Policy & oversight
Medicare's Five-Year Push to Add 1,000 Doctor Training Spots Is Now Complete
CMS posted the last batch of 200 Medicare-funded residency positions on November 9, finishing a 2021 congressional mandate to expand physician training in underserved communities, with most of the final-round slots earmarked for primary care and mental health.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamNovember 12, 2026
Congress authorized 1,000 new Medicare-funded doctor training positions in December 2021 under Section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. CMS distributed those slots in annual groups of 200, targeting hospitals that serve communities with too few physicians. On November 9, 2026, CMS posted the final-round results, completing the five-year program.
The last 200 positions went to 99 hospitals across 31 states. To qualify, a hospital had to meet at least one of four conditions: located in a rural area, training more residents than its existing Medicare cap allows, situated in a state with a recently opened medical school, or located in a federally designated health professional shortage area. No single hospital could receive more than 25 positions.
Medicare's 1,000-slot commitment to train more primary care and mental health doctors in underserved communities is now fully complete.
Of the 200 final-round slots, 125 go to primary care residency programs, a category that includes obstetrics and gynecology, and 20 go to psychiatry. Together those two fields account for nearly three-quarters of the final batch. The remaining slots go to other specialties.
Medicare has helped fund graduate medical education at teaching hospitals since the program began in 1965. The 2021 expansion represents the largest statutory increase in that funding in roughly 25 years. The patient-level effect is indirect but durable: doctors in primary care and mental health tend to practice near where they completed their training, which over time may bring more physicians to Medicare patients in areas that currently face shortages.
The full list of hospitals and their awards is posted on the CMS Direct Graduate Medical Education page.
In plain words
Medicare helps hospitals pay to train new doctors. In 2021, Congress said Medicare could add 1,000 more training spots. These were handed out over five years, 200 spots at a time. On November 9, the last 200 spots were given out. They went to 99 hospitals in 31 states. Most of the spots are for primary care doctors and mental health doctors. These hospitals are in areas that do not have enough doctors. When doctors finish training, many stay close to where they trained. So this should bring more doctors to the communities that need them most. It will take a few years before those new doctors are seeing patients.
Understand the basics first
Source: CMS
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