AVMA Applauds Legislation to End Shortage of Veterinarians in Rural

August 4, 2010 — 

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) applauds U.S. Senators Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, for introducing the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act (S. 3621).

The bipartisan legislation will help the country address a critical shortage of veterinarians serving our rural areas by making the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) tax-exempt, thereby increasing the number of veterinarians who can participate in the program. The act would also apply to similar state programs that encourage veterinarians to practice in underserved communities.

Rather than awarding the full funding for this program each year, the current form of the VMLRP requires that 39 percent of the money it receives be returned to the U.S. Treasury as a federal tax, unlike its counterpart program for human medicine, the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.

"By making the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program tax-exempt, we will be sending more veterinarians into areas around the country that lack professionals possessing critical expertise in animal care, food safety and public health," said Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief executive officer of the AVMA. "If the Johnson-Crapo bill passes, it will remove the program's tax burden, allowing enough additional funds to provide one additional veterinarian for every three veterinarians currently scheduled to receive awards. These additional veterinarians in underserved areas would go a long way to further protect our nation's food supply and public health."

"Communities in rural America depend on the health of their livestock for their livelihood, but many have no practicing veterinarian," Johnson said. "The demand is only expected to increase by double digits over the next six years alone. This bill will make it easier to bring more veterinarians to these underserved areas and meet this demand."

Source:
AVMA, July 21, 2010