Bill Text: CA AB2485 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-09-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 575, Statutes of 2016. [AB2485 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB2485-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2485	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 30, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Santiago

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to repeal Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 1970) of
Chapter 4 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, and to
amend Section 128345 of, and to add Article 7 (commencing with
Section 128587) to Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107 of, the Health
and Safety Code, relating to dentistry.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2485, as amended, Santiago. Dental Corps Loan Repayment
Program.
   Existing law establishes the Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program
of 2002 within the Dental Board of California. Existing law creates
the Dentally Underserved Account within the State Dentistry Fund. The
program assists dentists who practice in an underserved area with
loan repayment pursuant to an agreement between the board and the
dentist, as specified.
   This bill would repeal those provisions and instead transfer the
authority to implement the program to the Health Professions
Education Foundation within the Office of Statewide Health Planning
and Development and would rename the account the Dental Corps Loan
Repayment Account. The bill would make funds in the account
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the
program. The bill would require the foundation to submit a report to
the Legislature by  an unspecified date.  
January 1, 2019.  The bill would make related findings and
declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) An adequate supply of dentists is critical to assuring the
health and well-being of California residents, particularly those who
live in medically underserved areas.
   (b) It is in the best interest of the state and its residents that
dental services be provided throughout the state in a manner that
can be effectively accessed by the residents of all communities.
   (c) The Dental Board of California has established the California
Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 to improve access to
dental care for underserved populations.
   (d) The Health Professions Education Foundation, established in
1987, is the state's only nonprofit foundation statutorily created to
encourage persons from underserved communities to become health
professionals and increase access to health providers in medically
underserved areas.
   (e) The foundation improves access to health care in underserved
areas by providing scholarships, loan repayments, and programs to
health professional students and graduates who are dedicated to
providing direct patient care in those areas.
   (f) It is the intent of the Legislature to move the California
Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 from the Dental Board of
California to the Health Professions Education Foundation within the
Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
  SEC. 2.  Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 1970) of Chapter 4 of
Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
  SEC. 3.  Section 128345 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   128345.  The Health Professions Education Foundation may do any of
the following:
   (a) Solicit and receive funds from business, industry,
foundations, and other private or public sources for the purpose of
providing financial assistance in the form of scholarships or loans
to African-American students, Native American students,
Hispanic-American students, and other students from underrepresented
groups. These funds shall be expended by the office after transfer to
the Health Professions Education Fund, created pursuant to Section
128355.
   (b) Recommend to the director the disbursement of private sector
moneys deposited in the Health Professions Education Fund to students
from underrepresented groups accepted to or enrolled in schools of
medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions in the form
of loans or scholarships.
   (c) Recommend to the director a standard contractual agreement to
be signed by the director and any participating student, that would
require a period of obligated professional service in the areas in
California designated by the commission as deficient in primary care
services. The agreement shall include a clause entitling the state to
recover the funds awarded plus the maximum allowable interest for
failure to begin or complete the service obligation.
   (d) Develop criteria for evaluating the likelihood that applicants
for scholarships or loans would remain to practice their profession
in designated areas deficient in primary care services.
   (e) Develop application forms, which shall be disseminated to
students from underrepresented groups interested in applying for
scholarships or loans.
   (f) Encourage private sector institutions, including hospitals,
community clinics, and other health agencies to identify and provide
educational experiences to students from underrepresented groups who
are potential applicants to schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing,
or other health professions.
   (g) Prepare and submit an annual report to the office documenting
the amount of money solicited from the private sector, the number of
scholarships and loans awarded, the enrollment levels of students
from underrepresented groups in schools of medicine, dentistry,
nursing, and other health professions, and the projected need for
scholarships and loans in the future.
   (h) Recommend to the director that a portion of the funds
solicited from the private sector be used for the administrative
requirements of the foundation.
   (i) Implement the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan
Repayment Program and the Volunteer Physician Program, as provided
under Article 5 (commencing with Section 128550).
   (j) Implement the California Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program,
as provided under Article 7 (commencing with Section 128587) of
Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107.
  SEC. 4.  Article 7 (commencing with Section 128587) is added to
Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, to
read:

      Article 7.  California Dental Corps Loan Repayment Program


   128587.  (a) There is hereby established the California Dental
Corps Loan Repayment Program within the Health Professions Education
Foundation within the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article
that the foundation and the office provide the ongoing program
management for the program.
   128587.2.  For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
   (a) "Account" means the Dentally Underserved Account, which is
contained within the fund.
   (b) "Board" means the Dental Board of California.
   (c) "Dentally underserved area" means a geographic area eligible
to be designated as having a shortage of dental professionals
pursuant to Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42
of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state in which
unmet priority needs for dentists exist as determined by the
California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section
128224.
   (d) "Dentally underserved population" means persons without dental
insurance and persons eligible for Denti-Cal who are population
groups described as having a shortage of dental care professionals in
Part I of Appendix B to Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code
of Federal Regulations.
   (e) "Fund" means the State Dentistry Fund.
   (f) "Medi-Cal threshold languages" means primary languages spoken
by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups meeting a
numeric threshold of 3,000, eligible LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries
residing in a county, 1,000 Medi-Cal eligible LEP beneficiaries
residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries
residing in two contiguous ZIP Codes.
   (g) "Office" means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development.
   (h) "Program" means the California Dental Corps Loan Repayment
Program.
   (i) "Practice setting" means either of the following:
   (1) A community clinic, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
1204 and subdivision (c) of Section 1206, a clinic owned or operated
by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned and
operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a
county government to fulfill the county's role pursuant to Section
17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which is located in a
dentally underserved  area and at least 50 percent of whose
patients are from a dentally underserved population.  
area. 
   (2) A dental practice or dental corporation, as defined in Section
1800 of the Business and Professions Code, located in a dentally
underserved area  and   or  at least 50
percent of whose patients are from a dentally underserved population.

