NEW YORK, NY — Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney announced that she will be introducing legislation to alleviate the burden of student loan debt for frontline health care workers and help attract medical professionals in various specialties to lend their expertise to the response to COVID-19. She is asking her colleagues to join her as cosponsors of this legislation.

“Medical professionals in hospitals and other medical settings are operating in extraordinarily difficult and dangerous circumstances to provide care for critically ill COVID-19 patients and protect our communities. New York City has been hit particularly hard in the pandemic, and many other areas of the country are beginning to experience surges in patients with COVID-19 symptoms, putting great stress on health care institutions and their employees. The least we can do to recognize their service is to forgive their graduate student loan debt so that they are not forced to worry about their financial wellbeing in addition to their health and the health of their families while they respond to a public health emergency. That is why I will be introducing the Student Debt Forgiveness for Frontline Health Care Workers Act. I hope my colleagues will join me in making this a bipartisan priority.”

The Student Debt Forgiveness for Frontline Health Care Workers Act will eliminate graduate school debt for health care workers who are providing direct patient care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would include recent graduates as well as more experienced providers who are still paying off their student loans. Frontline workers are showing us every day the invaluable contributions they make to society. They are also not immune to the economic consequences that have already affected workers in all sectors as a result of this public health crisis. This would be a significant step toward strengthening the health care system during the COVID-19 response and beyond by investing in essential personnel. Eligibility would extend to nurses, doctors and other health care professionals who have already been treating COVID-19 patients or have shifted from other specialties to support the effort.

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