Texas Health and Human Services has announced the creation of a loan repayment program for doctors, dentists and specialists who administer medical services for children with Medicaid.

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Loan pay plan to counter state physician shortage

By Carlos Uresti - Express-News
Texas Health and Human Services has announced the creation of a loan repayment program for doctors, dentists and specialists who administer medical services for children with Medicaid. This program helps children with Medicaid to access medical care by providing doctors with an incentive: the repayment of their student loans.

Currently, the Texas Tech University Health Science Center has three medical schools which serve the West Texas community, the TTHSC School of Medicine with campuses in Lubbock and Permian Basin as well as the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine located in El Paso.

Upon completion of their program, the average loan repayment cost for a Texas Tech medical student is $109,000. Students are allowed to defer their loan payments throughout the course of their residency, which can last between four to seven years.

However, interest on the loans will continue to accrue. This results in an average loan repayment cost of $120,000 once the student has completed medical school and residency.

Through the loan repayment program, doctors are eligible to have up to $140,000 in student loans repaid over a period of four years. This program will act as an incentive for doctors to serve in communities underserved, such as West Texas.

The announcement of this program comes at a time when many Texas families are losing their jobs and experiencing financial difficulties due to the economy. Studies reveal that Texas counties located along the Texas-Mexico border as well as other rural counties are having difficulties attracting health care professionals to serve in their communities. Currently 91 percent of the counties within my district's boundaries have a shortage in health care physicians.

The loss of jobs and employee insurance may translate to an increased demand for programs such as Children's Medicaid. All Texans deserve access to quality medical care.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission will make program applications available in March.

State Sen. Carlos Uresti is the senator from District 19, a 23-county area that includes parts of Bexar County.