   128587.4.  (a) A program applicant shall possess a current valid
license to practice dentistry in this state issued by the board
pursuant to Section 1626 of the Business and Professions
Code.   Code, or be currently eligible for graduation
from a pre- or postdoctoral dental education program approved by the
board or the Commission on Dental Accreditation and meet all criteria
for licensure subject to successful completion of applicable
education and examination requirements. 
   (b) The foundation shall develop the guidelines for selection and
placement of applicants.
   (1) The guidelines shall provide priority consideration to
applicants who are best suited to meet the cultural and linguistic
needs and demands of dentally underserved populations and who meet
one or more of the following criteria:
   (A) Speak a Medi-Cal threshold language.
   (B) Come from an economically disadvantaged background.
   (C) Have received significant training in cultural and
linguistically appropriate service delivery.
   (D) Have worked  with dentally underserved populations for
at least three years.   in a health field in an
underserved area or with an underserved population. 
   (E) Recently received a license to practice dentistry. 
   (F) Have received an offer for employment from a practice setting.

   (2) The guidelines shall include a process for determining the
needs for dental services identified by the practice setting. At a
minimum, the practice setting  shall meet all of the
following criteria: 
    (A)     The practice
setting shall   shall  be located in a dentally
underserved area. 
   (B) The practice setting shall ensure that the program participant
serves a patient population that consists of at least 50 percent
dentally underserved populations. 
   (3) The guidelines shall seek to place the most qualified
applicants under this section in the areas with the greatest need.

   (4) Guidelines shall include a factor ensuring geographic
distribution of placements. 
   (c) A program applicant shall be working in, or have a signed
agreement with, an eligible practice setting. The program participant
shall be employed on a full-time basis. Full-time basis shall be
defined by the board, and the board may establish exemptions to this
requirement on a case-by-case basis.
   (d) A program participant shall commit to a minimum of three years
of service in  a dentally underserved area.  
one or more practice settings.  The foundation shall develop the
process for determining the maximum length of an absence and the
process for reinstatement of a participant. Loan repayment shall be
deferred until the dentist is employed on a full-time basis.
   (e) The foundation shall develop a process to use if a dentist is
not able to complete his or her three-year obligation.
   (f) The foundation shall develop a process for outreach to
potentially eligible applicants.
   (g) The foundation may adopt any other standards of eligibility,
placement, and termination appropriate to achieve the aim of
providing competent dental services in these approved practice
settings.
   128587.6  (a) The Dentally Underserved Account, formerly
established pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1973 of the
Business and Professions Code, in the State Dentistry Fund in the
Professions and Vocations Fund in the State Treasury is hereby
renamed the Dental Corps Loan Repayment Account and established by
this section in the State Dentistry Fund.
   (b) (1) Funds placed in the account shall be available upon
appropriation by the Legislature.
   (2) Funds in the account shall be used by the foundation to repay
the loans per agreements made with dentists.
   (3) Funds paid out for loan repayment may have a funding match
from foundations or other private sources.
   (4) Loan repayments  may   shall  not
exceed a total of one hundred five thousand dollars ($105,000) per
individual licensed dentist.
   (5) Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code, the
foundation may seek and receive funds from foundations and private
sources to be placed into the account.
   128587.8.  The terms of loan repayment granted under this article
shall be as follows:
   (a) After a program participant has completed  one year
  six months  of providing services  as a
dentist in a dentally underserved area, the board   on a
full-time basis in a practice setting, the foundation  shall
provide up to  twenty-five   thirty-five 
thousand dollars  ($25,000)   ($35,000) 
for loan repayment.
   (b) After a program participant has completed  two
consecutive years   18 consecutive months  of
providing services on a full-time basis  as a dentist in a
dentally underserved area, the board   in a practice
setting, the foundation  shall provide up to an additional
thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) of loan repayment, for a total
loan repayment of up to  sixty   seventy 
thousand dollars  ($60,000).   ($70,000). 
   (c) After a program participant has completed  three
  consecutive years   30 consecutive
months  of providing services on a full-time basis  as a
dentist in a dentally underserved area, the board   in
a practice setting, the foundation  shall provide up to a
maximum of  forty-five   thirty-five 
thousand dollars  ($45,000)   ($35,000)  of
loan repayment, for a total loan repayment of up to one hundred five
thousand dollars  ($105,000).   ($105,000), but
not to exceed the total outstanding amount of the loan. 
   128587.9.  (a) On or before  ____,   January
1, 2019,  the foundation shall submit a report to the
Legislature regarding the experience of the program, an evaluation of
its effectiveness in improving access to dental care for underserved
populations, and recommendations for maintaining or expanding its
operation, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Number of program participants.
   (2) Practice locations.
   (3) Amount of funds expended.
   (4) The information on annual performance reviews by practice
settings and program participants.
   (b) The report to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code. 
   (c) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on January 1, 2023.  
   (c) This section shall remain in effect only until ____, and as of
that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before ____, deletes or extends that date.