Medical Education Debt

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• published: 21 Jun 2016
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Don't hesitate to comment below if you have any questions or additional phrases Medical Education Debt Maryland ACP Diversity Council March 18, 2008 Renee Zerehi Manager, Health Policy ACP Washington Office ,Medical Education Debt Statistics $139,517 – According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average educational debt of indebted graduates of the class of 2007. 75.5 percent of graduates have debt of at least $100,000 87.6 percent of graduating medical students carry outstanding loans About 5% of all medical students will graduate with debt of $200,000 or more Source: AAMC 2007 Graduation Questionnaire ,Why Has Debt Increased So Much? Rising tuition - AAMC data show that median private medical school tuition and fees has increased by 50 percent (in real dollars) in the 20 years between 1984 and 2004. Median public medical school tuition and fees increased by 133 percent over the same time period. Interest accrued on loans over time significantly adds to the total cost of student debt Students now entering medical school with more education debt from undergraduate education Increasing numbers of “non-traditional” students who have children to support ,Why ACP Is Concerned About Debt Decrease in primary care physicians - students with high debt are less likely to pursue family practice and general internal medicine Decreased diversity of physician workforce The cost of tuition can prevent students from low-income/minority and those with other financial responsibilities from attending medical school Physician diversity is necessary to address the needs of heterogeneous, multicultural patient populations Promoting unsafe physician behaviors – moonlighting by residents ,What is ACP Doing to Address Debt? 2005 Summit on Medical Education Debt cosponsored with AMSA and AAMC on Capitol Hill Position papers – Revitalization of IM; Workforce Priority issue during Leadership Day Legislation Introduced to Specifically Address Primary Care Debt Reauthorization of Higher Education Act Securing adequate funding for Title VII health professions programs ,Authorizations and Appropriations: What's the Difference? Authorizations establish, continue, or modify federal programs Appropriations give agencies the authority to spend money; Authorizations are a prerequisite to Appropriations. ,Authorizations and Appropriations: What's the Difference? Some authorization laws provide spending directly. Most major entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid Spending is typically permanent – no annual appropriations - spend what it actually costs Other authorization laws cover only specific years, and must be reviewed and re-authorized every one to five years. Discretionary spending Annual appropriations ,Rapid Growth In Entitlement Expenses Cut Discretionary Spending ,Up For Reauthorization The Higher Education Act of 1965 Best vehicle for student debt relief Technically expired in September 2003 Reauthorized every 5 years The Health Professions Education Assistance Act of 1963 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act Technically expired in September 2002 Reauthorized every 4 years ,Higher Education Act of 1965 The Higher Education Act of 1965 Best vehicle for student debt relief Technically expired in September 2003 Reauthorized every 5 years Initiated the federal student loan program Establishes federal guidelines on student loan interest rate adjustments, deferments, subsidies and tax deductions ,ACP Progress on HEA Related Issues Changed the interest rates on students loans from a variable interest rate (capped at 8.25%) to a fixed rate of 6.8% (effective 7/1/06). Federal PLUS loan program eligibility expanded to include graduate and professional students Combined aggregate Stafford loan limit for health professions students increased from $189,125 to $224,000 ,HEA Progress Net borrower loan fees incrementally reduced in both the Family Federal Education Loan Program and Direct Loan over the next 5 years to 1 percent in 2010 Repeal of Single Holder Rule ,HEA