Doctors who default on their student loans

[Cutehumor]

It must be nice! apparently, you could get loans from the department of health and human service from 74-98, defaulted, and the state here can't revoke their license. it was on the local news. it's amazing, one associate professor at the denistry school here. owes $100k in loans he defaulted on.



Some Doctors default on 100k student loans and still practice medicine

Interesting list to look at. looks to be close to a 1000 folks with doctorate degrees. loans defaulted is over 100 million. one person defaulted on 600k bucks! Student loans funded by tax payer dollars.

Department health and human services website

 

[wkcars]

If they can't take care of their finances, I wouldn't trust any of them for anything relating to my health, that's just me, but then again, there's probably doctors out there who do take care of their finances by gouging their patients to get rich and I wouldn't trust them either.

 

[tenderloin]

Federal Tax Dodgers Owe $3.4 Billion

Federal tax Dodgers

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: tenderloin
Federal Tax Dodgers Owe $3.4 Billion

Federal tax Dodgers


I believe that! the guy I bought my house from. He works at the Department of Homeland Security. He moved to Arizona. We are getting certified mail collection notices from the IRS for him.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: wkcars
If they can't take care of their finances, I wouldn't trust any of them for anything relating to my health, that's just me, but then again, there's probably doctors out there who do take care of their finances by gouging their patients to get rich and I wouldn't trust them either.


To some people, working out what they can get out of society for nothing is the epitome of management...I know a number of well to do people who walk around with their entire collection of bills stamped "final notice of demand", just as part of the way they manage their wealth.

 

[ajchien]

Hm. My wife is a medical resident.

Bear in mind, her medical school cost us about $200,000. About $150,000 in loans. The payment is $1800/month for her medical school loans. Shes still paying $500 per month on her undergraduate loans. After medical school, you start paying back the loan 6 months after you graduate. Salaries for medical residents run about $45k per year, in her case, for 5 years. After taxes, thats about $3000 per month.

So. $3000 per month income. $2300 per month on student loans. That's $700 per month left to live on. Without me as a second salary, its simply not possible.

Talking with other medical residents, it's common that they declare 'forbearance'. Which means they don't pay anything back for the duration of the medical residency. What happens during ths time, your interest piles up on top of your principal, so I'm not surprised that you wind up with an even bigger payment after your residency.

Of course, if you've decided to be a family doc, you'll make a nice 80k-120k salary. Of which you remember, Medicare is cutting reimbursement by 25% this year.

I'm not surprised at the defaulted loans. Frankly, I think you're going to see a lot more defaults in a few years.

 

[ajchien]

Originally Posted By: wkcars
If they can't take care of their finances, I wouldn't trust any of them for anything relating to my health, that's just me, but then again, there's probably doctors out there who do take care of their finances by gouging their patients to get rich and I wouldn't trust them either.


I work and see finances at a X-ray docs office in a hosptial. Medical costs and bills are just plain stupid.

A charge for an X-ray costs $75. Insurances will wind up paying $32 to the hospital, and $8 to the docs. Becuase of the complexity of medical billing, the docs pay 15% to a billing company to collect the money from the insurance companies. Another 10% goes to benefits, malpractice insurance etc to the group. That leaves about $6. Put the docs into a 30% federal and 10% state (CA) tax bracket, they take home $4.

Yeah, from a charge the patient sees of $75. The docs take home $4 for making an interpretation of your X-ray. $71 goes to everyone else in the 'system'.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

There's something wrong with med school costing that much in the first place.

 

[ajchien]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
There's something wrong with med school costing that much in the first place.


Out of state tuition, private school (non public).

We're stuck. The student loan payments are bigger than our mortgage payment. We figure we will live under the same expenses even after she finishes residency, and try to put every dollar into getting that med school loan paid off. May take us 4-5 after residency to do that. She will be 46 by then, and finally have paid off the student loans.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
It must be nice! apparently, you could get loans from the department of health and human service from 74-98, defaulted, and the state here can't revoke their license. it was on the local news. it's amazing, one associate professor at the denistry school here. owes $100k in loans he defaulted on.



