II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1481 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

program of grants to newly accredited allopathic and osteopathic medical 

schools for the purpose of increasing the supply of physicians. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2011 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish a program of grants to newly accredited 

allopathic and osteopathic medical schools for the purpose of increasing the supply of physicians. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medical Education De5 velopment Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) According to the Council on Graduate Med2 ical Education, the Nation will face a shortage of 

3 about 85,000 physicians by 2020, due in part to the 

4 aging population. The Association of American Med5 ical Colleges estimates the shortage to reach 91,000 

6 physicians over the next decade. 

7 (2) The American Academy of Family Physi8 cians recommended in 2006 that to meet the need 

9 for primary care physicians in 2020, the United 

10 States would have to train 3,725 family physicians 

11 and 714 osteopathic physicians annually, with an 

12 overall goal of a 39 percent increase in family physi13 cians. 

14 (3) The Association of American Medical Col15 leges has called for increased enrollment at Liaison 

16 Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accred17 ited schools from 15 to 30 percent over the 2002 

18 levels by 2015. This increase would boost the num19 ber of graduates to about 20,000. 

20 (4) The Federal Government added 500 resi21 dency slots for Graduate Medical Education, pledg22 ing $168,000,000 by 2015. This was the first sig23 nificant expansion of medical education since the 

24 1960s and 1970s. 


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1 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR FUNDING OF NEWLY ACCREDITED 

2 MEDICAL SCHOOLS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’) shall establish a program of grants to newly ac6 credited allopathic and osteopathic medical schools for the 

7 purpose of increasing the supply of physicians. 

8 (b) USE OF GRANTS.—Amounts provided under 

9 grants under this section may be used to support scholar10 ships, develop residencies, build infrastructure, recruit and 

11 retain faculty, and develop research programs for the pur12 pose described in subsection (a). 

13 (c) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall allocate funds 

14 appropriated under this section among newly accredited 

15 medical schools based on the following criteria: 

16 (1) First priority shall be given to allopathic 

17 and osteopathic medical schools accredited to admit 

18 students from fiscal years 2009 through 2014. 

19 (2) Medical schools that enroll larger classes, 

20 while maintaining competitive faculty to student ra21 tios, shall receive increased funding based on their 

22 size. 

23 (3) Funds shall only be allocated to medical 

24 schools that provide accountability and transparency 

25 in expending such funds. 

26 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—Each medical 

2 school receiving a grant under this section shall sub3 mit an annual report to the Secretary— 

4 (A) describing the specific uses of the 

5 funds received through the grant; 

6 (B) describing how the grant has bene7 fitted the region and the Nation as a whole; 

8 and 

9 (C) containing such additional information 

10 as the Secretary may require. 

11 (2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

12 the end of fiscal year 2012, and annually thereafter, 

13 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress 

14 on the grant program under this section. Each such 

15 report shall include an evaluation of the effectiveness 

16 of grants under this section, taking into consider17 ation the extent to which such grants have— 

18 (A) increased the supply of physicians; 

19 (B) resulted in greater access to primary 

20 and specialty health care; 

21 (C) enabled the creation of new, high-qual22 ity, cost-conscious care models; 

23 (D) provided economic regional benefits; 

24 and 


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1 (E) increased the focus on communications 

2 skills of medical students. 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $500,000,000 for the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with 

6 fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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