Report Title:

UH; Medical School Loan Repayment; Housing Stipend

 

Description:

Establishes loan repayment program and housing stipend program for University of Hawaii medical school graduates practicing in counties with a population of less than 500,000 for a minimum of six years.  Effective July 1, 2020.  (HB1369 HD1)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1369

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 


 

 

RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new subpart to part II to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"  .  HAWAII MEDICAL DOCTOR LOANS

     §304A-A  Hawaii medical doctor loans; eligibility; amounts.  There is created the Hawaii medical doctor loan program, to be administered by the university, to provide financial support to students who complete and graduate from a state-approved medical school program at the university and who agree to practice as a medical doctor for a minimum of six years in counties with a population of less than five hundred thousand.  Loans shall be awarded by the university to students on a competitive basis.  The amount to be loaned to a student shall be determined by the board of regents based upon need for financial aid and proof of acceptance into a state-approved medical school program at the university.  The maximum amount of loans that a student may receive under this program shall be an aggregate amount equivalent to tuition payments and costs of textbooks and other instructional and laboratory materials necessary to complete a state-approved medical school program.

     §304A-B  Repayment of loans; late fees; practice and loan repayment forgiveness; collection agency.  (a)  All loans made under this subpart shall bear interest at five per cent simple interest.  Repayment of principal and interest charges shall commence one year after graduation or, if a loan recipient has not graduated, three months after the loan recipient ceases to be enrolled in a state-approved medical school program at the university and shall be paid in periodic installments within a six-year period.

     (b)  The university shall charge late fees and all other reasonable costs for the collection of delinquent loans.

     (c)  Upon a showing of proof that a loan recipient:

     (1)  Has completed and graduated from a state-approved medical school program at the university; and

     (2)  Is practicing as a medical doctor in a county with a population of less than five hundred thousand,

ten per cent of the total amount of the loan and interest shall be forgiven for each year of the first five years of medical practice within an eligible county, up to a maximum of fifty per cent; provided that the remaining balance shall be forgiven if the loan recipient completes a sixth year of medical practice in an eligible county.

     (d)  If a loan recipient subject to this section does not practice or discontinues to practice medicine in an eligible county, for the minimum of six years from the loan recipient's initial date of employment, excluding temporary leaves of absence, the university shall withdraw its forgiveness of future loan repayments, and the loan recipient shall repay any remaining loan balance at the rate of ten per cent simple interest.

     (e)  In accordance with chapter 103D, the university shall enter into written contracts with collection agencies for the purpose of collecting delinquent student loans.  All payments collected, including late fees and all other reasonable costs, exclusive of a collection agency's commissions, shall revert and be credited to the medical doctor loan revolving fund, established pursuant to section 304A-AA.  A collection agency that enters into a written contract with the university for the collection of delinquent student loans, pursuant to this section, shall collect a commission from the debtor in accordance with the terms of, and up to the amounts authorized in, the written contract.

     (f)  Liability for repayment of a loan shall be canceled upon the death or permanent total disability of the loan recipient.

     §304A-C  Capacity of minors in qualifying for Hawaii medical doctor loans.  Any student otherwise qualifying for a loan under the Hawaii medical doctor loan program shall not be disqualified because the student is under the age of eighteen years, and for the purpose of applying for, receiving, and repaying the loan, the student shall be deemed to have full legal capacity to act and shall have all rights, powers, privileges, and obligations of an adult with respect thereto.

     §304A-D  Rules governing Hawaii medical doctor loan program.  The university shall adopt rules to implement the Hawaii medical doctor loan program.  The rules shall be adopted pursuant to chapter 91 but shall be exempt from the public notice and public hearing requirements."

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to part V, subpart D, to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§304A-AA  Medical doctor loan revolving fund.  There is established a revolving fund to be known as the medical doctor loan revolving fund.  The fund shall be a revolving fund and all interest and payments received on account of principal shall be credited to the fund.  The fund shall be administered by the board of regents and shall be disbursed to qualified students who meet eligibility requirements under section 304A-A pursuant to rules adopted by the board.

     §304A-BB  Medical school graduates; practice in eligible county; housing stipend; medical doctor housing stipend revolving fund.  (a)  Each student who completes and graduates from a state-approved medical school program at the university and who agrees to practice for a minimum of six years in a county with a population of less than five hundred thousand shall be eligible to receive a housing stipend for each year the graduate practices as a medical doctor in an eligible county.  The maximum annual amount of the housing stipend shall be in accordance with rules adopted by the board pursuant to subsection (e).

     (b)  Upon a showing of proof that an applicant:

     (1)  Has completed a state-approved medical school program at the university; and

     (2)  Is practicing as a medical doctor in a county with a population of less than five hundred thousand,

the graduate shall receive an annual housing stipend to be awarded prospectively for each year of practice within an eligible county, up to a maximum of six years.

     (c)  For each incomplete year that a housing stipend recipient who is subject to this section fails to practice medicine in an eligible county, the university shall rescind the annual housing stipend for that incomplete year, and the housing stipend recipient shall repay the full amount of the annual housing stipend awarded for that year.

(d)  There is established a revolving fund to be known as the medical doctor housing stipend revolving fund.  The fund shall be a revolving fund and all interest and payments received on account of principal shall be credited to the fund.  The fund shall be administered by the board of regents and shall be disbursed to students who meet eligibility requirements under this section.

(e)  The board shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91, but exempt from the public notice and public hearing requirements, to implement this section, including provision for the prospective award of housing stipends, repayment of housing stipends, necessary forms and documentary proof of residence, and disbursement from the revolving fund."

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for deposit into the medical doctor loan revolving fund established by this Act.

SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the medical doctor loan revolving fund the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 to fund the Hawaii medical doctor loan program.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $            or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for deposit into the medical doctor housing stipend revolving fund established by this Act.

SECTION 6.  There is appropriated out of the medical doctor housing stipend revolving fund the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 to fund the medical doctor housing stipend program.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 7.  In codifying the new subpart added to chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by sections 1 and 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

     SECTION 8.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.