Bill Text: NY A01416 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Provides for the award of regents scholarships and loan forgiveness for nurses on the same terms as physicians; applies to registered professional nurses as defined in section 6903 of the education law.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-04 - referred to higher education [A01416 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-A01416-Introduced.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
           S. 1463                                                  A. 1416
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                             S E N A T E - A S S E M B L Y
                                    January 7, 2011
                                      ___________
       IN  SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. BRESLIN, ADAMS, DILAN, DUANE, HASSELL-
         THOMPSON, KRUEGER, KRUGER, MONTGOMERY, PARKER, SAMPSON, SAVINO, SMITH,
         STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and  when  printed  to  be
         committed to the Committee on Higher Education
       IN  ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. McENENY, MILLMAN -- read once and
         referred to the Committee on Higher Education
       AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to  regents  professional
         education  scholarships, health care professional opportunity scholar-
         ships and loan forgiveness for nurses
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.  Subdivision  3  of  section  605 of the education law, as
    2  amended by chapter 31 of the  laws  of  1985,  is  amended  to  read  as
    3  follows:
    4    3.  Regents  professional  education  in  medicine [or], dentistry, OR
    5  NURSING scholarships.  Regents professional education in medicine  [or],
    6  dentistry,  OR  NURSING  scholarships  shall  be  awarded annually, on a
    7  competitive basis, to students beginning professional study in  medicine
    8  [or],  dentistry,  OR  NURSING.   One hundred such scholarships shall be
    9  awarded annually TO STUDENTS BEGINNING PROFESSIONAL  STUDY  IN  MEDICINE
   10  AND  TWO  THOUSAND  SUCH SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS BEGINNING PROFESSIONAL
   11  STUDY IN NURSING, and shall be classified and  allocated  in  accordance
   12  with  regents rules. The provisions of this subdivision shall only apply
   13  to any recipient who receives his or her first award  payment  prior  to
   14  the  nineteen  hundred eighty-five--nineteen hundred eighty-six academic
   15  year. FURTHER, THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL ONLY APPLY TO  A
   16  STUDENT  STUDYING  TO  BE  A REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL NURSE AS DEFINED IN
   17  SECTION SIXTY-NINE HUNDRED THREE OF THIS CHAPTER.
   18    S 2. Subdivision 9 of section 605 of the education law, as amended  by
   19  chapter 523 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD00640-01-1
       S. 1463                             2                            A. 1416
    1    9.  Regents  physician  AND  NURSING loan forgiveness program. Regents
    2  physician AND NURSING loan forgiveness awards shall be awarded  annually
    3  to physicians AND NURSES who agree to practice medicine OR NURSING in an
    4  area of New York state designated by the regents as having a shortage of
    5  physicians  OR NURSES.  Such awards shall be classified and allocated in
    6  accordance with regents rules.
    7    a. Eligibility. (1) The applicant must be a resident of New York state
    8  and licensed to practice medicine OR NURSING AND SHALL BE  A  REGISTERED
    9  PROFESSIONAL  NURSE  AS  DEFINED  IN SECTION SIXTY-NINE HUNDRED THREE OF
   10  THIS CHAPTER.
   11    (2) [The  applicant  must  have  completed  a  professional  residency
   12  program within the five years immediately preceding the period for which
   13  the  first  award would be granted, or be within two years of completion
   14  of an accredited residency program in a primary  care  specialty  desig-
   15  nated in short supply by the board of regents.
   16    (3)]  The  applicant  must agree to practice medicine OR NURSING in an
   17  area in New York state designated as having a shortage of physicians  OR
   18  NURSES.    The  regents,  after  consultation  with the commissioners of
   19  health, correctional services, mental health and mental retardation  and
   20  developmental disabilities, shall designate those regions and facilities
   21  of  New York state which have a shortage of physicians OR NURSES for the
   22  purposes of this section and establish relative rankings thereof.
