ASCP, GME Coalition Weigh in on Congressional Graduate Medical Education Initiative

ASCP, a member of the Graduate Medical Education Advocacy Coalition (GMEAC), has joined 50 other medical societies in responding to a recent initiative from the Congressional Bipartisan Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) Working Group. The Working Group recently released a draft framework for Congress’s review and revision of current federal GME policies.

In its outline, the Working Group states, “It has become clear that there are not enough physicians to meet the health care needs of Americans.”  The federal Health Resources and Services Administration, it notes, states that “there will be a shortage of 139,940 physicians across all specialties by 2036.”  “Congress can act to address these shortages by increasing the number of Medicare-supported residency positions in teaching hospitals,” targeting key specialties, the proposal reports.

The Coalition’s letter provided support for increasing the number of Medicare GME slots to address projected physician shortages. ASCP and others wrote, “While numerous policy solutions are needed to sustain and bolster the physician workforce, increased Medicare support for GME is a key component to stabilizing the workforce expansion. With demand for physicians continuing to outpace supply as both the patient population and physician workforce age, it is critical now more than ever that Congress build on recent bipartisan efforts and invest in training more physicians.”

In addition, the Coalition letter urged Congress to make changes to the distribution formula used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for future distributions, targeting slots to specific specialties and/or regions of need, and improving outreach and technical assistance for rural teaching hospitals to ensure all facilities have sufficient lead-time to apply for GME-funded slots. A copy of the Coalition letter is available here.

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