HOUSE BILL NO. 1300 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE COOK.
0988H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal sections 191.600, 191.603, 191.605, 191.607, and 191.614, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to the health professional student loan repayment program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 191.600, 191.603, 191.605, 191.607, and 191.614, RSMo, are 2 repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 191.600, 3 191.603, 191.605, 191.607, and 191.614, to read as follows: 191.600. 1. Sections 191.600 to 191.615 establish a loan repayment program for 2 graduates of approved medical schools, schools of osteopathic medicine, schools of dentistry, 3 schools of pharmacy, and accredited chiropractic colleges who practice in areas of defined 4 need and shall be known as the "Health Professional Student Loan Repayment Program". 5 Sections 191.600 to 191.615 shall apply to graduates of accredited chiropractic colleges when 6 federal guidelines for chiropractic shortage areas are developed. 7 2. The "Health Professional Student Loan and Loan Repayment Program Fund" is 8 hereby created in the state treasury. All funds recovered from an individual pursuant to 9 section 191.614 and all funds generated by loan repayments and penalties received pursuant 10 to section 191.540 shall be credited to the fund. The moneys in the fund shall be used by the 11 department of health and senior services to provide loan repayments pursuant to section 12 191.611 in accordance with sections 191.600 to 191.614. 191.603. As used in sections 191.600 to 191.615, the following terms shall mean: 2 (1) "Areas of defined need", areas designated by the department pursuant to section 3 191.605, when services of a physician, including a psychiatrist, chiropractor, or dentist, or
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1300 2
4 services of a pharmacist are needed to improve the patient-health professional ratio in the 5 area, to contribute health care professional services to an area of economic impact, or to 6 contribute health care professional services to an area suffering from the effects of a natural 7 disaster; 8 (2) "Chiropractor", a person licensed and registered pursuant to chapter 331; 9 (3) "Department", the department of health and senior services; 10 (4) "General dentist", dentists licensed and registered pursuant to chapter 332 11 engaged in general dentistry and who are providing such services to the general population; 12 (5) "Pharmacist", a person licensed and registered as a pharmacist under 13 chapter 338; 14 (6) "Primary care physician", physicians licensed and registered pursuant to chapter 15 334 engaged in general or family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics and 16 gynecology as their primary specialties, and who are providing such primary care services to 17 the general population; 18 [(6)] (7) "Psychiatrist", the same meaning as in section 632.005. 191.605. The department shall designate counties, communities, or sections of urban 2 areas as areas of defined need for medical, psychiatric, chiropractic, pharmacist, or dental 3 services when such county, community or section of an urban area has been designated as a 4 primary care health professional shortage area, a mental health care professional shortage 5 area, or a dental health care professional shortage area by the federal Department of Health 6 and Human Services, or has been determined by the director of the department of health and 7 senior services to have an extraordinary need for health care professional services, without a 8 corresponding supply of such professionals. 191.607. The department shall adopt and promulgate regulations establishing 2 standards for determining eligible persons for loan repayment pursuant to sections 191.600 to 3 191.615 and requirements for eligible persons to participate in the loan repayment 4 program. These standards and requirements shall include, but are not limited to, the 5 following: 6 (1) Citizenship or permanent residency in the United States; 7 (2) Residence in the state of Missouri; 8 (3) Demonstration of one of the following: 9 (a) Enrollment as a full-time medical student in the final year of a course of study 10 offered by an approved educational institution or [licensed] a license to practice medicine or 11 osteopathy pursuant to chapter 334, including psychiatrists; 12 [(4)] (b) Enrollment as a full-time dental student in the final year of course study 13 offered by an approved educational institution or [licensed] a license to practice general 14 dentistry pursuant to chapter 332; HB 1300 3
15 [(5)] (c) Enrollment as a full-time chiropractic student in the final year of course 16 study offered by an approved educational institution or [licensed] a license to practice 17 chiropractic medicine pursuant to chapter 331; or 18 [(6)] (d) Enrollment as a pharmacy student in the final year of course study 19 offered by an approved educational institution or a license to practice pharmacy under 20 chapter 338; and 21 (4) Submission of an application for loan repayment. 191.614. 1. An individual who has entered into a written contract with the 2 department; and in the case of an individual who is enrolled in the final year of a course of 3 study and fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing in the educational 4 institution in which such individual is enrolled or voluntarily terminates such enrollment or is 5 dismissed from such educational institution before completion of such course of study or fails 6 to become licensed pursuant to chapter 331, 332 [or], 334, or 338 within one year shall be 7 liable to the state for the amount which has been paid on his or her behalf under the contract. 8 2. If an individual breaches the written contract of the individual by failing either to 9 begin such individual's service obligation or to complete such service obligation, the state 10 shall be entitled to recover from the individual an amount equal to the sum of: 11 (1) The total of the amounts prepaid by the state on behalf of the individual; 12 (2) The interest on the amounts which would be payable if at the time the amounts 13 were paid they were loans bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate as determined by 14 the Treasurer of the United States; 15 (3) An amount equal to any damages incurred by the department as a result of the 16 breach; and 17 (4) Any legal fees or associated costs incurred by the department or the state of 18 Missouri in the collection of damages. 19 3. The department may act on behalf of a qualified community to recover from an 20 individual described in subsections 1 and 2 of this section the portion of a loan repayment 21 paid by such community for such individual. ✔
Statutes affected: