Teaching hospitals are sounding the alarm on a provision in the massive House budget reconciliation bill that would significantly limit the amount of federal student loans medical students can borrow.
The legislation — dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — advanced out of the Republican-led House Budget Committee in a narrow 17-16 vote on May 18 and is currently under debate in the House Rules Committee. In addition to student loan changes, the package includes sweeping cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs. If it clears the committee, House leadership could bring it to a floor vote as early as May 21, before sending it to the Senate for consideration next month.
Five notes:
- The bill includes a proposal to eliminate the Grad PLUS loan program for graduate students, including medical students. The program allows graduate students to borrow up to the full cost of tuition and living expenses. It would be cut off to new borrowers starting in the 2026-2027 academic year. Existing borrowers would be able to continue borrowing through the 2029-2030 school year.
- The bill would also cap federal loans for graduate and professional students to $150,000. For comparison, U.S. medical students graduated with an average debt of $206,924 in 2023, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That year, more than 70% of medical school students graduated with significant levels of educational debt.
- Additionally, the bill limits eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by no longer allowing loan repayment made during medical residency to count toward forgiveness.
- The provisions would save nearly $35 billion through 2034 to help fund broader tax cuts. The bill’s sponsors say the changes are designed to push medical schools to lower tuition costs and limit taxpayer exposure.
- Teaching hospitals and medical schools strongly oppose the provisions, warning they could exacerbate the nation’s physician shortage by significantly limiting access to medical education.
“Eliminating or restricting these critical programs would undermine the future physician workforce and ultimately make it harder for patients in communities nationwide to get the care they need,” David Skorton, MD, AAMC president and CEO, and Danielle Turnipseed, chief public policy officer at the organization, said in a May 1 statement.
“We urge Congress to reject any policy that would limit the ability of medical students to use these critical programs, including limitations on eligibility for PSLF for medical residents.”
