Support Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2009

[jconran]

Urge Expansion of Medicare Support for Graduate Medical Education (GME)
Help recruit co-sponsors for the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (S.973/H.R. 2251)
We strongly urge you to act immediately by contacting your Members of Congress and requesting their co-sponsorship of the "Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2009" (S. 973/H.R. 2251) to expand Medicare support for graduate medical education (GME). Generating significant levels of bipartisan support for the legislation will increase the chances of getting the bill language into the larger health care reform legislation. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Harry Reid (D-NV), and Reps. Joe Crowley (D-NY), Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced S. 973/H.R. 2251 on May 5, 2009.

Hey, it seems there's legislation to increase the residency slots for us as part of the larger healthcare package. The AAMC has a web page where you can fill in your information to send letters to your congressmen (or congresswomen).

Here's the text of the bills:
HR 2251
S. 973

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The 15% expansion may never really materialize. Programs that are already over their cap are allowed to apply for more funding. If they get it, they do not need to open a new slot -- they can simply just keep the new money and continue their current slots. I expect that many large academic centers are over their caps, and much of this will simply be absorbed into the current training envoronment. Although this might financially help my institution, I'm not sure it's good federal fiscal policy, since Medicare is already going bankrupt. This is supposed to be budget neutral. Show me the money first -- a tax on health benefits, those making >$250K, or any other source.

The other parts -- including didactic time, outpatient / community health settings, etc is all good and long overdue.

 

[jconran]

The 15% expansion may never really materialize. Programs that are already over their cap are allowed to apply for more funding. If they get it, they do not need to open a new slot -- they can simply just keep the new money and continue their current slots. I expect that many large academic centers are over their caps, and much of this will simply be absorbed into the current training envoronment. Although this might financially help my institution, I'm not sure it's good federal fiscal policy, since Medicare is already going bankrupt. This is supposed to be budget neutral. Show me the money first -- a tax on health benefits, those making >$250K, or any other source.

The other parts -- including didactic time, outpatient / community health settings, etc is all good and long overdue.

Yeah, excellent insights. I just found the link as I was going through the AAMC website and decided I finally had something worth signing up to share.
And in terms of Medicare and residencies, I guess we'll see what happens as this whole healthcare reform thing continues to unfold.