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S. 1044 119th Congress Senate

Physicians for Underserved Areas Act

Official title: A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make improvements to the redistribution of residency slots under the Medicare program after a hospital closes.

Introduced: March 13, 2025 Introduced by: Jacky Rosen Democratic · Nevada See on congress.gov
Health Employee hiringHealth personnelMedical educationMedicare
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 13, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Mar 13, 2025
Introduced in Senate
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What's happening now March 13, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Physicians for Underserved Areas Act

This bill modifies how a hospital's residency positions are redistributed after it closes for purposes of graduate medical education payments under Medicare.

Under current law, if a hospital with an approved medical residency program closes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must redistribute the hospital's residency positions to other hospitals in the following order: (1) hospitals in the same core-based statistical area as the closed hospital, (2) hospitals in the same state as the closed hospital, (3) hospitals in the same region of the country as the closed hospital, and (4) other remaining hospitals. In order to receive the additional positions, hospitals must demonstrate a likelihood of filling the positions within three years.

The bill removes the requirement that the CMS prioritize hospitals in the same region of the country as the closed hospital. It also requires hospitals to demonstrate a likelihood of (1) starting to use the positions within two years, and (2) filling the positions within five years.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 8

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1044: Physicians for Underserved Areas Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1044/
MLA
"S. 1044: Physicians for Underserved Areas Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1044/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1044, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1044/.
Markdown link
[S. 1044: Physicians for Underserved Areas Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1044/)
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