STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10081 IN ASSEMBLY March 6, 2020 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WALCZYK -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to creating the medical professionals across rural New York state student loan repay- ment fund pilot program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 2 29-J to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 29-J 4 MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ACROSS RURAL NEW YORK STATE STUDENT LOAN 5 REPAYMENT FUND 6 Section 2999-jj. Creation of fund and cooperating agencies. 7 2999-kk. Administration of funds. 8 2999-ll. Administration agreement. 9 2999-mm. Responsibilities upon effective date of agreement. 10 2999-nn. Documentation. 11 2999-oo. Commitment. 12 2999-pp. Participating professionals. 13 2999-qq. Compensation. 14 2999-rr. Continued qualification. 15 2999-ss. Conditions barring participation. 16 2999-tt. Minimum qualifications for participation. 17 2999-uu. Application criteria. 18 2999-vv. Healthcare provider scoring and cohort size. 19 2999-ww. Announcement of results. 20 2999-xx. Payments and default. 21 § 2999-jj. Creation of fund and cooperating agencies. The department, 22 within amounts appropriated, shall establish the medical professionals 23 across rural New York state student loan repayment fund pilot program, 24 in association with the empire state development corporation. The 25 department is also directed to consult with the Fort Drum regional 26 health planning organization and the Iroquois healthcare association as EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04802-01-9A. 10081 2 1 it deems appropriate. Funds shall be transferred by the commissioner of 2 taxation and finance to the department for use as described herein. 3 § 2999-kk. Administration of funds. Monies in the fund shall be: 4 1. held by the department pursuant to this section as custodian pursu- 5 ant to an agreement with the commissioner of taxation and finance, and 6 the empire state development corporation, until transferred pursuant to 7 this section; and 8 2. invested by the department in accordance with the investment guide- 9 lines of the comptroller during said custodial period. All investment 10 income shall be credited to, and shall be deposited in, the fund. 11 § 2999-ll. Administration agreement. The commissioner of taxation and 12 finance, the empire state development corporation, and the department 13 shall enter into an agreement, subject to the approval of the director 14 of the budget, for the purpose of administering the fund. A copy of such 15 agreement, and any amendments thereto, shall be provided to the chair of 16 the senate finance committee, the director of the division of budget, 17 and the chair of the assembly ways and means committee. The agreement 18 shall specify that the department shall administer the fund in a manner 19 that will benefit the public by encouraging the availability of profes- 20 sional service providers, in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, 21 regulations and other requirements. 22 § 2999-mm. Responsibilities upon effective date of agreement. Upon the 23 effective date of the agreement, custody of, and responsibility for, the 24 fund shall be taken up by the department, subject to the requirements of 25 its agreement with the commissioner of taxation and finance and the 26 empire state development corporation. Such agreement shall include, but 27 not be limited to, the following provisions: 28 1. the department shall be responsible for the receipt, management and 29 expenditure of monies held in the fund; 30 2. the department shall maintain books and records pertaining to all 31 monies received and disbursed pursuant to this section and the agree- 32 ment; 33 3. monies in such fund shall be utilized for the purpose of providing 34 student loan repayment funding to qualifying professionals; 35 4. participating professionals shall be chosen by the department 36 through an application process approved by the department, the empire 37 state development corporation, and the comptroller; 38 5. the department shall report quarterly on transactions pertaining to 39 the fund in a form and manner specified by the comptroller in consulta- 40 tion with the commissioner of taxation and finance, and the empire state 41 development corporation, including but not limited to: receipts or 42 deposits to the fund, disbursements, loans or credit enhancement made 43 from the fund, investment income, and the balance on hand as of the end 44 of the month for each such quarter; 45 6. the department shall be required to invest monies on deposit in the 46 fund in accordance with investment guidelines meeting the requirements 47 of the comptroller, and all investment income shall be credited to the 48 fund, and spent therefrom only for the purposes set forth in this 49 section; 50 7. fund monies shall be held in trust and used for the benefit of 51 participating professionals; 52 8. after two years, the department shall submit a report to the gover- 53 nor and legislature detailing the performance participation and impact 54 of the pilot program; andA. 10081 3 1 9. any other term or condition as determined by the department, in 2 consultation with the commissioner of taxation and finance and the 3 empire state development corporation. 4 § 2999-nn. Documentation. Payments from the fund shall be made pursu- 5 ant to a written agreement between the department and the participating 6 professional, specifying the terms of the payments. The agreement shall 7 be in such form and content as shall be acceptable to the comptroller 8 and department, and may include such further written documentation 9 and/or agreements as shall be required in the judgment of the comp- 10 troller and department. Terms may include rescission of payments if a 11 participating professional does not comply with this section or the 12 terms of the participating professional's agreement with the department. 13 § 2999-oo. Commitment. Professionals shall be eligible to participate 14 in this program provided that in addition to any other requirements set 15 forth in this article they: 16 1. make a two year commitment to practice in a tract or county defined 17 by the health resources and services administration as being "rural" or 18 eligible for a rural health grant; and 19 2. such tract is situated, in whole or in part, in the counties of 20 Madison, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, 21 Oswego, or St. Lawrence. 22 § 2999-pp. Participating professionals. The following professionals 23 shall be eligible to receive the benefits of this fund: 24 1. home care service workers, clinical laboratory practitioners, clin- 25 ical laboratory technologists, clinical laboratory cytotechnologists, 26 clinical laboratory technicians, or histological technicians; 27 2. licensed psychologists, licensed master social workers, or licensed 28 clinical social workers; 29 3. midlevel practitioners such as a physical therapist, physiothera- 30 pist, mechanotherapist, dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant, 31 nurse practitioner, psychiatric nurse practitioner, physician assistant, 32 or psychiatrist who is a diplomate of the American board of psychiatry 33 and neurology or is eligible to be certified by that board or is certi- 34 fied by the American osteopathic board of neurology and psychiatry or is 35 eligible to be certified by that board; 36 4. speech-language pathologists or audiologists, occupational thera- 37 pists, or respiratory therapists; 38 5. licensed pharmacists; 39 6. nurses in nursing homes, such as registered professional nurses, 40 licensed practical nurses, or clinical nurse specialists, provided that 41 their service commitment, in addition to any other criteria listed in 42 this article, will also be in a licensed nursing home, intermediate care 43 facility for the developmentally disabled, or hospital if it owns or 44 operates a licensed nursing home, and the professional will spend at 45 least half of their working hours in the nursing home; and 46 7. optometrists, as defined in section seventy-one hundred one of the 47 education law. 48 § 2999-qq. Compensation. Participating professionals shall be compen- 49 sated in the form of payments against their student loans made in the 50 following amounts: 51 1. