What's happening
This bill reallocates unused scholarship funds to the physician loan forgiveness program, prioritizing disadvantaged and underrepresented minority doctors working in shortage areas.
Why it matters
Redirects unused scholarship funds. to pay for physician loan forgiveness, meaning that leftover support doesn’t sit idle but is instead used to reduce doctors’ debt—potentially making medical careers more accessible, especially for those with heavy financial burdens.
Prioritizes economically disadvantaged and underrepresented minority physicians. for these loan forgiveness benefits, which could help diversify the physician workforce and address longstanding health equity gaps.
Requires recipients to work in physician shortage areas,. not limited to primary care, increasing access to healthcare in communities most in need and helping address provider shortages across New York State.
Changes the use of unawarded scholarship funds. so they no longer get repurposed for other scholarships, focusing instead on direct loan forgiveness for doctors, which may be more attractive for recruitment and retention in high-need regions.
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Who cares
Economically disadvantaged and underrepresented minority physicians
They would receive priority for loan forgiveness awards funded by unused Regents health care professional opportunity scholarship allocations.
Communities with physician shortages
Physicians receiving these awards would have to provide service in designated shortage areas, with service not limited to primary care.
Regents professional opportunity scholarship applicants
Unused health care scholarship funding would go to physician loan forgiveness instead of Regents professional opportunity scholarships.
Board of Regents
Regents rules would govern distribution of the transferred funds and would have to prioritize economically disadvantaged physicians and physicians from underrepresented minority groups.
Headline styles
Shift Scholarship Funds to Loans
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2874
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to funding of physician loan forgiveness programs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 605 of the education law is amended by adding a new paragraph g to read as follows:
g. Use of excess funds from the regents health care professional opportunity scholarships. Any funds applied toward this program from unused allocations directed toward the regents health care professional opportunity scholarships, pursuant to subdivision ten of this section, shall be distributed in accordance with regents rules that shall give priority to physicians who are economically disadvantaged and/or members of an underrepresented minority group. Awardees shall provide service payback in an area designated as having a shortage of physicians, but not limited to, primary care services.
§ 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 10 of section 605 of the education law, as added by chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
Regents health care professional opportunity scholarships shall be awarded annually to students who are beginning or engaged in an approved program in medicine or dentistry and who are economically disadvantaged and/or members of an underrepresented minority group, provided, however, that to the extent that regents health care professional opportunity scholarships are not awarded, such [scholarships shall be awarded as regents professional opportunity scholarships] remaining funding shall be applied to the regents physician loan forgiveness program. These scholarships shall be classified and allocated in accordance with regents rules.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04672-01-9
A. 2874 2
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amendments to subdivisions 9 and 10 of section 605 of the education law, made by sections one and two of this act, shall not affect the termination of such program and scholarship respectively pursuant to section 17 of chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, as amended, and such program and scholarship shall terminate therewith.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.