Chairman Erickson opened the hearing on HB 2374.

Tamera Lawrence, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 6)

Proponent:

Kelly Whitten, Associate Vice Chancellor for State Relations, University of Kansas, reported that the University of Kansas requested this bill to allow more medical specialties to participate in the program, eliminate unintended consequences for students, and make the program more efficient to administer. 

There are unintended consequences that will likely happen if this bill is not passed.

1) If a student fails to match with an OBGYN residency, the student will have to repay their loans with 15% interest and Kansas would lose a young physician interested in serving a rural community.

2) This bill structurally combines the Psychiatric and OBGYN Kansas Medical School Loan (KMSL) Programs and opens them up to all specialties that are needed in rural Kansas. If there are any unspent funds from the Specialty Medical Student Loan program, that money can be spent in the original primary care KMSL Program. This bill will not take away any slots from primary care students.

The changes offered in this bill will strengthen Kansas's physician pipeline, reduce student debt burdens and improve access to high-quality care across the state.(Attachment 7)

Rachelle Colombo, Executive Director, Kansas Medical Society, said this bill expands the Kansas Medical Student Loan Program beyond family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry into other specialties as identified and approved by the Chancellor of the University of Kansas based on qualifying metrics. Importantly, those funds which are allocated for specialties which do not utilize their full loan authorization will transfer back to the original designation for primary care to ensure that the original intent of the loan program is preserved and Kansans have access to primary care to manage healthcare services. (Attachment 8)

Proponent Written:

Beth Oller on behalf of Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (Attachment 9)

Dena K. Hubbard, Md, FAAP, Chair, Public Policy Committee, Kansas Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (Attachment 10)

Discussion followed.

Chairman Erickson closed the hearing on HB 2374.