Bill Text: NY S06332 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Expands the regents physician loan forgiveness program to include dentists.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-25 - COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S06332 Detail]
Download: New_York-2009-S06332-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 6332 2009-2010 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E December 7, 2009 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KLEIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to including dentists in the regents physician loan forgiveness program THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 605 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 523 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 9. Regents physician AND DENTIST loan forgiveness program. Regents 5 physician AND DENTIST loan forgiveness awards shall be awarded annually 6 to physicians AND DENTISTS who agree to practice medicine OR DENTISTRY 7 in an area of New York state designated by the regents as having a shor- 8 tage of physicians OR DENTISTS. Such awards shall be classified and 9 allocated in accordance with regents rules. 10 a. Eligibility. (1) The applicant must be a resident of New York state 11 and licensed to practice medicine OR DENTISTRY. 12 (2) The applicant must have completed a professional residency program 13 within the five years immediately preceding the period for which the 14 first award would be granted, or be within two years of completion of an 15 accredited residency program in a primary care specialty designated in 16 short supply by the board of regents, OR BE WITHIN FIVE YEARS OF 17 COMPLETION OF A DENTAL DEGREE PROGRAM. 18 (3) The applicant must agree to practice medicine OR DENTISTRY in an 19 area in New York state designated as having a shortage of physicians OR 20 DENTISTS. The regents, after consultation with the commissioners of 21 health, correctional services, mental health, and mental retardation and 22 developmental disabilities, shall designate those regions and facilities 23 of New York state which have a shortage of physicians OR DENTISTS for 24 the purposes of this section and establish relative rankings thereof. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02303-01-9 S. 6332 2 1 b. Selection. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner 2 of health, shall establish criteria for the selection of participants in 3 the program. An applicant must satisfy at least one of the criteria 4 established. A priority shall be accorded to any applicant who is 5 completing the second year of the service requirement and is reapplying 6 for a new award. The criteria shall include but not be limited to the 7 following: 8 (i) reapplication for a new award by a person who is completing the 9 second year of a service requirement; 10 (ii) receipt of specific training in a primary care specialty or 11 obstetrics, determined by the regents to be in short supply; 12 (iii) receipt of specific training or experience in serving a shortage 13 area; 14 (iv) receipt of specific training or experience matching a specific 15 medical OR DENTAL need existing in a shortage area; and 16 (v) agreement pursuant to [subdivision (d)] PARAGRAPH D of this 17 [section] SUBDIVISION to practice in an area determined by the regents 18 to have a severe shortage of primary care physician OR PRIMARY CARE 19 DENTIST services. 20 c. Notification. (1) The commissioner shall then forward approved 21 applications to the president and shall notify unsuccessful applicants; 22 (2) The president shall verify the approved applicants': 23 (i) eligibility; and 24 (ii) total undergraduate and medical OR DENTAL school student expense; 25 (3) The president shall notify applicants of their award entitlement. 26 d. Service requirement. Within such time as the commissioner shall by 27 regulation provide, a recipient of an award shall have agreed to prac- 28 tice medicine OR DENTISTRY in a specific area designated as having a 29 shortage of physicians OR DENTISTS for a period of twelve months for 30 each annual payment to be received by the recipient. Physicians AND 31 DENTISTS in training who receive an award shall not receive credit 32 toward their required service for time spent in a training program. In 33 no case shall the total number of months of service required be less 34 than twenty-four. The president shall, in consultation with the commis- 35 sioner, develop and secure from each award recipient, a written agree- 36 ment to: 37 (i) practice medicine OR DENTISTRY in the designated shortage area; 38 (ii) to accept Medicare [and], Medicaid, CHILD HEALTH AND FAMILY 39 HEALTH PLUS payments; and 40 (iii) to provide thirty-five hours per week of direct patient care in 41 the designated shortage area being served, or to the designated popu- 42 lation being served. 