36.60 Physician and dentist loan assistance program.
(1) Definitions. In this section:
(ac) “Clinic hours" means hours spent working with patients in a clinic.
(ad) “Dental health shortage area" means an area that is designated by the federal department of health and human services under 42 CFR part 5, appendix B, as having a shortage of dental professionals.
(ae) “Dentist" means a dentist, as defined in s. 447.01 (7), who is licensed under ch. 447 and who practices general or pediatric dentistry.
(ag) “Eligible practice area" means a free or charitable clinic, a primary care shortage area, a mental health shortage area, an American Indian reservation or trust lands of an American Indian tribe.
(ah) “Free or charitable clinic” means a safety-net health care organization that satisfies all of the following:
1. The organization uses volunteers and staff to provide a range of medical, dental, pharmacy, vision, or behavioral health services to economically disadvantaged individuals who are uninsured, underinsured, or have limited or no access to primary, specialty, or prescription health care.
2. The organization is exempt from taxation under section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code or operates as a program component or affiliate of such an organization.
3. The organization provides services without regard to a patient's ability to pay.
4. The organization charges patients no fee for services or charges a nominal or sliding fee.
5. The organization does not provide abortion services and is not an affiliate of an organization, other than a hospital, that provides abortion services.
(aj) “Health professional shortage area" means an area that is designated by the federal department of health and human services under 42 CFR part 5, appendix A, as having a shortage of medical care professionals.
(ap) “Mental health shortage area" means an area that is designated by the federal department of health and human services under 42 CFR part 5, appendix C, as having a shortage of psychiatric professionals, excluding a state or federal prison and a state or county mental hospital.
(b) “Physician" means a physician, as defined in s. 448.01 (5), who specializes in family practice, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, or psychiatry.
(cm) “Primary care shortage area" means an area that is in a primary care health professional shortage area as determined by the federal department of health and human services under 42 CFR part 5, appendix A, excluding a state or federal prison.
(d) “Rural area" has the meaning given in s. 36.63 (1) (c).
(2) Eligibility.
(a)
1. Except as provided in subd. 2., the board may repay, on behalf of a physician or dentist, up to $50,000 in educational loans obtained by the physician or dentist from a public or private lending institution for education in an accredited school of medicine or dentistry or for postgraduate medical or dental training.
2. The board may repay, on behalf of a physician who agrees under sub. (3) to practice in a rural area, up to $100,000 in educational loans obtained by the physician from a public or private lending institution for education in an accredited school of medicine or for postgraduate medical training.
(b) A physician or dentist who is a participant in the national health service corps scholarship program under 42 USC 254n, or a physician or dentist who was a participant in that program and who failed to carry out his or her obligations under that program, is not eligible for loan repayment under this section.
(3) Agreement.
(a) The board shall enter into a written agreement with the physician, in which the physician agrees to practice at least 32 clinic hours per week for 3 years in one or more eligible practice areas in this state or in a rural area, except that a physician specializing in psychiatry may only agree to practice psychiatry in a mental health shortage area or in a rural area and a physician in the expanded loan assistance program under sub. (9) may only agree to practice at a public or private nonprofit entity in a health professional shortage area. Except for a physician who agrees to practice in a free or charitable clinic, the physician shall also agree to care for patients who are insured or for whom health benefits are payable under medicare, medical assistance, or any other governmental program.
(am) The board shall enter into a written agreement with the dentist, in which the dentist agrees to practice at least 32 clinic hours per week for 3 years in one or more dental health shortage areas in this state, in a free or charitable clinic, or in a rural area. Except for a dentist who agrees to practice in a free or charitable clinic, the dentist shall also agree to care for patients who are insured or for whom dental health benefits are payable under medicare, medical assistance, or any other governmental program.
(b) The agreement shall specify that the responsibility of the board to make the payments under the agreement is subject to the amount of funds transferred to the board under s. 20.505 (8) (hm) 6r., the contributions received and penalties assessed by the board, and the appropriation under s. 20.285 (1) (qj).
(4) Loan repayment. Except as provided in sub. (4m), principal and interest due on loans, exclusive of any penalties, may be repaid by the board at the following rate:
(a) Up to 40 percent of the principal of the loan or $20,000, whichever is less, during the first year of participation in the program under this section.
(b) Up to an additional 40 percent of the principal of the loan or $20,000, whichever is less, during the 2nd year of participation in the program under this section.
(c) Up to an additional 20 percent of the principal of the loan or $10,000, whichever is less, during the 3rd year of participation in the program under this section.
(4m) Loan repayment; rural physicians. If a physician agrees under sub. (3) to practice in a rural area, principal and interest due on the loan, exclusive of any penalties, may be repaid by the board at the following rate:
(a) Up to 40 percent of the principal of the loan or $40,000, whichever is less, during the first year of participation in the program under this section.
(b) Up to an additional 40 percent of the principal of the loan or $40,000, whichever is less, during the 2nd year of participation in the program under this section.
