MSSNY Pulse – May 22, 2026

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• MSSNY student members joined a medical student-led advocacy effort in Albany focused on medical education affordability and workforce sustainability.
• Students met with more than 30 legislators and staff to discuss how federal loan changes could affect access to medical education.
• Concerns included rising costs, borrowing limitations, and barriers that may impact future physician workforce diversity and patient access.
• MSSNY continues supporting physician and student advocacy efforts that elevate frontline perspectives and protect the future of medicine.
• MSSNY student members included Megan Barber, Sarah Fischer, Benjamin Semegran, and Danil Ratnikov.

As physicians and medical students navigate the realities of rising educational costs, workforce shortages, and the future of patient care, advocacy increasingly begins long before residency or practice. The path to becoming a physician is shaped not only by training and clinical experience, but also by policies that determine who can access medical education and remain on that path.

Earlier this spring, medical and premedical students from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences traveled to Albany to engage lawmakers on how recent federal student loan changes may affect the future physician workforce. As part of an MSSNY Advocacy Day effort, the delegation met with more than 30 state legislators and staff to discuss barriers facing current and future medical students.

With medical school costs continuing to rise and federal borrowing limits creating new financial pressures, students highlighted concerns that affordability challenges could reshape who enters medicine and where physicians ultimately practice. Discussions focused on how financing barriers may affect workforce diversity, physician shortages, and access to care across New York State.

The advocacy effort reinforced an important principle: physician advocacy does not begin after training; it starts during it. Students advocated for solutions including expanded educational support programs, supplemental financing pathways, and policies designed to improve predictability and affordability throughout medical training.

Several MSSNY student members played important roles in these efforts, including Megan Barber, Sarah Fischer, Benjamin Semegran, and Danil Ratnikov. Their participation reflects the broader commitment of student physicians who recognize that healthcare policy decisions today help shape patient care tomorrow.

MSSNY continues to support physicians and future physicians at every stage of their careers because protecting the future of medicine means investing in the next generation of physician leaders. As workforce pressures continue across New York, advocacy efforts like these demonstrate the value of bringing physician voices directly into policy conversations.

Strong physician leadership begins early, and together our medical community can help ensure future physicians have both a seat at the table and a pathway into practice.

Medical Students Take the Lead in Albany Advocacy Effort (UBuff, Cwierley, 5/13).

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MSSNY is a plaintiff in the MultiPlan Health Insurance Provider Litigation, a federal antitrust case alleging that MultiPlan and major health insurers colluded to suppress out-of-network reimbursement rates paid to physicians and other providers and is seeking an immediate end to their anti-competitive conduct.

At the April 9 case management conference, the parties discussed with Judge Kennelly the information the defendants must share as part of discovery, including MultiPlan’s source code and cell phone records of communications between defendants.

The case is now in discovery, and the court has selected the 36 bellwether plaintiffs whose cases are being worked up for trial.

However, any member that wants to file a case still can do so. Members who believe they’ve been impacted by MultiPlan’s practices are encouraged to reach out to an attorney.