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 52 annual amount of five thousand dollars for professionals listed in 53 subdivision one of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 54 article; 55 2. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 56 annual amount of ten thousand dollars for professionals listed in subdi-A. 10081 4 1 vision two of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this arti- 2 cle; 3 3. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 4 annual amount of twenty thousand dollars for professionals listed in 5 subdivision three of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 6 article; 7 4. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 8 annual amount of twelve thousand dollars for professionals listed in 9 subdivision four of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 10 article; 11 5. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 12 annual amount of fifteen thousand dollars for professionals listed in 13 subdivision five of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 14 article; 15 6. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 16 annual amount of five thousand dollars for professionals listed in 17 subdivision six of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 18 article; and 19 7. fifty percent of total qualifying debt annually, up to a maximum 20 annual amount of twelve thousand dollars for professionals listed in 21 subdivision seven of section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-pp of this 22 article. 23 § 2999-rr. Continued qualification. Provided that a professional 24 continues to qualify for this program after two years and such pilot 25 program is still in operation, then loan payment amounts will be the 26 balance of any qualifying debt up to the maximum amounts listed in 27 section two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine-qq of this article. 28 § 2999-ss. Conditions barring participation. Participating profes- 29 sionals shall not: 30 1. have any outstanding service obligations to the federal government, 31 state, or other entity; or 32 2. have any judgment liens arising from federal or state debt, and 33 must not be delinquent in child support payments. 34 § 2999-tt. Minimum qualifications for participation. Participating 35 professionals must possess a fully-executed employment contract, or must 36 be able to submit sufficient evidence of intent to establish a private 37 practice and subsequently do so, and must possess all licenses required 38 to practice their chosen profession in the state of New York. Partic- 39 ipating professionals must also be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, 40 and become a legal resident of New York state within ninety days of 41 beginning employment. 42 § 2999-uu. Application criteria. The entities involved in this program 43 may establish additional application criteria at their discretion, 44 provided that such criteria does not narrow the availability of funds or 45 conflict with the intent of this article. 46 § 2999-vv. Healthcare provider scoring and cohort size. Regardless of 47 funding levels, no more than thirty-two participating professionals may 48 enter the program in any fiscal year. Applications shall be collected 49 throughout the year, with a new cohort of no more than eight participat- 50 ing professionals approved each quarter. Each application received shall 51 receive a score which will be calculated as described herein: 52 1. the maximum score an applicant may receive is fifty. Two independ- 53 ent reviewers, blind to each other's evaluation, will score each appli- 54 cant. The average of the scores given by each reviewer will be the 55 applicant's final score. In the event any two applicants for the same 56 cohort receive the same score, each of their applications will beA. 10081 5 1 reviewed a third time and a new average score computed from all three 2 scores received; 3 2. scores will be calculated by taking the discipline specific health 4 professional shortage areas score for the applicant's practice location, 5 and adding a maximum of ten points based on the diversity of medical 6 cases or issues treated at the practice location, and adding a maximum 7 of fifteen points based on the diversity of the patient population in 8 the tract or county where the applicant intends to practice; and 9 3. if a health professional shortage areas score is not available for 10 the applicant's intended practice location then the department shall 11 attempt to estimate one based on the same discipline specific criteria 12 used by the health resources and services administration to generate a 13 health professional shortage areas score. 14 § 2999-ww. Announcement of results. All applicants granted admission 15 to the program will be notified by email and United States mail within 16 twenty-one business days following the conclusion of the quarter during 17 which their application was received. Following the announcement of 18 awards, applicants may request a debriefing from the department no later 19 than ten calendar days from the date of the announcement. This debrief- 20 ing will be limited to the positive and negative aspects of the specific 21 applicant's application. In the event unsuccessful applicants wish to 22 protest their results they must follow the protest procedures estab- 23 lished by the office of the state comptroller in effect at the time 24 their protest is entered. 25 § 2999-xx. Payments and default. Total annual payments shall be 26 disbursed in equal amounts on a monthly basis. 27 1. In the event of default by a participating professional, within one 28 year of defaulting the participating professional shall repay the state 29 of New York the greater of either thirty-one thousand dollars, or the 30 value of the past seven months of loan payments made by the state on 31 behalf of the participating professional. The outstanding balance after 32 one year shall accrue interest at a rate equal to that owed on underpay- 33 ments of New York state income tax. Uncollectable amounts will be 34 referred to the New York state attorney general's office for possible 35 legal action. 36 2. Where default results from an action made by the department the 37 participating professional will not be penalized. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 39 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 40 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 41 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 42 on or before such effective date.