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SF 3

1st Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 08/12/2015 11:13am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - 1st Engrossment

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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, 4.

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 isdeleted text begin :
deleted text end

deleted text begin (1)deleted text end outside the seven-county metropolitan area as defined in section 473.121,
subdivision 2deleted text begin ; anddeleted text end new text begin , excluding the cities of Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and
St. Cloud.
new text end

deleted text begin (2) has a population under 15,000.
deleted text end

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.

new text begin (g) "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 (e)deleted text end new text begin (h)new text end "Medical resident" means an individual participating in a medical residency
in family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, or psychiatry.

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 new text begin and mental health professionalsnew text end 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 agree
new 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 , 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.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144.1501, subdivision 4, is amended to read:


Subd. 4.

Loan forgiveness.

The commissioner of health may select applicants
each year for participation in the loan forgiveness program, within the limits of available
funding. new text begin In considering applications, the commissioner shall give preference to applicants
who document diverse cultural competencies.
new text end The commissioner shall distribute available
funds for loan forgiveness proportionally among the eligible professions according to the
vacancy rate for each profession in the required geographic area, facility type, teaching
area, patient group, or specialty type specified in subdivision 2. The commissioner shall
allocate funds for physician loan forgiveness so that 75 percent of the funds available are
used for rural physician loan forgiveness and 25 percent of the funds available are used
for underserved urban communities and pediatric psychiatry loan forgiveness. If the
commissioner does not receive enough qualified applicants each year to use the entire
allocation of funds for any eligible profession, the remaining funds may be allocated
proportionally among the other eligible professions according to the vacancy rate for
each profession in the required geographic area, patient group, or facility type specified
in subdivision 2. Applicants are responsible for securing their own qualified educational
loans. The commissioner shall select participants based on their suitability for practice
serving the required geographic area or facility type specified in subdivision 2, as indicated
by experience or training. The commissioner shall give preference to applicants closest to
completing their training. For each year that a participant meets the service obligation
required under subdivision 3, up to a maximum of four years, the commissioner shall make
annual disbursements directly to the participant equivalent to 15 percent of the average
educational debt for indebted graduates in their profession in the year closest to the
applicant's selection for which information is available, not to exceed the balance of the
participant's qualifying educational loans. Before receiving loan repayment disbursements
and as requested, the participant must complete and return to the commissioner a
confirmation of practice form provided by the commissioner verifying that the participant
is practicing as required under subdivisions 2 and 3. The participant must provide the
commissioner with verification that the full amount of loan repayment disbursement
received by the participant has been applied toward the designated loans. After each
disbursement, verification must be received by the commissioner and approved before the
next loan repayment disbursement is made. Participants who move their practice remain
eligible for loan repayment as long as they practice as required under subdivision 2.

Sec. 5. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $3,131,000 in fiscal year 2016 and $3,131,000 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.
Of this appropriation, the commissioner may use up to $131,000 each year to administer
the program.
new text end