Section 457-612-II - Loan Repayment ProgramA. Application Deadline Applications for a loan repayment agreement must be received at the Authority on or before the applicable deadline as set by the Authority. In the event that the Authority does not receive any applications prior to such deadline, it may accept applications thereafter and, notwithstanding section II. D., enter into a loan repayment agreement with the first eligible applicant.
B. Eligibility To be eligible for a loan repayment agreement the applicant must:
1. Be eligible for licensure to practice dental medicine in the State of Maine;2. Have qualifying outstanding education loans, including loans for dental education;3. Have received an offer to practice at a dental care facility in an underserved population area, as evidenced by a letter of intent or other written offer of employment, or by providing written intent to establish a dental care facility in an underserved population area, which may be conditioned on obtaining a loan repayment agreement from the Authority;5. Certify that he or she is not currently practicing under a contract with the National Health Service Corps.; and C. Loan Repayment Agreement 1. A successful applicant will receive repayment of outstanding education loans at a rate of up to $20,000 (or up to $25,000 for agreements first signed after January 1, 2020) per year of service for up to four years as long as the applicant continues to serve as dentist in the dental care facility originally approved by the Authority or a substitute dental care facility in an underserved population area approved by the Authority and provided that no individual may receive more than $80,000 (or $100,000 for agreements first signed after January 1, 2020) in the aggregate of loans for dental students pursuant to section III hereof and through a loan repayment agreement.2. Payments by the Authority under the loan repayment agreement will be made directly to the holder of the education loans in two disbursements annually. The dentist must provide evidence of total outstanding education loan debt from all lending institutions and instructions for payment to a specific holder. Upon receipt by the Authority of the loan repayment agreement signed by the dentist, the first disbursement of one half of the agreed upon annual amount will be made in approximately six months if the dentist has already begun eligible employment, or approximately six months after commencement of eligible employment. Each subsequent disbursement will be made approximately six months after the previous disbursement assuming completion of additional eligible employment.3. The loan repayment agreement will provide that the dentist must repay amounts paid under the agreement if applied to ineligible purposes. 4. A person entering into a loan repayment agreement must agree that: a. At least 25% of the employing dental care facility's patient load is accepted for treatment regardless of ability to paythrough insurance or other payment source;b. The employing dental care facility accepts payment through MaineCare, or any successor program;5. The Authority may approve a substitute dental care facility for completion of service under a contract if the individual receiving loan repayment submits a request to the Authority, which includes:a. A letter from the original approved dental care facility supporting the request for a change in practice location;b. An offer to practice at another dental care facility in an underserved population area.6. The loan repayment agreement may require or encourage the recipient to participate in presentations at one or more high schools in the State of Maine concerning careers in oral health care, and such other terms and conditions as the Authority deems necessary to fulfill the policy objectives of the loan repayment program.D. Prioritization of Applicants 1. The Authority will prioritize the applications received for loan repayment. The Authority may consider each of the following criteria when determining which applicant(s) receive(s) a loan repayment agreement: a. Access to dental care generally and for the indigent population in the underserved population area where the dentist intends to practice;c. The vacancy rate of the dental care facility the dentist intends to join;d. The population to dentist ratio for the underserved population area in which the dentist would practice;e. The number of dentists in private practice in the underserved population area who accept MaineCare (or any successor program) patients, with consideration of the percentage of those practices that are MaineCare (or any successor program) patients and whether new or only established patients can be seen;2. Final determinations will be made by the chief executive officer.E. Breach of Loan Repayment Agreement 1. If a dentist fails to complete the required period of service under a loan repayment agreement the Authority may terminate the loan repayment agreement and award any remaining funds under another loan repayment agreement with another eligible applicant.2. In the event that the dental care facility chooses not to renew the contract of any individual receiving loan repayment, the Authority is not under any obligation to locate another dental care facility which will accept the individual. The loan repayment agreement will terminate and the Authority may offer the funds available to eligible applicants. The loan repayment recipient may reapply for loan repayment at another dental care facility.94- 457 C.M.R. ch. 612, § II