Quick! The American Healthcare System is in the ER—its vitals are failing, its pulse has gone faint, and its breath has become shallow. Frantically, you wheel the suffering patient into the nearest hospital room. And after performing a few tests, the diagnosis is clear: the American Healthcare System has come down with a severe case of systemic privilege. Its latest symptom? A bill that makes becoming a doctor a luxury and receiving healthcare a gamble.
On July 4th, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law—enforcing a federal policy that devastates healthcare and the people it serves [1]. Among its many other impacts, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” strikes first at the foundation of medicine, targeting the education of those who hope to practice it. The law caps the amount of federal loans medical students can take out to a quota of $200,00 [2]. At first glance, $200,000 might seem like a generous allocation; however, when considering that the average cost of medical school in the U.S. is $250,000—excluding living expenses or equipment fees—it is clear that this cap falls far short [3].
To make matters worse, medical school was already a luxurious pursuit, even before the enforcement of this bill. The harsh academic rigour required for medical school admissions favours those from wealthy backgrounds who can afford tutors and academic resources. Even more, medical school applicants must demonstrate extra-curricular experience in healthcare, which typically comes through unpaid positions in clinical or research settings. Financially disadvantaged students often cannot afford to work in these unpaid positions and are forced to take paid positions unrelated to medicine—ultimately hindering their application to medical school [4]. Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” only exacerbates this existing financial barrier to becoming a doctor.
Critics may argue that students can simply take out private loans to cover the cost difference. However, private loans are notorious for their high interest rates and harsh penalties. They do not at all rival the flexibility of federal loans, which offer lower interest rates, income-based repayment plans, and forgiveness options. Others might say that this bill will pressure medical schools into lowering their tuition costs. The truth is, though, that there is no financial incentive for medical schools to lower tuition because the demand for enrollment remains so high. In the 2024-2025 admissions cycle, for instance, 51,946 students applied to U.S. medical schools while only 23,048 earned a spot [5]. These schools will never have a deficit of applicants; it is only the makeup of these applicants that will skew further and further towards the wealthy.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” makes it so that the future medical classes and healthcare professionals of the United States will only be composed of wealthy people. This homogenization of the medical field is not only unjust—it’s dangerous. Lack of diversity invites stagnancy, and diversity in healthcare especially is essential. Patients from underrepresented backgrounds need physicians who carry not just medical knowledge but sincere empathy for their shared experiences. It is these doctors who will fully understand and advocate for healthcare reform that is more inclusive and reflective of the diverse communities it serves.
This reality presents an even larger dilemma because, now more than ever, our minorities need this advocacy. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” devastates healthcare not just by capping federal loans but also by implementing cuts to Medicaid—the program that provides health coverage to millions in the United States [6]. To afford these financial cuts, the new bill outlines that American citizens aged 18 to 64 must work or complete other approved activities for 80 hours a month to qualify for Medicare [7,8]. The irony here is cruel; those who require Medicaid the most are the least able to meet these qualifications. Not out of noncompliance or a vengeful retaliation against the government, but simply because their health conditions disable them from working—outlining exactly why they deserve care in the first place.
Despite these innate fallacies, however, the law is set to eliminate at least 10 million in-need patients from their care programs by 2034 [9]. Hospitals, especially rural ones, will be strained by an influx of uninsured patients who delay care until emergencies arise. Consequently, care providers will face heavier workloads as they manage more complex cases with less adequate resources. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” thus comes to bite back at the medical professionals it once set to eradicate with loan caps, completing a full cycle of merciless neglect to our valued healthcare providers.
So, what can we do in the face of such a disheartening bill?
We act. We call our representatives in Congress. We demand reform. And when the midterm elections come in the fall of 2026, we vote with the future of medicine in mind.
Because the American Healthcare System’s critical diagnosis doesn’t have to be terminal. The cure lies in our resistance, and with collective intervention, we can rewrite the prognosis and build a country where healthcare isn’t a systemic privilege—it’s a promise.
Sign These Petitions:
End Medicaid Work Requirements
References
- The United States Government. (2025, July 6). President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill is Now the Law. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/07/president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-is-now-the-law/
- Morris, W. (2025, July 8). Student loans, Pell Grants are changing in trump’s “big, beautiful” law: What that means for you. AL. https://www.al.com/educationlab/2025/07/student-loans-pell-grants-are-changing-in-trumps-big-beautiful-law-what-that-means-for-you.html
- Hanson, M. (2024, November 9). Average Cost of Medical School. Education Data Initiative. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-medical-school
- Sreekumar, P. (2016, October 22). Wanna Go To Medical School? You Better Be Rich!. in-Training. https://in-training.org/wanna-go-medical-school-better-rich-12070?utm_
- Medical School Enrollment Hits New Record. American Hospital Association. (2025, January 10). https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2025-01-10-medical-school-enrollment-hits-new-record?utm_
- Medicaid. Medicaid.gov. (n.d.). https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid
- Bascom, E. (2025, July 3). Trump signs “Big Beautiful Bill”: Here’s what it means for health care. Healio. https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20250703/house-passes-big-beautiful-bill-heres-what-it-means-for-health-care
- Diana, A., Hinton, E., & Rudowitz, R. (2025, July 10). A Closer Look at the Medicaid Work Requirement Provisions in the “Big Beautiful Bill.” KFF. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/a-closer-look-at-the-medicaid-work-requirement-provisions-in-the-big-beautiful-bill/
- Ives-Rublee, M., & Musheno, K. (2025, July 7). The Truth About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/
