AL HB186

Creates the Alabama Physician's Assistants Service Program administered by the Board of Medical Scholarship Awards and funded by direct appropriation from the Education Trust Fund.

Authorizes the Board to award loans up to the average in-state tuition and required fees at Alabama public institutions for master's degree programs in physician assistant studies, contingent on recipients signing contracts to work three years in full-time clinical practice in medically underserved areas of critical need.

Imposes penalties for default or failure to honor loan-repayment contracts: 30 percent of total principal if default occurs before graduation, and 100 percent of total principal if default occurs after graduation but before completing the three-year work obligation.

Provides participants with a $5,000 annual state income tax credit for working in areas of critical need, usable for up to 10 total tax years, which may continue after loan repayment if the participant remains in the same area.

Allows the Board to excuse loan repayment upon death, disability preventing work as a physician's assistant, or other extreme hardship not caused by the participant, and requires annual reporting to state leadership on program condition and finances.