79R973 JRJ-D

By:  Shapleigh                                                    S.B. No. 67 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a program to promote the training and retention of 
health care professionals in this state.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding 
Subchapter J-1 to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER J-1.  BORDER HEALTH CORPS
	Sec. 61.551.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:                         
		(1)  "Health professional shortage area" means an area 
designated as a health professional shortage area under 42 U.S.C. 
Section 254e.
		(2)  "Texas-Mexico border region" has the meaning 
assigned by Section 2056.002, Government Code.
	Sec. 61.552.  BORDER HEALTH CORPS.  (a)  The board shall 
establish a program to encourage the training, recruitment, and 
retention of health care professionals and practitioners in health 
professional shortage areas in the Texas-Mexico border region.  
Individuals participating in the program may be referred to as the 
Border Health Corps.  The board shall adopt rules as necessary to 
administer the program.
	(b)  Practitioners in medicine, dentistry, and nursing are 
eligible to participate in the program, including specialists and 
subspecialists.  The board may include other health care 
professions in the program as the board determines appropriate to 
address a shortage of practitioners in that profession in the 
Texas-Mexico border region.
	(c)  In granting loan repayment assistance or other benefits 
to individuals in the program, the board shall give priority to:
		(1)  health professional shortage areas with the 
highest health professional shortage area scores or rankings; and
		(2)  individuals in fields and areas of practice for 
which the greatest need exists in health professional shortage 
areas in the Texas-Mexico border region.
	Sec. 61.553.  EDUCATION LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE.  (a)  To 
the extent funding is available, the board shall provide assistance 
in the repayment of education loans to individuals in the program.  
To receive loan repayment assistance, an individual must agree to 
practice for at least two years in the individual's field or area of 
practice in a health professional shortage area in the Texas-Mexico 
border region.
	(b)  An individual may not receive more than $10,000 in loan 
repayment assistance under the program in any year.  The amount of 
loan repayment assistance an individual receives may not exceed the 
amount of principal and interest due on the loan during the period 
of service for which the assistance is provided.
	(c)  The board shall pay the loan repayment assistance 
directly to the entity to which the loan obligation is due.  The 
board shall make the payments periodically during the period of the 
individual's practice and may make the payments in advance of that 
practice.  The board shall take action as necessary to recover any 
amount for which the promised practice is not performed, subject to 
any exception for hardship as the board considers appropriate.
	(d)  The board shall make loan repayment assistance awards 
under this section to allow individuals in the program to qualify 
for matching federal loan repayment assistance, to the extent 
consistent with the purposes of the program.
	Sec. 61.554.  FUNDING.  (a)  The program is funded by 
appropriations, including gifts and grants, and other money 
available for purposes of the program.  The board may solicit and 
accept gifts and grants from any public or private source for the 
program.
	(b)  The board shall take any action necessary, including 
applying for waivers of applicable requirements or restrictions, to 
permit federal funds available for loan repayment assistance under 
the program to be available to individuals in the program who are in 
private practice.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  Subchapter G, Chapter 487, Government Code, 
is repealed.    
	(b)  The Office of Rural Community Affairs may continue to 
administer the Texas Health Service Corps as provided by former 
Subchapter G, Chapter 487, Government Code, with respect to a 
person awarded or paid a stipend under the program before the repeal 
of that subchapter by this Act.  The office may not award a stipend 
under the program on or after the effective date of this Act.
	(c)  It is the intent of the legislature that the Border 
Health Corps established under Subchapter J-1, Chapter 61, 
Education Code, as added by this Act, be funded primarily from 
revenue that would have been appropriated to fund the Texas Health 
Service Corps, if that program had not been abolished by this Act.  
All money and appropriations available or designated to administer 
the Texas Health Service Corps on the effective date of this Act are 
reallocated or reappropriated, as appropriate, to the Texas Higher 
Education Coordinating Board to administer the Border Health Corps 
under Subchapter J-1, Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by this 
Act, except as necessary to permit the Office of Rural Community 
Affairs to comply with Subsection (b) of this section.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.