Some Doctors default on 100k student loans and still practice medicine

Interesting list to look at. looks to be close to a 1000 folks with doctorate degrees. loans defaulted is over 100 million. one person defaulted on 600k bucks! Student loans funded by tax payer dollars.

Department health and human services website


A simple fix would be to deny them a license to practice medicine or law if they are in arrears on their payments. I bet they'd think twice about missing a payment. Then it wouldn't be free money.

 

[Trav]

Thats just too easy and makes too much sense Frank.
I would take it one step further, 30 days to pay up with interest or their license to practice is history till they cough up.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Thats just too easy and makes too much sense Frank.
I would take it one step further, 30 days to pay up with interest or their license to practice is history till they cough up.


Great minds think alike. You know what though? It won't happen, someone will cry foul, that its not fair, why me? Then the loan will get paid off, free education, why not?

 

[rshaw125]

The easy to obtain and abundance of loans has pushed the price of higher education through the roof. Its a racket. Schools know that if they keep raising tuition and fees students will just take out more loans.

 

[KrisZ]

Didn't we have a thread about student loan bubble? I remember a lot of people firmly believed there is no bubble and sky rocketing tuition fees were caused by raising teaching costs. If this is not a sign of student loan bubble just about to burst, I don't know what is.

If licensed doctors cannot pay off their student loans, how will all those poor schmucks, that owe a bunch of money on some art degrees, be able to do that?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
The easy to obtain and abundance of loans has pushed the price of higher education through the roof. Its a racket. Schools know that if they keep raising tuition and fees students will just take out more loans.


Correct, but if there were more consequences for not paying loans back students would think twice. Imagine graduating law school, or med school, then reneging on a loan and not being able to practice? Think twice before borrowing, a better America IMO.

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
The easy to obtain and abundance of loans has pushed the price of higher education through the roof. Its a racket. Schools know that if they keep raising tuition and fees students will just take out more loans.


Correct, but if there were more consequences for not paying loans back students would think twice. Imagine graduating law school, or med school, then reneging on a loan and not being able to practice? Think twice before borrowing, a better America IMO.


Maybe. But a better America would be where College was reasonably priced. The College /University business model is decades out of date.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
The easy to obtain and abundance of loans has pushed the price of higher education through the roof. Its a racket. Schools know that if they keep raising tuition and fees students will just take out more loans.


Correct, but if there were more consequences for not paying loans back students would think twice. Imagine graduating law school, or med school, then reneging on a loan and not being able to practice? Think twice before borrowing, a better America IMO.


Maybe. But a better America would be where College was reasonably priced. The College /University business model is decades out of date.


True, but people should learn that loans are supposed to be paid back. College isn't for everyone, especially when they aren't going to earn enough to pay off the loan. Not every little Johnny or Jeanie is cut out to be a doctor or lawyer. Those are just two examples.

 

[javacontour]

We did.

I think anytime you have third party money coming in, be it federal loans, or other "investors" you can get a bubble like this.

Look at the housing bubble. Actions by both the government and bankers flooded the housing market with 3rd party money. House prices rose. Once the underlying market could not sustain the prices, in other words, once sanity returned, the market cratered.

You see the same thing in colleges and universities. It's not the colleges and universities loaning THEIR money. It's other peoples money with federal loan guarantees. If a borrower doesn't pay off his/her student loans, it's not the educational institution that takes the loss, it's the bank, or taxpayer, or some 3rd party.

How about we make the colleges loan their own money. While you can't make them, you can stop making OPM available so if they want a student to take loans, it's their money that's at risk.

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Didn't we have a thread about student loan bubble? I remember a lot of people firmly believed there is no bubble and sky rocketing tuition fees were caused by raising teaching costs. If this is not a sign of student loan bubble just about to burst, I don't know what is.

If licensed doctors cannot pay off their student loans, how will all those poor schmucks, that owe a bunch of money on some art degrees, be able to do that?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
How about we make the colleges loan their own money. While you can't make them, you can stop making OPM available so if they want a student to take loans, it's their money that's at risk.

Good idea, as long as we don't bail the colleges out for making bad loans.

 

[rshaw125]

You're right. College loans even have artificially low (subsidized) interest rates just like the housing bubble enjoyed.
As I said it's a racket.