June 21, 2018 the Honorable Anthony Portantino Chair, Senate
June 21, 2018
The Honorable Anthony Portantino Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee State Capitol, Room 3086 Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Assembly Bill 2018 (Maienschein) – SUPPORT As Amended June 12, 2018
Dear Senator Portantino:
On behalf of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), I am pleased to offer our continued support for Assembly Bill 2018, authored by Assembly Member Brian Maienschein, relating to mental health workforce loan forgiveness. RCRC is an association of thirty-five rural California counties, and the RCRC Board of Directors is comprised of elected supervisors from each of those member counties.
Recently, the University of California, San Francisco, released a report of California’s behavioral health workforce. The report notes that the behavioral health workforce is critical to meeting California’s health care needs as one in six adults suffers from mental illness, and one in 14 children has a serious emotional disturbance. To increase the likelihood that better coverage for behavioral health services will yield better access to treatment, California needs an adequate supply of behavioral health workers who are distributed equitably across the State and who reflect the demographic characteristics of the State’s population. Additionally, the report found that 45 percent of psychiatrists and 37 percent of psychologists are over age 60 years, and are likely to retire or reduce their work hours within the next decade. In short, California will need even more trained behavioral health providers in the coming decade.
AB 2018 aims to increase the supply of behavioral health providers working in the public sector. Specifically, AB 2018 would expand eligibility for the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program to physicians practicing in facilities that are operated by a county mental health plan. According to state records, 23 of California’s 58 counties have fewer than one psychiatrist per 10,000 residents – with six counties having no psychiatrists at all.
The Honorable Anthony Portantino Assembly Bill 2018 June 21, 2018 Page 2
Incentivizing physicians to work in county mental health facilities will bring needed mental health professionals to medically underserved areas. There is a heavy burden of debt that psychiatry students shoulder; it is not unusual to find psychiatric residents in training with debt loads that exceed $200,000. Loan repayment and loan forgiveness programs are important tools in increasing interest in hard-to-fill practice sectors that are vital to the public interest.
For the above reasons, RCRC respectfully requests your ‘Aye’ vote when this measure is heard before your Committee.
Sincerely,
TRACY RHINE Legislative Advocate
cc: The Honorable Brian Maienschein, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Marie Waldron, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Devon Mathis, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Vince Fong, Member of the State Assembly The Honorable Randy Voepel, Member of the State Assembly Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee Consultant, Senate Appropriations Committee