Media Contact
Pete Thomson
Chief Communications Officer
American Medical Student Association
Email: [email protected]
AMSA Response to President’s FY2019 Budget Request: Uphold Promises, Prioritize Health and Education
The administration’s budget request for the 2019 fiscal year does not align with the long-term commitment to health and education reflected in last week’s short-term budget deal. This sharply contrasts with what the President and Congress approved just three days ago.
STERLING, Virginia – February 13, 2018 – Yesterday, the President released the administration’s official budget request for FY2019, outlining funding priorities for the next ten years. The proposal prioritizes a defense-heavy budget, including $23 billion for border security and a wall, at the expense of domestic programs that support public health, health care, and education.
AMSA is deeply concerned about the proposed $203 billion reduction in mandatory higher education spending for student loan programs over the next decade. The budget eliminates $128.4 billion from Income-Driven Repayment programs, replacing them with a restructured single program that requires higher monthly payments over longer repayment periods. It also seeks to cut $28.6 billion by removing subsidized interest from undergraduate student loans and to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for new borrowers, stripping away $45.9 billion in relief opportunities. Barriers to student financial assistance disproportionately impact nontraditional students, underrepresented minorities in medicine, and those with the greatest financial need. Saddling future physicians with overwhelming debt threatens the nation’s health care workforce and will ultimately leave millions of Americans without doctors.
Additionally, the proposed budget aims to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut $675 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next decade by reviving legislation designed to end Medicaid expansion, repeal marketplace subsidies, and strip protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions. While defense spending is set to increase, the budget calls for non-defense spending reductions exceeding forty percent over ten years. This would severely impact critical public health agencies and programs, including the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.
Last Friday, AMSA commended bipartisan compromises in the short-term budget deal, which included increased non-defense discretionary funding for health and education programs through FY2018 and FY2019. This budget request, however, completely undermines those commitments, threatening efforts toward health equity and social justice. It demonstrates a fundamental lack of awareness regarding the role of social determinants of health, such as poverty, food security, access to affordable health care, and education.
We strongly urge Congress to propose a better alternative that does not dismantle domestic programs and weaken the social safety net.
By: Daniel H. Gouger, MD, Education & Advocacy Fellow
About the American Medical Student Association:
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.
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