The quickest way to solve the health care shortage is killing student loans
By Paul Blest, Discourse Blog
The U.S. was staring down a shortage of both doctors and nurses prior to COVID-19. Two years and counting into the pandemic, it’s a full-blown crisis.
There are ways that a functioning country could rectify this, but as yet, no one running the federal government has the imagination or desire or ability to seize the opportunity to build something better.
The Biden administration has gone back and forth on both student loan forgiveness and free college tuition, but the pandemic shortage of healthcare staff across the country gives incrementalists the clear opportunity for the kind of targeted reform that they’ve always argued is necessary to produce change. If we want to coax more people into working in healthcare, we should start by making college and medical school free for aspiring nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers, and paying them a bonus when they enter the workforce. In a country where healthcare infrastructure is in the midst of collapse, this is quite literally the least we can do.

It’s pretty clear what happens if we don’t. A September poll found that two-thirds of critical care nurses have considered leaving their jobs during the pandemic, and a survey the following month found that 18 percent of healthcare workers have quit their jobs during the pandemic while nearly one-fifth have considered leaving the industry altogether.
“This is the worst nursing shortage that I have witnessed in my career,” Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals president Maureen May told Bloomberg last month.
Recent Posts
These Veterans Starved Themselves To Protest The War In Gaza
July 8, 2025
Take Action Now As food in Gaza becomes increasingly scarce, activists are pushing their bodies to the limit in solidarity.By Emmet Fraizer, The…
ICE Agents Are Terrorizing Los Angeles With Brutal Tactics
July 8, 2025
Take Action Now ICE agents have established a pattern of brutal use of force in immigration raids.By Jonah Valdez, The InterceptSince June 6,…
Talk World Radio: India Walton On Zohran Mamdani And Freezing Out ICE
July 7, 2025
Take Action Now India Walton, former Democrat nominee for mayor of Buffalo, NY, discusses Zohran Mamdani and the race for NYC mayor and how to deal…
How Climate Change Is Worsening Flooding And Heavy Rainfall
July 7, 2025
Take Action Now The latest science on the link between climate change and natural disasters — and how they may be playing out where you live.By…