(1) (a) (I) The primary care office shall maintain and administer, subject to available appropriations, the Colorado health service corps. Subject to available appropriations, the Colorado health service corps shall provide loan repayment for certain eligible:
Health care professionals who provide primary health services;
Nursing faculty or health care professional faculty members in qualified faculty positions; and
Behavioral health care providers and candidates for licensure who provide behavioral health care services.
(II) Under the Colorado health service corps, subject to the limitations specified in subsection (2) of this section, upon entering into a loan contract the state may either:
Make payments on the education loans of the health care professional, behavioralhealth care provider, candidate for licensure, nursing faculty member, or health care professional faculty member; or
Agree to make an advance payment in a lump sum of all or part of the principal,interest, and related expenses of the education loans of health care professionals, behavioral health care providers, candidates for licensure, nursing faculty members, or health care professional faculty members, subject to the limitations specified in subsection (2) of this section.
(III) (A) In consideration for receiving repayment of all or part of his or her education loan, the health care professional shall agree to provide primary health services in health professional shortage areas in Colorado.
(B) In consideration for receiving repayment of all or part of his or her education loan, the behavioral health care provider or candidate for licensure shall agree to provide behavioral health care services in health professional shortage areas in Colorado.
(IV) In consideration for receiving repayment of all or part of his or her education loan, the nursing or other health care professional faculty member must agree to serve two or more consecutive academic years in a qualified faculty position.
Repayment of loans under the Colorado health service corps may be made usingmoney in the Colorado health service corps fund. The primary care office is authorized to receive and expend gifts, grants, and donations or money appropriated by the general assembly for the purpose of implementing the Colorado health service corps. In administering the Colorado health service corps, the primary care office shall collaborate with appropriate partners as needed to maximize the federal money available to the state for state loan repayment programs through the federal department of health and human services. The selection of health care professionals, behavioral health care providers, candidates for licensure, nursing faculty members, and health care professional faculty members for participation in the Colorado health service corps is exempt from the competitive bidding requirements of the "Procurement Code", articles 101 to 112 of title 24.
The following providers are not eligible for loan repayment through the Coloradohealth service corps:
Health care professionals who are not practicing in primary care specialties or providing primary health services; and
Behavioral health care providers and candidates for licensure who are not providingbehavioral health care services.
(d) (I) As a condition of receiving a loan repayment through the Colorado health service corps, a health care professional or behavioral health care provider must enter into a contract pursuant to which the health care professional or behavioral health care provider agrees to practice for at least two years in a community that is located in a health professional shortage area. The health care professional or behavioral health care provider, as applicable, the primary care office, and the community employer with which the health care professional or behavioral health care provider is practicing must be parties to the contract.
As a condition of receiving a loan repayment through the Colorado health servicecorps, a nursing faculty or health care professional faculty member must enter into a contract pursuant to which he or she agrees to serve at least two consecutive academic years or their equivalent in a qualified faculty position. The nursing faculty or health care professional faculty member, the primary care office, and the educational institution where the qualified faculty position is located must be parties to the contract.
As a condition of receiving a loan repayment through the Colorado health servicecorps, a candidate for licensure must enter into a contract pursuant to which the candidate for licensure agrees to practice for at least two years after obtaining the license, plus an additional amount of time equivalent to the time spent obtaining the supervised experience hours required for licensure while participating in the program, in a community that is located in a health professional shortage area. The candidate for licensure, the primary care office, and the community employer with which the candidate for licensure is practicing must be parties to the contract.
Subject to available appropriations, the primary care office shall annually select health care professionals, behavioral health care providers, candidates for licensure, nursing faculty members, and health care professional members from the list provided by the advisory council pursuant to section 25-1.5-504 (5)(a) to participate in the Colorado health service corps.
The primary care office, after consulting with the advisory council and accreditedhealth care professional training programs in the state, shall develop loan forgiveness criteria for nursing faculty and other health care professional faculty members. In determining whether to forgive the loan of a faculty member, the primary care office shall consider the following criteria:
The faculty positions available at the educational institution at which the health careprofessional works;
Documented recruiting efforts by the educational institution;
The attributes of the educational or training program that are designed with the intentto address known shortages of health care professionals in Colorado;
The type of programs offered at the educational institution, including associate, bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees in the health care professions, and the need for those programs in the state.
In soliciting private grants to fund faculty loan repayments, the primary care officeshall give priority to soliciting grants to fund repayments of loans for nursing faculty.
(a) A health care professional participating in the Colorado health service corps shall not practice with a for-profit private group or solo practice or at a proprietary hospital or clinic.
(b) For a behavioral health care provider or candidate for licensure applying to participate in the Colorado health service corps, the advisory council shall prioritize behavioral health care providers and candidates for licensure who are practicing with a nonprofit or public employer. The advisory council may also consider for participation in the Colorado health service corps behavioral health care providers and candidates for licensure who are practicing with a for-profit employer, such as a private practice or other site, that provides services to an underserved population.
(6) A contract for loan repayment entered into pursuant to this part 5 must not include terms that are more favorable to health care professionals, behavioral health care providers, or candidates for licensure than the most favorable terms that the secretary of the federal department of health and human services is authorized to grant under the national health services corps program. In addition, each contract must include penalties for breach of contract that are at least as stringent as those available to the secretary of the federal department of health and human services. In the event of a breach of contract for a loan repayment entered into pursuant to this part 5, the primary care office shall enforce the contract and collect any damages or other penalties owed.
Source: L. 2013: Entire part added with relocations, (HB 13-1074), ch. 150, p. 483, § 1, effective August 7. L. 2018: (1), (2), (5), and (6) amended, (SB 18-024), ch. 222, p. 1413, § 6, effective July 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 25-20.5-703 as it existed prior to 2013.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 18-024, see section 1 of chapter 222, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.