   23    b. Selection.  The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner
   24  of health, shall establish criteria for the selection of participants in
   25  the program. An applicant must satisfy at  least  one  of  the  criteria
   26  established.  A  priority  shall  be  accorded  to  any applicant who is
   27  completing the second year of the service requirement and is  reapplying
   28  for  a  new  award. The criteria shall include but not be limited to the
   29  following:
   30    (i) reapplication for a new award by a person who  is  completing  the
   31  second year of a service requirement;
   32    (ii)  receipt  of  specific  training  in  a primary care specialty or
   33  obstetrics, OR NURSING determined by the regents to be in short supply;
   34    (iii) receipt of specific training or experience in serving a shortage
   35  area;
   36    (iv) receipt of specific training or experience  matching  a  specific
   37  medical need existing in a shortage area; and
   38    (v)  agreement  pursuant  to  [subdivision  (d)]  PARAGRAPH  D of this
   39  [section] SUBDIVISION to practice in an area determined by  the  regents
   40  to have a severe shortage of primary care physician SERVICES AND NURSING
   41  services.
   42    c.  Notification.  (1)  The  commissioner  shall then forward approved
   43  applications to the president and shall notify unsuccessful applicants;
   44    (2) The president shall verify the approved applicants':
   45    (i) eligibility; and
   46    (ii) total undergraduate and medical school AND NURSING SCHOOL student
   47  expense;
   48    (3) The president shall notify applicants of their award entitlement.
   49    d. Service requirement. Within such time as the commissioner shall  by
   50  regulation  provide,  a recipient of an award shall have agreed to prac-
   51  tice medicine OR NURSING in a specific area designated as having a shor-
   52  tage of physicians OR NURSES for a period  of  twelve  months  for  each
   53  annual payment to be received by the recipient. Physicians AND NURSES in
   54  training  who  receive  an  award  shall not receive credit toward their
   55  required service for time spent in a training program. [In no case shall
   56  the total number of months of service  required  be  less  than  twenty-
       S. 1463                             3                            A. 1416
    1  four.]  The  president  shall,  in  consultation  with the commissioner,
    2  develop and secure from each award recipient, a written agreement to[:
    3    (i)] practice medicine OR NURSING in the designated shortage area[;
    4    (ii) to accept Medicare and Medicaid payments; and
    5    (iii)  to provide thirty-five hours per week of direct patient care in
    6  the designated shortage area being served, or to  the  designated  popu-
    7  lation being served].
    8  If a recipient fails to comply fully with such conditions, the president
    9  shall  be entitled to receive from such recipient an amount to be deter-
   10  mined by the formula:
   11                                 A = 2B (t-s)
   12                                    -----
   13                                      t
   14  in which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover; "B"  is
   15  the  sum  of all payments made to the recipient and the interest on such
   16  amount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid they
   17  were loans bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t"  is  the
   18  total  number of months in the recipient's period of obligated services;
   19  and "s" is the number of months of  service  actually  rendered  by  the
   20  recipient.  Any  amount which the president is entitled to recover under
   21  this paragraph shall be paid within the five-year  period  beginning  on
   22  the  date  that  the recipient failed to comply with this service condi-
   23  tion. Nothing in the written agreement shall affect the terms of employ-
   24  ment of the individual who shall negotiate, separate and apart from  the
   25  program, his or her salary and other forms of employment with an agency,
   26  institution or a program in which he or she shall be employed.
   27    Any  obligation  to  comply  with  such provisions as outlined in this
   28  section shall be cancelled upon the death of the recipient. The  commis-
   29  sioner shall make regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of
   30  any financial obligation which would involve extreme hardship.
   31    e. Reporting. A recipient of an award shall report annually to the New
   32  York  state higher education services corporation, and the department of
   33  health on forms prescribed by the president, as to  the  performance  of
   34  the  required  services,  commencing with the calendar year in which the
   35  recipient begins to practice medicine OR NURSING in a shortage area  and
   36  continuing until the recipient shall have completed, or it is determined
   37  that  he  or  she  shall  not  be  obligated  to  complete, the required
   38  services.  If the recipient shall fail to file any report required here-
   39  under within thirty days of written notice to the recipient,  mailed  to
   40  the  address  shown  on the last application for an award or last report
   41  filed, whichever is later, the president of the corporation may impose a
   42  fine of up to  one  thousand  dollars.  The  president  shall  have  the
   43  discretion  to waive the filing of a report, excuse a delay in filing or
   44  a failure to file a report, or waive or reduce any fine imposed for good
   45  cause shown.
