Should Doctors Have Their Student Loans Cleared?

[Carol_]

I'm not getting any extra money for working as an MD. I see Covid every day. Also, I never got the "signing bonus" alluded to above. I make what the US Census Bureau calls a "middle class" salary. I owe about $300k in federal student loans and have been out of school for over 10 years.

 

[piccolopat]

Maybe minimum wage should be raised so that students can work part-time to pay for college like they could 40 years ago. Or maybe college education is more expensive than it needs to be.

We also need to allow student loans for part time students. This would allow more people to get degrees while gaining work experience and raising a family.

 

[tzolkin]

I don’t know about other hospitals in other areas, but the nurses and techs in my area are paid extra hazard pay. Doctors are not. So, some nurses were actually being paid more than some of the newer doctors. Pays to be in a union sometimes

Are you in an area that's severely affected? Here nurses and techs cannot even get their normal hours, so they are being paid significantly less than usual. DH is a nurse, but is salaried and he has a partial furlough/25% pay cut through at least August.

 

[godisney14]

Are you in an area that's severely affected? Here nurses and techs cannot even get their normal hours, so they are being paid significantly less than usual. DH is a nurse, but is salaried and he has a partial furlough/25% pay cut through at least August.

In CA. Better than some of the Eastern and Southern states, but worse than some others.
We still have less than normal patient load. I guess it helps to have hospital management that have had solid long term financial planning just like in life. I have heard of hospitals being denied new credit or not enough credit line....poor planning.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

People in all industries who have protected us through this should be bonused in some way. Maybe make their income tax free for 3 years or something. But debt forgiveness helps some and leaves many out in the cold (those without debt).

 

[godisney14]

Maybe minimum wage should be raised so that students can work part-time to pay for college like they could 40 years ago. Or maybe college education is more expensive than it needs to be.

I wish things were easy to just change tuition amounts.
Unfortunately, there are a ton of factors that affect college tuition (or any other professional degree tuition), and they all have a domino effect.

 

[NotUrsula]

I had to take out one small loan one semester because the organization I had a scholarship from hired someone new who was late sending stuff to schools. I want to say it was like $3000.

I couldn’t pay off the loan until after I graduated. So after grad I did 3 months of payments and then they told me because of my good payments, the rest was forgiven.

That is the only college loan I’ve ever had, so is that not a usual thing?

No, it's not usual. Almost no one ever gets a student loan debt forgiven for any reason, and you cannot get them discharged by bankruptcy, either. You're a unicorn.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Um, no. Just no.

Can someone please educate me on how healthcare workers receive ‘hazard pay’? I am familiar with that term when it comes to the military, but have never heard it used in terms of the healthcare field. Thanks!

Our governor was asked about hazard pay for healthcare workers in a news conference the other day. He explained that hazard pay is not an official thing. There is no government or state mandate that requires it. Rather, it is up to each individual employer to decide if they want to pay certain employees more because their job is deemed "hazardous." Employees who feel they are underpaid for any reason should discuss the matter directly with their employers.

 

[disneydentist]

No. I've been practicing for 30 plus years. Risk goes with the job. You know that going in. EVERY patient is potentially carrying a communicable, deadly disease. HIV, hepatitis, Ebola, CoVid-19. It doesn't matter. You never know who poses a risk, so you treat everyone as if they could kill you. Negative health history? Meaningless. They could not or know or could have lied. It's all part of the job.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

No, we paid for our college debt and our kids debts as well. How can we stop with just the medical workers when so many others were at risk through this as well. I support hazard pay, however.

 

[MrsPete]

No. Health care workers are in a bad situation right now, and they're working extremely hard, but this has no connection to student loans. Problems with this idea:

- Not every health care worker has student loans /some have already paid them off /of those who have loans, some owe lots and some owe little. So this idea has no equity.
- Not every health care worker is dealing with COVID 19, so this idea wouldn't necessarily reward the people on the front lines.
- Where would this money come from? Who would pay? Institutions who offered loans did so as an investment -- they should just give up their investment?

