House Bill 1391

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE RURAL NURSES RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM ACT FOR THE PURPOSES OF CREATING FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT NURSES TO PRACTICE NURSING IN RURAL AND MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS IN THE STATE; TO SPECIFY THE NUMBER OF YEARS REQUIRED TO BE SERVED BY A NURSE IN A RURAL OR MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREA AND THE AMOUNT AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SHALL ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM; TO PRESCRIBE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS OF NURSES SEEKING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT GRANTS SHALL BE FUNDED FROM MONIES APPROPRIATED BY THE LEGISLATURE FROM THE CORONAVIRUS STATE FISCAL RECOVERY FUND TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR THAT PURPOSE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE GRANTS SHALL BE AWARDED SUBJECT TO AVAILABLE FUNDING; TO REQUIRE GRANT RECIPIENTS TO ENTER INTO A WRITTEN GRANT CONTRACT AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO MAKE EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH AN INITIAL PRACTICE ENTRY SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and cited as the "Rural Nurses Recruitment and Retention Incentive Grant Program Act."

SECTION 2. (1) There is established the Rural Nurses Recruitment and Retention Incentive Grant Program ("the program") for the purpose and intent of providing financial assistance to encourage nurses to locate in and remain in the practice of nursing in certain rural or medically underserved areas of Mississippi.

(2) Nurses who commit to locate in and practice nursing for a minimum of five (5) years in a priority rural or medically underserved area as defined by the State Department of Health that has a population of not more that twenty thousand (20,000) persons, according to the most recent federal decennial census, shall be entitled to receive grants totaling Three Hundred Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($375,000.00) over a period of five (5) years. The first payment of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) shall be made when a nurse begins practicing in the rural or medically underserved area and patients are being seen in the nurse's office. The second, third, fourth and fifth payment installments of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) each shall be made after completion of each continuous year of service.

SECTION 3. The State Department of Health ("the department"), with the advice and consent of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Mississippi Nurses' Association, shall administer the Rural Nurses Recruitment and Retention Incentive Grant Program and shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) Receiving applications for grants under the program;

(b) Determining the eligibility of applicants and paying the grants from any funds available;

(c) Adopting and enforcing appropriate rules and regulations regarding forms designed to be used by applicants for grants and the eligibility of applicants;

(d) Developing criteria for evaluating rural or medically underserved areas, which shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) The infant mortality rate;

(ii) The percentage of the population living in poverty;

(iii) The population-to-primary-care-physician ratio; and

(iv) The teenage pregnancy rate;

(e) Consulting with the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Commission established under Section 37-144-3 to use general applicable definitions to designate an area of the state as rural or medically underserved;

(f) Developing the administrative policy for the program;

(g) Promulgating rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation and operation of the program;

(h) Developing and implementing strategies and activities for the identification and recruitment of nurses and for marketing the program and for the implementation of the program. In developing these strategies, the department shall seek the input of various organizations and entities, including the Mississippi Nurse's Association, the Mississippi Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Mississippi Nurses Foundation, and the Mississippi Rural Health Association;

(i) Establishing a budget to support the activities of the program and periodically reviewing and, if appropriate, revising, the amount of the grants offered through the program;

(j) Reviewing the progress of and mentoring nurses participating in the program;

(k) Developing and participating in programs that provide initial practice support in collaboration with other interested professional organizations; and

(l) Any other rules and regulations as the department may deem necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes and intent of the program and to prevent abuse relating to the program.

SECTION 4. (1) Persons who are licensed to practice nursing in the State of Mississippi who, after July 1, 2022, begin practicing nursing in a rural or medically underserved area of this state having a population of not more than twenty thousand (20,000) persons, according to the most recent federal decennial census, shall be eligible to make application for a grant.

(2) Grants shall be funded from monies appropriated by the Legislature from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to the department for that purpose. Grants shall be awarded on the basis of available funds, with priority given to those rural or medically underserved areas having the greatest need.

(3) Grant recipients shall enter into a contract with the department to serve a proportionate number of Medicaid patients for the area, agree to work within the existing health care system and perform a weekly minimum of thirty-two (32) office hours.

SECTION 5. The department shall enter into a grant contract agreement with each recipient of a grant under the program that incorporates the following obligations and conditions:

(a) The recipient of a grant shall commit to practice nursing for five (5) continuous years in a rural or underserved area in accordance with Section 2 of this act;

(b) If any recipient of a grant under the program does not engage in the practice of nursing in accordance with the terms of this act, the recipient shall be obligated to repay the grant amounts received, together with interest thereon at the maximum rate allowed by Mississippi law or the federal discount rate plus five percent (5%) per year, whichever is less, the interest to accrue from the date that each payment of funds was received by the recipient.

(c) No interest shall accrue and there shall be no obligation to repay the principal sums accrued during any one (1) period of time that the recipient involuntarily serves on active duty in the United States Armed Forces; and

(d) Repayment of the principal with interest shall be due and payable in full immediately on the occurrence of either of the following events:

(i) Failure to remain in the original rural or medically underserved area for five (5) continuous years for any reason other than temporary personal illness; or

(ii) Failure to practice nursing on a regularly sustained basis as provided in the eligibility requirements of Section 4 of this act.

SECTION 6. The department shall make every effort to establish an initial practice entry support system for participants in the program.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.