81R3847 KEL-D
By: Chisum H.B. No. 4324
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to repayment assistance for certain physician education
loans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.532, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.532. ELIGIBILITY. (a) To be eligible to receive
repayment assistance, a physician must apply to the coordinating
board, have graduated from a medical school of an institution of
higher education, and have completed at least one year of medical
practice:
(1) in private practice in an economically depressed
or rural medically underserved area of the state;
(2) for one of the following state agencies:
(A) the [Texas] Department of State Health
Services;
(B) the [Texas] Department of Aging and
Disability Services [Mental Health and Mental Retardation];
(C) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
[Corrections]; or
(D) the Texas Youth Commission; [or]
(3) for an approved family practice residency training
program established under Subchapter I as a clinical faculty member
and have completed training in an approved family practice
residency training program on or after July 1, 1994; or
(4) in primary care or in a medical specialty of acute
physician shortage, as determined by the coordinating board in
consultation with the Department of State Health Services, and in:
(A) a hospital or clinic with a patient
population of whom at least 50 percent are uninsured or receive
Medicaid; or
(B) a public hospital, as defined by Section
61.002, Health and Safety Code.
(b) The coordinating board may by rule provide for repayment
assistance on a pro rata basis for physicians practicing as
described by Subsection (a)(2), (3), or (4) on a part-time basis
[for an approved family practice residency training program
established under Subchapter I of this chapter or a state agency
specified in Subsection (a) of this section].
SECTION 2. Section 61.537(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The coordinating board shall adopt rules necessary for
the administration of this subchapter, including rules [a rule]
that:
(1) set an appropriate [sets a] maximum amount of
repayment assistance that may be received by a physician in one
year, except that the maximum amount of repayment assistance that
may be received in one year by a physician who establishes
eligibility under Section 61.532(a)(4) may not exceed 33 percent of
the total amount of the physician's eligible loans under Section
61.534 or $35,000, whichever amount is less;
(2) authorize [and a rule that authorizes] the Family
Practice Residency Advisory Committee to establish priorities
among eligible physicians for repayment assistance, by
considering:
(A) [taking into account] the degree of physician
shortage;
(B) [,] geographic locations;
(C) [,] whether the physician is or will be
providing service in an economically depressed or rural [a]
medically underserved area or service as described by Section
61.532(a)(4);[,] and
(D) other criteria the committee considers
appropriate; and
(3) administer the program under this subchapter in a
manner that maximizes any matching funds available through the
National Health Service Corps program of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services.
SECTION 3. Section 61.539, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) The amount set aside shall be transferred to the
comptroller of public accounts to be maintained in the state
treasury for the sole purpose of repayment of student loans of a
physician serving:
(1) in a designated state agency;
(2) [or] in an area of this state that is economically
depressed or that is a medically underserved area or health
professional shortage area, as designated by the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, that has a current
shortage of physicians; or
(3) as described by Section 61.532(a)(4).
(b-1) Section 403.095, Government Code, does not apply to
the amount set aside by this section.
SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt rules necessary to administer Subchapter J, Chapter 61,
Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.