Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB814 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Watson S.B. No. 814
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 12, 2009; March 4, 2009, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
4	4	May 4, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 4, 2009, sent
6	6	to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 814 By: Duncan
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to physician education, including repayment assistance
13	13	for certain physician education loans and requirements for family
14	14	practice residency programs.
15	15	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
16	16	SECTION 1. Section 61.532, Education Code, is amended to
17	17	read as follows:
18	18	Sec. 61.532. ELIGIBILITY. (a) To be eligible to receive
19	19	repayment assistance, a physician must apply to the coordinating
20	20	board and have completed at least one year of medical practice:
21	21	(1) in private practice in an economically depressed
22	22	or rural medically underserved area of the state;
23	23	(2) for one of the following state agencies:
24	24	(A) the [Texas] Department of State Health
25	25	Services;
26	26	(B) the [Texas] Department of Aging and
27	27	Disability Services [Mental Health and Mental Retardation];
28	28	(C) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
29	29	[Corrections]; or
30	30	(D) the Texas Youth Commission; [or]
31	31	(3) for an approved family practice residency training
32	32	program established under Subchapter I as a clinical faculty member
33	33	and have completed training in an approved family practice
34	34	residency training program on or after July 1, 1994; or
35	35	(4) in primary care or in a medical specialty of acute
36	36	physician shortage, as determined by the coordinating board in
37	37	consultation with the Department of State Health Services, and in:
38	38	(A) a hospital or clinic with a patient
39	39	population of whom at least 50 percent are uninsured or receive
40	40	Medicaid; or
41	41	(B) a public hospital, as defined by Section
42	42	61.002, Health and Safety Code.
43	43	(b) The coordinating board may by rule provide for repayment
44	44	assistance on a pro rata basis for physicians practicing as
45	45	described by Subsection (a)(2), (3), or (4) on a part-time basis
46	46	[for an approved family practice residency training program
47	47	established under Subchapter I of this chapter or a state agency
48	48	specified in Subsection (a) of this section].
49	49	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 61.535, Education Code,
50	50	is amended to read as follows:
51	51	(a) The coordinating board shall deliver any repayment made
52	52	under this subchapter in a lump sum payable:
53	53	(1) to both the [lender and the] physician and the
54	54	lender or other holder of the loan; or
55	55	(2) on behalf of the physician, directly to the lender
56	56	or other holder of the loan[, in accordance with federal law].
57	57	SECTION 3. Section 61.536, Education Code, is amended to
58	58	read as follows:
59	59	Sec. 61.536. ADVISORY COMMITTEES. The coordinating board
60	60	may:
61	61	(1) appoint advisory committees from outside the
62	62	board's membership to assist the board in performing its duties
63	63	under this subchapter; and
64	64	(2) request the assistance of the Department of State
65	65	Health Services and the Family Practice Residency Advisory
66	66	Committee in performing those duties.
67	67	SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 61.537, Education Code,
68	68	is amended to read as follows:
69	69	(a) The coordinating board shall adopt rules necessary for
70	70	the administration of this subchapter, including rules [a rule]
71	71	that:
72	72	(1) provide for the commissioner of higher education
73	73	to set an appropriate [sets a] maximum amount of repayment
74	74	assistance that may be received by a physician in one year, except
75	75	that the maximum amount of repayment assistance that may be
76	76	received in one year by a physician who establishes eligibility
77	77	under Section 61.532(a) may not exceed $35,000;
78	78	(2) authorize [and a rule that authorizes] the
79	79	Department of State Health Services [Family Practice Residency
80	80	Advisory Committee] to establish priorities among eligible
81	81	physicians for repayment assistance, by considering:
82	82	(A) [taking into account] the degree of physician
83	83	shortage;
84	84	(B) [,] geographic locations;
85	85	(C) [,] whether the physician is or will be
86	86	providing service in an economically depressed or rural [a]
87	87	medically underserved area or service as described by Section
88	88	61.532(a)(4);[,] and
89	89	(D) other criteria the department [committee]
90	90	considers appropriate; and
91	91	(3) administer the program under this subchapter in a
92	92	manner that maximizes any matching funds available through the
93	93	National Health Service Corps program of the United States
94	94	Department of Health and Human Services.
95	95	SECTION 5. Section 61.539, Education Code, is amended by
96	96	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
97	97	follows:
98	98	(b) The amount set aside shall be transferred to the
99	99	comptroller of public accounts to be maintained in the state
100	100	treasury for the sole purpose of repayment of student loans of a
101	101	physician serving:
102	102	(1) in a designated state agency;
103	103	(2) [or] in an area of this state that is economically
104	104	depressed or that is a medically underserved area or health
105	105	professional shortage area, as designated by the United States
106	106	Department of Health and Human Services, that has a current
107	107	shortage of physicians; or
108	108	(3) as described by Section 61.532(a)(4).
109	109	(b-1) Section 403.095, Government Code, does not apply to
110	110	the amount set aside by this section.
111	111	SECTION 6. Subsection (b), Section 51.918, Education Code,
112	112	is amended to read as follows:
113	113	(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall:
114	114	(1) encourage and coordinate the creation or expansion
115	115	of a rural preceptor program among medical schools, teaching
116	116	hospitals, nursing schools, and schools of allied health sciences;
117	117	and
118	118	(2) require family practice residency programs to
119	119	provide an opportunity for residents to have a one-month rotation
120	120	through:
121	121	(A) a rural setting; [and]
122	122	(B) a public health setting; or
123	123	(C) an oncology setting.
124	124	SECTION 7. As soon as practicable after the effective date
125	125	of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
126	126	adopt rules necessary to administer Subchapter J, Chapter 61,
127	127	Education Code, as amended by this Act.
128	128	SECTION 8. This Act does not make an appropriation. A
129	129	provision in this Act that creates a new governmental program,
130	130	creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental
131	131	entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the
132	132	legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the
133	133	provision.
134	134	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
135	135	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
136	136	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
137	137	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
138	138	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
139	139	* * * * *