   46    f. Other awards. Award recipients shall be eligible to apply  for  one
   47  additional award.
   48    S  3.  Subdivision 10 of section 605 of the education law, as added by
   49  chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
   50    10.  Regents  health  care  professional   opportunity   scholarships.
   51  Regents  health  care  professional  opportunity  scholarships  shall be
   52  awarded annually to students who are beginning or engaged in an approved
   53  program in medicine [or], dentistry, OR NURSING and who are economically
   54  disadvantaged and/or members  of  an  underrepresented  minority  group,
   55  provided,  however,  that to the extent that regents health care profes-
   56  sional opportunity scholarships are not awarded, such scholarships shall
       S. 1463                             4                            A. 1416
    1  be awarded as regents professional opportunity scholarships. These scho-
    2  larships shall be classified and allocated in  accordance  with  regents
    3  rules.  THIS  SUBDIVISION  SHALL  APPLY  ONLY TO REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL
    4  NURSES AS DEFINED IN SECTION SIXTY-NINE HUNDRED THREE OF THIS CHAPTER.
    5    a.  In  selecting  and  certifying  scholarship  recipients under this
    6  subdivision, priority shall be accorded to applicants in  the  following
    7  order:
    8    (1)  First,  to  any  applicant  who  is economically disadvantaged as
    9  defined by the regents and a minority historically  underrepresented  in
   10  the  profession as determined by the regents after consultation with the
   11  council on professional  career  opportunity  created  by  section  nine
   12  hundred forty-one of the executive law;
   13    (2) Second, to any applicant who is a minority underrepresented in the
   14  profession  as  determined  by  the  regents after consultation with the
   15  council on professional  career  opportunity  created  by  section  nine
   16  hundred forty-one of the executive law;
   17    (3)  Third,  to any applicant who is a graduate of the state-sponsored
   18  opportunity program pursuant to section sixty-four hundred fifty-one  or
   19  sixty-four hundred fifty-two of this chapter.
   20    In the event that there are more applicants who have the same priority
   21  than there are remaining scholarships, the commissioner shall distribute
   22  the remaining number of such scholarships by means of a lottery or other
   23  form of random selection.
   24    b.  The  commissioner  shall then forward approved applications to the
   25  president and shall notify unsuccessful applicants.
   26    c. The president shall notify applicants of their award entitlement.
   27    d. The president shall, in consultation with the commissioner, develop
   28  and secure from each successful applicant a written agreement  to  prac-
   29  tice  medicine  [or], dentistry, OR NURSING, as appropriate, in a desig-
   30  nated shortage area. Within such time as the commissioner shall by regu-
   31  lation provide, a recipient of an award shall  have  practiced  medicine
   32  [or],  dentistry,  OR NURSING in an area designated as having a shortage
   33  of physicians [or], dentists, OR NURSES, as appropriate, for that number
   34  of months calculated by multiplying  by  twelve  the  number  of  annual
   35  payments received by the recipient. In no case shall the total number of
   36  months  of  service  required  be  less than twenty-four. If a recipient
   37  fails to comply fully with such conditions, the president shall be enti-
   38  tled to receive from such recipient an amount to be  determined  by  the
   39  formula:
   40                                 A = 2B (t-s)
   41                                    -----
   42                                      t
   43  in  which "A" is the amount the president is entitled to recover; "B" is
   44  the sum of all payments made to the recipient and the interest  on  such
   45  amount which would be payable if at the times such awards were paid they
   46  were  loans  bearing interest at the maximum prevailing rate; "t" is the
   47  total number of months in the recipient's period of obligated  services;
   48  and  "s"  is  the  number  of months of service actually rendered by the
   49  recipient. Any amount which the president is entitled to  recover  under
   50  this  paragraph  shall  be paid within the five-year period beginning on
   51  the date that the recipient failed to comply with  this  service  condi-
   52  tion. Nothing in the written agreement shall affect the terms of employ-
   53  ment  of the individual who shall negotiate, separate and apart from the
   54  program, his or her salary and other forms of employment with an agency,
   55  institution or a program in which he or she shall be employed.
