WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

HR 7198

Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026

119th Congress Introduced by Don Bacon and 7 co-sponsors

The bill creates a framework to study and designate areas with insufficient access to general surgeons, using data-driven methods and stakeholder input to inform potential shortage

Introduced in House
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HR 7198

Summary of HR 7198 — Ensuring Access to General Surgery Act of 2026

Purpose and intent

  • Introduces a framework to study and designate areas with shortages of general surgeons.
  • Aims to improve understanding and measurement of access to general surgery services, particularly in rural and other underserved areas.
  • Would amend the Public Health Service Act to create a new Subpart XIII focused on General Surgery Shortage Areas and establish a study, methodology, and designation process.

Key provisions and changes

Findings (Sec. 2)

  • Documents national concerns about physician shortages, including:
    • General shortages of physicians and specifically general surgeons.
    • Past projections showing that the supply of general surgeons may not keep pace with population growth and demand.
    • Rural areas often lacking sufficient general surgeons.
    • Need for better data and research to forecast workforce needs.

Study on designation of General Surgery Shortage Areas (Subpart XIII, Sec. 340J)

  • Definitions (a): Defines a “general surgery shortage area” as an urban, suburban, or rural area underserved by general surgeons.

  • Study and reporting (b):

    • The Secretary, via the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will study access to general surgeons for underserved populations.
    • Evaluates whether current shortage designations (e.g., HPSA designations under Sec. 332) accurately reflect local needs.
    • Explores alternative measures of access, such as surgeon practice within hospital service areas.
    • Evaluates methodologies for designation, including:
    • Surgery service areas based on hospitals and ZIP Code-level population data.
    • Identification of actively practicing general surgeons.
    • Surgeon-to-population ratios.
    • Thresholds for optimal, adequate, shortage, and critical shortage levels.
    • Considers factors beyond raw surgeon counts, including wait times, health outcomes, travel times to the nearest center with a general surgeon, presence of critical access hospitals, and patient experience.
    • Requires a one-year deadline to submit a Congress-designated report on the study.
    • Calls for broad consultation with medical societies, surgical facilities, general surgery experts, and patient organizations.
    • Mandates periodic publication of data in the Federal Register, including:
    • Data comparing availability/need of general surgery services across urban-suburban-rural areas.
    • A list of designated general surgery shortage areas if any.

  • Methodology for designation (Sec. 340J(c)):

    • If the Secretary chooses to develop a formal designation methodology, it would be done through regulation (notice-and-comment).
    • Requirements if methodology is developed:
    • Designate general surgery shortage areas using the established methodology.
    • Publish descriptive area lists and review/revise designations annually as needed.
    • Apply the same notice/comment/dissemination procedures as used for health professional shortage areas (Sec. 332).
    • Require stakeholder consultation (medical societies, surgical facilities, patient groups, etc.).

Who/what would be affected

  • Geographic areas: Urban, suburban, and rural areas across the United States could be designated as General Surgery Shortage Areas based on the eventual methodology.
  • Data collection and reporting: HRSA and other federal entities would collect, publish, and periodically update data on general surgery access and designated shortage areas.
  • Policy design process: If Congress approves a designation methodology via regulation, federal agencies would implement formal criteria for determining shortages and informing stakeholders.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduction date: January 22, 2026.
  • Initial study deadline: A report on the study findings must be submitted to Congress within 1 year of enactment.
  • Ongoing process: If a designation methodology is developed, it would follow notice-and-comment rulemaking, with annual reviews and revisions as needed.
  • Transparency: Data and designation lists would be periodically published in the Federal Register.

Sponsors

  • Primary sponsor: Rep. Ami Bera (and several cosponsors including Peters, Joyce, Davids, Norton, Bishop, Thanedar, Bacon).

This bill primarily seeks to improve how the federal government identifies and communicates about areas with insufficient access to general surgeons, leveraging data-driven methodologies, stakeholder input, and transparent reporting. It does not itself authorize new funding or grant programs, but creates the framework for assessing needs and potentially designating shortage areas through regulatory action.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.