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Week Ending September 29, 2006
H.R.5574 To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize support for graduate medical education programs in children's hospitals.
Funding to children’s hospitals that provide graduate medical residency training programs would be extended through 2011.
If the hospital does not provide an annual report to the Secretary of Health or provides incomplete reports would see a 25% reduction in funding.
This program was created in 1999 to help children’s teaching hospitals not receiving significant Federal support for resident and intern training through Medicare because they have a low Medicare patient volume.
The money can be spent for direct costs of operating the education program and the indirect cost for patient care that are reportedly higher in teaching hospitals than in non-teaching hospitals.
Sponsor: Rep Nathan Deal (R-GA-10th)
Vote: Passed House by voice vote September 27, 2006
Cost to the taxpayers: “H.R. 5574 would authorize the appropriation of $300 million a year over the 2007-2011 period for payments to children's hospitals. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $225 million in 2007 and $1.4 billion over the 2007-2011 period, assuming the appropriation of the authorized amounts.”
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MORE INFORMATION
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 establishes the short title of the Act as the `Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2006.'
Section 2. Program of payments to children's hospitals that operate graduate medical education programs
Section 2 amends Section 340E of the Public Health Service Act to extend the authorization of the CHGME program from fiscal year 2007 through fiscal year 2011. It also provides authorization of appropriations for direct medical education (DME) payments and indirect medical education (IME) payments under CHGME through fiscal year 2011, providing $100,000,000 for DME and $200,000,000 for IME for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.
Section 2 also creates a mechanism by which hospitals may voluntarily provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services additional reporting information. In order to receive full funding, hospitals will be required to submit an annual report. If a hospital opts not to report this data, it will be able to access only 75% of what would have been its total amount awarded.
The new information will include the (1) types of resident training programs that the hospital provided for residents; (2) number of training positions for residents; (3) types of training that the hospital provided for residents related to the health care needs of different populations; (4) changes in residency training for residents which the hospital has made during such residency academic year; and (4) number of residents who completed their residency training at the end of such residency academic year and care for children within the borders of the service area of the hospital or within the borders of the State in which the hospital is located.
Finally, section 2 corrects a technical error in the underlying statute.
Section 3. Sense of the Senate
Section 3 recognizes the importance of perinatal hospitals in both treating seriously ill newborns and training the providers who are essential to their care, as well as to the care of healthy mothers and babies.
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