The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Lower levels of reimbursement in rural and inner-city areas for certain critical primary care practices combined with increasing student costs deter medical students from entering the primary care specialties.
(b) Physicians typically begin their practices heavily in debt from student loans acquired to finance their education.
(c) Because of the lower levels of reimbursement and the burden of educational debts, the number of primary care physicians who choose to practice in California is insufficient to adequately meet the health needs of the state’s population.
(d) Repayment of student loans for medical students as a means to encourage increased provision of primary care medical services will benefit all citizens of California.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 360. Effective September 29, 1996. Section conditionally operative as prescribed in Section 128290.)