The supercommittee is tasked with identifying at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Thanksgiving, and Medicare and Medicaid are primed for roughly $320 billion of those cuts. Medicare GME funding, which reimburses teaching hospitals for a portion of the direct and indirect costs of training physicians, could be on the chopping block.
The letter urges the committee members to protect GME funding, saying, “cuts to Medicare GME financing likely will exacerbate the physician shortage at a time when we have an estimated 10,000 seniors entering the Medicare program each day and one in every three practicing physicians retiring by 2020. Ensuring access for Medicare beneficiaries requires long-term and rational physician payment reforms, as well as an adequate supply of physicians to care for an aging nation.”
Related Articles on GME Funding:
House Approves Legislation Reauthorizing Children’s Hospital GME
Senate Committee Moves Children’s GME Bill Forward
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