ADVOCACY

​The Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program is essential for training the next generation of primary care physicians in community settings, addressing critical shortages in both rural and urban areas. The program has enjoyed broad bipartisan support because Teaching Health Centers (THCs) promote access to care and enhance training in medically underserved communities.

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The American Association of Teaching Health Centers (AATHC) and a coalition of associations have asked Congress to enact a multi-year reauthorization of the THCGME program and to provide a substantial increase in the annual funding level for HHS to distribute to the individual Teaching Health Centers (THCs).  AATHC successfully convinced Congress that the program could not operate on $126.5 million annually and both versions of pending THCGME legislation offered nearly double that amount.

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• The good news is that in 2023, the House passed a comprehensive bipartisan health policy bill that included a seven-year extension and higher funding levels (H.R.5378, the Lower Costs More Transparency Act) and the Senate HELP Committee approved a comparable bipartisan broad bill that also would reauthorize THCGME for five years with a robust increase (S.2840, the Bipartisan Primary Care & Health Workforce Act).

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• The bad news is that neither of those broad bills made it through Congress in final form.  There was an effort in March, 2024 to include THCGME reauthorization and other health policy provisions (including extension of the Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps) in the unrelated omnibus appropriations bill but notwithstanding what we believe was an agreement between the House and Senate committee leaders that would have provided $1.3 billion in new resources/five years for THCGME, this package of health policy provisions ended up on the cutting room floor when Congress enacted the omnibus appropriations bill.

OUR ASKS:

We urge Members of Congress who have a THC or an organization that aspires to become a THC to: (1) urge Chair McMorris Rodgers, Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Pallone, and Ranking Member Cassidy to work with House and Senate leadership to enact a multi-year reauthorization of THCGME do the following with no less than the increased funding levels already approved by the House and the Senate HELP Committee; and (2) to speak directly with House and Senate leaders to make sure that THCGME reauthorization is included in any upcoming broader legislative package prior to adjournment in December.

We also urge that the final legislation include the Senate’s provision that would increase the Per Resident Allocation by $10,000 annually, reflecting the fact that the $160,000 level is at least $50,000 below the likely true average cost of training and because HRSA has never increased the PRA without a Congressional directive.

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Updated September 2024

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