“President Trump’s policy agenda would make deep cuts in government health plans and medical research, and, critics say, could also make finding a doctor more difficult,” Roni Caryn Rabin writes over at The New York Times. “The Republicans’ major domestic policy bill restricts loans that students rely on to pursue professional graduate degrees, making the path to becoming a physician harder even as doctor shortages loom and the American population is graying. The bill, which passed in the House last month and carries the president’s support, would cap direct federal unsubsidized loans at $150,000 — far less than the cost of obtaining a medical education — and phase out the Grad PLUS loans that help many students make up the difference. Medicine, dentistry and osteopathic medicine are among the most expensive graduate programs. Four years of medical education costs $286,454 at a public school, on average, and $390,848 at a private one, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Medical school graduates leave with an average debt of $212,341, the association found. The price of a four-year program in osteopathic medicine is $297,881 at a public school, on average, and $371,403 at a private school, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. The average indebtedness of their graduates is $259,196.” Roni Caryn Rabin, “Trump bill’s caps on grad school loans could worsen doctor shortage,” The New York Times.
