the award of a degree in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, dentistry, or another primary care profession, respectively.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.45, s.99)
2. N.J.S.18A:71C-34 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-34. To be eligible to participate in the program, an applicant shall:
a. be a resident of the State;
b. be a primary care practitioner or physical therapist; and
c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2009, c.145.)
d. agree to practice primary care, or physical therapy, as appropriate, at an approved site under the terms and conditions provided in N.J.S.18A:71C-36 and the agreement issued thereunder.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.145, s.3)
3. N.J.S.18A:71C-35 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-35. The Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services], after consultation with the Commissioner of Corrections and the Commissioner of Human Services, shall designate and establish a ranking of State designated underserved areas. The criteria used by the Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services] in designating areas shall include, but not be limited to:
a. the financial resources of the population under consideration, including the percentage of the population that is eligible for medical assistance pursuant to P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-1 et seq.) and P.L.2005, c.156 (C.30:4J-8 et seq.), and the percentage of the population that does not have health insurance coverage;
b. the population's access to primary care and physical therapy services;
c. appropriate physician, dentist, physical therapist, or other primary care staffing in State, county, municipal and private nonprofit health care facilities and in clinics which are part of the extramural network of dental clinics established by the New Jersey Dental School of Rutgers, The State University; and
d. the extent to which racial and ethnic disparities in health care in a geographic area, including, but not limited to, disparities in the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, chemical dependency, diabetes, asthma, homicide, suicide, accidental injury, infant mortality, child immunization rates, HIV/AIDS, dental caries, and periodontal disease, indicate the need to increase access to [primary] health care services among racial and ethnic minority populations in that area.
The Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services] shall transmit the list of State designated underserved areas and the number of positions needed in each area to the executive director or designee.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.45, s.100)
4. N.J.S.18A:71C-36 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-36. a. In administering the program, the authority or its designated agent shall contract only with a primary care practitioner or physical therapist.
b. The contract shall require a program participant to:
(1) serve at least an initial two-year period at an approved site in the full-time clinical practice of that person's [primary care] profession;
(2) charge for professional services at the usual and customary rate prevailing in the area in which the approved site is located, but allow a patient who is unable to pay that charge to pay at a reduced rate or receive care at no charge;
(3) not discriminate against any patient in the provision of health care services on the basis of that person's ability to pay or source of payment; and
(4) agree not to impose any charge in excess of the limiting fee for a service, as determined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, to a recipient of benefits under the federal Medicare program established pursuant to Pub.L.89-97 (42 U.S.C.s.1395 et seq.).
c. The contract shall also specify the applicant's dates of required service and the total amount of eligible qualifying loan expenses to be redeemed by the State in return for service, and stipulate that the applicant has knowledge of and agrees to the six-month probationary period required prior to final acceptance into the program pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-38.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.145, s.5)
5. Section 10 of P.L.2009, c.145 (C.18A:71C-36.1) is amended to read as follows:
10. a. A program participant, as a condition of participation, shall be required to adhere to performance standards established by the executive director or his designee and if the approved site is a clinic which is part of the extramural network of dental clinics established by the New Jersey Dental School of Rutgers, The State University the program participant shall also meet performance standards set by the New Jersey Dental School.
b. The standards shall include, but not be limited to, requirements that a participant:
(1) maintain residency in the State;
(2) maintain a license or certification to practice a primary care profession or physical therapy in the State;
(3) remain current with payments on student loans;
(4) enter into a mutually acceptable contract with an approved site;
(5) maintain satisfactory performance of services rendered at an approved site; and
(6) report to the authority or its designee, on a form and in a manner prescribed by the authority or its designee, on the program participant's performance of services rendered at an approved site prior to repayment of the annual amount eligible for redemption.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.45, s.101)
6. N.J.S.18A:71C-38 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-38. Each program participant shall serve a six-month probationary period upon initial placement at an approved site. During that period, the [primary care] supervisory staff of the approved site, or in the case of a clinic which is part of the extramural network of dental clinics established by the New Jersey Dental School of Rutgers, The State University, the director of the clinics and the vice-dean of the dental school, together with the program participant and the executive director or his designee, shall evaluate the suitability of the placement for the program participant. At the end of the probationary period, the [primary care] supervisory staff shall recommend the continuation of the program participant's present placement, a change in placement, or its determination that the program participant is an unsuitable candidate for the program. If the [primary care] supervisory staff of the approved site recommends a change in placement, the executive director or a designee shall approve an alternate placement at an approved site. If the [primary care] supervisory staff determines that the program participant is not a suitable candidate for the program, the executive director or his designee shall take this recommendation into consideration in regard to the program participant's final acceptance into the program. No loan redemption payment shall be made during the six-month probationary period; however, a program participant shall receive credit for the six-month period in calculating the first year of required service under the loan redemption contract.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.45, s.102)
7. N.J.S.18A:71C-39 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-39. The executive director or his designee, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services], shall match program participants to State designated underserved areas or HPSAs.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.145, s.8)
8. N.J.S.18A:71C-40 is amended to read as follows:
18A:71C-40. The executive director or his designee shall select the program participants from among those applicants who meet the eligibility criteria established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-34, subject to available funds and available approved sites. In the event that there are insufficient funds or approved sites to select all of the applicants who meet the eligibility criteria, the executive director or his designee shall accord priority to applicants in the following manner:
a. first, to any applicant who is completing a fourth, third or second year of a loan redemption contract;
b. second, to any applicant according to the severity of the [physician, dentist, or other primary care] health care provider shortage in the area selected by the applicant; and
c. third, to any applicant whose residence in the State at the time of entry into postsecondary education was within a State designated underserved area.
In the event that there are more applicants who have the same priority than there are program positions, the executive director or his designee shall select program participants by means of a lottery or other form of random selection.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.145, s.9)
9. Section 18 of P.L.2009, c.145 (C.18A:71C-46.1) is amended to read as follows:
18. The authority shall work with State institutions of medical, dental, and other [primary] health care professional education to ensure that information on the Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program is made available to students upon enrollment.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.145, s.18)
10. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill broadens eligibility for the Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program established within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) to include physical therapists.
The Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program promotes access to primary care services in medically underserved areas of the State by improving the distribution of primary care health providers, including physicians, dentists, physician assistants, certified nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, by providing for the redemption of eligible student loan expenses of providers in exchange for a specified period of service in medically underserved areas. Subject to appropriation, the program will provide up to $200,000 in student loan redemption for two to four years of service as a primary care provider in areas of medicine defined by the Commissioner of Health or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in areas ranked by the Commissioner of Health reflecting a health professional shortage. This bill extends eligibility for the Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Program to include physical therapists.
