Take Action: Protect Federal Student Aid Programs

A tax and spend, or budget reconciliation, bill that passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate includes provisions that would limit access to medical school loans and loan forgiveness programs — threatening the future of our physician workforce at a time of growing need. 

Now is the time to act!

In addition to threatening the physician pipeline, the student loan and forgiveness changes in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are also likely to limit access to care in rural and underserved communities where the need is greatest. 

Among the concerning provisions are: 

  • Elimination of the Federal Direct Graduate (GRAD) PLUS loans for new borrowers starting in the 2026-2027 academic year and for existing borrowers starting in 2029-2030.
  • A cap on the amount of Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans — $50,000 for undergraduate education, $100,000 for graduate education and $150,000 for “professional programs.”
  • Removal of time spent in residency as a public service job, making residents ineligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
  • Modification to the way student eligibility for need-based federal aid is calculated by using the median cost of attendance by program of study from all institutions of higher education (IHEs) that offer such programs of study rather than the cost of attendance of a student’s specific program as determined by their IHE.
  • Elimination of the current income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, which would be replaced by a new Repayment Assistance Plan which would require a borrower to remain in repayment for 30 years (instead of 20 or 25 years), before they could receive forgiveness. Repayment amounts would be based on the borrower’s adjusted gross income, maxing out at 10 percent for individuals who make more than 100,000 per year.

There is bipartisan agreement in Congress that there are not enough physicians to meet the health care needs of Americans. Yet, these proposals will make the pathway to becoming a physician more difficult, perhaps impossible for many. House lawmakers got it wrong when they included these provisions in H.R. 1. 

ACOI needs you to post on X this week with a message to your senators that they need to improve the reconciliation bill by protecting medical education loan and forgiveness programs to strengthen the future physician workforce.

Take action quickly and easily here where a template message to post on X is available for you to personalize and a quick and easy zip match to your senators’ X handles. 

You can also call your senators' offices. Just click on the call option to the right of this screen. When you click the call button next to your senator's name, a phone number and talking points will appear.

To learn more about ACOI’s policy and advocacy activities, stay up-to-date on breaking news, and to respond to other ACOI calls to action, visit the ACOI Action Center


 

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