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AB-1403 Medical care.(2003-2004)

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Assembly Bill No. 1403
CHAPTER 367

An act to amend Sections 2154, 2154.1, and 2154.2 of, and to amend the heading of Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 2154) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to public health.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  August 30, 2004. Approved by Governor  August 27, 2004. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1403, Nunez. Medical care.
Existing law establishes the California Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 in the Division of Licensing of the Medical Board of California. Under existing law, the program provides financial incentives, as specified, to a physician and surgeon for practicing in a medically underserved community.
This bill would rename the program the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Steven M. Thompson is the Vice President of Government Relations for the California Medical Association, having held this position since 1992.
(2) Steven M. Thompson has been involved in the legislative process of this state for almost 40 years, serving as a staff member for the Legislature and as a governmental advocate for the interests of his clients before the Legislature.
(3) Throughout his distinguished career, Steven M. Thompson has directed or codirected significant legislation in the area of public health, including the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, the Child Health Disability Program, and reforms of the Medi-Cal program and has published numerous studies and reports on major public health issues.
(4) In recognition of his achievements in this area, Steven M. Thompson was awarded the American Public Health Association Achievement Award for Excellence in Organizational Research and the United States Institute of Medicine Award for Achievement in Health Policy.
(5) Of all the major legislation on which Steven M. Thompson has worked, he is particularly proud of the California Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 (Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 2154) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code).
(6) The Californian Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002 provides a valuable public health service to medically underserviced communities by providing financial incentives to physicians and surgeons to practice in those communities thereby increasing the availability of those services to their residents.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature in honor and recognition of the contributions made by Steven M. Thompson, to rename the California Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program of 2002, the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.

SEC. 2.

 The heading of Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 2154) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
Article  7.7. Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program

SEC. 3.

 Section 2154 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

2154.
 There is hereby established in the Division of Licensing of the Medical Board of California, the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program. This program shall be known and may be cited as the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.

SEC. 4.

 Section 2154.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

2154.1.
 It is the intent of this article that the Division of Licensing, in consultation with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, the medical community, including ethnic representatives, medical schools, health advocates representing ethnic communities, primary care clinics, public hospitals and health systems, statewide agencies administering state and federally funded programs targeting underserved communities, and members of the public with health care issue-area expertise shall develop and implement the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.

SEC. 5.

 Section 2154.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

2154.2.
 The following definitions apply for the purposes of this article:
(a) “Division” means the Division of Licensing.
(b) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).
(c) “Program” means the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.
(d) “Medically underserved area” means an area as defined in Part 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations or an area of the state where unmet priority needs for physicians exist as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225 of the Health and Safety Code.
(e) “Medically underserved population” means the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and uninsured populations.
(f) “Practice setting” means either of the following:
(1) A community clinic as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1204 and subdivision (c) of Section 1206 of the Health and Safety Code, a clinic owned or operated by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a county government to fulfill the county’s role pursuant to Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which is located in a medically underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from a medically underserved population.
(2) A medical practice located in a medically underserved area and at least 50 percent of whose patients are from a medically underserved population.
(g) “Primary specialty” means family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, or obstetrics/gynecology.
(h) “Medi-Cal threshold languages” means primary languages spoken by limited-English-proficient (LEP) population groups meeting a numeric threshold of 3,000, eligible LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in a county, 1,000 Medi-Cal eligible LEP beneficiaries residing in a single ZIP Code, or 1,500 LEP Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in two contiguous ZIP Codes.
(i) “Fund” means the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California.
(j) “Account” means the Medically Underserved Account, which is contained within the fund.