It just makes no sense.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

My husband goes to work in the middle of NYC every day and has to wear a mask for 10 hours a day, they have them on four 10 hour shifts and literally looks ill when he walks in the door. The stress is horrible. Not saying the same as a doctor or nurse etc., but many essential workers are suffering. He isn't getting any extra pay. On top of that his aunt died yesterday of Covid in a nursing home here. This forgive student loan debt don't agree with, instead give hazard pay to essential workers or people on the front lines in bad areas etc.

 

[Snyders22000]

No. My husband is a Dr. that works with Covid patients in the ICU. It has been a scary time for us. We don’t have any student loan debt because we chose a cheaper state school for him to go to (vs the more prestigious and expensive schools he was accepted to as well) I worked as a nurse throughout all of his medical school to pay off as much tuition as we could (we also waited to have children so I could work full time) and then we lived very frugally his first few years out of training to pay off the rest of the tuition debt. So it would really be fair to those of those of us that worked hard to pay off our student loans already vs those that didn’t? Also, in general I don’t think he is owed any extra (hazard pay or forgiving student loans) just for doing his job. I think there are plenty of other essential workers that would also “deserve” loan forgiveness and/or hazard pay and are in tougher financial situations. But where would that money come from? If anything, I think all essential workers should be offered free childcare while they are working (with schools out this is a big problem for many), free lodging so that they can quarantine from their families after exposure, and extra life insurance so they can feel assured their families will be taken care of if something happens to them.

 

[HeatherC]

I haven’t read all the responses, but I am a firm no. I believe if you make the choice to take out any type of loans, it your responsibility to pay them back.

 

[billlaurie]

No, I don't think loans should be forgiven. The choice to go into healthcare is made knowing that you will be exposed to pathogens. And where would it end? What about the pharmacist, the phlebotomist, the respiratory therapist, etc. And what about non-medical frontline workers?

 

[nicolita3]

I am for it. But I may be biased. I am an LPN who is working full time and going to school full time to become an RN. I am curious how covid is affecting people wanting to be nurses. There is already a nursing shortage and they expect the need to grow even more. So would this encourage more people to become nurses?

 

[tvguy]

No. My mom was an RN and used to get riled up when anyone complained about their job in the health industry. You know going in your going to be exposed to infectious diseases, bodily fluids, needle sticks, cuts with scalpels dangerous anesthetic gases etc. My mom has numerous needle sticks, and was cut with a scalpel being used in cancer surgery a.. It required a lot of paperwork with OSHA when it happened, but it was part of the job.
Just like a police officer and a firefighter and many many other people in other jobs where their job can cost them their lives.
How would you draw the line as to who qualified for loan forgiveness, and who didn't? And where would the money come from.

 

[HeatherC]

I am for it. But I may be biased. I am an LPN who is working full time and going to school full time to become an RN. I am curious how covid is affecting people wanting to be nurses. There is already a nursing shortage and they expect the need to grow even more. So would this encourage more people to become nurses?

Even if it does, Where does it end? So anyone can take out a loan and not pay it back. That is just wrong.

 

[daisy2013]

We also need to allow student loans for part time students. This would allow more people to get degrees while gaining work experience and raising a family.

I was able to get students loans as a part time student.

 

[daisy2013]

No. My mom was an RN and used to get riled up when anyone complained about their job in the health industry. You know going in your going to be exposed to infectious diseases, bodily fluids, needle sticks, cuts with scalpels dangerous anesthetic gases etc. My mom has numerous needle sticks, and was cut with a scalpel being used in cancer surgery a.. It required a lot of paperwork with OSHA when it happened, but it was part of the job.
Just like a police officer and a firefighter and many many other people in other jobs where their job can cost them their lives.
How would you draw the line as to who qualified for loan forgiveness, and who didn't? And where would the money come from.

My mother retired a couple of years ago after 50 years as a nurse- half in the OR half on the floor. She never had a needle stick or cut by a scalpel. Body fluids sure but she had the appropriate ppe - something that is lacking in many hospitals during the covid virus.