If there are not sufficient funds to offer loan repayment assistance for all eligible physicians, then applications shall be ranked using priority determinations in the following order:

1. (1) the first ten applications received each year from eligible physicians serving persons committed to a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department or its successor or persons confined to a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or its successor;

2. (2) applications from physicians practicing in HPSAs, in the following priority order:

   1. (A) renewal applications from primary care physicians practicing in HPSAs;
   2. (B) applications from primary care physicians practicing in rural HPSAs, prioritizing higher HPSA scores;
   3. (C) applications from primary care physicians practicing in non-rural HPSAs, prioritizing higher HPSA scores;
   4. (D) renewal applications from non-primary care physicians practicing in HPSAs;
   5. (E) applications from non-primary care physicians practicing in rural HPSAs, prioritizing higher HPSA scores;
   6. (F) applications from non-primary care physicians practicing in non-rural HPSAs, prioritizing higher HPSA scores;
   7. (G) applications from physicians having the greatest amount of student loan debt;

3. (3) applications from primary care physicians who have provided outpatient health care services to a designated number of Medicaid or Texas Women's Health Program enrollees, as established annually by methods outlined in the Coordinating Board's Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in the following order of priority:

   1. (A) renewal applications;
   2. (B) applications from physicians practicing in a county with a population of less than 50,000 persons;
   3. (C) applications from geriatricians;
   4. (D) applications from physicians having the greatest amount of student loan debt.

Source Note:The provisions of this §23.67 adopted to be effective February 22, 2016, 41 TexReg 1231; transferred effective December 15, 2016, as published in the Texas Register November 25, 2016, 41 TexReg 9341; amended to be effective November 22, 2020, 45 TexReg 8343; amended to be effective November 14, 2024, 49 TexReg 8904; amended to be effective May 13, 2026, 51 TexReg 3110.