Neurosurgery Thanks Congress for Additional GME Funding

On Jan. 27, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) joined the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Advocacy Coalition in thanking Congress for expanding Medicare-supported GME in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). The legislation included 1,000 new Medicare-supported GME positions, distributed as follows:

• Teaching hospitals in rural areas;
• Hospitals training residents over their cap;
• Hospitals in states with new medical schools; and
• Hospitals that care for underserved communities.

In the letter, the groups noted that Medicare support for GME had been frozen since 1997. The growing physician shortage and COVID-19 pandemic have “put more pressure on the physician workforce as physicians and providers have mobilized across the country to respond to this public health emergency.” While the U.S. faces a projected physician shortage of between 54,100 and 139,000 physicians by 2033, this additional GME funding is a step in the right direction. The groups applauded this effort to increase federal support for GME.

Click here to read the letter.