A bill reauthorizing the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program is heading to President Barack Obama's desk after passing through the U.S. House Tuesday, according to an AHA News Now report.
The Senate passed the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act in November 2013.
The Children's Hospitals GME program funds freestanding children's hospitals' direct and indirect expenses associated with running their residency programs, which do not receive GME funding from Medicare, according to the report.
In December, the American Hospital Association urged lawmakers to pass the bill. "Not fully supporting the program would be detrimental to the mutual goals of strengthening the primary care workforce and ensuring timely access to critical, high-quality specialty care," AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack wrote in letters to Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
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