The United States is currently facing two enormous challenges. The first one is an epidemic of opioid abuse; studies have shown that opioids kills (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html) more than one hundred-thirty Americans (https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/databank) every single day. The second challenge is the student debt crisis, more than forty-four million Americans are deep in student loans. Students owe more than of 1.56 trillion dollars in loan debt.
Recently, there has been a new federal program implemented to address these challenges. The National Health Service Corps, also known as the NHSC, has designed a loan repayment program. The program offers to pay back the students loans of healthcare personnel who treat substance abuse disorders. Specifically, healthcare employees who work in poorly served and high-need locations. The program will give clinicians, who serve in a HRSA or NHSC approved substance abuse site, a chance to get up to $75,000 for three years of service. This amount is only offered to clinicians who are working full time in these environments. However, even part-time workers may be eligible for up to $35,000 in the loan payback program(https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/447).
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Opioid Epidemic Information
There is an opioid epidemic in the United States, and it clearly needs to be addressed. Associate Administrator for the Bureau of Health Workforce and Director of the Nationals Health Service Corps (NHSC), Dr. Luis Padilla, told CNBC that the epidemic of opioid abuse is a major burden for the United States. More Americans are dying from opioid abuse than those who died in the Vietnam War.
Everyone needs to get involved when it comes to the opioid epidemic, which is why Congress has stepped up. They allocated $225 million to be used for substance opioid use disorder, addiction disorder treatment (https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis) and services. The services are all offered through the National Health Service Corps. Dr. Luis Padilla oversees over forty programs that have a budget of more than one billion. Funds that are mentioned here are part of the legislative package that was passed in the congress in 2018.
Loan Payback Requirements
The National Health Service Corps has implemented this new program with the hope that more people will further their education in the substance use disorder fields. They are trying to recruit health professionals to work in areas where there is a shortage of clinicians and substance use facilities (https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html). However, there are some requirements to quality for the loan payback program, including the following:
You must be a U. S. citizen or a national
- Practice in a selected area of work
- You must be licensed to practice in the state where you will be serving in the Corps
- You must have unpaid commercial or government school loans
- You must be currently working in an NHSC approved facility or a health professional shortage area
There are many healthcare workers that may be eligible for this program. It includes nurses, physicians, physicians assistants, behavioral health workers and many other types of healthcare providers.
The government has used incentives for years to motivate health care workers to work in high need areas. It is especially true for the substance use (https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html) disorder areas. Some people stray away from working in these areas, because these jobs usually pay less than other medical areas. Additionally, the jobs can be stressful and have a higher emotional toll than other medical fields.
The usage of opioids has become an issue that cannot be ignored. In order for the United States to get control over the opioid epidemic, everyone needs to be aware of the epidemic and the need for healthcare workers. Policies, like the one discussed, need to be created to help defeat the opioid epidemic crisis.
We at the Sunshine Behavioral Health (https://www.sunshinebehavioralhealth.com/) is proud to put this article together.
- Charles Watson
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