Providers seek $758M for children’s hospitals GME program

Providers and patient advocates are seeking $758 million from Congress to support the Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) program.

The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, Academic Pediatric Association, and Children’s Hospital Association were among the over two dozen industry groups to pen a May 16 letter to Congressional leaders asking for more CHGME program funding. The groups say the program “is the most important federal investment supporting the pediatric physician workforce and access to care for the nation’s children.”

Congress allocated $390 million to the CHGME program in the 2024 fiscal year (FY), the highest amount to date for the program. However, the groups stated that additional funding for FY 2025 fiscal year is necessary to address the “ongoing youth mental health crisis.”

“Boosting support for the pediatric workforce is even more important as we face the growing challenges of the children’s mental health crisis as well as future respiratory virus surges that will increasingly impact our pediatric health care workforce,” the groups wrote.

According to HHS, the COVID-19 pandemic added to pre-existing challenges that youths faced. Since the pandemic, the rates of psychological distress among young people have increased, with the pandemic most heavily affecting people with existing vulnerabilities. Those vulnerabilities include disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and marginalized communities.

The latest data shows that the proportion of high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40% from 2009-2019. Additionally, the share who seriously considered attempting suicide during the period jumped by 36%. This has led to more emergency department visits for mental health conditions.

CHGME supports the training of front-line providers who treat children and young patients during mental health emergencies, according to the letter to Congress. For example, the funding for the program has supported the training of more than half of the developmental pediatricians and nearly half of all child and adolescent psychiatrists, the groups reported.

With additional funding, the groups said children’s hospitals will be able to “dramatically increase pediatric physician training and significantly increase the number of pediatricians and pediatric specialists who care for the nation’s children.”

Over two-thirds of CHGME-funded physicians also stayed in the state where they completed their residency, bolstering access to care for pediatric patients, the letter stated.

“We cannot continue to fall behind—we must protect children’s access to care,” the letter concluded. “CHGME is a critical investment in our country’s health care future to help ensure children will have the care they need across provider settings.”