The next generation of family physicians got a reprieve from the threatened slashing of federal funds that support their training, thanks to the fiscal year 2005 omnibus appropriations bill passed in the last days of the 108th Congress.
The reprieve was part of a 3,000-plus-page bill that appropriates $89.5 million -- up from $82 million in fiscal year 2004 -- to fund Section 747 of Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. This program, the only federal support for primary care training, is the lifeblood of many departments of family medicine.
In addition, the FY 2005 appropriations measure earmarks $3 million for a Citizens' Health Care Working Group that was included, but not funded, in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. The group's mission: to conduct regional public hearings on America's health care system and recommend congressional actions to reduce the number of uninsured people. Other provisions of the law:
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Copyright © 2005 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.