Congressman urges funding increase for health care training

ADA says it would improve health care access

House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., is urging the Health Resources and Services Administration to increase training funding for dentists and physicians in underserved communities through the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program. The ADA previously expressed support for the education program, stating it would help to improve health care access.

Pallone’s letter, which was addressed to Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Carole Johnson, specifically requested that the per resident allocation for the program be increased by $10,000 before the next academic year begins on July 1. 

In the letter, Pallone states that the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program per resident allocation was set at $150,000 when it was originally established more than a decade ago and has only been increased once, by $10,000 in 2021. 

“While this increase is certainly helpful, a study commissioned by [the Health Resources and Services Administration in 2022 found that the current [per resident allocation] of $160,000 is $50,000 less than the national median for true training costs,” Rep. Pallone wrote in the letter. “This leaves teaching health centers, which are predominantly federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics, responsible for covering the outstanding costs associated with training residents. I am concerned that the discrepancy between the [per resident allocation] and the true costs of training a resident has the potential to threaten the viability of the [Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education] program.”  

The program works to help communities grow their health workforce by training physicians and dentists in community-based, often underserved settings. It aims to increase the number of health care providers trained in community-based settings, as well as expand health care access and improve health outcomes for people in underserved and rural communities.

Rep. Pallone’s letter comes after the ADA sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September 2023 urging passage of the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, which both extends and expands the medical education program. 

“Extending and expanding this funding would provide increased stability to teaching health centers and strengthen continuity of care in underserved communities,” the ADA letter said. 

The House passed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act in December 2023.