II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1771 

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

program of grants to newly accredited allopathic medical schools for 

the purpose of increasing the supply of physicians. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 8, 2009 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. SPECTER) 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 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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The 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. 

5 (2) The American Academy of Family Physi6 cians recommended in 2006 that to meet the need 

7 for primary care physicians in 2020, the United 

8 States would have to train 3,725 family physicians 

9 and 714 osteopathic physicians annually, with an 

10 overall goal of a 39 percent increase in family physi11 cians. 

12 (3) The Association of American Medical Col13 leges has called for increased enrollment at Liaison 

14 Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accred15 ited schools from 15 to 30 percent over the 2002 

16 levels by 2015. This increase would boost the num17 ber of graduates to about 20,000. 

18 (4) The Federal Government has not supported 

19 the expansion of medical education in a major way 

20 since the 1960s and 1970s. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR FUNDING OF NEWLY ACCREDITED 

22 MEDICAL SCHOOLS. 

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

24 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec25 retary’’) shall establish a program of grants to newly acVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:22 Oct 09, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1771.IS S1771

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1 credited allopathic medical schools for the purpose of in2 creasing the supply of physicians. 

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

4 grants under this section may be used to support scholar5 ships, develop residencies, build infrastructure, recruit and 

6 retain faculty, and develop research programs for the pur7 pose described in subsection (a). 

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

9 appropriated under this section among newly accredited 

10 medical schools based on the following criteria: 

11 (1) First priority shall be given to allopathic 

12 medical schools accredited to admit students from 

13 fiscal years 2009 through 2014. 

14 (2) Medical schools that enroll larger classes, 

15 while maintaining competitive faculty to student ra16 tios, shall receive increased funding based on their 

17 size. 

18 (3) Funds shall only be allocated to medical 

19 schools that provide accountability and transparency 

20 in expending such funds. 

21 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

22 (1) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—Each medical 

23 school receiving a grant under this section shall sub24 mit an annual report to the Secretary— 


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1 (A) describing the specific uses of the 

2 funds received through the grant; 

3 (B) describing how the grant has bene4 fitted the region and the Nation as a whole; 

5 and 

6 (C) containing such additional information 

7 as the Secretary may require. 

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

9 the end of fiscal year 2010, and annually thereafter, 

10 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress 

11 on the grant program under this section. Each such 

12 report shall include an evaluation of the effectiveness 

13 of grants under this section, taking into consider14 ation the extent to which such grants have— 

15 (A) increased the supply of physicians; 

16 (B) resulted in greater access to primary 

17 and specialty health care; 

18 (C) enabled the creation of new, high-qual19 ity, cost-conscious care models; 

20 (D) provided economic regional benefits; 

21 and 

22 (E) increased the focus on communications 

23 skills of medical students. 

24 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 $250,000,000 for the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with 

2 fiscal year 2010. 

Æ 


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