Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Doctors Act of 2019

Training the Next Generation of Primary Care Doctors Act of 2019

This bill alters funding provisions, and establishes additional reporting requirements, relating to the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, which is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The program supports training for primary-care-physician and dental residents at community-based clinics.

The bill (1) establishes certain parameters for payments to approved and newly approved graduate medical-residency training programs, and (2) requires HRSA to publish a report regarding new and expanded programs.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2815 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2815

    To reauthorize section 340H of the Public Health Service Act to 
continue to encourage the expansion, maintenance, and establishment of 
  approved graduate medical residency programs at qualified teaching 
                health centers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2019

Mr. Ruiz (for himself, Mrs. Rodgers of Washington, Ms. Torres Small of 
New Mexico, and Mr. David P. Roe of Tennessee) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To reauthorize section 340H of the Public Health Service Act to 
continue to encourage the expansion, maintenance, and establishment of 
  approved graduate medical residency programs at qualified teaching 
                health centers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Training the Next Generation of 
Primary Care Doctors Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The program of payments to teaching health centers for 
        graduate medical education under section 340H of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256h) was enacted in 2010 and 
        reauthorized in 2015 and 2018 to address the crisis-level 
        shortage of primary care physicians, especially in rural and 
        medically underserved communities.
            (2) Teaching health center residents and faculty will 
        provide more than 1,000,000 primary care medical visits in 2019 
        to underserved communities.
            (3) When compared with traditional Medicare GME residents, 
        residents who train at teaching health centers are more likely 
        to practice primary care and remain in underserved or rural 
        communities.
            (4) The teaching health center program not only plays a 
        vital role in training the Nation's next generation of primary 
        care physicians (including dentists), but helps bridge the 
        Nation's physician shortfall and address the maldistribution of 
        physicians across the United States.
            (5) For these reasons, it is of vital importance to 
        continue the program under section 340H of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256h) at a sustainable level of funding 
        per full-time equivalent resident, as recommended in the fact 
        sheet of the Health Resources and Services Administration 
        entitled ``Cost Estimates for Training Residents in a Teaching 
        Health Center''.

SEC. 3. PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (g) of section 340H of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256h(g)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Payments to approved graduate medical residency 
        training programs.--To carry out this section, for payments to 
        approved graduate medical residency programs (as defined in 
        paragraph (j)(1) of this section), there are appropriated 
        $126,500,000 for fiscal year 2020, $128,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2021, $130,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, $133,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2023, and $136,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to 
        remain available until expended.
            ``(3) Payments to new approved graduate medical residency 
        training programs.--To carry out this section, for payments to 
        new approved graduate medical residency training programs (as 
        defined in paragraph (j)(2) of this section), there are 
        appropriated $8,500,000 for fiscal year 2021, $17,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2022, $34,500,000 for fiscal year 2023, and 
        $44,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain available until 
        expended.''.
    (b) Number of Residents.--In calculating the level of payments to 
each approved graduate medical residency training program pursuant to 
subsection (g)(2) of section 340H of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 256h), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall pay for 
the number of residents at a program at a number that is no lower than 
the highest number of residents in their programs for the period of 
fiscal years 2016 through 2018.
    (c) Limitations.--The number of full-time equivalent residents for 
which a qualified teaching health center receives payments pursuant to 
subsection (a)(1)(C) of section 340H of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 256h) for a fiscal year shall not exceed by more than 6 the 
number of full-time equivalent residents for which the center received 
such payments for the preceding fiscal year.
    (d) Report on Expansion and Training Costs.--Not later than 
September 30, 2022, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
submit to the Congress a report on the establishment of new approved 
graduate medical residency programs and expansion of existing approved 
graduate medical residency programs. The report shall include the 
locations of such programs, the number of residents, and statistics 
regarding the number of programs receiving priority under subsection 
(a)(3) of section 340H of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
256h). The report shall examine the direct graduate expenses of 
approved graduate medical residency training programs; the indirect 
expenses associated with the additional costs of teaching residents; 
and determine the current per resident per year cost of training 
residents at qualified teaching health centers.
    (e) Public Availability of Data.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall make available to the public the data reported by 
qualified teaching health centers pursuant to subsection (d) of this 
section and subsection (h)(1) of section 340H of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256(h)).
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