Graduate Medical Education

Federal graduate medical education (GME) payments help ensure a level playing field across U.S. teaching hospitals since it provides a far more stable and equitable source of funding than if each hospital had to attempt to cover its own teaching costs based on private patient revenue surpluses that might vary widely across facilities. The rationale for the recently imposed cap on residency positions was the perception that the U.S. had an adequate physician supply and would not be well served by creating a large surplus of physicians. The Duke Center for Health Policy has developed a draft working paper assessing the costs and benefits of Medicare GME payments for health professionals (pdf).