COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH OVERSIGHT DIVISION FISCAL NOTE L.R. No.:3968H.01I Bill No.:HB 2133 Subject:Tax Credits; Health Care Professionals; Department of Health and Senior Services; Department of Revenue Type:Original Date:April 5, 2022Bill Summary:Establishes a tax credit for primary care physicians working and residing in rural counties. FISCAL SUMMARY ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUNDFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025 General Revenue Fund $0 More than or Less than ($7,053,543) More than or Less than ($7,063,431) Total Estimated Net Effect on General Revenue $0 More than or Less than ($7,053,543) More than or Less than ($7,063,431) ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON OTHER STATE FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Total Estimated Net Effect on Other State Funds $0$0$0 Numbers within parentheses: () indicate costs or losses. L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 2 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Total Estimated Net Effect on All Federal Funds $0$0$0 ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)FUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Total Estimated Net Effect on FTE 000 ☒ Estimated Net Effect (expenditures or reduced revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any of the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act. ☐ Estimated Net Effect (savings or increased revenues) expected to exceed $250,000 in any of the three fiscal years after implementation of the act or at full implementation of the act. ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDSFUND AFFECTEDFY 2023FY 2024FY 2025Local Government$0$0$0 L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 3 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD FISCAL ANALYSIS ASSUMPTION Officials from the Department of Revenue (DOR) assume this proposal, starting January 1, 2023, allows for a primary care physician that practices in a county of less than 35,000 inhabitants to receive a tax credit equal to $15,000. The tax credit received is not refundable, transferrable or sellable, nor can the credit be carried forward. This tax credit does not have a cap. The qualified physician must be a primary care physician and practice medicine in a rural county. Verification of these requirements would need to be done prior to the issuance of the tax credits. Verification and certification processes are usually handled by other agencies. Once another agency verifies a person's qualifications, they are given a receipt that is attached to the tax return for DOR to process. Requiring DOR to do the verification is outside their normal administrative scope. DOR assumes in order to do this verification they will need 2 Associate Customer Service Representatives ($26,328) for the review and processing. Per this proposal, physicians practicing in 33 counties in Missouri while the physicians in the rest of the counties may be eligible. Information from the Department of Commerce and Insurance shows that 29,080 physicians are actively paying licensing fees to them and an additional 1,613 assistant physicians are paying the fees. A report in 2015 on the physician workforce in Missouri by the Department of Health and Senior Services, showed the average salary of a family practice physician was $150,000 and the following number of physicians by their primary specialty. L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 4 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD Number of Physicians Practicing in Missouri per Primary Specialty Primary Specialty Internal Medicine3,483Family/General Medicine2,348Pediatrics1,588Emergency Medicine966Anesthesiology 958Radiology858General Surgery853Psychiatry828Obstetrics/Gynecology819Cardiology568Orthopedic456Ophthalmology392Neurology385Oncology264Otolaryngololy252Urology220Dermatology218Physical Medicine/ Rehab171Plastic Surgery146Neurological Surgery144Endocrinology95Allergy/Immunology81Geriatrics26Medical Genetics11 A more recent report (2018) by the Robert Graham Center of Policy Studies in Family Medicine stated Missouri has 3,716 primary care physicians of which 1,548 are in family medicine. The rest of the group is made up of physicians that specialize in internal medicine, pediatrics, general practice or geriatrics. This proposal does not indicate which specialties will be allowed to claim they are a “primary care physician” under this proposal. For the purpose of the fiscal note, they show a range from the 1,548 family care physicians to the 3,716 primary care physicians receiving this credit annually. Additionally, they are unable to determine which of these physicians are in a rural county. Therefore, this impact may be overstated. L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 5 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD Given the report by DHSS indicates the average salary was $150,000 in 2015, the Department used its internal Income Tax Model that contains confidential taxpayer data to estimate the average amount of tax liability a person has if their income is $150,000-$200,000. The average tax liability is $7,000. Since the average amount of the tax liability is $7,000 and the credit is not refundable or can be carried over, it is essential a deduction. DOR used the $7,000 to calculate the impact. FY LowHigh2023(Less than $10,836,000)(Less than $26,012,000)2024(Less than $10,836,000)(Less than $26,012,000)2025(Less than $10,836,000)(Less than $26,012,000) This will be a loss of revenue to the state starting with the filing of the tax returns on January 1, 2024 (FY 2024). This would be a new income tax credit and it would be added to the MO-TC and information about the credit would be added to their website and changes would be needed in their individual income tax system. DOR notes the costs to update these items is $3,596. Oversight notes that DOR stated the estimates could be “well overstated”, because the statistical analysis (shown above) did not differentiate between rural and suburban workforce. Oversight notes the research posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021, shows there were 5,180 licensed primary care physicians in Missouri with median salary of $203,740. According to the recent article in USDA - Economic Research Services - 2021, Missouri covers 68,886 square miles, with a 2020 estimated population of 6,154,913 people – 1,509,860 living in rural areas (USDA-ERS). Additionally, according to the recent statistics in Missouri Workforce Update - Rural Information HUB - 2018, there are 47 to 52 primary care physicians for every 100,000 rural residents in Missouri. Oversight estimates there were between 710 ((1,509,860 /100,000) *47) to could exceed 785 ((1,509,860 /100,000) *52) licensed physician working in rural Missouri at any given time between 2015 to 2018 who would qualify for given the tax credit under the