AB 2485, as introduced, Santiago. Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program.
Existing law establishes the Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 within the Dental Board of California. Existing law creates the Dentally Underserved Account within the State Dentistry Fund. The program assists dentists who practice in an underserved area with loan repayment pursuant to an agreement between the board and the dentist, as specified.
This bill would repeal those provisions and instead transfer the authority to implement the program to the Health Professions Education Foundation within the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and would rename the account the Dental Corps Loan Repayment Account. The bill would make funds in the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would require the foundation to submit a report to the Legislature by an unspecified date. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
2the following:
3(a) An adequate supply of dentists is critical to assuring the
4health and well-being of California residents, particularly those
5who live in medically underserved areas.
6(b) It is in the best interest of the state and its residents that
7dental services be provided throughout the state in a manner that
8can be effectively accessed by the residents of all communities.
9(c) The Dental Board of California has established the California
10Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 to improve access
11to dental care for underserved populations.
12(d) The Health Professions Education Foundation, established
13in 1987, is the state’s only nonprofit foundation statutorily created
14to encourage persons from underserved communities to become
15health professionals and increase access to health providers in
16medically underserved areas.
17(e) The foundation improves access to health care in underserved
18areas by providing scholarships, loan repayments, and programs
19to health professional students and graduates who are dedicated
20to providing direct patient care in those areas.
21(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to move the California
22Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 from the Dental
23Board of California to the Health Professions Education Foundation
24within the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 1970) of Chapter
264 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
Section 128345 of the Health and Safety Code is
28amended to read:
The Health Professions Education Foundation may
30do any of the following:
31(a) Solicit and receive funds from business, industry,
32foundations, and other private or public sources for the purpose
33of providing financial assistance in the form of scholarships or
34loans to African-American students, Native American students,
35Hispanic-American students, and other students from
P3 1underrepresented groups. These funds shall be expended by the
2office after transfer to the Health Professions Education Fund,
3created pursuant to Section 128355.
4(b) Recommend to the director the disbursement of private
5sector moneys deposited in the Health Professions Education Fund
6to students from underrepresented
groups accepted to or enrolled
7in schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health
8professions in the form of loans or scholarships.
9(c) Recommend to the director a standard contractual agreement
10to be signed by the director and any participating student, that
11would require a period of obligated professional service in the
12areas in California designated by the commission as deficient in
13primary care services. The agreement shall include a clause
14entitling the state to recover the funds awarded plus the maximum
15allowable interest for failure to begin or complete the service
16obligation.
17(d) Develop criteria for evaluating the likelihood that applicants
18for scholarships or loans would remain to practice their profession
19in designated areas deficient in primary care services.
20(e) Develop application forms, which
shall be disseminated to
21students from underrepresented groups interested in applying for
22scholarships or loans.
23(f) Encourage private sector institutions, including hospitals,
24community clinics, and other health agencies to identify and
25provide educational experiences to students from underrepresented
26groups who are potential applicants to schools of medicine,
27dentistry, nursing, or other health professions.
28(g) Prepare and submit an annual report to the office
29documenting the amount of money solicited from the private sector,
30the number of scholarships and loans awarded, the enrollment
31levels of students from underrepresented groups in schools of
32medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health professions, and the
33projected need for scholarships and loans in the future.
34(h) Recommend to the director that a portion
of the funds
35solicited from the private sector be used for the administrative
36requirements of the foundation.
37(i) Implement the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan
38Repayment Program and the Volunteer Physician Program, as
39provided under Article 5 (commencing with Section 128550).
P4 1(j) Implement the California Dental Corps Loan Repayment
2Program, as provided under Article 7 (commencing with Section
3128587) of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107.
Article 7 (commencing with Section 128587) is added
5to Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety
6Code, to read:
7
(a) There is hereby established the California Dental
11Corps Loan Repayment Program within the Health Professions
12Education Foundation within the Office of Statewide Health
13Planning and Development.
14(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article that
15the foundation and the office provide the ongoing program
16management for the program.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions
18apply:
19(a) “Account” means the Dentally Underserved Account, which
20is contained within the fund.
21(b) “Board” means the Dental Board of California.
22(c) “Dentally underserved area” means a geographic area eligible
23to be designated as having a shortage of dental professionals
24pursuant to Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42
25of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state in which
26unmet priority needs for dentists exist as determined by the
27California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to
28Section 128224.
29(d) “Dentally underserved population” means persons without
30dental insurance and persons eligible for Denti-Cal who are
31population groups described as having a shortage of dental care
32professionals in Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of
33Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
34(e) “Fund” means the State Dentistry Fund.
35(f) “Medi-Cal threshold languages” means primary languages
36spoken by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups
37meeting a numeric threshold of 3,000, eligible LEP Medi-Cal
38beneficiaries residing in a county, 1,000 Medi-Cal eligible LEP
39beneficiaries residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP Medi-Cal
40beneficiaries residing in two contiguous ZIP Codes.
