Legislation introduced calling for additional residency positions

To face the projected physician shortage, legislation introduced in the House and Senate aims to raise the number of Medicare-supported graduate medical education positions by 14,000.

The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023 would increase the number of residency positions by 2,000 per year over seven years. At least 10% of the positions would be required to be distributed to hospitals with diverse needs. These include hospitals that already are training residents above their cap of federally-funding positions, as well as those in states with new medical schools or branch campuses, or in rural or noncontiguous areas. Hospitals that serve designated health-professional shortage areas and are affiliated with historically Black medical schools would also be given priority.

The AMA has sent letters in support of both the House and Senate versions of the legislation, which cites the Association of American Medical Colleges’ projection of a shortage of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034. That includes a projected shortage of 17,800 to 48,000 primary care physicians and 21,000 to 77,100 physicians of non-primary care specialties.

Source: AMA