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1. Eligibility and Program Requirements
The Michigan State Loan Repayment Program (MSLRP) assists employers in the recruitment and retention of medical, dental, and mental healthcare providers who continue to demonstrate their commitment to building long-term primary care practices in underserved communities designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). MSLRP will assist those selected by providing up to $300,000 in tax-free funds to repay their educational debt over a period of up to ten years. New applicants and current participants compete for consecutive two-year MSLRP agreements requiring them to remain employed for a minimum of 40 hours per week for no less than 45 weeks per year at eligible nonprofit practice sites providing primary healthcare services to ambulatory populations. Periods during which providers are "on call" do not count toward their 40 hours per week requirement. Providers must remain with the employers who sponsor them during their two-year agreements, and employers must continue to employ the providers they sponsor during their two-year service obligations.
Providers and employers should read this section to determine provider and practice site eligibility before applying to MSLRP.
Providers must:
- Be U.S. citizens to be eligible for MSLRP. Providers with green cards must complete the naturalization process to become U.S. Citizens before applying to the program.
- Be committed to building a long-term primary care practice in an underserved community.
- Have an agreement of employment at a HPSA-eligible practice site, with a start date no later than October 1 following the current application period, before applying for MSLRP. Providers will find additional information in the Information for Students, Residents and Providers in Transition section of the website.
- Since employers are required to make contributions to their providers' loan repayment contracts, providers must confirm their employers will support their agreements.
- Remain with their current employer throughout their two-year loan repayment agreement.
- Be willing to learn the material in the Participant Information and Requirements section of this website and remain in compliance with program requirements.
Providers Not Eligible for MSLRP:
- Providers who have defaulted on federal loans are not eligible
- Providers with J1 Visa Waiver are not eligible.
Providers May:
- Apply for MSLRP and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (NHSC LRP) at the same time but can only participate in one at a time.
- Participate in MSLRP and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) at the same time.
Eligible MSLRP Provider Types:
Providers must have one of the following professional titles to be eligible for loan repayment thorough MSLRP. Both fully licensed and limited-licensed mental healthcare providers listed below are eligible for MSLRP. Only fully licensed mental healthcare providers are eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
- Dentists: DDS or DMD
- Physicians: MD or DO (Family Practice, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Geriatrics)
- Physician Assistants (Primary Care, including the same specialties as MDs and DOs)
- Nurse Practitioners (Primary Care, including the same specialties as MDs and DOs)
- Psychiatrists
- Certified Nurse Midwives
- Clinical or Counseling Psychologists (Ph.D./Masters)
- Licensed Professional Counselors (Ph.D./Masters)
- Marriage and Family Therapists (Ph.D./Masters)
- Psychiatric Nurse Specialists (Masters)
- Clinical Social Workers (Masters)
- Mental Health Counselors (Masters)
- Psychologists (Masters) and MSWs providing autism services
Provider Types Not Eligible for MSLRP:
- Dental Hygienists
- Registered Nurses (RNs)
- General Surgeons
- PAs and NPs working with physician specialists other than those listed above
- Pharmacists
- Chiropractors
- Nurse Anesthetists
- Occupational Therapists
- Optometrists
- Physical Therapists
- Mental healthcare providers with only a bachelor’s degree including: Counselors, Psychologists and Social Workers
- Speech Therapists
- Lab Technicians
Employers Must:
- Be willing to make employer contributions toward the loan repayment agreements of the providers they sponsor. The contribution requirement for nonprofit employers is 20 percent of their providers' agreement amounts. For-profit employers placing providers in nonprofit practice sites, such as state prisons, contribute 50 percent.
- Continue to employ the providers they sponsor throughout their two-year loan repayment agreements.
- Be willing to learn the material in the Participant Information and Requirements section of this website and remain in compliance with program requirements.
- Not use MSLRP payments to offset participants' salaries or other components of their compensation packages. MSLRP payments must be in addition to participants' salaries, which must be based on prevailing rates in their practice areas.
Practice Site Requirements:
- Nonprofit Status: Providers must work at nonprofit practice sites to be awarded MSLRP loan repayment agreements.
- Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Designation:
Eligible providers must work at practice sites located in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) or at sites which have HPSA facility designations. The federal government designates areas and facilities with provider shortages as 'Health Professional Shortage Areas' for primary medical, dental, and mental health services. To be eligible, providers must work at practice sites with the appropriate type of HPSA designation for their disciplines. For example, a physician would have to work where there is a primary medical HPSA designation to be eligible. Providers and employers can determine if a practice site is located within a HPSA by entering its address in the federal Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA) website located at: http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/GeoAdvisor/ShortageDesignationAdvisor.aspx. A practice site may be located in a county with no HPSA designation but be eligible for loan repayment if it has a HPSA facility designation. You can search for practice sites with HPSA facility designations by clicking on 'HPSA by State & County' on the same page where you can search by practice site address. . - Discounted/Sliding Fee Schedules and Discount Fee Policy
Practice sites must use Discounted/Sliding Fee Schedules and Discount Fee Policies that comply with the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) requirements. These requirements can be viewed at: https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/nhsc/nhsc-sites/nhsc-site-reference-guide.pdf. General requirements can be found on pages 10 and 11. Sliding Fee Schedule and Sliding Fee Schedule Policy examples can be found on pages 48-53. - Certification of Practice Site Compliance with Program Requirements and Employment Regulations
Providers and employers must also review the Practice Site Application to make sure their practice sites meet all program requirements described under Certification of Practice Site Compliance with Program Requirements and to ensure that providers will be in compliance with all requirements listed under Employment Regulations. This section will also answer questions about requirements for hours of employment per week, hours of direct primary care clinical service, and limits on compressed provider schedules. The Practice Site Application is located under Application Periods, Forms, and Process on this website.
Typical eligible practice sites include:
- Certified Rural Health Clinics
- Community Health Centers
- Community Mental Health Clinics
- Federally Qualified Health Center ‘Look-Alikes'
- Hospital-Affiliated Primary Care Clinics
- Local Health Departments
- Other Not-for Profit Primary Care Clinics
- Private/Not for Profit Primary Care Clinics
- State Psychiatric Hospitals
- State/Federal Correctional Facilities
- State-funded Primary Care Clinics
- Tribal-Affiliated Primary Care Clinics
- Urgent care sites physically separate from emergency rooms or emergency departments
Practice Sites Not Eligible for MSLRP
- Emergency Rooms
- Emergency Departments
- Inpatient Hospitals (providers must be clinic-based)
- Veterans’ Administration practice sites
- Any for-profit practice sites
- Long term care facilities
- Nursing homes
- Any other type of residential facility where patients reside or spend the night
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