85R13807 RMA-D
By: Kolkhorst S.C.R. No. 34
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Graduate medical education (GME) is a vital
component of the nation's health system infrastructure, as it
enables physicians who have recently graduated from medical school
to continue their training through internship, residency, and
fellowship programs; and
WHEREAS, Medicare currently allocates funding for GME
nationwide, but payments vary significantly depending on the state;
for example, Medicare funds only 18 GME residents per 100,000
people in Texas, while it funds 77 GME residents for the same
population in New York; moreover, such physicians in Texas receive
subsidies that are less than half of that of their New York
counterparts; and
WHEREAS, Instead of continuing with this unequal system,
Medicare should allocate funding for GME based on projected growth
in state population and on the individual health care needs of each
state; and
WHEREAS, It is essential for the U.S. government to determine
how best to improve health care in our country using limited federal
dollars; to further that mission, Medicare should implement a new
formula that allows all states to receive more equitable funding
for graduate medical education; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby urge the United States Congress to ensure the fair
allocation of Medicare funding for graduate medical education to
all states; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies
of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the
president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.