Nelson files bill to train 15,000 more doctors

0
1069

Jun 7, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is leading the charge to alleviate the country’s growing physician shortage.

The Florida Democrat has introduced two bills in as many days aimed at creating and expanding medical residency programs to help train more doctors across the country.

Nelson introduced a bill Tuesday to make it easier for some hospitals to start full-time residency programs. He then introduced a separate measure today that would create 15,000 new Medicare-supported residency positions over five years at teaching hospitals across the country.

“Florida’s population continues to grow and, as a result, we now have more people seeking care than ever before,” Nelson said. “We have to train more doctors now to meet this growing demand and ensure that people are getting the care they need, when they need it.”

The federal government pays a significant portion of the cost associated with training new doctors at teaching hospitals across the country. However, in 1997, the federal government capped the number of medical residents it would pay for each year. Since then, the U.S. population has increased by more than 50 million and the country now faces a shortage of 34,600 to 88,000 physicians by 2025, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The legislation Nelson filed today would create an additional 3,000 new Medicare-supported residency slots each year starting in 2019, ultimately creating 15,000 new residency slots across the nation by 2024. It would also require that at least half of the new residency slots created are used to train doctors in fields experiencing the most severe shortages.

Full text of the lawmaker’s bill is available here. It now heads to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.

NO COMMENTS