Rosen Pushes for More Medical Residency Slots for Nevada, Helping Tackle Physician Shortage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) sent a letter urging Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to take action to help tackle the doctor shortage in Nevada. She argues that by awarding the state more medical residency slots to keep pace with population growth, more doctors will be able to learn and practice medicine in Nevada.

"As Nevada's population continues to grow, the gap between Nevadans' medical needs and their ability to access care has only worsened over time," said Senator Rosen. "Today our state is facing a dire shortage of doctors, making it challenging for many Nevadans to access the quality, affordable health care that they need."

"That is why I helped fund 1,000 new graduate medical education (GME) residency slots through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which Congress passed at the end of 2020. As the majority of these new GME slots remain to be awarded, Nevada continues to be in desperate need of additional physicians," she continued. "As you continue to assess Nevada's medical workforce needs, including for our rural communities, I urge you to

award our state a greater proportion of residency slots so we can better meet Nevadans' critical medical needs."

The full text of the letter can be found HERE.

Senator Rosen has been fighting to increase Nevadans' access to quality, affordable health care. Senator Rosen helped pass legislation to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and cap insulin at $35/month. Earlier this year, she helped introduce legislation to make Affordable Care Act tax credits permanent and prevent health care costs from rising for millions of Americans. She also held a roundtable to discuss efforts to improve health care access for veterans and helped introduce bipartisan legislation to officially authorize the construction of a new veterans hospital in Reno. Last year, she introduced a package of bipartisan bills aimed at addressing the shortage of doctors and dentists in Nevada and across the country.

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