The House of Representatives passed a bill to address doctor shortages in rural areas.

House Bill 3823, by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, authorizes a $25,000 tax credit for doctors who move to a rural community to practice. It passed 84-3 and heads to the Senate.

Doctors who are new to the rural area and establish their primary residence there would be eligible for the credit. The bill defines rural communities as any municipality with a population of less than 25,000 that is at least 25 miles from the nearest municipality with a population greater than 25,000.

The bill also applies to doctors who live within the boundaries of a tribal jurisdiction and are employed by a tribally owned or operated health facility or federal Indian Health Service facility.

“It’s something we, at the Cherokee Nation, struggle with, but it’s not just our tribe, it’s something our region and the entire state struggles with. This bill is creating an incentive for physicians to practice in rural Oklahoma, and we know once they get there, they will stay,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

The bill would limit the exemption only to doctors who graduated from a medical or osteopathic school in Oklahoma.

A doctor could claim the credit for up to five years. The credit would end once a total of $1 million was claimed statewide.