Section 191.430

Title XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Chapter 191

Effective - 28 Aug 2023   

  191.430.  Program established, purpose — department duties. — 1.  There is hereby established within the department of health and senior services the "Health Professional Loan Repayment Program" to provide forgivable loans for the purpose of repaying existing loans related to applicable educational expenses for health care, mental health, and public health professionals.  The department of health and senior services shall be the administrative agency for the implementation of the program established by this section.

  2.  The department of health and senior services shall prescribe the form and the time and method of filing applications and supervise the processing, including oversight and monitoring of the program, and shall promulgate rules to implement the provisions of sections 191.430 to 191.450.  Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028.  This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2023, shall be invalid and void.

  3.  The director of the department of health and senior services shall have the discretion to determine the health professionals and practitioners who will receive forgivable health professional loans from the department to pay their existing loans.  The director shall make such determinations each fiscal year based on evidence associated with the greatest needs in the best interests of the public.  The health care, mental health, and public health professionals or disciplines funded in any given year shall be contingent upon consultation with the office of workforce development in the department of higher education and workforce development and the department of mental health, or their successor agencies.

  4.  The department of health and senior services shall enter into a contract with each selected applicant who receives a health professional loan under this section.  Each selected applicant shall apply the loan award to his or her educational debt.  The contract shall detail the methods of forgiveness associated with a service obligation and the terms associated with the principal and interest accruing on the loan at the time of the award.  The contract shall contain details concerning how forgiveness is earned, including when partial forgiveness is earned through a service obligation, and the terms and conditions associated with repayment of the loans for any obligation not served.

  5.  All health professional loans shall be made from funds appropriated by the general assembly to the health professional loan incentive fund established in section 191.445.

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(L. 2023 H.B. 402 merged with S.B. 45 & 90 merged with S.B. 70 merged with S.B. 106 merged with S.B. 157)