loan forgiveness? for child

[cherryalmond]

I remember 2years ago there was talk of loan forgiveness for child and adolescent psychiatrists cause of the shortage. Does anyone know anything about this; I am starting child fellowship in July and was wondering if this could possibly happen.

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[wolfvgang22]

I'm also curious, thanks.

 

[rpkall]

I hope someone posts and answer to your question!

I'm starting as a PGY-1 next year and would love to know what's happening with this legislation. I'm not sure if it died, got put on hold, or what.. There was a webpage on the AACAP site that talked about this a while ago, but I don't think it's been updated in forever.

 

[cherryalmond]

bump

 

[HCE]

I remember 2years ago there was talk of loan forgiveness for child and adolescent psychiatrists cause of the shortage. Does anyone know anything about this; I am starting child fellowship in July and was wondering if this could possibly happen.

I believe some legislation was proposed and passed by the House (not sure about the Senate), but nothing ever came of it.

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/legisl...ress/child_psychiatry_loan_forgiveness_update

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=316782&highlight=loan+forgiveness

 

[BobA]

I remember 2years ago there was talk of loan forgiveness for child and adolescent psychiatrists cause of the shortage. Does anyone know anything about this; I am starting child fellowship in July and was wondering if this could possibly happen.

I think the Scientologists will agree to pay off all your debt if you agree to not become a Child Psychiatrist. If you write a book against Child Psychiatry, they will make you immortal. (joke)

 

[rpkall]

I think the Scientologists will agree to pay off all your debt if you agree to not become a Child Psychiatrist. If you write a book against Child Psychiatry, they will make you immortal. (joke)

Either that or do an E-meter fellowship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter

 

[CarleneM]

The bill has been re-introduced to the house in April and the senate a few days ago, "the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2009." Seems to be the same as what has been introduced multiple times before. Maybe this time there will be a positive result but I'm not optimistic.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

public service loan forgiveness should be a viable option for those planning on academics or working for a non profit corp (which is 75% of hospitals).

5 years paying an average of 5000 or so per year in loan debt. Followed by 5 years paying a maximum of 22k I believe. To pay the max you'd have to make roughly 150k or more. Total paid would be around 135k. Which would be less than principal for most of us, let alone interest. If you don't fast track or do a research fellowship (like myself), your total paid will be 115k for 6 years of residency, worst case. And even less if you do a research fellowship that isn't bundled in a combined program (minimum 7 years total training). And of course, if you make less than 150k as an attending, you'll save money there too.

All in all, it's a pretty decent plan especially since you aren't paying a heck of a lot during residency.

 

[CarleneM]

So a couple of problems- the first is that the income based repayments would be about $450/month for me during intern year and would go up throughout residency and fellowship. This is way too much and our financial aid office has advised people to go into forbearance and pay how ever much we can afford each month (i'm planning $150-200). I especially think $450 is too much if there is a chance the loans will be forgiven through this bill or a similar bill or through a signing bonus package. I mean it depends on cost of living and if you have a partner helping you out but for me in Boston it just is too much of a burden.

Also, right now the amount of debt discharged after 10 years of income based repayment is currently counted as taxable income. Unless this gets changed, you'd be faced with a huge tax bill that year. And finally, you cannot file joint taxes with a spouse with income based repayments which means you lose out on the benefits associated with that. It is not a great program. I know some people are doing it but I certainly am not.

MoM- don't you think you'd qualify for NIH loan forgiveness since you'll be doing so much research?? That's like 30,000/year of forgiveness I think.

public service loan forgiveness should be a viable option for those planning on academics or working for a non profit corp (which is 75% of hospitals).

5 years paying an average of 5000 or so per year in loan debt. Followed by 5 years paying a maximum of 22k I believe. To pay the max you'd have to make roughly 150k or more. Total paid would be around 135k. Which would be less than principal for most of us, let alone interest. If you don't fast track or do a research fellowship (like myself), your total paid will be 115k for 6 years of residency, worst case. And even less if you do a research fellowship that isn't bundled in a combined program (minimum 7 years total training). And of course, if you make less than 150k as an attending, you'll save money there too.

All in all, it's a pretty decent plan especially since you aren't paying a heck of a lot during residency.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

I can afford IBR in Denver, so it makes sense to go that route anyway at least to start off with. I agree that PSLF is not wonderful, but I'd still pay less than principal, even after including tax liabilities.

on NIH, I'm not sure if I'll qualify or not. They're actually not approving all that much loan repayment if you look at their website. Only about 1/3 of applicants are getting approved. I think I might be able to get one year of NIH forgiveness during my full-time research year but I'm doubtful on the rest of it. You have to be engaged in research at least 50% of the time. And I think that'll only be true for me for one year, unfortunately. There might be one other year in which that's true. If it's calculated quarterly, I think i'll be better off. I'm not sure how the MGH program is constructed, though.