43 If a recipient fails to comply fully with such conditions, the president 44 shall be entitled to receive from such recipient an amount to be deter- 45 mined by the formula: 46 A = 2B (t-s) 47 ----- 48 t 49 in which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover; "B" is 50 the sum of all payments made to the recipient and the interest on such 51 amount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid they 52 were loans bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t" is the 53 total number of months in the recipient's period of obligated services; 54 and "s" is the number of months of service actually rendered by the 55 recipient. Any amount which the president is entitled to recover under 56 this paragraph shall be paid within the five-year period beginning on S. 6332 3 1 the date that the recipient failed to comply with this service condi- 2 tion. Nothing in the written agreement shall affect the terms of employ- 3 ment of the individual who shall negotiate, separate and apart from the 4 program, his or her salary and other forms of employment with an agency, 5 institution or a program in which he or she shall be employed. 6 Any obligation to comply with such provisions as outlined in this 7 section shall be cancelled upon the death of the recipient. The commis- 8 sioner shall make regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of 9 any financial obligation which would involve extreme hardship. 10 e. Reporting. A recipient of an award shall report annually to the New 11 York state higher education services corporation, and the department of 12 health on forms prescribed by the president, as to the performance of 13 the required services, commencing with the calendar year in which the 14 recipient begins to practice medicine OR DENTISTRY in a shortage area 15 and continuing until the recipient shall have completed, or it is deter- 16 mined that he or she shall not be obligated to complete, the required 17 services. If the recipient shall fail to file any report required [here- 18 under] PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH within thirty days of written notice 19 to the recipient, mailed to the address shown on the last application 20 for an award or last report filed, whichever is later, the president of 21 the corporation may impose a fine of up to one thousand dollars. The 22 president shall have the discretion to waive the filing of a report, 23 excuse a delay in filing or a failure to file a report, or waive or 24 reduce any fine imposed for good cause shown. 25 f. Other awards. Award recipients shall be eligible to apply for one 26 additional award. 27 S 2. Section 677 of the education law, as added by chapter 31 of the 28 laws of 1985, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 439 of the laws of 29 1988, is amended to read as follows: 30 S 677. Regents physician AND DENTIST loan forgiveness program. 1. 31 Number and certification. Eighty regents physician AND DENTIST loan 32 forgiveness awards shall be awarded each year. Such awards shall be 33 allocated as provided in article thirteen of this [chapter] TITLE to 34 eligible physicians AND DENTISTS as certified to the president by the 35 commissioner. 36 2. Calculation of award amounts. Each award shall consist of two 37 consecutive annual loan forgiveness payments. Each of the annual 38 payments shall be for an amount equal to the total of undergraduate and 39 medical OR DENTAL school student loan expense or ten thousand dollars 40 whichever is less. The president shall be responsible for calculating 41 the dollar amount of each award that [eligibile] ELIGIBLE candidates may 42 receive from this program. For the purposes of this section, student 43 loan expense shall mean the cumulative total of the annual student loans 44 covering the cost of attendance at an undergraduate institution and/or 45 medical OR DENTAL school. Interest paid or due on student loans that an 46 applicant has taken out for use in paying for such undergraduate and/or 47 medical OR DENTAL education shall be considered eligible for reimburse- 48 ment under this program. 49 3. Award disbursement. a. Annual award disbursements shall be the 50 responsibility of the president and shall occur prior to the beginning 51 of each of the required terms of service as specified in the service 52 contract. The board of trustees of the higher education services corpo- 53 ration shall adopt rules and regulations regarding criteria for deter- 54 mining successful completion of the service contract and any appeal 55 process that may be required to implement this paragraph upon recommen- 56 dation of the president in consultation with the commissioner. S. 6332 4 1 b. The disbursement of the second annual award shall be dependent upon 2 successful completion of the first year requirement of the service 3 contract as defined by the president, as well as other criteria set 4 forth in this section. 5 S 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 6 the date on which it shall have become a law, provided that the amend- 7 ments to subdivision 9 of section 605 of the education law, made by 8 section one of this act, and to section 677 of the education law, made 9 by section two of this act shall not affect the termination of such 10 provisions of the education law pursuant to section 17 of chapter 31 of 11 the laws of 1985, as amended, and shall terminate therewith.