Sponsors (8)
The bill funds studies and improved workforce data that could meaningfully improve surgical access and targeting for rural and underserved areas, but it requires public funding, may delay immediate supports, could force costly local responses, and does not guarantee that study findings will be translated into policy action.
Rural and underserved communities: gain improved access to general surgical care because federal studies and dynamic workforce projections enable targeted recruitment, placement, and resource allocation.
Hospitals, state planners, and policymakers: receive improved, impartial data and dynamic projections to allocate resources and plan training for needed specialists, reducing workforce mismatches.
Healthcare workers and trainees: stronger evidence can enable expansion or better targeting of medical workforce training and retention programs, improving future staffing and career opportunities.
Taxpayers: new or expanded data collection, studies, and workforce-planning activities may require additional federal/state funding or budget reallocations.
Hospitals and taxpayers: the study and its administrative requirements could impose ongoing costs and divert resources, delaying immediate workforce support or interventions.
Hospitals and rural communities: findings that reveal severe shortages may pressure local systems to offer costly recruitment or retention incentives, straining budgets and infrastructure.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires a federal study on designating general surgical shortage areas to improve workforce data and projections.
Directs a federal study on whether and how to designate "general surgical" health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) to improve workforce planning for surgeons. Includes findings that the U.S. faces projected shortages of general surgeons—especially in rural areas—and calls for better, impartial data and dynamic workforce projections to guide policy.
Introduced January 22, 2026 by Ami Bera · Last progress January 22, 2026