Pallone Holds Virtual Roundtable On New Bill Introduction

LONG BRANCH, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) held a virtual roundtable with members of the state’s medical community on Monday to discuss legislation he authored to support the training of medical residents in underserved communities.

Pallone’s Doctors of Community (DOC) Act, which introduced in the House last week, would permanently authorize the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program, which would provide increased and sustained annual funding at over $500 million per year for fiscal years 2024-2033, while also increasing the number of residency slots available each year. Currently, the program is funded at $126.5 million per year.

If passed, the bill would support community health continuity by bringing a reliable stream of doctors to communities of color, rural communities, and other high-need communities and fund an additional 100 new THCGME programs in communities across the country, and create an estimated 1,600 new resident physician slots, the largest expansion to the program in more than two decades.

“Primary care physicians are the keystone of our nation’s health care system and are all too often the only providers in rural and high-need communities,” Pallone said in a press release.

“Unfortunately, we are increasingly facing a shortage of these vital frontline providers across the country, which will only continue to grow unless Congress acts. The DOC Act will help address this shortage by providing permanent, reliable funding to train the next generation of primary care providers in some of the most medically underserved communities in New Jersey and across the country.”