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Anyone know anything more about this? Is this really happening? This doesn't seem practical or possible.
From: Kimberly Ruscher <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 3, 2007 6:49 PM
Subject: CALL TO ACTION - Major changes to Student loan deferment policy!
To: "rfs. communications" <[email protected]>
I am writing with further news regarding the "College Cost Reduction and Access Act" (H.R. 2669)! The AMA is working tirelessly on this issue! As a reminder, in late September, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, H.R. 2669, The College Cost Reduction Act. Changes made in this law will ultimately affect medical residents and the way they repay their student loans. To be specific, the provisions of H.R. 2669 will jeopardize the financial safety of residents across the country .
AMA Executive Vice President Dr. Michael Maves sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid which is now publicly available at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/15/hr2669_letter.pdf and is a great summary of the issue. This urgent issue is a lead item in AMA publicity this week. The Talking Points and Congressional contacts are online: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/16/hr2269talkingpoints.pdf . AMA's DC staff have been working so hard to get this issue addressed.
So, what can you and I do to get involved? We need to get awareness up, and translate that awareness into people making phone calls to Congress. And I mean everybody calling. Residents, fellows, attendings, parents. And I mean soon!
If the DC staff are in the offices of Congress in person, we can be there by phone. Please CALL CONGRESS this week! I have called, your RFS Governing Council and Staff are calling, and we need you to call. Phone calls make the biggest impact, especially during business hours when someone has to answer the phone, and if it from a constituent. Get the talking points and key contacts here: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/16/hr2269talkingpoints.pdf. If you have want to e-mail your Congressional members (you will need a zip code), go to www.house.gov/writerep/.
What else can you do to help? If you've made some calls (or sent some emails!), there is more you can do to help on this urgent issue:
· Forward this message far and wide. Every resident in your hospital should know about this issue. Attendings can call too.
· Organize a brief call in at your noon conference or morning report. Get everyone on hospital phones or cell phones to make a call. Attached, and pasted below, is an easy to use script! (Give each person a different office to call - if every person makes one call it will only take a few moments but will really help! After the group is done calling encourage everyone to make more calls later that day - pass out the list of contacts!)
At a time when medical education debt burden is higher than ever, and fewer people going into primary care fields, Congress needs to protect the financial stability of residents by acting immediately.
Thanks for any efforts. The AMA is taking this matter very seriously and we appreciate everyone's work to find solutions!
Kimberly Ruscher, MD
RFS Governing Council Delegate
[email protected]
From: Kimberly Ruscher <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 3, 2007 6:49 PM
Subject: CALL TO ACTION - Major changes to Student loan deferment policy!
To: "rfs. communications" <[email protected]>
I am writing with further news regarding the "College Cost Reduction and Access Act" (H.R. 2669)! The AMA is working tirelessly on this issue! As a reminder, in late September, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, H.R. 2669, The College Cost Reduction Act. Changes made in this law will ultimately affect medical residents and the way they repay their student loans. To be specific, the provisions of H.R. 2669 will jeopardize the financial safety of residents across the country .
AMA Executive Vice President Dr. Michael Maves sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid which is now publicly available at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/15/hr2669_letter.pdf and is a great summary of the issue. This urgent issue is a lead item in AMA publicity this week. The Talking Points and Congressional contacts are online: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/16/hr2269talkingpoints.pdf . AMA's DC staff have been working so hard to get this issue addressed.
So, what can you and I do to get involved? We need to get awareness up, and translate that awareness into people making phone calls to Congress. And I mean everybody calling. Residents, fellows, attendings, parents. And I mean soon!
If the DC staff are in the offices of Congress in person, we can be there by phone. Please CALL CONGRESS this week! I have called, your RFS Governing Council and Staff are calling, and we need you to call. Phone calls make the biggest impact, especially during business hours when someone has to answer the phone, and if it from a constituent. Get the talking points and key contacts here: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/16/hr2269talkingpoints.pdf. If you have want to e-mail your Congressional members (you will need a zip code), go to www.house.gov/writerep/.
What else can you do to help? If you've made some calls (or sent some emails!), there is more you can do to help on this urgent issue:
· Forward this message far and wide. Every resident in your hospital should know about this issue. Attendings can call too.
· Organize a brief call in at your noon conference or morning report. Get everyone on hospital phones or cell phones to make a call. Attached, and pasted below, is an easy to use script! (Give each person a different office to call - if every person makes one call it will only take a few moments but will really help! After the group is done calling encourage everyone to make more calls later that day - pass out the list of contacts!)
At a time when medical education debt burden is higher than ever, and fewer people going into primary care fields, Congress needs to protect the financial stability of residents by acting immediately.
Thanks for any efforts. The AMA is taking this matter very seriously and we appreciate everyone's work to find solutions!
Kimberly Ruscher, MD
RFS Governing Council Delegate
[email protected]
