The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (S. 1302/H.R. 2389) has been reintroduced in the U.S. House and Senate. Sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), John Boozman, OD, (R-Ark.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the Senate, and Reps. Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) in the House, this neurosurgery-endorsed legislation would provide 14,000 new Medicare graduate medical education (GME) slots over seven years. The bill builds on the GME provisions included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328), which provided 1,200 new Medicare-funded GME positions — the first such increases in nearly thirty years.
This bipartisan legislation is crucial to expanding the physician workforce and ensuring that patients nationwide can access quality care from providers. The need for physicians grows faster than supply, leading to an estimated shortfall of up to 124,000 primary care and specialty physicians by 2034.
Click here to read the GME Advocacy Coalition’s letter to the Senate and here for the letter to the House.
