Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas
2 94th General Assembly A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1545
4
5 By: Representative L. Johnson
6
7 For An Act To Be Entitled
8 AN ACT CONCERNING RURAL MEDICAL PRACTICE STUDENT
9 LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS; TO REDEFINE "MEDICALLY
10 UNDERSERVED" FOR PURPOSES OF THE ARKANSAS RURAL
11 MEDICAL PRACTICE STUDENT LOAN AND SCHOLARSHIP
12 PROGRAM; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
13
14
15 Subtitle
16 CONCERNING RURAL MEDICAL PRACTICE STUDENT
17 LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS.
18
19
20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
21
22 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6-81-701 is amended to read as follows:
23 6-81-701. Definitions.
24 As used in this subchapter:
25 (1) “Medically underserved population” means an area in Arkansas
26 that the Arkansas Rural Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board
27 determines has unmet needs for medical services due to factors, including
28 without limitation:
29 (A) The ratio of primary care physicians to population;
30 (B) The infant mortality rate;
31 (C) The percentage of:
32 (i) Population with incomes below the federal
33 poverty level, as it existed on January 1, 2017;
34 (ii) Resident individuals sixty (60) years of age
35 and older; and
36 (iii) Physicians sixty (60) years of age and older;
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1 (D) Accessibility within the area to primary care
2 medicine; and
3 (E) Other relevant criteria the board may deem necessary
4 for a determination of unmet needs for medical services the same as defined
5 in 42 U.S.C. § 254b, as in effect on January 1, 2024; and
6 (2) “Primary care medicine” means health care provided in one
7 (1) of the following areas of practice:
8 (A) Family medicine;
9 (B) General internal medicine;
10 (C) General internal medicine and pediatrics;
11 (D) General pediatrics;
12 (E) General obstetrics and gynecology;
13 (F) General surgery;
14 (G) Emergency medicine; and
15 (H) Geriatrics; and
16 (3) “Qualified rural community” means an area:
17 (A) With a population below twenty thousand (20,000)
18 according to the most recent federal census;
19 (B) That is at least twenty (20) miles from a city or town
20 with a population of more than twenty thousand (20,000) according to the most
21 recent federal census; and
22 (C) That is reasonably determined by the board to be
23 medically underserved.
24
25 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 6-81-702(a)(1), concerning the
26 establishment of the Arkansas Rural Medical Practice Student Loan and
27 Scholarship Board, is amended to read as follows:
28 (a)(1) There is established the Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved
29 Population Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board that shall
30 consist of eight (8) members appointed by the Governor for three-year terms.
31
32 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 6-81-702(b), concerning the duties of the
33 Arkansas Rural Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board, is
34 amended to read as follows:
35 (b) The board shall:
36 (1) Promulgate reasonable rules necessary to execute the
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1 provisions of this subchapter, including rules addressing the requirements
2 and in conformance with the requirements of the Arkansas Administrative
3 Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., and other appropriate state laws in
4 promulgating and placing rules into effect:
5 (A) For a health professions shortage area;
6 (B) To For a community with a medically underserved
7 population to become a qualified rural community eligible to participate in
8 the Rural Arkansas Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student
9 Loan and Scholarship Program or the Community Match Rural Physician
10 Recruitment Program; and
11 (C) For a procedure to resolve disputes arising out of or
12 relating to a rural medically underserved population practice or community
13 match loan or income incentive contract;
14 (2) Prescribe forms for and regulate the submission of loan
15 applications;
16 (3) Determine eligibility of applicants;
17 (4) Allow or disallow loan or income incentive applications;
18 (5) Contract, increase, decrease, terminate, and otherwise
19 regulate all loan and income incentive disbursements for these purposes,
20 receipts for their repayment, and convert loans to scholarships or grants, as
21 applicable;
22 (6) Manage, operate, and control all funds and property
23 appropriated or otherwise contributed for this purpose;
24 (7) Accept gifts, grants, bequests, or devises and apply them as
25 a part of this program the Arkansas Medically Underserved Population Medical
26 Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Program;
27 (8) Sue and be sued as the board; and
28 (9) Accept moneys from federal programs that may be used for
29 furtherance of the purposes of this subchapter.
