OME Advocate Newsletter

Educating Leaders, the AACOM Annual Conference, will be held in Arlington, Texas, from April 9-11, 2025. Our conference is the premier gathering for leaders, educators, staff and students from osteopathic medical colleges across the United States. For those attending, we want to highlight a featured session:

Osteopathic Medical Priorities Under the New Congress and Administration

April 9, 2025 | 2:30 – 3:30 PM CT

Join David Bergman, JD, AACOM’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Health Affairs, for an in-depth look at the current federal policy landscape. This session will provide updates on the 119th Congress and Trump administration as well as key legislative and regulatory priorities, including:

• The Fair Access In Residency (FAIR) Act
• The Community TEAMS Act

Attendees will gain valuable insight into the progress of federal policies impacting osteopathic medical schools, students and physicians. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and engaged with the latest advocacy efforts shaping the future of osteopathic medicine!

As Congress continues assembling a budget reconciliation bill, harmful proposals are being considered. The Grad PLUS Loan Program may be eliminated, while a new $200,000 cap on federal loans per borrower, and new risk-sharing payments could be enacted, threatening medical student financial aid.

Grad PLUS loans are essential for making OME accessible, allowing students to borrow up to the full cost of their education without caps. Eliminating this program would make it harder for future doctors to afford medical school, reduce diversity in the physician workforce and worsen the physician shortage—especially in rural and underserved communities. At a time when our nation faces a growing physician shortage, it is critical that we do not impose unnecessary barriers on future physicians.

With almost 6,000 messages already sent to Congress, your advocacy is making a difference! Act now and urge Congress to protect Grad PLUS loans, oppose federal borrowing caps and prevent harmful risk-sharing measures that could limit access to medical education.

Take Action

• On March 14, 2025, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR), which was subsequently signed into law by President Trump, ensuring government funding through September 30 and narrowly avoiding a shutdown. The CR increases defense spending by about $6 billion while cutting non-defense programs by roughly $13 billion.
• The CR would generally extend FY24 spending levels for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, the National Health Service Corps and several other health programs through September 30.
• The final vote in the Senate was 54-46, with two Democrats joining 52 Republicans to pass the bill. The key vote came earlier when the Senate voted 62-38 to advance the legislation. 10 Democrats voted to reach the 60-vote majority needed, joining all but one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), to push the measure forward.

• On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) instructing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the Department of Education (ED).
• The EO follows a March 11, 2025 announcement of a reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50% of the ED’s workforce. Roughly 1,300 impacted employees were set for administrative leave as of Friday, March 21.
• Separately, following a recent court order, the ED is reinstating 65 probationary employees. In a legal challenge to federal terminations, a U.S. District Judge stated that putting fired employees on administrative leave would not comply with his order to bring them back. The Trump administration has appealed these decisions and intends to continue reducing the workforce across federal agencies.
• In related actions, ED removed the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) application form without notice from its website and instructed student loan services to halt all processing.
• In response, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) filed a lawsuit against ED, alleging unlawful restricted access to IDR plans, which are essential for borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
• The lawsuit underscores growing tensions between the administration and public sector unions, as critics argue the ED's actions are obstructing borrowers' progress toward loan forgiveness.

• On March 6, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced an overhaul of its peer-review system, amid a myriad of other shakeups within the agency, with projected job cuts and savings of $65 million.
• With a stated goal of mitigating reputational bias, the new process would eliminate the first level of grant application review and scoring by study sections currently operated by Institutes and Centers and move them to the centralized Center for Scientific Review, which operates most first level reviews already.
• The plan will be evaluated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Management and Budget, which will issue a report to Congress and likely a notice in the Federal Register.
• AACOM has long advocated for more osteopathic integration on NIH study sections and federal advisory councils, so we will be monitoring these systemic changes and looking for opportunities to promote osteopathic medicine.

• On Thursday, March 13, 2025, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted along party lines, 12-11, to advance Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, as Director of the NIH. The nomination heads to the full Senate for final confirmation. Floor votes are expected the week of March 24, 2025.
• Dr. Bhattacharya stated he will advocate for increased transparency and work to restore public trust. He will oversee NIH’s health research budget and work with Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on his planned overhaul of public health agencies.
• That same day, the Trump administration pulled the nomination of Dave Weldon, MD to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, due to a lack of Senate votes to confirm him. The announcement came shortly before his nomination hearing before the Senate HELP Committee.
• Additionally, there are a number of high profile HHS nominees awaiting Senate confirmation, including:
• Jim O’Neill, MA, for HHS Deputy Secretary
• Janette Nesheiwat, MD, for Surgeon General

• On Friday, March 14, 2025, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
• As CMS Administrator, Dr. Oz would wield significant power over key federal healthcare programs and policies, including Medicare, which provides GME payments to hospitals through the program.
• His hearing comes amid a wave of layoffs at the agency, whose budget is targeted for cuts in the House GOP budget.
• On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a vote on whether to advance Dr. Oz’s nomination. The meeting will not be webcast, according to the Finance’s committee’s website.