(a) The health care professions loan repayment and incentive program is established in the department for the purpose of addressing the worsening shortage of certain health care professionals in the state by increasing the number and improving the distribution of health care professionals who provide direct patient care.
(b) The program established under this section must include
(1) direct incentives paid under AS 18.29.020 ;
(2) loan repayments made under AS 18.29.025 ;
(3) procedures for the commissioner's designation and prioritization of sites eligible for participation in the program;
(4) an application process for participation in the program as
(A) an eligible site; or
(B) a tier I or tier II health care professional;
(5) the dissemination of public information and notices pertinent to the program;
(6) classification by the commissioner of each eligible site as having either regular or very hard-to-fill positions, or both;
(7) matching payments, as provided under (d) of this section;
(8) a lifetime maximum period of 12 years for participation in the program by a tier I or tier II health care professional, as described in (f) of this section;
(9) procedures for allowable leaves of absence; and
(10) annual program evaluations and reports.
(c) The program shall be administered by the commissioner in consultation with an advisory body appointed by the commissioner. The advisory body is made up of members with health care expertise, including expertise in economic issues affecting the hiring and retention of health care professionals in the state. Members of the advisory body serve at the pleasure of the commissioner to provide recommendations for and oversight and evaluation of all aspects of the program. The commissioner shall accept a recommendation of the advisory body on a matter pertaining to the identification and monitoring of areas of shortages, eligible sites, payment priorities, or evaluation of the program, unless the commissioner finds, in writing, that the recommendation cannot be financially or otherwise supported by the department.
(d) An employer or other entity approved for participation in the program shall make nonrefundable quarterly matching payments to the department for deposit in the general fund. The payments must be in an amount that is
(1) a portion of the combined annual incentive payment and the loan repayment amounts paid under the program for the benefit of the employee, as determined by the commissioner; and
(2) adjusted by the employer's or other entity's ability to pay, as determined by the commissioner, in consultation with the program advisory body.
(e) A matching loan repayment or direct incentive payment made under (d) of this section shall be paid as a combined amount to the lending institution or to the eligible health care professional by the department from money appropriated for the purpose.
(f) The department may approve loan repayment and direct incentive payments for a qualified applicant under the program for three-year periods, as follows:
(1) an initial period of three years;
(2) a renewal period of three years if the applicant
(A) requests loan repayments and has a continuing loan obligation on the same loan that was subject to repayment under the program during the initial three-year period and is otherwise eligible under the program;
(B) continues to qualify for direct incentive payments under the program; or
(C) is eligible under both (A) and (B) of this paragraph;
(3) a reapplication period of six years that is equivalent to (1) and (2) of this subsection if the applicant is engaged in qualified employment and the applicant
(A) requests additional loan repayments under the program and has incurred additional loans that qualify for repayment under the program during or after the first six years of the applicant's participation in the program;
(B) requests additional direct incentive payments under the program; or
(C) is eligible under both (A) and (B) under this paragraph.
(g) The department shall prorate loan repayments and direct incentive payments under the program based on the number of hours of qualified employment worked in a calendar quarter. However, the department may not make a loan repayment or direct incentive payment before the completion of a calendar quarter for which the loan repayment or incentive payment is made.
(h) The department shall adopt regulations necessary to implement the program.
(i) Direct incentive payments, loan repayments, and matching payments shall be made with funds appropriated by the legislature for that purpose.
Section: Previous 18.29.010 18.29.015 18.29.020 18.29.025 18.29.030 18.29.035 18.29.099 NextLast modified: November 15, 2016