85R13807 RMA-D By: Kolkhorst S.C.R. No. 34 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION WHEREAS, Graduate medical education (GME) is a vital component of the nation's health system infrastructure, as it enables physicians who have recently graduated from medical school to continue their training through internship, residency, and fellowship programs; and WHEREAS, Medicare currently allocates funding for GME nationwide, but payments vary significantly depending on the state; for example, Medicare funds only 18 GME residents per 100,000 people in Texas, while it funds 77 GME residents for the same population in New York; moreover, such physicians in Texas receive subsidies that are less than half of that of their New York counterparts; and WHEREAS, Instead of continuing with this unequal system, Medicare should allocate funding for GME based on projected growth in state population and on the individual health care needs of each state; and WHEREAS, It is essential for the U.S. government to determine how best to improve health care in our country using limited federal dollars; to further that mission, Medicare should implement a new formula that allows all states to receive more equitable funding for graduate medical education; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby urge the United States Congress to ensure the fair allocation of Medicare funding for graduate medical education to all states; and, be it further RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.