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AACOM Endorses Bill to Expand Rural GME

Published February 24, 2025

By AACOM Government Relations

Advocacy Graduate Medical Education OME Advocate Residency Rural Medicine

AACOM applauds the reintroduction of the Rural Physician Workforce Production Act, H.R. 1153. This bipartisan bill is led by Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Kim Schrier (D-WA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) and seeks to increase the physician workforce in rural areas by equitably funding rural residency training.

 
 
 
 
 
Delivering healthcare to underserved areas, including rural America, has always been a cornerstone of the osteopathic medical community’s mission,” says AACOM President and CEO Robert A. Cain, DO. “It is well understood that residents who train in rural areas are more likely to practice there.
 
 
 

Increasing healthcare access in rural areas is a top priority for AACOM and the osteopathic medical education (OME) community. The bill would address the unequal distribution of physicians in rural communities resulting from the current structure of Medicare-funded graduate medical education (GME) by:

  • Lifting residency caps that disadvantage rural hospitals seeking residents,
  • Allowing Medicare to reimburse urban hospitals that send residents to train in rural healthcare facilities
  • Establishing a per-resident payment structure so that rural hospitals have the resources to add residents.

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