SB 93 Summary: Health Care Professionals Workforce Enhancement Program

• Establishes a workforce enhancement program administered by the Department of Health and Social Services to increase availability of health care professionals in underserved areas and rural Alaska through student loan repayments and direct incentive payments.

• Provides quarterly direct incentive payments to eligible tier I, II, and III health care professionals ranging from $15,000 to $47,250 annually depending on professional tier and position classification (regular or very hard-to-fill).

• Repays up to 33.3 percent of unpaid student loan balances for eligible health care professionals, limited to loans used for programs resulting in certificates, licenses, or degrees.

• Requires participating employers to make nonrefundable quarterly payments to the department equal to the professional's program payment amount, which may be adjusted based on employer's ability to pay.

• Establishes a 12-year lifetime maximum for program participation by any individual health care professional and creates an advisory council to oversee program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.