| (a) Subject to available funding for this program,
the department will publish a notice of fund availability and request
for applications, which will include all necessary details about the
program and application requirements. The application must be on the
forms and in the format prescribed by the department.
(b) Applicants practicing in areas with the highest
degree of shortage and/or lowest Index of Medical Services (IMU) score
will be given priority.
(c) Selected recipients will receive payments for reimbursement
of eligible educational loans at a time specified by the department
and under the following conditions:
(1) total annual reimbursement to one or more eligible
lenders or holders must not exceed the recipient's unpaid principal
loan balance, including capitalized interest, from all sources, or
a maximum of $5,000, whichever is less. Depending upon the availability
of funds and the number of qualifying applicants, the department may
establish an annual reimbursement amount below $5,000 per eligible
recipient; however, the minimum total annual payment cannot be less
than $2,500 per eligible recipient unless the recipient's total unpaid
principal loan balance is below $2,500;
(2) each period of service must be completed before
reimbursement is made;
(3) loan reimbursement may be renewed annually but
for no more than a total of four periods of service and total maximum
reimbursement amount of $20,000;
(4) annual payment is made co-payable to the recipient
and to the eligible lender(s) or holder(s) and applied only to the
outstanding principal balance of the education loan, including capitalized
interest; and
(5) recipients are responsible for payment of any and
all state and federal taxes to which this loan reimbursement is subject.
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