S. 1044 — Physicians for Underserved Areas Act

This section revises the priorities and selection criteria for redistributing Medicare graduate medical education (GME) residency slots from closed hospitals, with changes applying to closures on or after the date of enactment. (The Medicare GME program reimburses teaching hospitals for resident training costs, subject to a statutory cap on full-time equivalent slots; slots from closed hospitals are redistributed according to specified priorities.) Specifically, the section (1) eliminates one priority category in the redistribution sequence (item (cc)) and redesignates the subsequent item (dd) as item (cc), while changing its designation from "Fourth" to "Third" priority and updating a cross-reference; and (2) replaces the prior selection criterion among qualified hospitals with a requirement to prioritize those demonstrating the likelihood of starting to utilize the slots within 2 years and filling them within 5 years.