OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-449
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
OF PHYSICIANS IN THE STATE.
Primary Analyst: SB 4/11/22
Contributing Analyst(s): CP, JS
Reviewer: JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Higher Ed., Off. GF - Cost Significant Significant
Higher Ed., Off. GF - Cost 90,000 90,000
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 36,477 36,477
UConn Health Ctr. Various - Savings Potential Potential
Note: Various=Various; GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill results in a significant cost to the Office of Higher Education
(OHE) associated with the creation of a physician student loan
reimbursement grant program, starting in FY 23.
The bill establishes a student loan reimbursement program for people
who are employed in-state as licensed physicians and meet various
graduation and other requirements. Eligible participants are to receive
reimbursement grants of 20% of the physician’s federal and state
student loan balance per year, for five years. It is estimated that the
median student loan burden, of a physician, upon graduation is
approximately $161,000. This would equate to a loan reimbursement
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 40.53% of payroll in FY 23. 2022SB-00449-R000434-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
award in the first year of up to $32,200. If 50 eligible applicants were to
receive such an award, the cost to OHE would exceed $1.6 million for
their first year of awards.
OHE does not currently have the funds available to operate this
program. The awards result in a significant cost to OHE; the scope of
the costs is dependent upon the number of approved applicants and
their student loan balance reimbursements awarded annually.
OHE does not currently have the staff available to operate the
program and would require one full-time program administrator,
resulting in annual salary expenses of approximately $90,000 and
corresponding fringe benefit costs of approximately $36,477.
The bill may have a positive fiscal impact to the University of
Connecticut (UConn) Health Center, beginning FY 23. It is possible that
the loan reimbursement program will make Connecticut medical
schools and job opportunities more attractive, compared to options in
other states. In the 2020-21 academic year, substantial shares of UConn's
resident graduates and fellowship graduates left Connecticut to practice
elsewhere. To the extent that the bill results in more qualified applicants
for UConn Health physician vacancies, producing a quicker recruitment
process for revenue-generating positions, then higher revenues may
result. The bill may also improve physician retention, resulting in lower
recruitment expenses (a savings), but this impact is anticipated to be
minimal because few UConn Health physicians have left for out-of-state
positions in recent years.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to changes in physicians' student loan
debt levels, the amount appropriated for the program, and the
availability of similar programs in other states.