30
31 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 6-81-702(d), concerning the administration
32 of the Arkansas Rural Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Program,
33 is amended to read as follows:
34 (d) The board shall administer the Rural Arkansas Medically
35 Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Program
36 and the Community Match Rural Physician Recruitment Program.
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1
2 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 6-81-703(a), concerning loan applications
3 for students accepted for admission to or enrolled in good standing in the
4 College of Medicine of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is
5 amended to read as follows:
6 (a)(1) Any student accepted for admission to or enrolled in good
7 standing in the College of Medicine of the University of Arkansas for Medical
8 Sciences in studies leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine who is a bona
9 fide resident of Arkansas may apply for a loan under this subchapter on forms
10 prescribed by the Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical
11 Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board.
12 (2) An individual who is not already contracted to practice in a
13 qualified rural area as required under this subchapter is eligible for a loan
14 under this subchapter if he or she otherwise meets the requirements for a
15 loan.
16
17 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code §§ 6-81-704 - 6-81-708 are amended to read as
18 follows:
19 6-81-704. Medical students — Investigation after application.
20 When a rural medically underserved population medical practice loan
21 application is filed with the Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population
22 Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board, the board shall examine
23 the application, investigate the ability, character, and qualifications of
24 the applicant, and investigate the financial standing of the applicant or his
25 or her parents to determine whether the applicant is in need of a loan to
26 advance his or her medical education.
27
28 6-81-705. Medical students — Purpose of loan.
29 Rural Medically underserved population medical practice loans provided
30 for in this subchapter shall be made for the sole purpose of paying the
31 applicant's tuition, maintenance, and educational expenses and the necessary
32 living expenses of his or her dependents while the applicant is enrolled in a
33 program of medical education as described in this subchapter.
34
35 6-81-706. Medical students — Eligibility for initial and renewal
36 loans.
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1 (a) The Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical
2 Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board may make rural medical practice
3 loans to the applicant, each rural medical practice loan being expressly made
4 subject to the provisions of § 6-81-708(c) and § 6-81-710, if it finds that:
5 (1) The applicant is a bona fide resident of Arkansas;
6 (2) The applicant has been accepted for admission to or is
7 enrolled in good standing in the College of Medicine of the University of
8 Arkansas for Medical Sciences in studies leading to the degree of Doctor of
9 Medicine;
10 (3) The applicant is enrolled in a medically underserved and
11 rural practice curriculum;
12 (4) The applicant needs financial assistance to complete his or
13 her medical studies;
14 (5) The applicant desires to practice medicine in an eligible
15 qualified rural a community with a medically underserved population; and
16 (6) The applicant is a person of good moral character and one
17 who has the talent and capacity to profit by medical studies.
18 (b) Subject to the availability of funds, an initial rural medically
19 underserved population medical practice loan for one (1) academic year shall
20 be renewable annually for the number of years required to complete studies
21 leading to the Doctor of Medicine degree or for additional amounts, not to
22 exceed the maximum amounts specified in § 6-81-707, but all subsequent rural
23 medically underserved population medical practice loans shall be granted only
24 upon application by the recipient and a finding by the board that:
25 (1) The applicant has completed successfully the medical studies
26 of the preceding academic year and remains in good standing as an enrolled
27 student in the college;
28 (2) The applicant is enrolled or participating in a medically
29 underserved and rural practice curriculum;
30 (3) The applicant continues to be a resident of Arkansas; and
31 (4) The applicant's financial situation continues to warrant
32 financial assistance made under the conditions of this section.
33
34 6-81-707. Maximum amount of loans.
