BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 565 (Salas) - California Physician Corps Program.
Amended: July 2, 2013 Policy Vote: Health 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 565 would revise the criteria for the
California Physician Corps Program, which provides financial
incentives for physicians to work in underserved areas.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown additional demand for loan repayment funding due to
changes in the program criteria (Health Professions
Education Fund). The bill would allow participating
physicians to receive loan repayment funds if they work in a
medical practice whose patient population is at least 30%
uninsured, Medi-Cal beneficiaries, or beneficiaries of other
public programs. This is a reduction from the current
requirement that at least 50% of the practice's patient
population meet this criteria. By loosening this program
criteria, the bill is likely to increase the number of
qualifying medical practices and therefore the number of
eligible physicians. The size of this impact is unknown.
Background: Under Current law, the California Physician Corps
Program is composed to two programs - the Volunteer Physicians
Program and the Stephen M. Thompson Loan Repayment Program. The
Volunteer Physicians Program has never been funded and is
inactive. The Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment
Program provides up to $105,000 in loan repayments for
physicians who agree to work in medically underserved areas for
at least three years. Criteria for awarding loan repayments are
developed by the Health Professions Education Foundation within
the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
In order to qualify for the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps
Loan Repayment Program, a physician must agree to work full time
in a community clinic or a medical practice in a medically
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underserved area whose patient population is at least 50%
uninsured or eligible for Medi-Cal or the Healthy Families
Program.
Proposed Law: AB 565 would revise the criteria for the
California Physician Corps Program, which provides financial
incentives for physicians to work in underserved areas.
Specifically, the bill would:
Revise the definition of medical practice to clarify that
it is a physician owned and operated medical practice
providing primary care;
Reduce the portion of a medical practice's patients that
must be medically underserved from 50% to 30%;
Revise the definition of medically underserved population
to include the uninsured, Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and
beneficiaries of publicly funded programs that serve
patients earning less than 250% of the federal poverty
level;
Require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development to develop program guidelines;
Require the Office to give preference to applicants who
agree to practice in a medically underserved area and
provide care to medically underserved populations;
Require the Office to give priority consideration to
applicants from rural areas.
Related Legislation:
SB 20 (Hernandez) would transfer all fines and penalties
assessed by the Department of Managed Healthcare to the
Health Education Fund for the Stephen M. Thompson Physician
Corps Loan Repayment Program, upon the close of the Major
Risk Medical Insurance Program. That bill is in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 860 (Perea and Bocanegra) would appropriate $600,000 in
fine and penalty revenues to the Steven Thompson Medical
School Scholarship Program. That bill was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Suspense File.
AB 1176 (Bocanegra and Bonta) would establish a Medical
Residency Training Program to fund graduate medical training
programs. That bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Suspense File.
Staff Comments: Current law requires the Medical Board of
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California to develop guidelines for awarding loan repayments
under the program. This bill gives that responsibility to the
Health Professions Education Foundation (within the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development). The Office indicates
that the changes to current law in the bill are explicit enough
that it will not need to adopt or amend any guidelines to
implement the bill.