256.224  Health care award program.
  1.  Definitions.  For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
  a.  “Advanced registered nurse practitioner” means a person licensed as a registered nurse under chapter 152 or 152E who is licensed by the board of nursing as an advanced registered nurse practitioner.
  b.  “Nurse educator” means a registered nurse who holds a master’s degree or doctorate degree and is employed by a community college, an accredited private institution, or an institution of higher education governed by the state board of regents as a faculty member to teach nursing at a nursing education program approved by the board of nursing pursuant to section 152.5.
  c.  “Physician assistant” means a person licensed as a physician assistant under chapter 148C.
  d.  “Service commitment area” means a city in Iowa with a population of less than twenty-six thousand that is located more than twenty miles from a city with a population of fifty thousand or more.
  2.  Program established.  A health care award program is established to be administered by the commission for purposes of providing financial awards to registered nurses, advanced registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurse educators who practice full-time in a service commitment area or teach full-time or part-time in this state, as appropriate, and who are selected for the program in accordance with this section. An applicant who is a member of the Iowa national guard is exempt from the service commitment area requirement, but shall submit an affidavit verifying the applicant is practicing full-time in this state. A part-time nurse educator must also practice as a registered nurse or an advanced registered nurse practitioner to qualify for an award under this section.
  3.  Application requirements.  Each applicant for an award shall, in accordance with the rules of the commission, do all of the following:
  a.  Complete and file an application for an award. The individual shall be responsible for the prompt submission of any information required by the commission.
  b.  File a new application and submit information as required by the commission annually on the basis of which the applicant’s eligibility for the renewed award will be evaluated and determined.
  c.  Complete and return, on a form approved by the commission, an affidavit of practice verifying that the applicant is a registered nurse, an advanced registered nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant who is practicing full-time in a service commitment area in this state or is a nurse educator who teaches full-time or part-time in this state. A part-time nurse educator must also practice as a registered nurse or an advanced registered nurse practitioner to qualify for an award under this section. If practice in a service commitment area is required as a condition of receiving an award, the affidavit shall specify the service commitment area in which the applicant is practicing full-time.
  4.  Award amounts.  The annual amount of an award provided to a recipient under this section is six thousand dollars. A recipient is eligible for an award for not more than five consecutive years.
  5.  Selection criteria.  The commission shall establish by rule the evaluation criteria to be used in evaluating applications submitted under this section. Priority shall be given to applicants who are residents of Iowa and, if requested by the adjutant general, to applicants who are members of the Iowa national guard.
  6.  Health care award fund.  A health care award fund is created for deposit of moneys appropriated to or received by the commission for use under the program. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys deposited in the health care award fund shall not revert to any fund of the state at the end of any fiscal year but shall remain in the award fund and be continuously available for use under the program. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys deposited in the health care award fund shall be credited to the fund.
  7.  Rules.  The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this section.
2002 Acts, ch 1131, §1
C2003, §261.23
2003 Acts, ch 108, §47; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §26; 2009 Acts, ch 118, §49, 50, 54; 2014 Acts, ch 1061, §16
C2015, §261.116
2018 Acts, ch 1163, §20; 2020 Acts, ch 1007, §6 – 8; 2022 Acts, ch 1134, §16; 2022 Acts, ch 1153, §11; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §2641; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §49
C2024, §256.224
2024 Acts, ch 1057, §9
Subsection 7 stricken and former subsection 8 renumbered as 7