More doctors where they're needed: A conversation on reforming Medicare's GME formula
Medicare invests roughly $21 billion annually in residency training, yet the formula used to distribute these payments has not been meaningfully updated in nearly 40 years. As a result, federal support for physician training is often poorly aligned with where doctors are most needed and where patients face the greatest barriers to care.
Lawson Mansell, Senior Health Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center, and David Schwartzman, economist and Niskanen Center contributor, discuss findings from their new report examining the shortcomings of the current GME payment formula. They outline several policy options to modernize the program so that Medicare’s investment in residency training can better support a stronger, more responsive physician workforce.
