Health Care Workers Could Get Their Student Loans Forgiven

A bill has been introduced in Congress that would forgive the student debt of health care workers on the front line dealing with COVID-19 patients.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y) introduced the Student Loan Forgiveness for Frontline Health Workers Act on May 5. Maloney says the bill is intended to eliminate student debt for health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. The legislation, if voted into law, would forgive both private and federal student loans used to fund the medical and professional education of those eligable.

"Student loan debt, which can total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, is a huge burden for doctors, nurses and other health care workers," Rep. Maloney wrote on Twitter. "They shouldn’t be forced to worry about their financial well-being in addition to their health and the health of their families."

ABC News reports that over 500,000 peole recently signed a petition to have student loan debt for doctors, nurses and other healthcare works be forgiven as part of the next stimulus bill. NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has even gone so far as to propose that healthcare workers receive a 50% bonus - an idea which hasn't quite gotten the response he may have been looking for.

Our health care workers are heroes, and their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic have shone a bright light on that fact.  Forgiving their loans would lift a huge burden from them and would be an awesome way to say thanks for all they do each and every day.

What do you think? Should frontline health care workers' student loan debts be forgiven? Let us know what you think. Are you a healthcare worker? What are your thoughts?