BILL NUMBER: SJR 7	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  90
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 1, 2015
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2015
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 29, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Pan

                        MARCH 19, 2015

   Relative to physicians.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 7, Pan. Medical residency programs.
   This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the
United States to renew funding for the Health Resources and Services
Administration's Teaching Health Center and Primary Care Residency
Expansion Graduate Medical Education Programs, and to lift the freeze
on residency positions funded by Medicare to expand physician supply
and improve access to health care.



   WHEREAS, According to a 2014 report by the California Healthcare
Foundation, although California has more than 105,000 licensed
physicians, only 71,000 are actively involved in providing patient
care; and
   WHEREAS, Certain regions of the state, such as the San Joaquin
Valley and the Inland Empire, lack the recommended supply of primary
care and specialty physicians and, as a result, those areas have
higher populations in poor health; and
   WHEREAS, California's shortage and poor distribution of physicians
is likely to be exacerbated by increased levels of insured patients
and projected increases in the number of physicians planning to
retire; and
   WHEREAS, Federal funding levels for residency training programs
have been frozen since 1997, while California's population has
increased by more than 10 percent since that time; and
   WHEREAS, Medicare's rigid payment formulas for graduate medical
education do not allow for the innovation needed to improve medical
education to produce physicians with the appropriate training needed
to meet the nation's current and future health care needs; and
   WHEREAS, California has been able to address only a minimal
portion of primary care residency programs' funding shortfall with
state funds; and
   WHEREAS, Many primary care physicians, including those who have
graduated from California medical schools, want to train in
California, but are forced to leave the state because of the shortage
in training slots at residency programs; and
   WHEREAS, California has the highest retention rate of physicians
who complete their residency training in-state; and
   WHEREAS, Increasing funding for primary care medical residency
training programs is a critical step in addressing the physician
shortage problem and improving access to medical care; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
President of the United States to renew funding for the Health
Resources and Services Administration's Teaching Health Center and
Primary Care Residency Expansion Graduate Medical Education Programs
that are set to expire this year; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
President to lift the freeze on residency positions funded by
Medicare to expand physician supply and improve access to care; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon Congress and the
President to encourage the development of primary care physician
training programs in ambulatory, community, and medically underserved
sites through new funding methodologies and incentives; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.