ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 2017	By:	Cox, Pittman, Ritze, Cannaday and Sherrer of the House

			   and

		Crain of the Senate

An Act relating to public health and safety; amending Sections 2 and 3, Chapter 292, O.S.L. 2010 (63 O.S. Supp. 2010, Sections 1-2721 and 1-2722), which relate to the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program; removing the maximum number of physicians eligible to participate in Program; modifying when awards are made payable; modifying maximum amount of disbursement; providing that maximum amount shall be established by the Physician Manpower Training Commission; modifying eligibility requirements for physicians participating in Program; permitting Physician Manpower Training Commission to utilize excess amounts to fund certain residency programs; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.

SUBJECT:  Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     Section 2, Chapter 292, O.S.L. 2010 (63 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 1-2721), is amended to read as follows:

Section 1-2721.  A.  1.  The Physician Manpower Training Commission shall administer the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program.

2.  For the purposes of this section, “primary care physicians” shall mean physicians practicing in family medicine, geriatrics, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, or emergency medicine.

3.  The Program, depending upon and limited to available funding, shall provide educational loan repayment assistance for up to six Oklahoma licensed primary care physicians per year who agree to establish a practice in a community located in Oklahoma approved by the Commission.

4.  Each award shall be for a contracted period and shall be distributed to the participant by drafts made payable to the participant on an annual basis at the end of each contract year with disbursements not to exceed Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per year for a five-year-period an amount to be established annually by the Commission.  Prior to any disbursement, the Commission shall certify and properly review reports submitted by the participating physician detailing performance of activities in accordance with the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program.

5.  At the conclusion of an initial two-year period, the Commission shall review the performance in the Program of the participating physician and determine whether an award may be granted for an additional three (3) years pursuant to rules promulgated by the Commission.

B.  The physicians entering the Program each year shall agree to provide medical care and services in areas designated by the Commission to provide medical care and services to Medicaid recipients as authorized by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.  

C.  A physician shall be eligible to participate in the loan repayment program if the physician:

1.  Is licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma; and

2.  Is a new medical school primary care residency graduate.  Preference will be given to graduates of the primary care residency programs affiliated with the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and, the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and the teaching hospitals affiliated with both schools of medicine; or

3.  Is a current practicing physician and has met criteria established by the Commission.

D.  The physician shall agree to practice in the designated need areas identified by the Commission for no fewer than two (2) consecutive years as a condition of the loan repayment.  If the physician does not fulfill the service obligation, the Commission may collect from the participant the entire amount of loan payments made under the Program plus interest.

E.  The Commission shall present a report on the operation of the Program to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate within one (1) month of the beginning of each regular session of the Legislature, including but not limited to the progress made in accomplishing the goal of the Program.

SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     Section 3, Chapter 292, O.S.L. 2010 (63 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 1-2722), is amended to read as follows:

Section 1-2722.  The amount of the award of educational loan repayment assistance shall not exceed any maximum or minimum amount as promulgated by rules of the Physician Manpower Training Commission pursuant to the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program.  The actual amount of the award shall be based upon a determination of:

1.  Actual funds available to the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program for expenditure; and

2.  The existing student loan indebtedness of the participating physician.

SECTION 3.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-2723 of Title 63, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A.  The Physician Manpower Training Commission shall have the option of utilizing available funding in excess of the amount necessary to fund the Oklahoma Medical Loan Repayment Program described in Section 1-2721 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes to fund new or expanded primary care residency programs in rural and underserved areas of the state.  Such new or expanded primary care residency program funding shall include but not be limited to:

1.  Payments to hospitals desiring to establish new primary care residency programs.  Such payments shall be made to cover the costs of salaries, benefits and educational costs of residents in training at the facility;

2.  Payments to hospitals with existing primary residency programs desiring to expand the number of residents participating in those programs.  Such payments shall be made to cover the costs of salaries, benefits and educational costs of residents in training at the facility; or

3.  Payments of stipends to residents of new or existing primary care residency programs in exchange for a commitment to serve in a rural or underserved area of the state as designated by the Commission.

B.  Provisions of this section shall be subject to the promulgated rules of the Commission. 

SECTION 4.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2011.

Passed the House of Representatives the 14th day of March, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the House of
	Representatives

Passed the Senate the 4th day of April, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the Senate