P5 1(g) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
2
Development.
3(h) “Program” means the California Dental Corps Loan
4Repayment Program.
5(i) “Practice setting” means either of the following:
6(1) A community clinic, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
71204 and subdivision (c) of Section 1206, a clinic owned or
8operated by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned
9and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with
10a county government to fulfill the county’s role pursuant to Section
1117000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which is located in a
12dentally underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients
13are from a dentally underserved population.
14(2) A dental practice or dental corporation, as defined in Section
151800 of the Business and Professions Code, located
in a dentally
16underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from
17a dentally underserved population.
(a) A program applicant shall possess a current
19valid license to practice dentistry in this state issued by the board
20pursuant to Section 1626 of the Business and Professions Code.
21(b) The foundation shall develop the guidelines for selection
22and placement of applicants.
23(1) The guidelines shall provide priority consideration to
24applicants who are best suited to meet the cultural and linguistic
25needs and demands of dentally underserved populations and who
26meet one or more of the following criteria:
27(A) Speak a Medi-Cal threshold language.
28(B) Come from an economically disadvantaged background.
29(C) Have received significant training in cultural and
30linguistically appropriate service delivery.
31(D) Have worked with dentally underserved populations for at
32least three years.
33(E) Recently received a license to practice dentistry.
34(2) The guidelines shall include a process for determining the
35needs for dental services identified by the practice setting. At a
36minimum, the practice setting shall meet all of the following
37criteria:
38(A) The practice setting shall be located in a dentally
39underserved area.
P6 1(B) The practice setting shall ensure that the program participant
2serves a
patient population that consists of at least 50 percent
3dentally underserved populations.
4(3) The guidelines shall seek to place the most qualified
5applicants under this section in the areas with the greatest need.
6(4) Guidelines shall include a factor ensuring geographic
7distribution of placements.
8(c) A program applicant shall be working in, or have a signed
9agreement with, an eligible practice setting. The program
10participant shall be employed on a full-time basis. Full-time basis
11shall be defined by the board, and the board may establish
12exemptions to this requirement on a case-by-case basis.
13(d) A program participant shall commit to a minimum of three
14years of service in a dentally underserved area. The foundation
15shall develop the process for
determining the maximum length of
16an absence and the process for reinstatement of a participant. Loan
17repayment shall be deferred until the dentist is employed on a
18full-time basis.
19(e) The foundation shall develop a process to use if a dentist is
20not able to complete his or her three-year obligation.
21(f) The foundation shall develop a process for outreach to
22potentially eligible applicants.
23(g) The foundation may adopt any other standards of eligibility,
24placement, and termination appropriate to achieve the aim of
25providing competent dental services in these approved practice
26settings.
(a) The Dentally Underserved Account, formerly
28established pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1973 of the
29Business and Professions Code, in the State Dentistry Fund in the
30Professions and Vocations Fund in the State Treasury is hereby
31renamed the Dental Corps Loan Repayment Account and
32established by this section in the State Dentistry Fund.
33(b) (1) Funds placed in the account shall be available upon
34appropriation by the Legislature.
35(2) Funds in the account shall be used by the foundation to repay
36the loans per agreements made with dentists.
37(3) Funds paid out for loan repayment may have
a funding match
38from foundations or other private sources.
39(4) Loan repayments may not exceed a total of one hundred five
40thousand dollars ($105,000) per individual licensed dentist.
P7 1(5) Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code,
2the foundation may seek and receive funds from foundations and
3private sources to be placed into the account.
The terms of loan repayment granted under this
5article shall be as follows:
6(a) After a program participant has completed one year of
7providing services as a dentist in a dentally underserved area, the
8board shall provide up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)
9for loan repayment.
10(b) After a program participant has completed two consecutive
11years of providing services on a full-time basis as a dentist in a
12dentally underserved area, the board shall provide up to an
13additional thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) of loan repayment,
14for a total loan repayment of up to sixty thousand dollars ($60,000).
15(c) After a program
participant has completed three consecutive
16years of providing services on a full-time basis as a dentist in a
17dentally underserved area, the board shall provide up to a maximum
18of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) of loan repayment, for a
19total loan repayment of up to one hundred five thousand dollars
20($105,000).
(a) On or before ____, the foundation shall submit
22a report to the Legislature regarding the experience of the program,
23an evaluation of its effectiveness in improving access to dental
24care for underserved populations, and recommendations for
25maintaining or expanding its operation, including, but not limited
26to, all of the following:
27(1) Number of program participants.
28(2) Practice locations.
29(3) Amount of funds expended.
30(4) The information on annual performance reviews by practice
31settings and program participants.
32(b) The report to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a)
33shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
34Government Code.
35(c) This section shall remain in effect only until ____, and as
36of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted
37before ____, deletes or extends that date.
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