Vet. Med. Loan Repayment Program Act

[hygebeorht]

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So I heard about this new bit of legislation that is slated to be re-introduced to the 113th congress, and I wanted to hear y'all's opinions on it. This is the AVMA's summary, which may or may not be a dispassionate assessment of the act.

https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/Natio...e-Loan-Repayment-Program-Enhancement-Act.aspx

Basically, under current law, when the USDA wants to fund a vet graduate to go work in an underserved area or field, the funds that are used to pay that vet's loans off are taxed at approximately 40%. The vet doesn't pay these taxes; the program does. The equivalent program in human medicine recently became tax-exempt, and this act proposes doing the same for the veterinary program. The idea is that if the program doesn't have to pay those taxes, it'll have more money to fund more vets to serve those underserved areas.

I'm on the fence about this. While I'm usually for anything that puts vet med on the level with human med (where it deserves to be!), those areas aren't being underserved because there aren't enough vets to serve them. Most of these areas just can't seem to support a vet - not enough business. OTOH, if it passes, it could help some seriously struggling new vets pay off their loans.

What do you guys think? And if you have a strong opinion, write the sponsors and cosponsors and let them know what you think.

 

[Lissarae06]

According to what you posted, they pay UP TO $25,000/yr. That's not enough to pay off loans. I'm sure it helps but like you said, these areas aren't capable of sustaining a vet so I don't think making it tax exempt actually helps. Also, this only adds about 20 vets to the program which isn't anywhere near enough to help the underserved areas even if they could support a vet. While I'm glad it's at least being talked about, I'm not sure the program is sustainable. I also read somewhere that the vets that get these awards have to do like 80% livestock work to be eligible and that makes it even harder to make it work. I can't remember where I read that but I will try to remember to look it up when I'm not on my phone.

 

[crazy bout qtrs]

I think they should look at the 25 year program. I forget where I read it but I believe if you choose the 25 year repayment program then the remainder of the debt is written off after the 25th year. The problem being you get a gigantic tax bill b/c that write off is considered a "gift" and you have to pay the taxes on it. They should consider that for tax exemption.