Minnesota Legislature
HF 376
as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 01/26/2015 01:54pm
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A bill for an act
relating to health; adding rural mental health professionals, public health nurses,
dental therapists, and advanced dental therapists to the health professional
education loan forgiveness program; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2014, section 144.1501, subdivisions 1, 2, 3.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144.1501, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1.
Definitions.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply.
new text begin
(b) "Advanced dental therapist" means an individual who is licensed as a dental
therapist under section 150A.06, and who is certified as an advanced dental therapist
under section 150A.106.
new text end
new text begin
(c) "Dental therapist" means an individual who is licensed as a dental therapist
under section 150A.06.
new text end
deleted text begin (b)deleted text end new text begin (d)new text end "Dentist" means an individual who is licensed to practice dentistry.
deleted text begin (c)deleted text end new text begin (e)new text end "Designated rural area" means a city or township that is:
(1) outside the seven-county metropolitan area as defined in section 473.121,
subdivision 2; and
(2) has a population under 15,000.
deleted text begin (d)deleted text end new text begin (f)new text end "Emergency circumstances" means those conditions that make it impossible
for the participant to fulfill the service commitment, including death, total and permanent
disability, or temporary disability lasting more than two years.
deleted text begin (e)deleted text end new text begin (g)new text end "Medical resident" means an individual participating in a medical residency
in family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, or psychiatry.
new text begin
(h) "Mental health professional" means an individual providing clinical services in
the treatment of mental illness who is qualified in at least one of the ways specified in
section 245.462, subdivision 18.
new text end
deleted text begin (f)deleted text end new text begin (i)new text end "Midlevel practitioner" means a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, nurse
anesthetist, advanced clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant.
deleted text begin (g)deleted text end new text begin (j)new text end "Nurse" means an individual who has completed training and received
all licensing or certification necessary to perform duties as a licensed practical nurse
or registered nurse.
deleted text begin (h)deleted text end new text begin (k)new text end "Nurse-midwife" means a registered nurse who has graduated from a program
of study designed to prepare registered nurses for advanced practice as nurse-midwives.
deleted text begin (i)deleted text end new text begin (l)new text end "Nurse practitioner" means a registered nurse who has graduated from a
program of study designed to prepare registered nurses for advanced practice as nurse
practitioners.
deleted text begin (j)deleted text end new text begin (m)new text end "Pharmacist" means an individual with a valid license issued under chapter
151.
deleted text begin (k)deleted text end new text begin (n)new text end "Physician" means an individual who is licensed to practice medicine in
the areas of family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics,
or psychiatry.
deleted text begin (l)deleted text end new text begin (o)new text end "Physician assistant" means a person licensed under chapter 147A.
new text begin
(p) "Public health nurse" means a registered nurse licensed in Minnesota who has
obtained a registration certificate as a public health nurse from the Board of Nursing in
accordance with Minnesota Rules, chapter 6316.
new text end
deleted text begin (m)deleted text end new text begin (q)new text end "Qualified educational loan" means a government, commercial, or foundation
loan for actual costs paid for tuition, reasonable education expenses, and reasonable living
expenses related to the graduate or undergraduate education of a health care professional.
deleted text begin (n)deleted text end new text begin (r)new text end "Underserved urban community" means a Minnesota urban area or population
included in the list of designated primary medical care health professional shortage areas
(HPSAs), medically underserved areas (MUAs), or medically underserved populations
(MUPs) maintained and updated by the United States Department of Health and Human
Services.
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144.1501, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2.
Creation of account.
(a) A health professional education loan forgiveness
program account is established. The commissioner of health shall use money from the
account to establish a loan forgiveness program:
(1) for medical residents agreeing to practice in designated rural areas or underserved
urban communities or specializing in the area of pediatric psychiatry;
(2) for midlevel practitioners agreeing to practice in designated rural areas or to
teach at least 12 credit hours, or 720 hours per year in the nursing field in a postsecondary
program at the undergraduate level or the equivalent at the graduate level;
(3) for nurses who agree to practice in a Minnesota nursing home deleted text begin ordeleted text end new text begin ; annew text end intermediate
care facility for persons with developmental disabilitynew text begin ;new text end ornew text begin a hospital if the hospital owns
and operates a Minnesota nursing home and a minimum of 50 percent of the hours worked
by the nurse is in the nursing home; or agreenew text end to teach at least 12 credit hours, or 720 hours
per year in the nursing field in a postsecondary program at the undergraduate level or the
equivalent at the graduate level;
(4) for other health care technicians agreeing to teach at least 12 credit hours, or 720
hours per year in their designated field in a postsecondary program at the undergraduate
level or the equivalent at the graduate level. The commissioner, in consultation with
the Healthcare Education-Industry Partnership, shall determine the health care fields
where the need is the greatest, including, but not limited to, respiratory therapy, clinical
laboratory technology, radiologic technology, and surgical technology;
(5) for pharmacistsnew text begin , mental health professionals, advanced dental therapists, dental
therapists, and public health nurses new text end who agree to practice in designated rural areas; and
(6) for dentists agreeing to deliver at least 25 percent of the dentist's yearly patient
encounters to state public program enrollees or patients receiving sliding fee schedule
discounts through a formal sliding fee schedule meeting the standards established by
the United States Department of Health and Human Services under Code of Federal
Regulations, title 42, section 51, chapter 303.
(b) Appropriations made to the account do not cancel and are available until
expended, except that at the end of each biennium, any remaining balance in the account
that is not committed by contract and not needed to fulfill existing commitments shall
cancel to the fund.
Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144.1501, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3.
Eligibility.
(a) To be eligible to participate in the loan forgiveness program,
an individual must:
(1) be a medical or dental residentdeleted text begin ,deleted text end new text begin ;new text end a licensed pharmacistnew text begin ;new text end or be enrolled in new text begin a training
or education program to become new text end a dentist, new text begin dental therapist, advanced dental therapist,
mental health professional, pharmacist, public health nurse, new text end midlevel practitioner,
registered nurse, or a licensed practical nurse deleted text begin training programdeleted text end ; and
(2) submit an application to the commissioner of health. If fewer applications are
submitted by dental students or residents than there are dentist participant slots available,
the commissioner may consider applications submitted by dental program graduates
who are licensed dentists.
(b) An applicant selected to participate must sign a contract to agree to serve a
minimum three-year full-time service obligation according to subdivision 2, which shall
begin no later than March 31 following completion of required training.
Sec. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end
new text begin
$....... in fiscal year 2016 and $....... in fiscal year 2017 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of health for the purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section
144.1501, the health professional education loan forgiveness program.
new text end
Sec. 5. new text begin REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.
new text end
new text begin
The revisor shall make any necessary cross-reference changes needed from the
relettering of paragraphs in Minnesota Statutes, section 144.1501, subdivision 1.
new text end