103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3571

 

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Lakesia Collins

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program Act. Provides that beginning on or before 6 months after the effective date of the Act, the Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program is created, which shall be administered by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Provides that the program shall provide loan repayment assistance, subject to appropriation, to eligible hospice and palliative professionals practicing in a community-based hospice agency that provides services in the State. Provides that each year, the Commission shall receive and consider applications for loan repayment assistance under this Act. Makes provisions concerning grant awards; eligibility requirements; and other matters. Provides that the Commission shall administer the program and shall adopt rules not inconsistent with the Act for the program's effective implementation. Provides that the Act is inoperative 10 years on and after the effective date. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB3571LRB103 29393 CPF 55784 b

1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Community Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan
6Repayment Program Act.
 
7    Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of the Community Hospice
8and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment Program is to
9help licensed hospice and palliative care providers recruit
10and retain qualified professionals and address this State's
11community-based hospice and palliative care workforce
12shortage. The goal of the program is to reduce disparities in
13access to critical health services for people with serious
14illness or near the end of life.
 
15    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
16    "Commission" means the Illinois Student Assistance
17Commission.
18    "Physician" means a person licensed by this State to
19practice medicine in all its branches and includes any person
20holding a temporary license, as provided in the Medical
21Practice Act of 1987.
22    "Program" means the Community Hospice and Palliative Care

 

 

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1Professional Loan Repayment Program.
2    "Hospice agency" means a public agency or private
3organization or a subdivision of either that is primarily
4engaged in providing comprehensive hospice services as defined
5in the Hospice Program Licensing Act and meets the minimum
6standards for certification under the Medicare program set
7forth in the Conditions of Participation in 42 CFR 482 but is
8not required to be Medicare-certified.
 
9    Section 15. Community Hospice and Palliative Care
10Professional Loan Repayment Program. Beginning on or before 6
11months after the effective date of this Act, the Community
12Hospice and Palliative Care Professional Loan Repayment
13Program is created, which shall be administered by the
14Commission. The program shall provide loan repayment
15assistance, subject to appropriation, to eligible hospice and
16palliative professionals practicing in a community-based
17hospice agency that provides services in the State.
 
18    Section 20. Applications. Each year, the Commission shall
19receive and consider applications for loan repayment
20assistance under this Act. All applications must be submitted
21to the Commission in a form and manner prescribed by the
22Commission. Applicants must submit any supporting documents
23deemed necessary by the Commission at the time of application.
 

 

 

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1    Section 25. Award; maximum loan time; minimum and maximum
2amount. Subject to appropriation, the Commission shall award a
3grant to each qualified applicant for a maximum of 4 years. The
4Commission shall encourage the recipient of a grant awarded
5under this Act to use the grant award for payments towards the
6recipient's educational loans. The yearly appropriation for
7the program shall be divided in proportion to workforce
8shortages, as determined by the Commission in consultation
9with stakeholders, in the following professional groups: (i)
10hospice and palliative care certified physicians; (ii)
11advanced practice registered nurses; (iii) registered nurses;
12(iv) licensed social workers; and (v) licensed practical
13nurses. The minimum amount of any award shall not be less than
1410% of the awardee's outstanding loan balance for that award
15year. The maximum amount of any award shall not exceed 20% of
16the awardee's outstanding loan balance for that award year.
17Any unawarded funds allocated to a professional group shall be
18distributed toward awards for a different professional group
19at the discretion of the Commission and based on workforce
20demand.
 
21    Section 30. Eligibility; work requirement.
22    (a) To be eligible for assistance under the program, the
23Commission must find that the applicant satisfies all of the
24following the applicant:
25        (1) is a United States citizen or an eligible

 

 

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1    noncitizen;
2        (2) is a resident of this State:
3        (3) has worked for at least 12 consecutive months as a
4    hospice and palliative professional in a community-based
5    hospice agency in this State;
6        (4) is a borrower with an outstanding balance due on
7    an educational loan; and
8        (5) has not defaulted on an educational loan.
9    (b) The Commission may grant preference to a previous
10recipient of a grant under the program, provided that the
11recipient continues to meet the eligibility requirements under
12this Section.
13    (c) A recipient of a grant under the program must complete
14a separate 12-month period working in a community-based
15hospice program in this State for each grant that they are
16awarded.
17    (d) If an appropriation for this program for a given
18fiscal year is insufficient to provide grants to all qualified
19applicants, the Commission shall allocate the appropriation in
20accordance with this subsection. If funds are insufficient to
21provide all qualified applicants with a grant as authorized by
22this Section, the Commission shall allocate the available
23grant funds for that fiscal year to qualified applicants who
24submit a complete application on or before a date specified by
25the Commission, based on the following order of priority:
26        (1) first, to new, qualified applicants or previous,

 

 

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1    qualified recipients of a grant who are members of a
2    racial minority as defined in subsection (e); and
3        (2) second, to other new, qualified applicants or
4    previous, qualified recipients of a grant in accordance
5    with this Section.
6    (e) Racial minorities are underrepresented as
7community-based hospice and palliative care, interdisciplinary
8healthcare providers in the State, and the General Assembly
9finds that it is in the interest of this State to provide them
10priority consideration for programs that encourage racial
11minorities participation in this field. A workforce that is
12more reflective of the seriously ill population in a minority
13community can improve utilization of hospice and palliative
14care services which will address inequities to health outcomes
15for this population. Therefore, the Commission shall give
16priority to those applicants who are members of a racial
17minority. As used in this subsection, "racial minority" means
18a person who is a citizen of the United States or a lawful
19permanent resident alien of the United States and who is:
20        (1) Black, or a person having origins in any of the
21    black racial groups in Africa;
22        (2) Hispanic, or a person of Spanish or Portuguese
23    culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America,
24    or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race;
25        (3) Asian American, or a person having origins in any
26    of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia,

 

 

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1    the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; or
2        (4) American Indian or Alaskan Native, or a person
3    having origins in any of the original peoples of North
4    America.
 
5    Section 35. Administration; rules. The Commission shall
6administer the program and shall adopt rules not inconsistent
7with this Act for the program's effective implementation.
 
8    Section 40. Act inoperative. Notwithstanding any other
9provision of law, this Act is inoperative 10 years on and after
10the effective date.
 
11    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
12becoming law.