As you wrestle with important deficit reduction issues, I urge you to avoid critical cuts to Medicare financing for Graduate Medical Education (GME). Budget cuts to health care programs like GME would negatively impact access to care, including patients in underserved communities, seniors, and veterans. With a growing demand for health care services, financial cuts to physician residency programs will only worsen expected physician shortages across the country. An expected shortage of 62,900 physicians by 2015 that will increase to 130,000 physicians across all specialties by 2025 increases demand on our health care delivery system as more seniors begin to join the Medicare program and newly insured Americans seek access to care. Short-term budget savings in the form of cuts to GME will just hamper efforts to improve access to care and lead to increases in health care spending down the road as the demand on the system grows. Your support is needed to prevent GME funding cuts and focus on long term solutions that address the financial stability of Medicare, maintain access to care for patients, and preserve physician residency programs. AMA asked me to send this to John McCain.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:52:11 +0000
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