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A Gift from Joe Biden today. [1]

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Date: 2023-08-17  

An amazing thing happened to us today. And I had no idea it was coming. My husband and I, ages 66 and 62 respectively, had a large combined student loan. The actual amount borrowed for my loans, his and some for our children was about half of the total but with the vicious accumulation of interest this is where we were after years of being in an income contingent repayment plan. We thought we had many years still to go before we reached the 25-year forgiveness mark and then were facing an enormous tax debt when the forgiveness happened as that balance was NEVER going to go down with the payments we were making.

The story of our student loans and how we got there is a long and complicated one but there were several points at which truly unfair things happened. My husband, a chiropractor, returned to his hometown in rural Ohio to serve the people of the community where he grew up. He has made a decent living but nothing like he could have made had we gone elsewhere. He is such a good guy. NEVER pursued those who could not pay, seeing many folks who could not pay at all and seeing some in exchange for eggs and vegetables. But when we inquired about being eligible for any kind of forgiveness related to being a healthcare provider in our rural area we hit a wall because he is a chiropractor.

I too have served our community for over 23 years as a provider of mental health services for children and adolescents, most of whom are in foster care. I was recently named a Champion for Children in our community. I have never made much money but I have been fiercely committed to the children in our Appalachian region having grown up here myself under terrible conditions. I have been the one that has managed our loans and kept them in good standing. But I can tell you I hit wall after wall through the years trying to repay these things. We did a spousal consolidation years ago for example and included a few of our kids student loans (Parent Plus Loans) in that consolidation and both of those moves, which seemed good at the time, made us again ineligible for so many of the better repayment programs. It seemed we were going to die in dire poverty after a life of hard work and service to others. And, with my husband now struggling with cancer. I cannot tell you how terrifying this has been.

Today, much to my great surprise, our loan was forgiven due to the one-time debt adjustment! Apparently I got a letter in July saying this was going to happen but I missed it! When I first heard this I was actually upset because I assumed we would have to pay income taxes on the amount forgiven and I had missed the deadline to opt out. Our plan had been to have these forgiven later in life and to declare insolvency with the IRS (because our income would be lower) and avoid the huge tax penalty for forgiveness. Well…..apparently the American Rescue Plan took care of that as well and there will be no 1099-C issued for our forgiven debt. No taxes! And our state will not require us to pay taxes on it either. This is just all so unbelievable.

Thank you Joe Biden. You saved us. As the day has gone on I have felt the years peeling away from me as the relief sets in. I will NOT grow old in poverty after all! There was a true correction today, a real bit of fairness from the world that I have not experienced in a long time and honestly had given up on. I was braced for the hard times ahead. I am thankful beyond words and will pay it forward by continuing my work with the children and families of our region. And my husband will continue, in spite of all he is going through, to provide for his many elderly and broken patients, who love him and depend on him for comfort, pain relief and support.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/17/2187973/-A-Gift-from-Joe-Biden-today

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