35 (a) The maximum amount of each rural medically underserved population
36 practice loan for medical students shall not exceed sixteen thousand five
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1 hundred dollars ($16,500) per academic year or those costs that are
2 reasonable and necessary for the student's attendance as determined by the
3 Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan
4 and Scholarship Board.
5 (b)(1) The maximum amount of each community match income incentive
6 shall not exceed eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) or as the board otherwise
7 shall determine payable under § 6-81-716.
8 (2) The board shall provide one-half (½) of the community match
9 income incentive, and the qualified rural community with a medically
10 underserved population shall provide the other one-half (½) of the income
11 incentive.
12 (3) However, if the board does not have sufficient funds to
13 match the community's portion of the income incentive, nothing precludes a
14 qualified rural community with a medically underserved population from
15 providing the total income incentive amount.
16
17 6-81-708. Loan contracts — Rural Medically Underserved Population
18 Medical Practice Loans — Obligations and conditions.
19 (a) The Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical
20 Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board shall enter into a loan contract
21 with the applicant to whom a rural medically underserved population medical
22 practice loan is made.
23 (b) The contract shall be approved by the Attorney General and shall
24 be signed by the Chair of the Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population
25 Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board, countersigned by the
26 Secretary of the Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical
27 Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board, and signed by the applicant.
28 (c) Each applicant to whom a rural medically underserved population
29 medical practice loan or loans is granted by the Arkansas Rural Medically
30 Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board
31 shall execute a written loan contract that incorporates the following
32 obligations and conditions:
33 (1)(A) The recipient of a rural medically underserved population
34 medical practice loan or loans shall bindingly contract that he or she shall
35 practice primary care medicine full time in a qualified rural community with
36 a medically underserved population upon completion of:
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1 (i) His or her medical internship of one (1) year
2 undertaken immediately following the earning of the degree of Doctor of
3 Medicine;
4 (ii) Four (4) additional years of medical training
5 beyond the internship if the training has been approved in advance by the
6 Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan
7 and Scholarship Board and includes practice experience in a rural community
8 with a medically underserved population; or
9 (iii) At the request of the recipient of a rural
10 medically underserved population medical practice loan, the Arkansas Rural
11 Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan and
12 Scholarship Board may approve the recipient's request to practice in more
13 than one (1) qualified rural community with a medically underserved
14 population to meet his or her obligation to practice full time if the
15 Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan
16 and Scholarship Board determines, based upon guidelines established by the
17 Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan
18 and Scholarship Board, that the physician need in the rural communities with
19 a medically underserved population cannot sustain a full-time medical
20 practice or that other compelling circumstances exist.
21 (B) The recipient of a rural medically underserved
22 population medical practice loan or loans shall bindingly contract that for
23 each year's loan he or she shall practice medicine in accordance with
24 subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section for a whole year.
25 (C) For each continuous whole year of medical practice, in
26 accordance with subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section, subject to reasonable
27 leave periods, including without limitation vacation, sick leave, continuing
28 medical education, jury duty, funerals, holidays, or military service, the
29 Arkansas Rural Medically Underserved Population Medical Practice Student Loan
30 and Scholarship Board shall cancel, by converting to a scholarship grant, the
31 full amount of one (1) year's loan plus accrued interest;
32 (2)(A) The recipient of a rural medically underserved population
33 medical practice loan or loans shall bindingly contract that not engaging in
34 the practice of medicine in accordance with the loan contract and with this
35 subchapter may result in suspension of his or her license to practice
36 medicine in this state.
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1 (B) For any contract entered into after August 1, 2007,
2 the recipient's medical license may not be suspended unless the recipient's
3 contract contained a specific term that loss of license was a consequence of
4 breach and the recipient signed a written acknowledgment of understanding
5 that the suspension of license was explained to him or her orally as a
6 potential consequence of breach of the contractual provisions.
7 (C) The suspension may be for a period of years equivalent
8 to the number of years that th