And they've been trying for years to get child loan forgiveness passed. I don't know if it'll happen. In the meantime PSLF does exist and does offer savings, although you have to be diligent enough to have the money saved up to take care of the tax issue at the end of 10 years.

 

[CarleneM]

Yeah I guess everyone I know that applied for NIH loan forgiveness got it, but not necessarily during fellowship. Those folks at Yale Integrated all seemed to have it. I am doubtful about the current legislation but hey, its a new administration now so you never know.

Worst case scenario for me is paying a little each month during residency and then doing a graduated repayment schedule as an attending. If it turns out I do have $450 extra each month during residency, i'll consider switching into IBR. I don't have a ton of debt thanks to $60,000 of loan forgiveness from HMS for going into psychiatry but its still a little over 100K. As far as I'm concerned, having money each month for a house, living expenses, etc is worth paying more interest in the long run. We just got a physician mortgage so the debt isn't really getting in the way of stuff- its not like evil credit card debt. But some people want it gone ASAP. I have one friend who is doing traditional 10 year repayment during residency (with some help from her family) and that I just don't get but she is skeptical about the 10 years and all your debt is gone IBR plan. I heard the 3 year economic hardship deferral may be coming back but I don't think I'd qualify anyways.

Carlene, I'm not sure if I'll qualify or not. They're actually not approving all that much loan forgiveness if you look at their website. Only about 1/3 of applicants are getting approved.

I can afford IBR in Denver, so it makes sense to go that route anyway at least to start off with. I agree that PSLF is not wonderful, but I'd still pay less than principal, even after including tax liabilities.

I think I might be able to get one year of NIH forgiveness during my full-time research year but I'm doubtful on the rest of it. And they've been trying for years to get child loan forgiveness passed. I don't know if it'll happen. In the meantime PSLF does exist and does offer savings, although you have to be diligent enough to have the money saved up to take care of the tax issue at the end of 10 years.

 

[rpkall]

Can we resurrect this topic? Just curious if there are any new developments here.

 

[cherryalmond]

Bump for an old thread
I read loan repayment is being advocated for child psychiatrists

 

[digitlnoize]

You'd think in the wake of Sandy Hook there'd be some movement on this...

 

[notdeadyet]

You'd think in the wake of Sandy Hook there'd be some movement on this...

With the economy the way it is, I can't imagine you're going to get a public outpouring to help pay off loans for folks making $200k/year.

 

[billypilgrim37]

My understanding previously was that it was passed in the recovery packages along with the parity provisions, but it's remained an unfunded program. One of my mentors was one of the main guys in AACAP advocating with lawmakers about it.

It makes sense as much as it makes sense for primary care specialties, which is either a lot or not much.

 

[Chimed]

My understanding previously was that it was passed in the recovery packages along with the parity provisions, but it's remained an unfunded program. One of my mentors was one of the main guys in AACAP advocating with lawmakers about it.

It makes sense as much as it makes sense for primary care specialties, which is either a lot or not much.

Does that mean it's getting closer to being a reality or just it's going to sit in some vast wasteland of unfunded programs?

 

[billypilgrim37]

Does that mean it's getting closer to being a reality or just it's going to sit in some vast wasteland of unfunded programs?

Flip a coin, I believe.

 

[vistaril]

I remember 2years ago there was talk of loan forgiveness for child and adolescent psychiatrists cause of the shortage. Does anyone know anything about this; I am starting child fellowship in July and was wondering if this could possibly happen.

No way should there be special 'loan forgiveness' for anyone and everyone who does child psychs.....90% of these people are holed away doing 8 minute adhd med checks somewhere in suburbia.....

Loan forgiveness should be targeted to certain groups of people accepting lesser pay to work in at need areas.....but that's true of anything, and it shouldnt be a program targeted specifically for C&A.

 

[Chimed]

No way should there be special 'loan forgiveness' for anyone and everyone who does child psychs.....90% of these people are holed away doing 8 minute adhd med checks somewhere in suburbia.....

Loan forgiveness should be targeted to certain groups of people accepting lesser pay to work in at need areas.....but that's true of anything, and it shouldnt be a program targeted specifically for C&A.

I suspect the forgiveness would be akin to what they do for PCPs, which is to provide incentives to work in underprivileged areas. Because of your points above, there are areas that are in desperate need of child psychiatrists.

 

[michaelrack]

No way should there be special 'loan forgiveness' for anyone and everyone who does child psychs.....90% of these people are holed away doing 8 minute adhd med checks somewhere in suburbia.....
.

8 minutes is an overestimation, imho