Premier Offers Recommendations on Senate Committee GME Expansion Proposal

Premier joined 50 other organizations in responding to the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan policy outline to improve the Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program. In early June, the Senators proposed increasing incrementally from 2027 to 2031 by an unspecified amount the number of residency positions eligible for Medicare direct GME and indirect medical education (IME) support and making other improvements to the program. Premier joined in applauding the bipartisan effort to further expand GME and urged the Senators to:

• Include at least 10,000 additional residency slots, which combined with the 1,200 from the Consolidated Appropriations Acts (CAA) of 2021 and 2023, would represent significant progress towards ensuring access to care for patients and communities;
• Include stringent statutory language directing CMS to adhere to the distribution methodology set forth in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023 for future distributions of residency slots to ensure that CMS does not over-prioritize Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in its formula;
• Ensure that the distribution of slots is based on the specific needs of communities, rather than specific medical specialties or states; and
• Provide outreach and technical assistance to rural teaching hospitals to ensure they are aware and can apply for the new Medicare-supported GME positions.