proposal. Oversight notes the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) provided additional data regarding the rural primary care physician workforce as follow: FY2019 Rural Primary Care Providers (PCP) FY2020 Rural PCP FY2021 Rural PCP FY2022 Rural PCP Note: Primary Care includes General Family Medicine, General Practice, General Internal Medicine and General Pediatrics. L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 6 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD Using DOR’s average amount of the tax liability of $7,000 where the credit is not refundable or can be carried over and DHSS totals, thus amount to the essential credit deduction, Oversight calculated the impact as follows: High Number of Physicians 1,002 (MO - DHSS) Average Amt. of Tax Credit utilized $ 7,000 Total Tax Credits awarded $ 7,014,000 Officials from the Office of Administration – Budget & Planning assume that beginning with tax year 2023, primary care physicians that practice and reside in a rural county may receive a tax credit of up to $15,000. The tax credit is not refundable; it cannot be sold, transferred, or assigned; and it cannot be carried forward or back. A rural county is defined as any county with a population less than 35,000 residents. B&P notes that there are 82 counties in Missouri with populations less than the 35,000 limit. B&P notes that based on medical information, the term “primary care physician” includes internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, and OB-GYNs. Based on data published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2020 there were 9,571 primary care physicians practicing in Missouri, of which 601 practiced in a qualifying rural county. In addition, based on available research, B&P determined that the average annual salary for a primary care physician is $181,142 in Missouri and that rural and urban physicians earn similar levels of income. B&P notes that because this tax credit is both non-refundable and is not allowed to be carried forward to future tax years, the credit is limited by a taxpayer’s tax liability in any given year. Based on 2018 tax year data, the most current complete year available, the average net Missouri tax liability for individuals making $181,000 was approximately $7,000. Therefore, B&P estimates that this proposal could reduce TSR and GR by $4,221,317 (601 physicians x $7,024 net tax liability) annually beginning in FY24. B&P notes that while this tax credit would be available for tax year 2023, it will not impact revenues until FY24 when income tax returns are filed. Oversight for purpose of this fiscal note, will use the DHSS total workforce totals and show impact that could be lesser or greater of $7,014,000 to the general revenue in the fiscal note. (The impact is dependent on the annual workforce and wages paid) 101499010031002Average 1002 L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 7 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD Oversight notes that the DOR also stated the Department would need minimum of 2 additional FTEs in order to comply with the proposal. However, Oversight notes the DOR estimates are potentially overestimated. Therefore, Oversight will reflect 1 FTE (Customer Service Representatives at $26,328 annually) for the review and processing in the fiscal note beginning FY 2024 for 6 Mo. and full impact in FY 2025. (Oversight bases the DOR’s FTE need on DHSS totals) Officials from the Department of Commerce and Insurance and the Department of Health and Senior Services both assume the proposal will have no fiscal impact on their organization. Oversight does not have any information to the contrary. Therefore, Oversight will reflect a zero impact in the fiscal note for these agencies. Rule Promulgation Officials from the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules assume this proposal is not anticipated to cause a fiscal impact beyond its current appropriation. Officials from the Office of the Secretary of State (SOS) note many bills considered by the General Assembly include provisions allowing or requiring agencies to submit rules and regulations to implement the act. The SOS is provided with core funding to handle a certain amount of normal activity resulting from each year's legislative session. The fiscal impact for this fiscal note to the SOS for Administrative Rules is less than $5,000. The SOS recognizes that this is a small amount and does not expect that additional funding would be required to meet these costs. However, the SOS also recognizes that many such bills may be passed by the General Assembly in a given year and that collectively the costs may be in excess of what the office can sustain with its core budget. Therefore, the SOS reserves the right to request funding for the cost of supporting administrative rules requirements should the need arise based on a review of the finally approved bills signed by the governor. L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 8 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD FISCAL IMPACT – State GovernmentFY 2023FY 2024 (6 Mo.) FY 2025GENERAL REVENUECosts – DOR (p.6) Personnel Service$0($13,164)($26,591) Fringe Benefits$0($11,072)($22,239) Expense & Equipment$0($13,307)($491)Total Costs - $0($37,543)($49,321)FTE Change0 FTE1 FTE1 FTECost – Section 135.1140 – Family Physician Tax Credits (p.6) $0 More than or less than ($7,014,00) More than or less than ($7,014,00) ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE $0 More than or Less than ($7,051,543) More than or Less than ($7,063,431) Estimated Net FTE Change on General Revenue 0 FTE1 FTE1 FTEFISCAL IMPACT – Local GovernmentFY 2023 (10 Mo.) FY 2024FY 2025$0$0$0 FISCAL IMPACT – Small Business No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal. FISCAL DESCRIPTION For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, a primary care physician, as defined in the bill, that practices and resides in a county in Missouri with fewer than 35,000 inhabitants will be allowed to claim a tax credit against the taxpayer's state tax liability in an amount equal to $15,000. In no event will the total amount of a tax credit authorized under this bill exceed a taxpayer's income tax liability for the tax year for which such credit is claimed. No tax credit claimed under this section shall be carried forward to any subsequent tax year. The tax credit will not be L.R. No. 3968H.01I Bill No. HB 2133 Page 9 of April 5, 2022 BB:LR:OD assigned, transferred, sold, or conveyed. This bill will automatically sunset six years after the effective date. This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space. SOURCES OF INFORMATION Office of Administration – Budget & Planning Department of Commerce and Insurance Department of Revenue Office of the Secretary of State Joint Committee on Administrative Rules Department of Health and Senior Services Julie MorffRoss StropeDirectorAssistant DirectorApril 5, 2022April 5, 2022