House Appropriations Committee Tells CMS to Extend Cap-Building Window in FY2021 Labor-HHS Bill

The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services (Labor HHS) approved their FY 20201 Labor HHS funding bill, including the following language encouraging the CMS to extend the cap-building window for teaching hospitals.

The Report language states:

New Medical Residency Training Programs.—Given the growing physician workforce

shortage, the Committee strongly encourages CMS to utilize its discretion to extend the

time period described in section 413.79(e) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, for new residency programs in areas facing physician shortages before a full-time equivalent resident cap is applied, as authorized in P.L. 105 33. The Committee looks forward to receiving CMS’s report on these efforts within 60 days of the enactment of that Act, as directed in House Report 116–62.

See House Report (page 167-168).

This language builds on the efforts by the Cap Flexibility to include language in the FY 2020 Appropriations bill which aimed to push the agency to adopt a more flexible cap policy. Read more about the FY 2020 Appropriations language here.