Shapiro bill would help Pa. attract and keep doctors, strengthen Pa.'s health-care system

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Diana Wogan Office of State Rep. Josh Shapiro Phone: 215-517-6800 Fax: 215-517-6828 Email: dwogan@pahouse.net	State Rep. Josh Shapiro D-Montgomery www.pahouse.com/shapiro
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Shapiro bill would help Pa. attract and keep doctors,

strengthen Pa.'s health-care system

HARRISBURG, June 4 – Legislation sponsored by State Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, to strengthen Pennsylvania’s health-care system by encouraging more doctors to practice medicine in the Commonwealth was the topic of a news conference today at the state Capitol.

Currently, Pennsylvania is failing to attract and retain doctors. Shapiro said he believes it is imperative to reverse this trend if Pennsylvania hopes to keep its health-care system strong, viable and sustainable.

Shapiro’s proposal (H.B. 1093) would create a medical school loan forgiveness program for doctors who agree to practice in Pennsylvania for 10 years. Qualified participants would receive 10 percent of their total medical school loan debt each year for 10 years. If a participant failed to practice in Pennsylvania for the full 10 years, he or she would be required to pay back the payments from the state.

“While the percent of resident physicians in Pennsylvania has increased over the last 10 years, the percent of residents remaining in the state to practice after completing their training has decreased significantly over the same period,” Shapiro said. “With the growing demand for health care in the state, coupled with a large number of physicians retiring in the next decade, we are facing a crisis that needs to be addressed now. Providing incentives for doctors to practice in Pennsylvania is vital to our health-care system in Pennsylvania.”

The Pennsylvania health-care community supports Shapiro's bill as a way to keep doctors in Pennsylvania. Representatives of the Hospital and Healthsystem of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania chapter of the American College of Physicians, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society were in attendance at today’s news conference and urged legislators to pass the bill.

John Derrickson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Physicians said, “We commend and support Representative Shapiro’s efforts to address the crushing burden of medical school debt for young doctors and for working to keep our physicians in Pennsylvania.”

Shapiro is deputy speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and represents the 153rd Legislative District in Montgomery County. More information about Shapiro is available on his legislative Web site at www.pahouse.com/Shapiro.

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