Members of Congress propose radiology-supported bill to ease burden of medical school debt
Bipartisan members of Congress have reintroduced a radiology-supported bill to ease the burden of medical school debt in the hope of relieving staffing shortages.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate proposed the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act on March 11. The legislation would allow physicians-in-training to qualify for interest-free deferment of their student loans while serving in a medical or dental internship or residency program.
About 40 medical societies have endorsed the REDI Act, including the Society of Interventional Radiology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Reps. Brian Babin, R-Texas, and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., are co-sponsoring the House version while Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and John Boozman, R-Ark., introduced the Senate bill.
"The growing doctor shortage is a crisis we can’t afford to ignore,” Babin, a practicing dentist, said in a statement. “This bill will not only save residents thousands of dollars in accrued interest but also encourage specialization and make it easier for providers to serve in rural communities,” he added later.
Members of Congress introduced the REDI Act several times before, including in 2024, 2023 and 2022, but it failed to find passage. Supporters argue the measure will help ease the economic burden on doctors while reducing provider shortages. The REDI Act would not provide loan forgiveness, nor reduce the borrower’s original loan balance, those involved noted previously.
Sens. Rosen and Boozman also are co-sponsoring a second bill in the Senate related to doc shortages. The Physicians for Underserved Areas Act would revise the graduate medical education process to increase the likelihood of areas with physician shortages getting more medical residency slots after hospital closures elsewhere in the country.
Rosen’s state of Nevada last year was ranked 45th in the availability of physicians per 100,000 residents.
“The dire shortage of doctors in our state is hurting Nevadans’ ability to get quality medical care,” Rosen said in a statement March 18. “We know that when more doctors train in our communities, they are more likely to stay here. That’s why I’m working across the aisle to bring more doctors to Nevada by increasing medical residency slots.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.