(a) The department may approve student loan repayment and direct incentive payments for a qualified applicant for an initial period of three years and may approve a maximum of three renewal periods of three years each if the applicant
(1) submits an application on a form approved by the department for
(A) student loan repayments and, for student loan repayment renewal, demonstrates that the applicant has
(i) a continuing student loan obligation on the same student loan that was subject to repayment under the program during the initial three-year period; or
(ii) incurred additional student loan debt that qualifies for repayment;
(B) direct incentive payments; or
(C) payments under both (A) and (B) of this paragraph;
(2) is otherwise eligible under the program; and
(3) does not exceed the 12-year lifetime maximum for participation in the program.
(b) The department shall combine an eligible health care professional's direct incentives and pay the total amount to the eligible health care professional in the form of one quarterly cash payment. The department shall combine an eligible health care professional's student loan repayments and pay the total amount to the lending institution or to the eligible health care professional in the form of one quarterly payment.
(c) Except as provided in (d) of this section, the combined total amount of an eligible health care professional's direct incentives and student loan repayments may not exceed,
(1) for a tier I health care professional employed in a regular position, $35,000 annually;
(2) for a tier I health care professional employed in a very hard-to-fill position, $47,250 annually;
(3) for a tier II health care professional employed in a regular position, $20,000 annually;
(4) for a tier II health care professional employed in a very hard-to-fill position, $27,000 annually;
(5) for a tier III health care professional employed in a regular position, $15,000 annually;
(6) for a tier III health care professional employed in a very hard-to-fill position, $20,250 annually.
(d) The department may annually increase the annual maximum program payment amounts in (c) of this section by the average percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for Urban Alaska during the previous five calendar years, as determined by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(e) The department shall prorate student loan repayments and direct incentive payments based on the number of qualified employment hours the health care professional worked in a calendar quarter. The department may not pay a student loan repayment or direct incentive before the completion of a calendar quarter in which the student loan repayment or incentive payment was earned.
(f) The department shall deposit employer payments received and civil penalties collected under this chapter in the general fund.
(g) The department shall pay student loan repayments and direct incentives with funds appropriated by the legislature for that purpose. The department may limit the number of program participants based on available funding. If insufficient money is appropriated to fully fund the program in a fiscal year, the department shall prorate payments based on the number of approved participants in the program.