Media Contact
Joey Johnson, D.O., National President
American Medical Student Association
Email: [email protected]
Preliminary proposals for the Trump Administration’s Department of Education budget raise serious concerns for physicians-in-training, the physician workforce, and all those who rely on health care in the United States.
STERLING, Virginia – May 21, 2017 – Leaked details from the Trump Administration’s Education budget, first reported last week by the Washington Post, should leave future doctors and their patients deeply concerned. If enacted, these sweeping funding cuts would undermine both the general public and the countless professionals who provide medical care.
The official report is expected next week, but several programs could face severe reductions. Perkins loans, which provide low-interest federal aid to disadvantaged undergraduate and professional students, including medical students with exceptional financial need, could see cuts of up to $700 million.
Other proposed measures include eliminating the four existing income-driven student loan repayment programs and replacing them with a single, inadequate alternative, as well as abolishing the public service loan forgiveness program. After accounting for accrued interest, the average debt for a domestic medical graduate currently stands at approximately $220,000.
Under the unconfirmed proposal, a new income-driven repayment plan would increase maximum loan payments to 12.5 percent of income, with a repayment period extended to 30 years, compared to the current 10 percent cap and 20-25 year terms. Many physicians currently rely on graduated loan payments while working for 10 years in nonprofit hospitals, teaching institutions, and other 501(c)(3) organizations to qualify for public service loan forgiveness. For young physicians earning modest resident salaries for an additional three to eight years after completing at least eight years of education, these changes would impose an unsustainable financial burden.
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) strongly supports low-interest loan programs that provide students with a fair and practical means of financing their education. AMSA emphasizes that equitable access to medical education is critical to maintaining diversity within the physician workforce. Medicine cannot fully address the health needs of a diverse society if it does not reflect the demographics of that society. AMSA further asserts that access to higher education is a right and should be based on merit, not financial means.
The potential impact of these proposals on underrepresented minorities cannot be overstated. “Student loan debt disproportionately affects minority students,” says Dr. Joey Johnson, AMSA’s national president. “According to a 2013 report by U.S. News & World Report, 27 percent of Black graduates had student loan debt exceeding $30,000, compared to 16 percent of white graduates.”
These cuts would also have a devastating impact on rural and underserved areas, as well as on academic medicine. “As a physician who trained in rural Appalachia and hopes to teach as a clinical professor, I worry that if this budget proposal becomes reality, we may soon lack the medical educators needed to train new doctors for communities already struggling with access to care,” says Dr. Daniel H. Gouger, AMSA’s education and advocacy fellow.
AMSA believes that “Aid-for-Service” programs not only expand access to medical education but also directly address disparities in health care availability. AMSA also supports graduated repayment programs tied to income, and is deeply concerned that eliminating these options for medical students, residents, and early-career physicians will create insurmountable financial barriers. AMSA strongly opposes federal cuts to programs designed to improve access to medical education.
Perhaps most alarming, these cuts could discourage undergraduates from pursuing careers in medicine or push them toward higher-paying subspecialties, further straining the nation’s already struggling primary care workforce. Burdening future physicians with overwhelming student debt will shrink the pipeline of new doctors, leaving millions of Americans without adequate medical care.
About AMSA:
AMSA is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://amsa.org.
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