Bush Budget Puts Future of Health Care for All Children in Jeopardy, According to National Pediat...(sicians to the measurement and improveme...),Health

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush said that the programs he proposed for elimination, such as CHGME, were "wasteful and bloated." Looking back at previous budgets, the President requested $303 million for the program in FY 2005 and, in FY 2006, agreed with Congress to authorize $330 million to train pediatricians. The current funding level is lower at $301 million.

The purpose of CHGME is to give independent children's teaching hospitals a level of federal support for the training of children's doctors comparable to what the federal government provides to adult teaching hospitals through Medicare. In fact, CHGME currently provides only about 80 percent of the level of GME support Medicare provides to adult hospitals.

The AAP, APA, AMSPDC, APA, APS, N.A.C.H, and SPR strongly recommend that Congress appropriate the full, authorized level of $330 million for CHGME in FY 2009, the level of funding comparable to what the federal government provides for GME in adult teaching hospitals through Medicare.

These organizations include the vast majority of pediatricians in the United States (both practicing and academic-based pediatricians), children's hospitals, pediatric educators, leaders of medical school departments of pediatrics, pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists, and other child health experts.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

The Academic Pediatric Association (APA) is an organization of individuals dedicated to research, education and service in general pediatrics addressing the needs
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