On Capitol Hill, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Representatives Darrin LaHood (R-IL), Angie Craig (D-NM), and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) introduced the Rebuild America’s Health Care Schools Act of 2024 (S. 5397/H.R. 10225), which will require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to clarify the requirements that residency programs must meet to receive Medicare reimbursement for operating pharmacy, nursing, and allied health residency programs.

Introduction of this important legislation follows an effort earlier this year led by Senator Klobuchar in which 1300 ACCP members and supporters mobilized in support of Senate action to protect pass-through funding for postgraduate year one (PGY1) residency programs. Thank you for this show of support!

Background

Since 2019, CMS has implemented changes to its auditing procedures for clinical pharmacy residency programs, but without updating its regulations or providing guidance on how residency programs can stay in compliance with these auditing procedures.

Medicare pass-through funding for PGY1 residency programs is critical to ensuring the sustainability of the clinical pharmacy profession. However, under these burdensome Medicare auditing procedures, many PGY1 residency programs have been stripped of funding.

Call to Action

We are calling on ACCP members to write to Congress to urge support for this legislation. ACCP has created a preformatted email template that allows you to automatically send a letter to your U.S. senators and representative, according to your home address. This streamlined process ensures that it will take less than 2 minutes for you to make a meaningful impact by expressing your views on this important issue.

Outlook and 2025 Strategy

After the 2024 presidential election, Congress returned to Washington for a “lame duck” session that included the urgent issue of government funding, given that lawmakers only have until December 20 to approve new spending and avoid a federal shutdown. It is therefore unlikely that Congress will be able to act on the residency issue in 2024, but it is important that elected officials hear from their constituents now, in anticipation of the new Congress.

The 119th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2025, and we expect that reintroduction of this important bill will be a priority in the new year. Click here to tell Congress to address this issue urgently!