Full Text of HB3571 103rd General Assembly
HB3571ham002 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Lakesia Collins Filed: 3/20/2023
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3571
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3571 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan | 6 | | Repayment Program Act. | 7 | | Section 5. Purpose; findings. | 8 | | (a) The purpose of this Act is to help licensed hospice | 9 | | programs recruit and retain qualified professionals and | 10 | | address this State's community-based hospice and palliative | 11 | | care workforce shortage. The goal of the program is to reduce | 12 | | disparities in access to critical health services for people | 13 | | who have serious illnesses or who are nearing the end of life. | 14 | | (b) The General Assembly finds: | 15 | | (1) Racial minorities are underrepresented as hospice | 16 | | and palliative care and interdisciplinary healthcare |
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| 1 | | providers in the State. | 2 | | (2) It is in the interest of the State to provide | 3 | | racial minorities priority in consideration for programs | 4 | | that encourage racial minority participation in hospice | 5 | | and palliative care and interdisciplinary healthcare | 6 | | providers. | 7 | | (3) A workforce that is more reflective of the | 8 | | seriously ill population in a minority community can | 9 | | improve the use of hospice and palliative care services, | 10 | | which will address inequities in health outcomes for this | 11 | | population. | 12 | | (4) It is necessary to give priority to applicants of | 13 | | racial minorities because of these findings. | 14 | | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
| 15 | | "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance | 16 | | Commission.
| 17 | | "Hospice and palliative care professional" means a person | 18 | | who is employed by a hospice program and is a physician, | 19 | | licensed advanced practice registered nurse, licensed | 20 | | registered nurse, licensed social worker, licensed clinical | 21 | | social worker, or licensed practical nurse. | 22 | | "Hospice program" means a public agency or private | 23 | | organization, or subdivision of either, that is licensed by | 24 | | the State as a comprehensive hospice program as defined in the | 25 | | Hospice Program Licensing Act and is also Medicare-certified.
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| 1 | | "Loan Repayment Program" means the Community Hospice and | 2 | | Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program | 3 | | established under this Act.
| 4 | | "Physician" means a person licensed by this State to | 5 | | practice medicine in all its branches and includes any | 6 | | physician holding a temporary license, as provided in the | 7 | | Medical Practice Act of 1987.
| 8 | | Section 15. Community Hospice and Palliative Care | 9 | | Professional Loan Repayment Program. The Commission shall | 10 | | establish between July 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025 the | 11 | | Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan | 12 | | Repayment Program, which shall be administered by the | 13 | | Commission. The program shall provide loan repayment | 14 | | assistance, subject to appropriation, to eligible hospice and | 15 | | palliative professionals practicing in a hospice program that | 16 | | provides services in the State. | 17 | | Section 20. Applications. Each year, the Commission shall | 18 | | receive and consider applications for loan repayment | 19 | | assistance under this Act. All applications must be submitted | 20 | | to the Commission in a form and manner prescribed by the | 21 | | Commission. Applicants must submit any supporting documents | 22 | | deemed necessary by the Commission at the time of application. | 23 | | Section 25. Award; maximum loan time; maximum amount. |
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| 1 | | Subject to appropriation, the Commission shall award a grant | 2 | | to each qualified applicant for a maximum of 4 years. The | 3 | | Commission shall encourage the recipient of a grant awarded | 4 | | under this Act to use the grant award for payments towards the | 5 | | recipient's educational loans. The yearly appropriation for | 6 | | the program shall be divided as follows: (i) 10% toward awards | 7 | | for physicians; (ii) 10% toward awards for licensed advanced | 8 | | practice registered nurses; (iii) 42% toward awards for | 9 | | licensed registered nurses; (iv) 28% toward awards for | 10 | | licensed social workers and licensed clinical social workers; | 11 | | and (v) 10% toward awards for licensed practical nurses. The | 12 | | award amount shall be based on a percentage of an awardee's | 13 | | total outstanding loan balance. The maximum amount of any | 14 | | award shall not exceed 15% of the awardee's total outstanding | 15 | | loan balance for that award year. Any unawarded funds | 16 | | allocated to a professional group shall be distributed toward | 17 | | awards for a different professional group at the discretion of | 18 | | the Commission. | 19 | | Section 30. Eligibility; work requirement.
| 20 | | (a) To be eligible for assistance under the Community | 21 | | Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment | 22 | | Program, the Commission must find that the applicant satisfies | 23 | | all of the following:
| 24 | | (1) the applicant is a United States citizen or an | 25 | | eligible noncitizen;
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| 1 | | (2) the applicant is a resident of this State; | 2 | | (3) the applicant has worked for at least 12 | 3 | | consecutive months as a hospice and palliative care | 4 | | professional in a hospice program in the State and has | 5 | | worked (i) at least 10 hours per week if the applicant is a | 6 | | physician, or (ii) at least 32 hours per week if the | 7 | | applicant is not a physician;
| 8 | | (4) the applicant is a borrower with an outstanding | 9 | | balance due on an educational loan; and
| 10 | | (5) the applicant has not defaulted on an educational | 11 | | loan.
| 12 | | (b) The Commission may grant preference to a previous | 13 | | recipient of a grant under the program, provided that the | 14 | | recipient continues to meet the eligibility requirements under | 15 | | this Section.
| 16 | | (c) A recipient of a grant under the program must complete | 17 | | a separate 12-month period working in a hospice program in the | 18 | | State for each grant that the recipient is awarded and must, | 19 | | during that 12-month period, work (i) at least 10 hours per | 20 | | week if the applicant is a physician or (ii) at least 32 hours | 21 | | per week if the applicant is not a physician.
| 22 | | (d) If an appropriation for this program for a given | 23 | | fiscal year is insufficient to provide grants to all qualified | 24 | | applicants, the Commission shall allocate the appropriation in | 25 | | accordance with this subsection. If funds are insufficient to | 26 | | provide all qualified applicants with a grant as authorized by |
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| 1 | | this Section, the Commission shall allocate the available | 2 | | grant funds for that fiscal year to qualified applicants who | 3 | | submit a complete application on or before a date specified by | 4 | | the Commission, based on the following order of priority:
| 5 | | (1) first, to new, qualified applicants or previous, | 6 | | qualified recipients of a grant who are members of a | 7 | | racial minority as defined in subsection (e); and
| 8 | | (2) second, to other new, qualified applicants or | 9 | | previous, qualified recipients of a grant in accordance | 10 | | with this Section.
| 11 | | (e) The Commission shall give priority to those applicants | 12 | | who are members of a racial minority, which means a person who | 13 | | is a citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent | 14 | | resident alien of the United States and who is:
| 15 | | (1) Black, or a person having origins in any of the | 16 | | black racial groups in Africa;
| 17 | | (2) Hispanic, or a person of Spanish or Portuguese | 18 | | culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, | 19 | | or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race;
| 20 | | (3) Asian American, or a person having origins in any | 21 | | of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, | 22 | | the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; or
| 23 | | (4) American Indian or Alaskan Native, or a person | 24 | | having origins in any of the original peoples of North | 25 | | America.
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| 1 | | Section 35. Administration; rules. The Commission shall | 2 | | administer the program and shall adopt rules not inconsistent | 3 | | with this Act to implement and administer this Act. | 4 | | Section 40. Act inoperative. This Act is inoperative 10 | 5 | | years the effective date of the Act.
| 6 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 | | becoming law.".
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