Financing Graduate Medical Education to Meet Pediatric Workforce Needs

Abstract

This statement reviews the current system of funding for graduate medical education (GME) in the United States and evaluates the potential of alternative GME funding mechanisms, including a portable authorization system, to meet future pediatric workforce needs. It addresses key issues relating to the financing of GME: Medicare direct medical education (DME) and indirect medical education adjustment (IMEA) payments, an all-payer GME trust fund, and a market mechanism to distribute GME funds for both core pediatric and pediatric subspecialty education. In a concluding series of recommendations, the statement calls for changes to the current system of GME funding to ensure the production of a pediatrician workforce that will be able to meet the future needs of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.