Dr. Darrell Kirch, President of the AAMC, has just released his most recent update regarding "The Sequester," and what it means for AAMC members and affiliates. He details how under the current plan, as of March 1st, 2013, there will be cuts totaling 5.1% to the NIH, and 2% to GME. Below I have included excerpts from this letter as well as letters referenced by Dr. Kirch within his memo.
"...the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Title VII health professions programs will be cut by an estimated 5.1 percent, according to the Senate Budget Committee. Medicare provider payments, including direct graduate medical education and indirect medical education payments, will be cut by 2 percent."
"For NIH, sequestration will represent a $1.5 billion cut... Even more troubling is that this cut will come at the end of a decade that has seen the NIH budget fall by nearly 20 percent after inflation."
"Sequestration will have a significant impact on Medicare’s long-standing support for graduate medical education (GME) and ultimately will limit teaching hospitals’ and physicians’ ability to care for all patients and train the next generation of physicians."
"Sequestration’s 2 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements will mean that the average major teaching hospital has nearly $14 million less to support critical patient care services they provide in their communities."
"A 5.3 percent cut in funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) could result in as many as 272 fewer scholarships and loan repayment awards in FY 2013. The immediate decrease in the NHSC field strength will result in 272,000 fewer individual patients served by NHSC primary care clinicians in FY 2013. With NHSC retention topping 80 percent, these deficits are compounded in future years by failing to recruit these practitioners to health professions shortage areas."
Dr. Kirch's op-ed published in The Hill (2/13/2013)
Atul Grover, MD PhD, Chief Public Policy Officer for the AAMC -- podcast regarding sequestrations effects on patients
Atul Grover, MD PhD, Chief Public Policy Officer for the AAMC -- podcast regarding sequestrations effects on patients
Kirch AAMC Memorandum 13-01.pdf |
Sequestration Talking Points.pdf |