BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 565
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 565 (Salas) - As Amended: April 23, 2013
Policy Committee: HealthVote:19-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill revises provisions of the Steven M. Thompson Physician
Corps Loan Repayment Program (STLRP). Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds a private practice that provides primary care in a
medically underserved area (MUA), as specified, to the
definition of community clinic.
2)Deletes guidelines for placement criteria that seek to place
applicants in areas with the greatest need and instead gives
preferences to applicants who agree to practice in a medical
underserved area, as specified, or who are from rural
communities and agree to practice in a physician owned and
operated setting, as defined.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible state costs.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the California Medical
Association (CMA) and is intended to strengthen the criteria
for STLRP applicants. According to CMA, more than $17
million has been awarded to 223 physicians from 2003 to 2011
but demand far outweighs the funding supply. With continued
shortages of primary care physicians in 74% of counties, this
bill makes private practice primary care physicians eligible
for loan forgiveness in medically underserved areas. This
bill also requires three years of experience providing
services to underserved populations.
AB 565
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2)Background . The STLRP was established in 2003 to encourage
recently licensed physicians to practice in federally
designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) by
authorizing eligible physicians to receive $105,000 for
educational loan repayment in exchange for full-time service
for a minimum of three years. STLRP guidelines give priority
consideration, as specified, to applicants best suited to meet
the cultural and linguistic needs and demands of patients from
medically underserved populations (MUPs) and who meet other
specified criteria.
3)Federally designated HPSAs . HPSAs are designated by the
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as having
shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health
providers and may be geographic (a county or service area),
demographic (low income population), or institutional
(comprehensive health center, federally qualified health
center, or other public facility). MUAs/MUPs are areas or
populations designated by HRSA as having too few primary care
providers, high infant mortality, high poverty, and/or high
elderly populations.
4)Related legislation .
a) AB 860 (Perea and Bocanegra) appropriates $600,000 from
the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund
(Managed Care Fund) to the Steven Thompson Medical School
Scholarship Program. AB 860 is pending on this committee's
Suspense File.
b) AB 1176 (Bocanegra and Bonta) establishes the Medical
Residency Training Program within the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to fund graduate
medical education residency programs. AB 1176 is pending
in this committee.
c) SB 20 (Ed Hernandez), pending on the Senate
Appropriations Committee Suspense File, requires, beginning
on the date that the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program
(MRMIP) becomes inoperative, all the funds in the Managed
Care Fund to be transferred each year for purposes of the
STLRP.
-Analysis Prepared by : Debra Roth / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 565
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