Bill Text: NY A01454 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Expands the Doctors Across New York program to include dentists.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-5)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to health [A01454 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A01454-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1454 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. AUBRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding the Doctors Across New York program to include dentists The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 5-a of section 2807-m of the 2 public health law, as amended by section 6 of part Y of chapter 56 of 3 the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 4 (c) Physician and dentist loan repayment program. One million nine 5 hundred sixty thousand dollars for the period January first, two thou- 6 sand eight through December thirty-first, two thousand eight, one 7 million nine hundred sixty thousand dollars for the period January 8 first, two thousand nine through December thirty-first, two thousand 9 nine, one million nine hundred sixty thousand dollars for the period 10 January first, two thousand ten through December thirty-first, two thou- 11 sand ten, four hundred ninety thousand dollars for the period January 12 first, two thousand eleven through March thirty-first, two thousand 13 eleven, one million seven hundred thousand dollars each state fiscal 14 year for the period April first, two thousand eleven through March thir- 15 ty-first, two thousand fourteen, up to one million seven hundred five 16 thousand dollars each state fiscal year for the period April first, two 17 thousand fourteen through March thirty-first, two thousand seventeen, up 18 to one million seven hundred five thousand dollars each state fiscal 19 year for the period April first, two thousand seventeen through March 20 thirty-first, two thousand twenty, and up to one million seven hundred 21 five thousand dollars each state fiscal year for the period April first, 22 two thousand twenty through March thirty-first, two thousand twenty- 23 three, shall be set aside and reserved by the commissioner from the 24 regional pools established pursuant to subdivision two of this section 25 and shall be available for purposes of physician and dentist loan repay- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05051-01-3A. 1454 2 1 ment in accordance with subdivision ten of this section. Notwithstanding 2 any contrary provision of this section, sections one hundred twelve and 3 one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law, or any other contrary 4 provision of law, such funding shall be allocated regionally with one- 5 third of available funds going to New York city and two-thirds of avail- 6 able funds going to the rest of the state and shall be distributed in a 7 manner to be determined by the commissioner without a competitive bid or 8 request for proposal process as follows: 9 (i) Funding shall first be awarded to repay loans of up to twenty-five 10 physicians who train in primary care or specialty tracks in teaching 11 general hospitals, and who enter and remain in primary care or specialty 12 practices in underserved communities, as determined by the commissioner. 13 (ii) After distributions in accordance with subparagraph (i) of this 14 paragraph, all remaining funds shall be awarded to repay loans of physi- 15 cians or dentists who enter and remain in primary care or specialty 16 practices in underserved communities, as determined by the commissioner, 17 including but not limited to physicians or dentists working in general 18 hospitals, or other health care facilities. 19 (iii) In no case shall less than fifty percent of the funds available 20 pursuant to this paragraph be distributed in accordance with subpara- 21 graphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph to physicians or dentists identi- 22 fied by general hospitals. 23 (iv) In addition to the funds allocated under this paragraph, for the 24 period April first, two thousand fifteen through March thirty-first, two 25 thousand sixteen, two million dollars shall be available for the 26 purposes described in subdivision ten of this section; 27 (v) In addition to the funds allocated under this paragraph, for the 28 period April first, two thousand sixteen through March thirty-first, two 29 thousand seventeen, two million dollars shall be available for the 30 purposes described in subdivision ten of this section; 31 (vi) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, and subject 32 to the extension of the Health Care Reform Act of 1996, sufficient funds 33 shall be available for the purposes described in subdivision ten of this 34 section in amounts necessary to fund the remaining year commitments for 35 awards made pursuant to subparagraphs (iv) and (v) of this paragraph. 36 § 2. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 5-a of section 2807-m of the public 37 health law, as amended by section 6 of part Y of chapter 56 of the laws 38 of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 39 (d) Physician and dentist practice support. Four million nine hundred 40 thousand dollars for the period January first, two thousand eight 41 through December thirty-first, two thousand eight, four million nine 42 hundred thousand dollars annually for the period January first, two 43 thousand nine through December thirty-first, two thousand ten, one 44 million two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars for the period January 45 first, two thousand eleven through March thirty-first, two thousand 46 eleven, four million three hundred thousand dollars each state fiscal 47 year for the period April first, two thousand eleven through March thir- 48 ty-first, two thousand fourteen, up to four million three hundred sixty 49 thousand dollars each state fiscal year for the period April first, two 50 thousand fourteen through March thirty-first, two thousand seventeen, up 51 to four million three hundred sixty thousand dollars for each state 52 fiscal year for the period April first, two thousand seventeen through 53 March thirty-first, two thousand twenty, and up to four million three 54 hundred sixty thousand dollars for each fiscal year for the period April 55 first, two thousand twenty through March thirty-first, two thousand 56 twenty-three, shall be set aside and reserved by the commissioner fromA. 