Bill Text: IA HF385 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act modifying the rural Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant loan repayment program and fund and making occupational therapy students eligible for the program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-21 - Introduced, referred to Human Resources. H.J. 421. [HF385 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF385-Introduced.html

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House File 385 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  KRESSIG

                                 (COMPANION TO lsb
                                     2462ss by danielson)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act modifying the rural Iowa advanced registered nurse
  2    practitioner and physician assistant loan repayment program
  3    and fund and making occupational therapy students eligible
  4    for the program.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 2347HH (3) 87
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 261.114, subsections 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and
  1  2 10, Code 2017, are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  Program established.  A rural Iowa advanced registered
  1  4 nurse practitioner and physician assistant health care
  1  5 professional loan repayment program is established to be
  1  6 administered by the college student aid commission for purposes
  1  7 of providing loan repayments for advanced registered nurse
  1  8 practitioner students, occupational therapy students, and
  1  9 physician assistant students who agree to practice as advanced
  1 10 registered nurse practitioners or physician assistants as
  1 11 such in service commitment areas for five years and meet the
  1 12 requirements of this section.
  1 13    2.  Eligibility.  An individual is eligible to apply to enter
  1 14 into a program agreement with the commission if the individual
  1 15 is enrolled full=time in and receives a recommendation from
  1 16 an eligible university in a curriculum leading to a doctorate
  1 17 of nursing practice degree, a master's or doctorate of
  1 18 occupational therapy degree, or a masters master's of physician
  1 19 assistant studies degree.
  1 20    3.  Program agreements.  A program agreement shall be
  1 21 entered into by an eligible student and the commission when the
  1 22 eligible student begins the final year of study in an academic
  1 23 program leading to eligibility for licensure as a nurse
  1 24 practitioner, occupational therapist, or physician assistant.
  1 25 Under the agreement, to receive loan repayments pursuant to
  1 26 subsection 5, an eligible student shall agree to and shall
  1 27 fulfill all of the following requirements:
  1 28    a.  Receive a graduate=level credential qualifying the
  1 29 credential recipient for a license to practice as an advanced
  1 30 registered nurse practitioner pursuant to chapter 152, an
  1 31 occupational therapist pursuant to chapter 148B, or a physician
  1 32 assistant pursuant to chapter 148C.
  1 33    b.  Within nine months of receiving a degree and obtaining
  1 34 a license in accordance with paragraph "a", engage in
  1 35 the full=time practice as an advanced registered nurse
  2  1 practitioner, an occupational therapist, or a physician
  2  2 assistant for a period of five consecutive years in the service
  2  3 commitment area specified under subsection 6, unless the loan
  2  4 repayment recipient receives a waiver from the commission to
  2  5 complete the years of practice required under the agreement in
  2  6 another service commitment area pursuant to subsection 6.
  2  7    7.  Rules for additional loan repayment.  The commission
  2  8 shall adopt rules to provide, in addition to loan repayment
  2  9 provided to eligible students pursuant to this section
  2 10 and subject to the availability of surplus funds, loan
  2 11 repayment to an advanced registered nurse practitioner, an
  2 12 occupational therapist, or a physician assistant who, as
  2 13 provided in subsection 3, received a degree from an eligible
  2 14 university, obtained a license to practice in this state, and
  2 15 is engaged in full=time practice as an advanced registered
  2 16 nurse practitioner, an occupational therapist, or a physician
  2 17 assistant in a service commitment area.
  2 18    8.  Part=time practice == agreement amended.  A person who
  2 19 entered into an agreement pursuant to subsection 3 may apply
  2 20 to the commission to amend the agreement to allow the person
  2 21 to engage in less than the full=time practice specified in
  2 22 the agreement and under subsection 3. If the commission
  2 23 determines exceptional circumstances exist, the commission
  2 24 and the person may consent to amend the agreement under which
  2 25 the person shall engage in less than full=time practice as
  2 26 an advanced registered nurse practitioner, an occupational
  2 27 therapist, or a physician assistant in a service commitment
  2 28 area for an extended period of part=time practice determined by
  2 29 the commission to be proportional to the amount of full=time
  2 30 practice remaining under the original agreement.