       S. 1463                             5                            A. 1416
    1    Any obligation to comply with such  provisions  as  outlined  in  this
    2  section  shall be cancelled upon the death of the recipient. The commis-
    3  sioner shall make regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of
    4  any financial obligation which would involve extreme hardship.
    5    e. A recipient of an award shall report annually to the New York state
    6  higher  education services corporation, on forms prescribed by it, as to
    7  the performance of the required services, commencing with  the  calendar
    8  year in which the recipient begins to practice medicine [or], dentistry,
    9  OR  NURSING  in a shortage area and continuing until the recipient shall
   10  have completed, or it is determined that he or she shall  not  be  obli-
   11  gated  to  complete, the required services.  If the recipient shall fail
   12  to file any report required hereunder  within  thirty  days  of  written
   13  notice  to the recipient, mailed to the address shown on the last appli-
   14  cation for an award or last report filed, whichever is later, the presi-
   15  dent of the corporation may impose a fine of up to one thousand dollars.
   16  The president shall have the discretion to waive the filing of a report,
   17  excuse a delay in filing or a failure to file  a  report,  or  waive  or
   18  reduce any fine imposed for good cause shown.
   19    S  4.  Section 677 of the education law, as added by chapter 31 of the
   20  laws of 1985 and subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 439 of the laws  of
   21  1988, is amended to read as follows:
   22    S 677.  Regents  physician  AND  NURSING loan forgiveness program.  1.
   23  Number and certification. Eighty  regents  physician  AND  NURSING  loan
   24  forgiveness  awards  shall  be  awarded  each year. Such awards shall be
   25  allocated as provided in article thirteen of this  chapter  to  eligible
   26  physicians AND NURSES as certified to the president by the commissioner.
   27  THIS  SECTION  SHALL  APPLY  ONLY  TO  REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL NURSES AS
   28  DEFINED IN SECTION SIXTY-NINE HUNDRED THREE OF THIS CHAPTER.
   29    2. Calculation of award amounts.  Each  award  shall  consist  of  two
   30  consecutive  annual  loan  forgiveness  payments.  Each  of  the  annual
   31  payments shall be for an amount equal to the total of undergraduate  and
   32  medical  OR  NURSING school student loan expense or ten thousand dollars
   33  whichever is less.  The president shall be responsible  for  calculating
   34  the dollar amount of each award that [eligibile] ELIGIBLE candidates may
   35  receive  from  this  program.  For the purposes of this section, student
   36  loan expense shall mean the cumulative total of the annual student loans
   37  covering the cost of attendance at an undergraduate  institution  and/or
   38  medical OR NURSING school. Interest paid or due on student loans that an
   39  applicant  has taken out for use in paying for such undergraduate and/or
   40  medical OR NURSING education shall be considered eligible for reimburse-
   41  ment under this program.
   42    3. Award disbursement. a. Annual  award  disbursements  shall  be  the
   43  responsibility  of  the president and shall occur prior to the beginning
   44  of each of the required terms of service as  specified  in  the  service
   45  contract.  The board of trustees of the higher education services corpo-
   46  ration shall adopt rules and regulations regarding criteria  for  deter-
   47  mining  successful  completion  of  the  service contract and any appeal
   48  process that may be required to implement this paragraph upon  recommen-
   49  dation of the president in consultation with the commissioner.
   50    b. The disbursement of the second annual award shall be dependent upon
   51  successful  completion  of  the  first  year  requirement of the service
   52  contract as defined by the president, as  well  as  other  criteria  set
   53  forth in this section.
   54    S  5.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
   55  the date on which it shall have become a law, provided, that the  amend-
   56  ments to subdivisions 3, 9 and 10 of section 605  and section 677 of the
       S. 1463                             6                            A. 1416
    1  education  law  made  by  sections  one, two, three and four of this act
    2  shall not affect the termination of such  subdivisions  and  section  as
    3  provided by section 17 of chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, as amended.
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