The AAMC led nearly 50 members of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Advocacy Coalition in a June 24 response (PDF) to the bipartisan Senate Medicare GME Working Group’s Draft Proposal Outline and Questions for Consideration [refer to Washington Highlights, May 24]. The proposal seeks to address physician workforce shortages, alleviate access challenges faced by rural and other underserved communities, remove barriers to rural physician training, and improve data collection and transparency, as well as other topics.
In its response, the coalition urged the working group to increase the number of Medicare-supported GME positions by at least 10,000, require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to strictly adhere to any distribution methodology included in upcoming legislation, avoid targeting GME positions to specific specialties or regions, and provide outreach and technical assistance to rural teaching hospitals.
The AAMC submitted its own comments (PDF) on June 21 [refer to Washington Highlights, June 21].
- Washington Highlights