CMS Funding 1,000 New Residency Slots for Hospitals Serving Rural & Underserved Communities Administration takes action to address access to care, workforce shortages in high-need areas On December 17, CMS took a critical step to advance health equity and access, issuing a final rule that will enhance the health care workforce and fund additional medical residency positions in hospitals serving rural and underserved communities. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule with comment period establishes policies to distribute 1,000 new Medicare-funded physician residency slots to qualifying hospitals, phasing in 200 slots per year over five years. CMS estimates that funding for the additional residency slots, once fully phased in, will total approximately $1.8 billion over the next 10 years. In implementing a section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, this is the largest increase in Medicare-funded residency slots in over 25 years. Other sections of the CAA being implemented further promote increasing training in rural areas and increasing graduate medical education payments to hospitals meeting certain criteria. Read the full Press Release. Paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services.