36-2174. Rural private primary care provider
loan repayment program; private practice
A. Subject to the availability of monies, the department of health services shall
establish a rural private primary care provider loan repayment program for physicians,
dentists and mid-level providers with current or prospective rural primary care practices
located in medically underserved areas in this state, as prescribed in section
36-2352. To be eligible to participate in the program an applicant shall agree to
provide organized, discounted, sliding fee scale services for medically uninsured
individuals from families with annual incomes below two hundred per cent of the federal
poverty guidelines as established annually by the United States department of health and
human services. The department shall approve the sliding fee scale used by the
provider. The provider shall assure notice to consumers of the availability of these
services. The department shall give preference to applicants who agree to serve in rural
areas. For the purposes of this subsection, "rural" means either of the following:
1. A county with a population of less than four hundred thousand persons according
to the most recent United States decennial census.
2. A census county division with less than fifty thousand persons in a county with
a population of four hundred thousand or more persons according to the most recent United
States decennial census.
B. Except as provided in section 36-2172, subsection B, paragraph 2, the program
established pursuant to this section and loan repayment contracts made pursuant to this
section shall comply with the requirements of section 36-2172.
C. The department of health services may apply for and receive private donations
and grant monies to implement the rural private primary care provider loan repayment
program established pursuant to this section.
|