The Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Payment Program, launched in 1999, provides graduate medical education funding under Medicare, which otherwise does not cover pediatrics. The president’s FY 2012 budget proposed replacing the $300 million annual authorization with “targeted investments to increase the primary care workforce,” which would not cover training for pediatric sub-specialists.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the ranking minority member on the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, said he planned to introduce legislation reauthorizing the program.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the proposed cut was a painful budgetary decision that “in a better budget time, we would never have recommended.” But pediatric GME funding “is somewhat different than the vast majority of GME funding in that it does not have to be used for training,” she added. “There are some other avenues for training pediatricians, both incentives for primary care doctors and incentives that are in the GME funding for Medicaid.”
Read the Hill report on residency training.
Read more coverage of the proposal to cut pediatric residency training.
–HHS’ Proposed Funding Cuts for Children’s Hospitals Opposed by Industry
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