ACR Urges More Residency Slots as Draft GME Legislation Introduced

The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) called for the U.S. Senate to go further in feedback related to draft graduate medical education (GME) legislation announced by U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Michael Bennet (D-CO). The senators provided the draft legislation in December intending to improve the GME program and ensure that every state has the workforce necessary to provide the care every patient needs. 

This bipartisan proposal would increase the supply of physicians with an additional 5,000 residency positions federal fiscal year 2027-2031, and builds on the work of a Senate GME Working Group and its policy proposals. 

Specifically, this bipartisan draft legislation would:

• Expand Medicare-supported residency positions in areas and specialties with critical shortages (e.g., primary care and psychiatry).
• Support rural hospitals in building residency training infrastructure.
• Improve federal data collection to better allocate GME funding and address workforce gaps.

ACR’s feedback reiterated comments submitted to the Senate GME Working Group in June, explicitly advocating for additional GME slots for specialty care, including radiology, as well as a greater number of slots than the 5,000 stipulated in the draft legislation, so that enough additional residents are trained to fully meet the demands for care. ACR also recommended that Congress reintroduce the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, legislation that would provide for 14,000 new residency slots over seven years.

ACR looks forward to working with Congress as the draft legislation advances and on other proposals to address physician shortages.

If you have questions, contact Ashley Walton, ACR Government Affairs Director.