  2 31    10.  Trust fund established.  A rural Iowa advanced
  2 32 registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant health
  2 33 care professional trust fund is created in the state treasury
  2 34 as a separate fund under the control of the commission.
  2 35 The commission shall remit all repayments made pursuant to
  3  1 this section to the rural Iowa advanced registered nurse
  3  2 practitioner and physician assistant health care professional
  3  3  trust fund. All moneys deposited or paid into the trust fund
  3  4 are appropriated and made available to the commission to be
  3  5 used for meeting the requirements of this section. Moneys in
  3  6 the fund up to the total amount that an eligible student may
  3  7 receive for an eligible loan in accordance with this section
  3  8 and upon fulfilling the requirements of subsection 3 shall be
  3  9 considered encumbered for the duration of the agreement entered
  3 10 into pursuant to subsection 3. Notwithstanding section 8.33,
  3 11 any balance in the fund on June 30 of each fiscal year shall not
  3 12 revert to the general fund of the state, but shall be available
  3 13 for purposes of this section in subsequent fiscal years.
  3 14    Sec. 2.  Section 261.114, subsection 9, paragraph c,
  3 15 subparagraph (3), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  3 16    (3)  The person who entered into the agreement, due to a
  3 17 permanent disability, is unable to practice as an advanced
  3 18 registered nurse practitioner, occupational therapist, or
  3 19 physician assistant.
  3 20    Sec. 3.  Section 261.114, subsection 11, paragraph c, Code
  3 21 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  3 22    c.  "Service commitment area" means a city in Iowa with a
  3 23 population of less than twenty=six thousand that is located
  3 24 more than twenty miles from a city with a population of
  3 25 fifty thousand or more and which provides a two thousand
  3 26 dollar contribution for deposit in the rural Iowa advanced
  3 27 registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant health
  3 28 care professional trust fund for each advanced registered nurse
  3 29 practitioner, occupational therapist, or physician assistant in
  3 30 the community who is participating in the rural Iowa advanced
  3 31 registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant health
  3 32 care professional loan repayment program.
  3 33                           EXPLANATION
  3 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  3 35 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  4  1 This bill modifies the rural Iowa advanced registered nurse
  4  2 practitioner and physician assistant loan repayment program and
  4  3 fund by changing the names of the program and fund to the rural
  4  4 Iowa health professional loan repayment program and rural Iowa
  4  5 health professional loan repayment trust fund, and by making
  4  6 occupational therapy students eligible for the program.
  4  7    Currently, an eligible student may enter into a program
  4  8 agreement in the student's final year of study in an academic
  4  9 program leading to eligibility for licensure as a nurse
  4 10 practitioner or physician assistant. Under the agreement,
  4 11 to receive loan repayments, an eligible student must receive
  4 12 a  graduate=level credential and license to practice as an
  4 13 advanced registered nurse practitioner or physician assistant
  4 14 and, within nine months of receiving the degree and obtaining
  4 15 a license, must engage in full=time practice as an advanced
  4 16 registered nurse practitioner or physician assistant for a
  4 17 period of five consecutive years in a service commitment area,
  4 18 which is defined as a city in Iowa with a population of less
  4 19 than 26,000 that is located more than 20 miles from a city with
  4 20 a population of 50,000 or more and which provides a $2,000
  4 21 contribution for deposit in the trust fund for each advanced
  4 22 registered nurse practitioner or physician assistant in the
  4 23 community who is participating in the program.
  4 24    The maximum amount of loan repayment an eligible student can
  4 25 receive under the agreement is $4,000 annually for up to five
  4 26 consecutive years and a total of $20,000.
       LSB 2347HH (3) 87
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