(c) Up to an additional 20 percent of the principal of the loan or $20,000, whichever is less, during the 3rd year of participation in the program under this section.
(5) Availability of funds; right of action against state.
(a) The obligation of the board to make payments under an agreement entered into under sub. (3) (b) is subject to the amount of funds transferred to the board under s. 20.505 (8) (hm) 6r., the contributions received and penalties assessed by the board, and the appropriation under s. 20.285 (1) (qj).
(b) If the cost of repaying the loans of all eligible applicants, when added to the cost of loan repayments scheduled under existing agreements, exceeds the total amount of funds transferred to the board under s. 20.505 (8) (hm) 6r., the contributions received and penalties assessed by the board, and the appropriation under s. 20.285 (1) (qj), then, subject to par. (bm), the board shall establish priorities among the eligible applicants based upon the following considerations:
1. The degree to which there is an extremely high need for medical care in the eligible practice area, health professional shortage area, or rural area in which a physician desires to practice and the degree to which there is an extremely high need for dental care in the dental health shortage area or rural area in which a dentist desires to practice.
2. The likelihood that a physician will remain in the eligible practice area, health professional shortage area, or rural area, and that a dentist will remain in the dental health shortage area or rural area, in which he or she desires to practice after the loan repayment period.
3. The per capita income of the eligible practice area, health professional shortage area, or rural area in which a physician desires to practice and of the dental health shortage area or rural area in which a dentist desires to practice.
4. The financial or other support for physician recruitment and retention provided by individuals, organizations, or local governments in the eligible practice area, health professional shortage area, or rural area in which a physician desires to practice and for dentist recruitment and retention provided by individuals, organizations, or local governments in the dental health shortage area or rural area in which a dentist desires to practice.
5. The geographic distribution of the physicians and dentists who have entered into loan repayment agreements under this section and the geographic distribution of the eligible practice areas, health professional shortage areas, dental health shortage areas, and rural areas in which the eligible applicants desire to practice.
6. Other considerations that the board may specify by rule.
(bm) If the board determines that a consideration under par. (b) does not apply to eligible applicants who desire to practice in free or charitable clinics, the board shall develop a mechanism to fairly assess all applicants under the priorities established under par. (b).
(d) An agreement under sub. (3) does not create a right of action against the state on the part of the physician, dentist, or lending institution for failure to make the payments specified in the agreement.
(6) Local participation. The board shall encourage contributions to the program under this section by counties, cities, villages, and towns.
(6m) Penalties. The board shall, by rule, establish penalties to be assessed by the board against physicians and dentists who breach agreements entered into under sub. (3). The rules shall do all of the following:
(a) Specify what actions constitute a breach of the agreement.
(b) Provide specific penalty amounts for specific breaches.
(c) Provide exceptions for certain actions, including breaches resulting from death or disability.
(8) Administration. The board shall do all of the following:
(b) Identify eligible practice areas and rural areas with an extremely high need for medical care and dental health shortage areas and rural areas with an extremely high need for dental care.
(d) Publicize the program under this section to physicians, dentists, and eligible communities.
(e) Assist physicians and dentists who are interested in applying for the program under this section.
(f) Assist communities in obtaining physicians' and dentists' services through the program under this section.
(g) Make recommendations to the governor on all of the following:
1. Ways to improve the delivery of health care to persons living in rural areas of the state that constitute shortage areas.
2. Ways to help communities evaluate and utilize the linkage between rural health facilities and economic development.
3. Coordination of state and federal programs available to assist rural health care service delivery.
4. Strengthening coordination and maintenance of rural services and the delivery system.
5. Development of mechanisms to reduce shortages of health care providers in rural areas.
(h) Notwithstanding subs. (3) (b) and (5) (a) and (b), ensure that moneys appropriated under s. 20.285 (1) (qj) are used under this section only to repay loans on behalf of physicians and dentists who agree to practice in a rural area.
(9) Expanded loan assistance program. The board may agree to repay loans as provided under this section on behalf of a physician or dentist under an expanded physician and dentist loan assistance program that is funded through federal funds in addition to state matching funds. To be eligible for loan repayment under the expanded physician and dentist loan assistance program, a physician or dentist must fulfill all of the requirements for loan repayment under this section, as well as all of the following:
(a) The physician or dentist must be a U.S. citizen.
(b) The physician or dentist may not have a judgment lien against his or her property for a debt to the United States.
(c) The physician or dentist must agree to do all of the following:
1. Accept medicare assignment as payment in full for services or articles provided.
2. Use a sliding fee scale or a comparable method of determining payment arrangements for patients who are not eligible for medicare or medical assistance and who are unable to pay the customary fee for the physician's or dentist's services.
3. Practice at a public or private nonprofit entity in a health professional shortage area, if a physician, or in a dental health shortage area, if a dentist.
History: 2009 a. 28 ss. 747s, 3035 to 3045; Stats. 2009 s. 36.60; 2009 a. 190, 276; 2011 a. 32; 2019 a. 58.