SJR 7, as amended, 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
P2 1WHEREAS, Federal funding levels for residency training
2programs have been frozen since 1997, while California’s
3population has increased by more than 10 percent since that time;
4and
5WHEREAS, Medicare’s rigid payment formulas for graduate
6medical education do not allow for the innovation needed to
7improve medical education to produce physicians with the
8appropriate training needed to meet the nation’s current and future
9health care needs; and
10WHEREAS, California has been able to address only a minimal
11portion of primary care residency programs’ funding shortfall with
12state funds; and
13WHEREAS, in 2014, more than 400 California medical school
14graduates went “unmatched,” meaning they were unable to find a
15residency program in our state to complete their training; and
16WHEREAS, Many primary care physicians, including those
17who have graduated from California medical schools, want to train
18in California, but are forced to leave the state because of the
19shortage in training slots at residency programs; and
20WHEREAS, California has the highest retention rate of
21physicians who complete their residency training in-state; and
22WHEREAS, Increasing funding for primary care medical
23residency training programs is a critical step in addressing the
24physician shortage problem and improving access to medical care;
25now, therefore, be it
26Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
27California, jointly, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and
28the President of the United States to renew funding for the Health
29Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center
30and Primary Care Residency Expansion Graduate Medical
31Education Programs that are set to expire this year; and be it further
32Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
33President to lift the freeze on residency positions funded by
34Medicare to expand physician supply and improve access to care;
35and be it further
36Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
37President to encourage the development of primary care physician
38training programs in ambulatory, community, and medically
39underserved sites through new funding methodologies and
40incentives; and be it further
P3 1Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
2this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
3States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
4Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
5from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
6author for appropriate distribution.
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