OME Advocate Newsletter

Last month, the Fair Access In Residency (FAIR) Act, H.R. 2314, was reintroduced by U.S. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Sam Graves (R-MO), Carol Miller (R-WV) and Don Davis (D-NC). The bill is supported by more than 70 national and state organizations.

Rep. Harshbarger and her cosponsors issued a rebuttal to an opposition letter by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), pushing back on what they described as mischaracterizations of the bill’s intent and impact:

Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced a bipartisan resolution designating April 14-20, 2025, as National Osteopathic Medicine (NOM) Week. NOM Week recognizes the service and dedication of DOs and colleges of osteopathic medicine nationwide.

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine thanks Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) for recognizing the vital and expanding role osteopathic physicians play in advancing the health of our nation. We are especially grateful for their celebration of the colleges of osteopathic medicine, which educate and support the more than 38,000 future physicians who are training to provide whole-person, patient-centered care. This bipartisan resolution and the federal observance of National Osteopathic Medicine Week underscore the meaningful impact our profession makes on patients and communities across the country.

AACOM President and CEO Robert A. Cain, DO

As Congress considers harmful proposals in its budget reconciliation bills, including the elimination of the Grad PLUS Loan Program, a cap on federal loans per borrower and the introduction of new risk-sharing payments, student doctor Tiffany Lemuz explains how any cuts to Grad PLUS could threaten her future in medicine.

Now, I am at the finish line, and I may not be able to cross it. Due to pending changes in federal student loan policies, including the proposed elimination of the Grad PLUS loan program, I am suddenly facing the possibility that I will not be able to afford my final year of medical school. If Grad PLUS is taken away, the only remaining option would be to turn to private, high-interest loans from predatory lenders, and that is not a decision any student should be forced to make.

-Tiffany Lemuz, DO/MPH candidate, UNTHSC/TCOM

• On Thursday, April 10, 2025, the House of Representatives passed the Senate-amended fiscal year (FY) 2025 concurrent budget resolution via a 216-214 vote. Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) joined all Democrats in voting “no.”
• This decision enables the budget reconciliation process to move forward, with committees now tasked with drafting legislation that aligns with the instructions in the budget resolution. These instructions focus on tax cuts, energy policy and border security, while also aiming to reduce the budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion.
• The House Committee on Education and Workforce has been directed to find $330 billion in savings over the next decade, which could involve capping federal student loans and increasing costs for osteopathic medical schools, potentially limiting access to affordable medical education. In contrast, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is tasked with achieving $1 billion in net savings.
• The House has set a deadline of May 9 for committees to report their reconciliation legislation, while the Senate's deadline is May 16. These deadlines are designed to ensure the legislative process stays on track.
• AACOM is meeting with House and Senate members and partnering with stakeholders to fight potential cuts to osteopathic medical education. We need your help to protect Grad PLUS. Even if you’ve already contacted Congress, reinforcing the message is key. Act now.

• On Friday, April 4, 2025 a federal judge permanently blocked the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s widely contentious plan to cap funding for colleges' indirect research costs at 15 percent. The ruling followed three lawsuits filed by 22 states, numerous universities and several trade and healthcare advocacy associations.
• This 15 percent cap for indirect funding could potentially result in losses of millions of dollars for universities and slash employment for medical researchers. According to NIH, research institutions previously negotiated individual indirect cost rates at an average of 27 to 28 percent.
• On the same day as the ruling, NIH requested an expedited appeals process and formally filed appeals for all three cases on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Since the ruling, several organizations and research institutions announced a joint effort to develop a new indirect costs funding model.
• A nearly identical plan from the Energy Department to implement an indirect costs "rate cap" plan, which would have also resulted in cuts to federal research funding for universities, was blocked by a federal judge on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

• The Trump administration is planning to cut more than 30 percent in funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a leaked White House Office of Management document. The new HHS budget requests about $80.4 billion in discretionary spending, a decrease from its discretionary budget of roughly $117 billion under the current year-long continuing resolution (PL 119-4).
• The HHS budget draft outlines major cuts and restructuring of federal agencies. Notably, the proposal would:
• Reduce NIH’s $47 billion budget to $27 billion and consolidate the agency’s 27 institutes and centers into eight, eliminating National Institutes for Nursing Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Fogarty International Center and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
• Create a new $20 billion agency named the Administration for a Healthy America. The new agency would have $500 million in policy, research and evaluation funding, and eliminate existing programs focused on advancing rural health initiatives and increasing the healthcare workforce.
• Eliminate several rural programs under Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), including rural hospital flexibility grants, state offices of rural health, rural residency development program and at-risk rural hospitals program grants.
• Eliminate several health workforce programs, including Medical School Education, Primary Care Training and Enhancement, Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students and Public Health Workforce Development.
• Provide $345 million for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) program and $175 million for Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education, matching funding levels in this year's continuing resolution.
• The proposal also assumes that changes to cap NIH indirect costs will be in effect.
• AACOM is monitoring developments and the proposal's potential impact to agencies and long-running programs that affect rural health and osteopathic medical students.