Essay
This bill grants loan forgiveness to many different healthcare professionals. They offer this loan repayment to about 70-80 licensed healthcare professionals each year. The main purpose of these grants is to encourage workers to work in rural or urban areas because these areas are in great need of workers. I think these loans are a great thing because in my opinion if I knew I had a chance to get loan forgiveness and be able to save money that would persuade my decision if I was on the fence about going into whichever healthcare field and choosing to work in a rural or urban setting.
Another thing is this bill is being modified and something their adding is more healthcare professions. One profession they added is an allied health care technician and many more professions are on this bill. It is great to have all these professions so it's open to just about everyone who wants to work in healthcare. So when it's open to more people there is a good chance of getting all these positions filled so there hopefully won't be a shortage of workers.
One other thing about this bill that I think is good is that to participate in the loan forgiveness program the individual has to be enrolled in training or education programs. They also must sign a contract to agree to serve a minimum of a two to three-year full-time service obligation depending on what the profession is. The reason I think that is a good thing is because they're making sure that the people who will be getting these grants are committed and want to do this so people who aren't serious about it aren't getting the grant and taking the opportunity away from others who would benefit from this.
Something negative about this bill is that the money that is being used comes from taxpayers. It could be seen as ”unfair” because so many people had to go through being in debt and worked really hard to pay that off on their own and now they are having to pay more taxes for these loan forgiveness programs. So the main negative about this bill is just where all this money for the loans is going to be coming from because, in the end, the money has to be coming out of someone's pocket.
Sources
Minnesota Health Care Loan Forgiveness Programs - MN Dept. Of Health. www.health.state.mn.us/facilities/ruralhealth/funding/loans/index.html.
State, Minnesota. “Minnesota’s Health Care Education Loan Forgiveness Programs.” 2024 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. All Rights Reserved., www.minnstate.edu/careerexploration/guide/healthcare/healthcareeducation_loan_forgiveness.html#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20grants,need%20of%20health%20care%20workers
HF 2302 as Introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024). www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF2302&session=ls93&version=list&session_number=0&session_year=2023&keyword_type=all&keyword=healthcare.
Polumbo, Brad, et al. THE INEQUITY OF STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS. 2023, republicanpolicy.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicanpolicy.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-inequity-of-student-loan-forgiveness-update-v.3.pdf.
