HB2519 CD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that many Hawaii residents are increasingly unable to obtain timely and appropriate health care because of physician and dentist shortages, which primarily affect the rural areas of the state.

Because of the need to repay student loans to fund a physician's or dentist's increasingly high cost of professional education, these health care professionals are discouraged from working in shortage areas, which generally provide lower financial earnings for medical professionals.

The legislature finds that the establishment of various programs such as student loan repayment and state-funded physician and dentist stipend programs may be used to encourage and enable physicians and dentists to provide care in shortage areas.

The purpose of this Act is to create a working group to develop a plan to establish a program known as the Hawaii health corps program to address physician and dentist shortages that includes student loan repayment and stipend programs.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established the Hawaii health corps program working group to be placed within the department of business, economic development, and tourism, for administrative purposes only, to develop a plan to create a program to be known as the Hawaii health corps program that will address physician and dentist shortages through programs such as student loan repayments and stipends. The working group shall be composed of:

(1) The director of health or the director's designee;

(2) The director of human services or the director's designee;

(3) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee;

(4) The dean of the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns school of medicine or the dean's designee;

(5) The administrator of the state health planning and development agency or the administrator's designee;

(6) A member of the senate appointed by the senate president; and

(7) A member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(b) The members of the working group shall designate a chair from among its members.

(1) Up to twenty qualified participants may be selected each year to receive tuition loan repayments; provided that there shall be not more than one hundred participants at any given time;

(2) Qualified participants shall agree to serve in underserved and rural areas, as designated by the working group;

(3) Loan repayments to fully satisfy the loan of a qualified participant in the Hawaii health corps program shall be paid over a five-year period with a minimum repayment of twenty per cent per year;

(4) Qualified participants shall serve a minimum of five years in the Hawaii health corps program; provided that participants who do not serve the full five years shall repay all loan payments plus any interest as determined by the working group;

(5) Priority placement in the Hawaii health corps program will be for graduates of the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns school of medicine;

(6) Persons shall be selected to serve in the Hawaii health corps program regardless of specialty;

(7) Qualified participants in the Hawaii health corps program shall commit to serve as first responders in the event of a declared emergency, or at the request of the director of health; and

(8) The Hawaii health corps program shall be administered by the department of business, economic development, and tourism.

(d) The Hawaii health corps program working group shall prepare a plan to be fully implemented by January 1, 2010, and submit the plan and any proposed legislation to the legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2519
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2
		C.D. 1