ACP: Governmental Affairs and Public Policy - ACP Letter to Senator Frist on S. 2075 The Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act of 2004

Advocacy

ACP Letter to Senator Frist on S. 2075 The Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act of 2004

May 26, 2004

The Honorable Bill Frist
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Majority Leader Frist:

On behalf of the American College of Physicians (ACP), I am pleased to express support for S. 2075, The Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act of 2004. ACP is the largest medical specialty society in the United States, representing 115,000 doctors of internal medicine and medical students. As such, ACP has a long-standing commitment to providing care for the geriatric community as well as supporting programs to provide medical education debt relief in exchange for service in those areas that need medical care most. This legislation helps to accomplish both of these goals by amending Title III of the Public Health Services Act to include each year of fellowship training in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry as a year of obligated service under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. However, it is also important to recognize that all internists are trained to provide care for geriatric patients, and that measures to assure an adequate supply of internists to meet the needs of our nation's aging population are desperately needed for several very valid public policy reasons.

First, the population of the United States is aging - within the next decade, the population surge of post-World War II "baby-boomers" will begin to be eligible for Medicare. By the year 2030, one fifth of Americans will be above the age of 65, with an increasing proportion above age 85. However, recent trends suggest young physicians today are making career choices that could lead to a physician workforce insufficient in numbers and badly distributed among medical specialties to serve the future health care needs of these populations. As the largest medical specialty society and the second-largest medical society in the United States, ACP is concerned about the adequacy and appropriateness of the nation's future physician workforce. Furthermore, staggering medical education debt continues to unnecessarily burden young physicians who want to choose badly needed, but less lucrative primary care specialties such as geriatric care. The legislation in the Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act helps to directly address these problems by supporting young physicians who want to provide the type of geriatric care America will need.

The American College of Physicians appreciates your efforts in addressing the issue of geriatric care along with medical student debt through this legislation. While the College is pleased to support S. 2075 and stands ready to provide whatever assistance we can to help achieve passage of this legislation, please note that ACP still advocates internal medicine as a specialty desperately needed for geriatric care and hopes that future legislation will address this need.

Sincerely,

Charles Francis, MD, FACP, FACC
President