[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3166 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3166

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study 
   on the designation of surgical health professional shortage areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 12, 2016

  Mr. Grassley (for himself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study 
   on the designation of surgical health professional shortage areas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Access to General Surgery 
Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Bureau of Health Workforce, the United 
        States faces a shortage of physicians.
            (2) In order to accurately prepare for future physician 
        workforce demands, comprehensive, impartial research and high 
        quality data is needed to inform dynamic projections of 
        physician workforce needs.
            (3) A variety of factors, including health outcomes, 
        utilization trends, growing and aging populations, and delivery 
        system changes, influence workforce needs and should be 
        considered as part of flexible projections of workforce needs.
            (4) Given the particularly acute needs for surgeons in many 
        rural areas, additional efforts to assess adequacy of the 
        current surgeon workforce are necessary.

SEC. 3. STUDY ON DESIGNATION OF SURGICAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE 
              AREAS.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this 
section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct a study on the 
following matters relating to access by underserved populations to 
general surgeons:
            (1) Whether the designation of health professional shortage 
        areas under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
        U.S.C. 254e) results in accurate assessments of the adequacy of 
        local general surgeons to address the needs of underserved 
        populations in urban, suburban, or rural areas.
            (2) Whether another measure of access to general surgeons 
        by underserved populations, such as hospital service areas, 
        would provide more accurate assessments of shortages in the 
        availability of local general surgeons to meets the needs of 
        those populations.
            (3) The appropriateness of establishing the designation 
        under such section 332 of surgical health professional shortage 
        areas (as defined in subsection (b)).
    (b) Surgical Health Professional Shortage Area Defined.--For 
purposes of this section, the term ``surgical health professional 
shortage area'' means, with respect to an urban, suburban or rural area 
in the United States, an area with a population that is underserved by 
general surgeons.
    (c) Designation of Surgical Health Professional Shortage Area 
(SHPSA).--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the study under this 
        section, the Secretary shall consider potential methodologies 
        for the designation of surgical health professional shortage 
        areas, including--
                    (A) the criteria under which areas are designated 
                as health professional shortage areas under section 332 
                of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e); and
                    (B) the methodology described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Methodology for the designation of a shpsa.--Among the 
        methodologies considered under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall analyze the potential effectiveness and accuracy of the 
        following methodology:
                    (A) Development of surgery service areas.--
                Development of surgery service areas through the 
                identification of hospitals with surgery services and 
                the identification of populations by zip code areas 
                using Medicare patient origin data.
                    (B) Identification of surgeons.--Identification of 
                all actively practicing general surgeons.
                    (C) Surgeon to population ratios.--Development of 
                general surgeon-to-population ratios for each surgery 
                service area.
                    (D) Thresholds.--Determination of threshold general 
                surgeon-to-population ratios for the number of general 
                surgeons necessary to treat a population for each of 
                the following levels:
                            (i) Optimal supply of general surgeons.
                            (ii) Adequate supply of general surgeons.
                            (iii) Shortage of general surgeons.
                            (iv) Critical shortage of general surgeons.
    (d) Consultation.--In conducting the study under this section, the 
Secretary shall consult with relevant stakeholders with appropriate 
expertise, including representatives of organizations representing 
surgeons and patients.
    (e) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
on the study conducted under this section, including such 
recommendations for legislation or administrative action as the 
Secretary determines appropriate.
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