Yes, loan repayment benefits are taxable.  Each provider will be issued a Form 1099 each January.

Waivers on SLRP obligations may be granted by the Secretary of DHH in the event of death, physical or mental disability resulting in the permanent inability of the participant to perform the service, bankruptcy, or at the request of the placement agency for a justifiable cause.

Suspensions of the SLRP contract obligations may be made for up to six months in the event of temporary physical or mental disability or for other justifiable causes.

No more than 20% of loan repayment funds can be set aside to defray tax liability.

All loan repayment monies must be used to repay only approved qualifying educational loans.

·        Primary health care services rendered full-time in a public or non-profit private outpatient setting and are defined as a minimum 40 hour work week to be performed in no less than four days per week with no more than 12 hours of work to be performed in a 24 hour period.  Time spent in an "on-call" status will not count toward the 40 hours per week.

·        Physicians must provide 4,200 primary care encounters per 12 month period beginning on the effective date of the contract.  A primary health care encounter is a face-to-face contact between the contracting physician and a patient for the purpose of preventive care, diagnosis, and/or treatment.  Exception:  Obstetricians, gynecologists, and psychiatrists must provide 3,600 health care encounters, and dentists must provide 2,000 health care encounters per 12-month period.

·       Contacts with more than one health professional and/or multiple contacts with the same contracting physician that takes place on the same day constitutes a single encounter unless the patient, subsequent to the first visit, suffers illness or injury requiring additional diagnosis or treatment.

For mid-levels, health care services are defined as:

Usually, the contract process is completed in 6-8 weeks, including approval by the Department of Administration’s (DOA’s) Office of Contractual Review.

Physicians, psychiatrists and dentists can receive up to $13,333 per year for a two-year commitment or up to $20,000 per year for a three-year commitment.

Mid-levels can receive up to $3,333 per year for a two-year commitment or up to $5,000 per year for a three-year commitment.

Should a primary care physician work in one of the priority parishes, he/she can receive up to $30,000 per year for a three-year commitment.  Dentists will be eligible for up to $30,000per year if he/she accepts referrals for HIV infected patients from the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health and/or the Louisiana State University Health Science Center’s outpatient sites.

• Work in a federally designated HPSA
• Work for a public or nonprofit private entity
• Work at least 32 hours per week in an outpatient capacity
• Accept assignment of Medicare and Medicaid
• Accept low-income, uninsured patients on a sliding scale
• Be a United States citizen
•  Have an unrestricted license to practice in Louisiana
• Have no other obligation for health professional services
• Have medical education debt at least equal to the total loan repayment contract amount
• Have not defaulted on educational loans
• Have not breached a health professional services contract

• To serve a minimum of two years or a maximum of three year
• To provide primary health care services within the officially designated HPSA(s)
•  To agree to accept Medicare, Medicaid, Sliding Fee Scale patients, as well as, provide free care for those who are unable to pay
•  To provide health care encounters/services
•  To provide DHH with a signed monthly service report which totals the number of encounters rendered
• To provide DHH with documentation of practice in a HPSA or a copy of an employment contract with a public or nonprofit facility located in a HPSA

Present SLRP policy requires the SLRP contractors submit a monthly service report form by mail or fax to DHH’s BPRRH.  The form documents the number of primary care encounters (face-to-face contacts), the total number of patients attended for each month, hours worked in outpatient care, and the total number of hours worked including inpatient and on-call.  Submitting the monthly service report after the 15^th of the month may delay the issuance of a participant’s check. 

A copy of the current monthly service report can now be downloaded from the Recruitment Services page on the BPCRH website at www.dhh.la.us.state/pcrh. 

Section 338 of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC 254-1) authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration to administer the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) which is funded with 50% state dollars and 50% federal dollars.  The state Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) through the Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health (BPCRH) administers the SLRP for Louisiana.

The purpose of the SLRP is to recruit and retain primary care practitioners to difficult-to-fill shortage areas by reducing their educational debt.  The mission of the program is to alleviate the state’s problem of a substantial maldistribution of primary care health professionals in rural and inner city areas designated as health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).

Eligible primary care practitioners include those who are board certified or have completed a residency in family practice, osteopathic general practice, obstetrics/gynecology, general internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry or dentistry.  Eligible mid-levels include physician assistants, advanced nurse practitioners and nurse midwives.

The program will repay governmental or commercial educational loans for tuition expenses, other reasonable education expenses required by the health professional school including books, laboratory expenses and other fees, and reasonable living expenses as determined by published university standards.  For more information, see page five of the Louisiana State Loan Repayment Program Policy.

• Persons who are not citizens or nationals of the United States, including permanent resident aliens and other aliens
• Persons who have breached an obligation for health professional services to the Federal Government, a State Government, local government body or other entity.  Any person with a similar obligation is ineligible for the SLRP unless such obligation is completely satisfied.
• Persons who are obligated under another loan or scholarship payback program, regardless of source. Once a person has fulfilled other obligations, that person may apply for loan repayment.
• Students or residents who will not be licensed and ready to work at the approved health professional shortage site by the end of the current fiscal year.
• Licensed Registered Nurses and Practical Nurses are not eligible.
• Persons who have a judgment lien against their property for a debt to the United States.
• Persons with loans in a default status.