The Budget Act of 2018 appropriates $220 million from Proposition 56 to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and Senate Bill 849 (Chapter 47, Statutes of 2018) established the Proposition 56 Medi-Cal Physicians and Dentists Loan Repayment Act Program (LRP). The 2019 May Revise appropriates an additional $120 million from Proposition 56 to DHCS. DHCS has contracted with Physicians for a Healthy California to administer the CalHealthCares program. Eligible dentists may apply for either a loan repayment up to $300,000 in exchange for a five-year service obligation or a Practice Support Grant up to $300,000 in exchange for a ten-year service obligation. More information about the CalHealthCares program is available on their website. Several webinars are being planned. To connect communities and interested dentists, the California Dental Association (CDA) has set aside a booth at the annual CDA conference in Anaheim in May 2020. You or your partners can participate in this event.  

A note from CDA:

The CalHealthCares program is a proactive policy approach to encourage dentists to locate practices in underserved areas of California and we know there are dentists interested in taking advantage of these funding programs. The challenge – but also the opportunity – is to match interest with need!

To help facilitate identifying dentists who are interested in locating practices in underserved counties, CDA has set aside a booth at the annual CDA Presents conference in Anaheim next May where representatives from interested counties can interact with dentists. CDA is in the process now of identifying which counties might like to participate in this opportunity. If you wish to know more, please email Gayle Mathe at [email protected]. There is no commitment at this juncture, just the opportunity to learn more about it.