§ 903. Primary care physician loan repayment program.
1.The\ncommissioner, in collaboration with the commissioner of education and\nthe president of the higher education services corporation, is\nauthorized and directed to establish a physician loan repayment program\nto encourage medical students to enter primary care specialties and to\nserve underserved areas and populations.\n 2. The commissioner is authorized, within amounts available pursuant\nto subdivision nineteen-a of section twenty-eight hundred seven-c and\nsection twenty-eight hundred seven-l of this chapter, to make loan\nrepayment awards as follows:\n (a) beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, to any\nresident who first entered a primary care medical training program on or\nafter January first, nineteen
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§ 903. Primary care physician loan repayment program. 1. The\ncommissioner, in collaboration with the commissioner of education and\nthe president of the higher education services corporation, is\nauthorized and directed to establish a physician loan repayment program\nto encourage medical students to enter primary care specialties and to\nserve underserved areas and populations.\n 2. The commissioner is authorized, within amounts available pursuant\nto subdivision nineteen-a of section twenty-eight hundred seven-c and\nsection twenty-eight hundred seven-l of this chapter, to make loan\nrepayment awards as follows:\n (a) beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, to any\nresident who first entered a primary care medical training program on or\nafter January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four in the second or third\nyear of such program; provided such resident agrees to practice primary\ncare in an underserved area in New York state for one year for each such\nannual award received, with such practice beginning immediately after\ncompletion of such residency training. Such resident shall be eligible\nfor an award of up to ten thousand dollars per year and beginning\nJanuary first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven of up to fifteen thousand\ndollars per year; and\n (b) beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, to a\nprimary care physician, emergency medicine physician or other physician\nspecialty determined by the commissioner to be in short supply, licensed\nto practice medicine in New York state, who agrees to practice for at\nleast two years in an underserved area. Such physician shall be eligible\nfor a loan repayment award of up to ten thousand dollars per year and\nbeginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven of up to fifteen\nthousand dollars per year for each of the first two years of practice in\nsuch area; provided, however, if such physician agrees to practice for\nan additional two years in such area, then such physician shall be\neligible for an award of up to fifteen thousand dollars per year and\nbeginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven of up to twenty\nthousand dollars per year for each of the second two years of such\npractice.\n 3. Loan repayment awards made to a physician pursuant to subdivision\ntwo of this section shall not exceed the total qualifying outstanding\ndebt of the physician from student loans to cover tuition and other\nrelated educational expenses, made by or guaranteed by the federal or\nstate government, or made by a lending or educational institution\napproved under title IV of the federal higher education act. Loan\nrepayment awards shall be used solely to repay such outstanding debt.\n 4. Within such time as the commissioner shall by regulation provide, a\nrecipient of an award shall have practiced as a primary care physician\nin an underserved area in the state of New York or, in the case of a\nrecipient of an award after completion of residency training, the\nrecipient shall have practiced in an underserved area for that number of\nmonths calculated by multiplying by twelve the number of annual awards\nreceived by the recipient. If a recipient fails to comply fully with\nsuch conditions, the president shall be entitled to receive from such\nrecipient an amount to be determined by the formula:\n A = 2B(t-s)\n -----\n t\nIn which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover, "B" is\nthe sum of all payments made to the recipient and the interest on such\namount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid they\nwere loans bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t" is the\ntotal number of months in the recipient's period of obligated services;\nand "s" is the number of months of services actually rendered by the\nrecipient. Any amount which the president is entitled to recover under\nthis subdivision shall be paid within the five-year period beginning on\nthe date that the recipient failed to comply with this condition. Any\nobligation to comply with such provisions shall be canceled upon the\ndeath of the recipient. The commissioner of health shall promulgate\nregulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of any financial\nobligation when compliance would involve extreme hardship.\n 5. The commissioner is authorized to apply any funds available for\npurposes of subdivision two of this section for use as matching funds\nfor federal grants for the purpose of assisting states in operating loan\nrepayment programs pursuant to section three hundred thirty-eight I of\nthe public health service act.\n 6. The commissioner, in consultation with the council, shall\npromulgate regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions and\npurposes of this section.\n