Isakson, Casey Bill to Protect Funding for Children's Hospitals Clears Final Passage

Press Release

U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., today praised the House passage of their bipartisan legislation to authorize $300 million annually for children's hospitals over the next five years to maintain the training of pediatricians and other residents.

The Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2013, which reauthorizes funding for the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program through fiscal year 2018, passed the House today by a voice vote. The bill previously passed the Senate on November 13, 2013, and now heads to the president's desk to be signed into law.

"Investing in our pediatric workforce and health care facilities through the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program is critically important to ensuring the health of our children in Georgia and across the country," said Senator Isakson. "I'm pleased to see the House clear the way for this vital measure to become law in order to continue our commitment to protecting the health of our children and families who depend on the services and training provided by our children's hospitals, pediatricians and pediatric specialists."

"Reauthorizing this program will help some of our country's best medical centers train physicians and enable families and children receive care from. I'm pleased that the House came together in a bipartisan fashion to move this legislation onto the President's desk," said Senator Casey. "Pennsylvania's children's hospitals are some of the best in the country. Passing this bill will allow these hospitals to continue their lifesaving work and remain a driver of our economy."

The Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program provides freestanding children's hospitals with federal graduate medical education support similar to the funding that other teaching hospitals receive through Medicare. The program was first enacted by Congress in 1999 with bipartisan support, and has been reauthorized twice since then, each time again with broad bipartisan support. The program provides funding to about 55 freestanding children's hospitals in 30 states to support the training of pediatricians and other residents.

The program has a proven track record of success and represents a high-value investment in children's health care. Prior to its enactment in late 1999, the number of residents in children's hospital residency programs had declined by more than 13 percent, according to the American Board of Pediatrics. Since the enactment of the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education program, children's hospitals have reversed this trend, increasing their training slots by 45 percent. Today, though freestanding children's hospitals represent 1 percent of all hospitals, they train over 45 percent of general pediatricians, 51 percent of all pediatric specialists and the majority of pediatric researchers.

The Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2013 also makes important changes to the program by giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to include in the program a small number of freestanding children's hospitals that have been ineligible to participate in the past for technical reasons.

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