Washington, D.C., February 7, 2007 - Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., president of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), issued the following comments on the Bush Administration's FY 2008 budget:

"Teaching hospitals are the backbone of America's health care system. They supply high-quality patient care and vital community services, provide the environment for groundbreaking clinical research, and train the doctors we will need in the years to come as our nation ages. Yet President Bush proposes to drastically reduce the critical Medicare and Medicaid payments that make it possible for academic medical centers to provide these essential education and health care services to our nation. The administration's proposed budget cuts could be devastating to America's teaching hospitals, and the AAMC strongly opposes them.

In addition, the president's spending blueprint once again provides woefully inadequate support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Cutting the NIH budget by over one half billion dollars will erode the vitality of our nation's medical research enterprise and leave millions of Americans without hope of the groundbreaking treatments they deserve. We are also troubled that President Bush did not recommend an increase for Veterans Administration research, at a time when our nation is seeing an influx of wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Medical research is a critical part of our national defense and should be a top priority.

The AAMC also believes that the Bush Administration's proposed elimination of all Title VII health professions education programs, with the exception of $10 million for Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, is extremely short-sighted. Additionally, the President's plan reduces federal support for nurse training programs to $105 million, a 30 percent cut. These training programs are crucial to the development of a well-prepared, well-distributed, and diverse health care workforce.

Finally, we note that the Bush Administration's budget reduces funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) to $116 million, a 7 percent decrease. This cut will freeze the number of NHSC awards and hinder the corps' efforts to attract new doctors who can serve in medically underserved areas. With our nation facing a significant shortage of physicians, the AAMC recommends increasing the number of annual NHSC awards to doctors by 1,500.

While we understand the difficult budget challenges currently facing our country, the AAMC and the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals must point out that these proposed cuts will hurt our most vulnerable patients. We will work with Congress and other national organizations to protect those Americans who count on these critical health care and research programs."

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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