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HB 2676

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2025 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Kilgore

Broadens eligible providers (optometrists, anesthesiologists, OB/GYN) and tightens repayment (3x grant, 9% interest) to boost health care in shortage areas.

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Bill Summary · HB 2676

Summary — HB 2676 (Underserved Health Care Provider Workforce Act amendments)

Status (selected): Introduced in House (Rep. Katie Stuart). Passed House 4/9/2025 (116–0); arrived in Senate 4/10/2025; referred to Assignments and relevant Senate committees; re-referred under Rule 3‑9(a) 6/2/2025. Effective date (as drafted): January 1, 2026.

Purpose

HB 2676 updates the Underserved Health Care Provider Workforce Act to broaden who and what qualify for the State’s scholarship and loan‑repayment programs intended to increase health care provider supply in designated shortage areas, to clarify several definitions, and to revise remedies and fund handling when recipients do not meet service obligations.

Key changes and provisions

  • Definition changes

    • “Designated Shortage Area” is revised to reference medically underserved areas or health professional shortage areas (as determined by the Director/Dept.), rather than the previous list (physician shortage areas, critical health manpower shortage areas).
    • Adds a new definition for “Optometrist” as a Doctor of Optometry licensed under the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987.
    • Repeals Section 3.05 (a prior definition or related provision) — the bill removes that statutory language (text not fully shown).

  • Expansion of eligible students/providers

    • Renames “eligible medical student” to “eligible student” (broader term) and explicitly includes students studying optometry in Illinois institutions.
    • Expands the list of eligible practice specialties for scholarship recipients to include optometrists and anesthesiologists (and text amendments also add obstetrician/gynecologist references in the primary care definition).

  • “Medical facility” and “eligible health care provider”

    • Expands the definition of “medical facility” to explicitly include rural health centers, federally qualified health centers and look‑alikes, optometric offices, and state correctional institutions.
    • Clarifies/expands the types of providers considered “eligible health care providers” (including optometrists and various advanced practice clinicians and specialists).

  • Scholarship / loan‑repayment enforcement

    • Extends the repayment/penalty provisions to loan‑repayment recipients as well as scholarship recipients who fail to meet service obligations.
    • Specifies the financial penalty: a recipient who fails to fulfill the service obligation must pay the Department an amount equal to three times the annual scholarship or loan‑repayment grant for each year of unfulfilled obligation.
    • Provides a 30‑day period to contract with the Department to arrange repayment; if no contract or payments are missed, 9% per annum interest accrues on the unpaid balance.
    • Amounts collected are to be returned to the fund where the payment originated (replacing an earlier, narrower reference to the Community Health Center Care Fund).
    • The Department may transfer moneys to the Illinois Finance Authority under rules for financing or credit enhancement as authorized.

  • Program authority preserved

    • Continues the Department’s program authority to establish medical student scholarships and to award them to eligible students.

Who is affected

  • Students (medical, optometry, chiropractic and related) studying in Illinois who seek scholarships or loan repayment.
  • Current and prospective loan‑repayment and scholarship recipients (obligations and repayment rules).
  • Health care providers and facilities operating in designated shortage areas (expanded list may widen eligibility to receive program support).
  • State departments administering the Act (Dept. of Public Health/Department designated to run the program) and the Illinois Finance Authority (for potential fund transfers).

Potential impact

  • Broadening eligible provider types (optometrists, anesthesiologists, OB/GYN) and facility types may increase the pool of professionals willing to serve in shortage areas.
  • Stronger enforcement (3× repayment and 9% interest) increases financial consequences for not fulfilling service commitments.
  • Returning repayment funds to the originating fund preserves funding for the same program area rather than channeling all recoveries into a single fund.
  • Repeal of Section 3.05 and some definitional changes may alter prior program eligibility/administration details (administrative rules may require updates).

Notes / procedural

  • Text in the legislative packet contained multiple redactions/truncations; the summary above follows the bill’s synopsis and the readable statutory changes. Confirm final bill text (and any floor or committee amendments) before relying on specifics for implementation.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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