HSB 48 (LSB 1172DP (4) 90)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COLLEGE STUDENT AID COMMISSION BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to individuals who fail to fulfill the obligation to engage in practice in a service commitment area under the rural Iowa primary care loan repayment program and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 261.113, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  Loan repayment amounts.  The amount of loan repayment an eligible student who enters into an agreement pursuant to subsection 3 shall receive if in compliance with obligations under the agreement shall be forty thousand dollars annually for an eligible loan if the total loan amount equals or exceeds two hundred thousand dollars. Payments made pursuant to an agreement entered into under subsection 3 may be made for after the completion of each year of eligible practice during a period of five consecutive years and shall not exceed a total of two hundred thousand dollars. If the total amount of an eligible student’s eligible loan upon graduation is less than two hundred thousand dollars, the commission shall divide the total amount of the eligible student’s eligible loan by five to determine the annual amount of loan repayment the loan recipient is eligible to receive.
    Sec. 2.  Section 261.113, subsection 11, paragraph d, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  If a loan repayment recipient fails to fulfill the obligation to engage in practice in accordance with subsection 3, the recipient shall be subject to repayment to the commission of the loan amount plus interest as specified by rule shall not make additional loan repayments to the recipient. A loan repayment recipient who fails to meet the requirements of the obligation to engage in practice in accordance with subsection 3 may also be subject to repayment of moneys advanced by the service commitment area as provided in any agreement with the service commitment area.
    Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to individuals who receive loan repayments under the rural Iowa primary care loan repayment program on or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to individuals who fail to fulfill the obligation to engage in practice in a service commitment area under the rural Iowa primary care loan repayment program (program).
   The program provides loan repayments for medical students who agree to practice as physicians for five years in service commitment areas, as defined in Code section 261.113. The bill provides that the college student aid commission is to make loan repayments after the completion of each year of practice.
   Current law requires an individual who receives loan repayments under the program to repay the commission the total amount of those loan repayments if the individual fails to fulfill the obligation to practice as a physician in a service area for five years. The bill strikes this requirement. The bill provides that, if the individual fails to fulfill the obligation to practice as a physician in a service area for five years, the commission is prohibited from making additional loan repayments to the individual.
   The bill applies to individuals who receive loan repayments under the program on or after the effective date of the bill.