Program Benefits and Service Obligation

(a)Benefits. Participants accepted into the Program shall receive up to Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) to pay for eligible expenses and loan indebtedness incurred in medical education and training.

(b)Service Obligation. Physicians receiving debt repayment assistance shall enter into a contract with the Board verifying the physician’s understanding of the obligation to serve pursuant to this Subsection, or repay the Program according to the terms of the signed contract. The term of the contract shall not be less than two

(2)years, and not be more than eight

(8)years. Participants shall receive an annual payment from the Program in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) only for the purpose of repaying educational loans secured while attending a program of health professional training which led to credentialing as a health professional, and for no other purposes. The contract shall automatically expire once the recipient ceases to have any student loan debt. The contract shall include, but not be limited to, the following terms and conditions:

(1)The physician shall agree to actively practice in Guam within three

(3)months immediately following acceptance to the Program, unless extended by the Board for extenuating circumstances.

(2)The physician shall agree to actively practice in Guam for a term of not less than two

(2)years, and not more than eight

(8)years in the Program, with the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand COL372014 CH. 52 THE PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EDUCATION DEBT REPAYMENT PROGRAM Dollars ($25,000) to be paid to the recipient for each year under contract.

(3)The physician shall agree to work a minimum of twenty

(20)hours a month pro bono, while in the program, at a Department of Public Health and Social Services clinic to service those patients that do not have the ability to pay, and patients under the Medically Indigent Program.

(4)The physician shall permit the Board to monitor compliance with the service requirement in order to verify the terms of the agreement have been met for each payment period.

(5)If the physician’s license to practice is suspended or revoked, the Board shall have the authority to terminate the physician’s participation in the Program and require repayment of all debt repayments rendered to date.

(6)A physician who fails to complete the obligations contracted shall reimburse the Program for all amounts received under this Act, which shall be subject to interest at the annual rate of ten percent (10%) retroactive to the date the initial award was received by the recipient, to be repaid over a period not to exceed ten

(10)years from the date of termination of the contract. Both the physician and the Board shall make every effort to resolve conflicts in order to prevent a breach of contract.

(7)In the event of default, the balance due in monetary terms shall be the amount of award provided, less the amount repaid through service credit.

(8)The Board may, subject to the terms and conditions of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Revenue and Taxation, garnish the tax refunds due to any participant of this Program, and/or the participant’s co-signer(s), who has defaulted on the repayment of such award and a judgment has issued. Such garnishment shall not exceed the judgment amount.

(9)Student loans from both government and private sources may be repaid by the Program. Participants shall agree to allow the Board access to loan records and to acquire information from lenders necessary to verify eligibility and to determine payments. COL372014 CH. 52 THE PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EDUCATION DEBT REPAYMENT PROGRAM Financial debts or service obligations which do not qualify for payment include, but are not limited to, the Public Health and National Health Service Corps scholarship training program, the National Health Service Corps scholarship program, and armed forces.