 January 2003 • Volume 9 • Number 1 |
Prospects are grim for continued federal funding for family practice training, but the loss of the support is not a foregone conclusion, Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations, said recently.
"Some members of Congress say they will fight for Title VII," said Burke.
This month, Congress is expected to pass an omnibus appropriations bill that will keep most government programs funded through 2003. Given the federal deficit, it's likely the omnibus bill will concur with President Bush's recommendations. In his budget for 2003, Bush called for zero funds for Section 747 of Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, the section for primary care training. There's a chance lawmakers could salvage some funds for the section.
However, at press time, the Office of Management and Budget was expected to recommend that Section 747 be zeroed out in 2004.
"We are deeply disappointed that this program that helps bring family physicians into the health care system is likely to be cut off," AAFP President James Martin, M.D., of San Antonio said last month. He identified family practice as the specialty most likely to serve underserved rural and urban populations.
Research from the Robert Graham Center in Washington indicates that students at schools with Title VII funds for family practice training are more likely to go into family practice or another primary care specialty, to practice in a rural area, or to practice in a whole-county primary care health personnel shortage area.
"This (Title VII) is a government program that's working, and it is not a huge dollar item," said Martin. "It doesn't make sense to cut it when it is serving the American people."
By contrast, prospects remain strong for funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ is expected to receive 2003 funding similar to its 2002 level of $300 million. The Academy had lobbied for $375 million for AHRQ, the only federal agency with the charge of fostering primary care research.
The Academy continues to seek support in Congress for both AHRQ and Section 747 of Title VII.
FP Report is published by the
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Copyright © 2003 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.