LEWISBURG, W.Va. –The large national reconciliation bill that recently passed the U.S. Representatives is causing concern for the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
The bill, which is called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” would essentially change how much money college students can borrow and how they would pay back their loans by eliminating the Grad PLUS loan program and others. Grad PLUS loans allow graduate and professional students to borrow up to the cost of their education minus other financial aid.
The bill only passed through the House by one vote. It now heads to the U.S. Senate.
WVSOM spokesperson Don Smith says he worries that aspiring med students will be faced with paying more money up front, and many won’t be able to do so.
“The numbers show that by the time they finish undergrad and medical school, the average debt is around $240,000. Now, they’re going to do a great job at the position and pay that back, but if they lower that to $150,000, that means these students have to figure out where to come out with that extra almost $100,000 to pay for medical school. Many of them of them will just say, ‘I just can’t do that,” Smith said on MetroNews Midday.
Smith says the WVSOM is fully behind medical students having to pay back their entire loans, but shaving down the amount of federal money students can borrow up front is a mistake.
“We’re not saying our medical students shouldn’t pay the money back. They should. What we’re saying is, make it available,” Smith said. “Realize how a system work and that this is not a problem area, so don’t make it a problem area.”
According to the Rocky Vista University College of Medicine in Colorado, approximately 65% of rural areas in America lack primary care providers. Smith says many citizens will hear those figures and not have much compassion, but they’ll feel the effects somewhere down the line.
“I understand if you say, ‘Medical bills, and making that kind of money, that’s out of my area.’ Needing a physician isn’t out of your area. Needing a physician in your area is the key,” Smith said. “When you’re talking to your Congress person or U.S. Senator, you need to say, ‘Understand what this will do. This could reduce the number of physicians in my area and make my life worse.”