Chapter 2 INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION IN THE PCL PROGRAM
Chapter 2 INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION IN THE PCL PROGRAM
Schools in the PCL program must conform to the HPSL eligibility criteria. HPSL, Chapter 2 describes the requirements for these criteria.
Certain PCL requirements differ from those under the HPSL program. These consist of:
Any public or other nonprofit institution that offers degrees to full-time students in disciplines as specified below may apply to participate in the PCL program:
[Section 723(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act]
Refer to HPSL, Chapter 2 for information on accreditation.
Beginning with the one-year period ending June 30, 1997, and for the one-year period ending on June 30 of each subsequent fiscal year, the school must meet at least one of the following conditions with respect to graduates of the school whose date of graduation from the school occurred approximately four years before the end of the one-year period:
OR
OR
[Section 723(b) of the Public Health Service Act]
Each participating allopathic and osteopathic medical school must submit an annual report to the Department of Health and Human Services. The report contains statistics that describe the areas of training and practice in which graduates have been engaged during the 12-month period ending June 30 of each year. The statistics are based on the pool of graduates whose graduation date occurred approximately four years prior to June 30 of the year addressed in the report.
Within 90 days of each June 30, the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines whether schools are in compliance. Schools receive written notification about their status.
on 723(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act]
Schools that do not meet one of the criteria under Participation of Graduates in Primary Health Care Residencies and Practices, are subject to certain penalties. The penalties--which are described below--require schools to return a portion of their HPSL fund incomes, exclusive of any income derived from the Loans for Disadvantaged Students program.
Schools must pay the sums required within 90 days of receiving notification of non-compliance from the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
[Section 723(b)(4) of the Public Health Service Act]
For purposes of calculating the school penalty for not complying with the requirements regarding primary care output, income is defined in section 723(d)(4) of the PHS Act to mean payments of principal and interest on any loan made from the fund and any other earnings of the fund.
The law specifies that the amount of income to be returned must equal the specified percentage of income during that year. However, the school does have the option of withdrawing from the fund, in addition to the amount returned to the Department, the proportionate share of institutional matching funds that are associated with the amount of funds returned. For example, if fund income from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 1997 equals $900,000, the school would be required to return 10 percent, or $90,000, to the Department. A school that has matched with 1/9 institutional funds could then choose to withdraw an additional $10,000 from the fund and return it to the institution, resulting in a total decrease in the fund of $100,000. LDS funds are not subject to the primary care requirements and are not included when calculating the school penalty associated with the output of primary care practitioners.
[Section 723(b) of the Public Health Service Act]
The Secretary of Health and Human Services redistributes HPSL funds that allopathic and osteopathic medical schools have returned as a result of not meeting the criteria described under Participation of Graduates in Primary Health Care Residencies and Practices.
Returned funds received from allopathic and osteopathic medical schools will be reallocated to schools which met one of the criteria regarding the percentage of primary care graduates as of June 30 of the preceding year and demonstrate a need for further funding.
In reawarding PCL funds to schools, the Department is required to give preference to schools of the same discipline that return the funds (e.g., allopathic medical schools must receive preference in the reawarding of funds returned by allopathic medical schools). To implement the statutory preference for schools in the same discipline as those returning the funds, the number of primary care graduates at allopathic medical schools will be doubled for purposes of awarding allopathic medical funds. Osteopathic medical schools will be eligible for some portion of these funds, buttheir number of primary care graduates will not be doubled in determining their share.
Similarly, the number of primary care graduates at osteopathic medical schools will be doubled for purposes of reawarding any funds returned by osteopathic medical schools. Allopathic medical schools will be eligible for some portion of these funds, but their number of primary care graduates will not be doubled in determining their share.
[Section 723(b)(5) of the Public Health Service Act]
The sources of funding for the PCL program are the same as for the HPSL program. The sources may include congressional appropriations and redistribution of funds returned to the Secretary. HPSL, Chapter 2 describes these sources in more detail.
See HPSL, Chapter 2 for information on institutional applications for Federal Capital Contributions.
Most processes for awarding PCL funds are the same as the HPSL program. (See HPSL, Chapter 2.) However, there is one exception for distributing newly authorized funds to allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. The law restricts these funds to schools:
The management of PCL funds is the same as the management of HPSL funds. Readers are directed to HPSL, Chapter 2 to learn more about institutional management of funds.
The rules and procedures for termination and withdrawal of institutions participating in the PCL program are the same as those for schools that distribute HPSL funds to their health professions students. HPSL, Chapter 2 addresses what happens to program funds for schools that are terminated or choose to withdraw from program participation.
Fiscal Management, Collections, Chapter 5 describes procedures for remittance of collections.