1454 3 1 the regional pools established pursuant to subdivision two of this 2 section and shall be available for purposes of physician and dentist 3 practice support. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this 4 section, sections one hundred twelve and one hundred sixty-three of the 5 state finance law, or any other contrary provision of law, such funding 6 shall be allocated regionally with one-third of available funds going to 7 New York city and two-thirds of available funds going to the rest of the 8 state and shall be distributed in a manner to be determined by the 9 commissioner without a competitive bid or request for proposal process 10 as follows: 11 (i) Preference in funding shall first be accorded to teaching general 12 hospitals for up to twenty-five awards, to support costs incurred by 13 physicians or dentists trained in primary or specialty tracks who there- 14 after establish or join practices in underserved communities, as deter- 15 mined by the commissioner. 16 (ii) After distributions in accordance with subparagraph (i) of this 17 paragraph, all remaining funds shall be awarded to physicians or 18 dentists to support the cost of establishing or joining practices in 19 underserved communities, as determined by the commissioner, and to 20 hospitals and other health care providers to recruit new physicians or 21 dentists to provide services in underserved communities, as determined 22 by the commissioner. 23 (iii) In no case shall less than fifty percent of the funds available 24 pursuant to this paragraph be distributed to general hospitals in 25 accordance with subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph. 26 § 3. Subdivision 10 of section 2807-m of the public health law, as 27 added by section 75-e of part C of chapter 58 of the laws of 2008, para- 28 graphs (a) and (c) as amended by section 13 of part B of chapter 58 of 29 the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 30 10. Physician and dentist loan repayment program. (a) Beginning Janu- 31 ary first, two thousand eight, the commissioner is authorized, within 32 amounts available pursuant to subdivision five-a of this section, to 33 make loan repayment awards to primary care physicians and dentists or 34 other physician and dentist specialties determined by the commissioner 35 to be in short supply, licensed to practice medicine or dentistry in New 36 York state, who agree to practice for at least five years in an under- 37 served area, as determined by the commissioner. Such physician or 38 dentist shall be eligible for a loan repayment award of up to one 39 hundred fifty thousand dollars over a five year period distributed as 40 follows: fifteen percent of total loan debt not to exceed twenty thou- 41 sand dollars for the first year; fifteen percent of total loan debt not 42 to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars for the second year; twenty 43 percent of total loan debt not to exceed thirty-five thousand dollars 44 for the third year; and twenty-five percent of total loan debt not to 45 exceed thirty-five thousand dollars per year for the fourth year; and 46 any unpaid balance of the total loan debt not to exceed the maximum 47 award amount for the fifth year of practice in such area. 48 (b) Loan repayment awards made to a physician or dentist pursuant to 49 paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall not exceed the total qualifying 50 outstanding debt of the physician or dentist from student loans to cover 51 tuition and other related educational expenses, made by or guaranteed by 52 the federal or state government, or made by a lending or educational 53 institution approved under title IV of the federal higher education act. 54 Loan repayment awards shall be used solely to repay such outstanding 55 debt.A. 1454 4 1 (c) In the event that a five-year commitment pursuant to the agreement 2 referenced in paragraph (a) of this subdivision is not fulfilled, the 3 recipient shall be responsible for repayment in amounts which shall be 4 calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in subdivision (b) 5 of section two hundred fifty-four-o of title forty-two of the United 6 States Code, as amended. 7 (d) The commissioner is authorized to apply any funds available for 8 purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision for use as matching funds 9 for federal grants for the purpose of assisting states in operating loan 10 repayment programs pursuant to section three hundred thirty-eight I of 11 the public health service act. 12 (e) The commissioner may postpone, change or waive the service obli- 13 gation and repayment amounts set forth in paragraphs (a) and (c), 14 respectively of this subdivision in individual circumstances where there 15 is compelling need or hardship. 16 (f)(i) When a physician or dentist is not actually practicing in an 17 underserved area, he or she shall be deemed to be practicing in an 18 underserved area if he or she practices in a facility or physician's or 19 dentist's office that primarily serves an underserved population as 20 determined by the commissioner, without regard to whether the population 21 or the facility or physician's or dentist's office is located in an 22 underserved area. 23 (ii) In making criteria and determinations as to whether an area is an 24 underserved area or whether a facility or physician's or dentist's 25 office primarily serves an underserved population, the commissioner may 26 make separate criteria and determinations for different specialties. 27 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
