GNYHA has long advocated for increasing outdated caps on Medicare-reimbursed physician residency slots. These caps have created a bottleneck for medical school graduates and have contributed to the nation’s worsening physician shortage. GNYHA and our allies have been working throughout the 116th Congress to gain support for proposals to address this issue such as the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (S. 348/H.R. 1763) and the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019 (S. 2892/H.R. 3414). Both bills have gained strong support in recent months, for which we are extremely grateful.
The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019, which would fund 15,000 new Medicare-reimbursed residency slots over five years, has more than 200 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and nearly 20 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate. As the bill exceeds 200 cosponsors in the House, it sends a strong message to Congress and the Administration that the physician shortage must be addressed and that graduate medical education (GME) funding cuts are unpalatable.
We will continue to advocate for increased GME support and keep our members apprised of any relevant developments. For additional information, links to several GNYHA position papers can be found below:
- GNYHA Position Paper on GME funding and its importance
- GNYHA Position Papers on the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019
- GNYHA Position Paper on the Opioid Workforce Act of 2019