BILL NUMBER: AB 2216INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta FEBRUARY 18, 2016 An act to add Section 127941 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to health workforce development. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2216, as introduced, Bonta. Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education: grant program. Existing federal and state laws contain programs that authorize loan forgiveness to physicians, dentists, and individuals enrolled in a postsecondary institution studying medicine or dentistry who agree to practice in medically or dentally underserved areas. The Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program was created by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for the purpose of awarding grants to teaching health centers for the purpose of establishing new accredited or expanded primary care residency programs. This bill would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the State Department of Health Care Services to provide technical assistance as follows: (1) to support the expansion of primary care residency programs at THCGME programs, (2) to THCGME programs in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics to support the maximizing of federal financial participation, and (3) to Medi-Cal providers, including FQHCs, community mental health centers, rural health clinics, Indian Health Service or tribal clinics, and Title X family planning clinics interested in establishing an accredited primary care residency program. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 127941 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 127941. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase the number of primary care physicians in California serving underserved communities by enacting incentives to support the sustainability and expansion of current federal Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) programs (42 U.S.C. Section 293l-1), for individuals who participate in, or were recipients of, teaching health center development grants in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), community mental health centers, rural health clinics, Indian Health Service or tribal clinics, and Title X family planning clinics (Subchapter VII (commencing with Section 300) of Chapter 6A of Title 42 of the United States Code). (b) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the State Department of Health Care Services shall provide technical assistance to support the expansion of primary care residency programs at THCGME programs. (c) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the State Department of Health Care Services shall provide technical assistance to THCGME programs in FQHCs and rural health clinics to support the maximizing of federal financial participation. (d) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the State Department of Health Care Services shall provide technical assistance to Medi-Cal providers, including FQHCs, community mental health centers, rural health clinics, Indian Health Service or tribal clinics, and Title X family planning clinics interested in establishing an accredited primary care residency program.