In the next rescue/stimulus bill, Congress should include loan forgiveness for all health professionals because they are doing heroic and selfless service to our country. After World War II, Congress thanked our soldiers by passing the GI Bill so that they could get a college education. This would be the same.
Why is this important?
Health professionals carry crushing loads of student debt, from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now they are like soldiers in war, saving lives while risking their own and protecting the rest of us, and many have already died while doing their duty. Without the debt burden more would work in lower-paying specialties like family practice, or in underserved rural and urban areas. Society would benefit both in health and economically for many years to come, just as America benefited from the GI Bill.
