SJR 7, as introduced, Pan. Medical residency programs.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to renew funding for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center and Primary Care Residency Expansion Graduate Medical Education Programs, and to lift the freeze on residency positions funded by Medicare to expand physician supply and improve access to health care.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, According to a 2014 report by the California
2Healthcare Foundation, although California has more than 105,000
3licensed physicians, only 71,000 are actively involved in providing
4patient care; and
5WHEREAS, Certain regions of the state, such as the San Joaquin
6Valley and the Inland Empire, lack the recommended supply of
7primary care and specialty physicians and, as a result, those areas
8have higher populations in poor health; and
9WHEREAS, California’s shortage and poor distribution of
10physicians is likely to be exacerbated by increased levels of insured
11patients and projected increases in the number of physicians
12planning to retire; and
13WHEREAS, Federal funding levels for residency training
14programs have been frozen since 1997, while California’s
P2 1population has increased by more than 10 percent since that time;
2and
3WHEREAS, Medicare’s rigid payment formulas for Graduate
4Medical Education do not allow for the innovation needed to
5improve medical education to produce physicians with the
6appropriate training needed to meet the nation’s current and future
7health care needs; and
8WHEREAS, California has been able to address only a minimal
9portion of primary care residency programs’ funding shortfall with
10state funds; and
11WHEREAS, in 2014, more than 400 California medical school
12graduates went “unmatched,” meaning they were unable to find a
13residency program in our state to complete their training; and
14WHEREAS, Many primary care physicians, including those
15who have graduated from California medical schools, want to train
16in California, but are forced to leave the state because of the
17shortage in training slots at residency programs; and
18WHEREAS, California has the highest retention rate of
19physicians who complete their residency training in-state; and
20WHEREAS, increasing funding for primary care medical
21residency training programs is a critical step in addressing the
22physician shortage problem and improving access to medical care;
23now, therefore, be it
24Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
25California, jointly, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and
26the President of the United States to renew funding for the Health
27Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center
28and Primary Care Residency Expansion Graduate Medical
29Education Programs that are set to expire this year; and be it further
30Resolved, that the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
31President to lift the freeze on residency positions funded by
32Medicare to expand physician supply and improve access to care;
33and be it further
34Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
35President to encourage the development of primary care physician
36training programs in ambulatory, community, and medically
37underserved sites through new funding methodologies and
38incentives; and be it further
39Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
40this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
P3 1States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
2Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
3from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
4author for appropriate distribution.
O
99