(08-04-08) AACOM twice submitted written comments on the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) proposed rule, Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas. The rule was intended to improve the way underserved areas and populations are designated. A wide variety and significant number of federal programs use these designations, and AACOM was concerned about the proposed rule’s effect on medical education, as well as health care providers, health care institutions and patients in underserved communities. The proposed rule’s impact was uncertain due to the lack of transparency about the process and data to be used.
In its first comment letter, AACOM recommended that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extend the comment period for six or more months and convene a meeting of agency officials and staff, health professions workforce experts and other stakeholders, including members of the medical community, for public consideration of the proposed new methodology. In its additional comment letter, submitted during the second of two one-month extensions of the comment period, AACOM urged HHS to withdraw the proposed rule. HRSA recently announced its withdrawal of the proposed rule, stating that the document needs a number of changes and that the agency will issue a new proposed rule for review and public comment.